ENVIRONMENT

It seems to me that the European Union and Austria are far ahead of Environmental Protection and Conservation than Canada. Especially when it comes to Energy Consumption and Efficieny where Canada statiscally is just as wasteful as the United States. This may have to do with the fact that in some parts of Europe the environmental problems are more acute than Canada. However this shouldnt excuse Canadians from behaving like they will have a beautfiul environment forever if they are falling behind in terms of conservation. This goes beyond merely recycling.

People do care more here about the enivronment than they do in Canada it is visible here in everday life through the actions of people and the government. In fact for a very long time now Vienna has the distinction of being the national capital city with the most green space in the world. Vienna. The air is definetly much cleaner than Toronto, it is also visibly more cleaner in the downtown in general than Toronto-downtown. The other day I saw that the city of Vienna had erected some small solar panels in one part of the city to to supply power for parking meters (and something else which I was unsure as to what kind of machine it was)!. Also, there is no Nuclear Power here at all!, in 1972 there a nuclear power station was built, however in 1978 it was shut down when a National referendum returned a majority against it. More than 50% of Austria´s electricity needs is produced from hydropower and a further 30% from Renewable Energy sources (Solar, Wind, and Biomass power plants) with the remaining 20% from non-renewable oil and gas powerplants. My personal favourite fact about Austria is that it has the strictest laws governing Wine Production in the World!. There is no cultivation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Austria. However, GMOs are allowed to be in certain imported agricultural products for feedstuffs which, which must then be labelled. People here are more concerned about their quality of life, which they are willing to pay the taxes for. I think this is a problem in Canada and with the city of Toronto in particular.

In the interests of full disclosure, I have infact been in Vienna before, however the temporal periods have been restricted to a few days. So never for an extended time period such as this one. While I do not know all of the Districts of Vienna (Its is organized by districts). I am familiar with the 1st district where I am staying. Most of the cultural attractions and monuments happen to be here in the few other districts which border it. The area where I am staying is somewhat familiar to me. When I arrived at the Vienna International Airport, which is technically speaking in Schwechat which is on the border with the Austrian Province of Lower Austria (In the Austrian Land-Province structure the City of Vienna is its own Province). When you are flying in, descending depending on which direction you are coming from, I saw the Danube river, many fields, farms and WINERIES!. Some of what I saw, I posted. I will post a few more pics, they say more than words can, I am sure we are all familiar with the relevant truism here. I see some similarities between Toronto and Vienna, Vienna is fairly multicultural, not in the same sense as Toronto, because all of Vienna is slightly over 2 million people, Toronto and GTA is 6 million and even though its not all one city it certainly feels like it sometimes. People outside of Vienna generally have some disdain for the city and its denizens very much how people in Canada who do not live in Toronto (or Ottawa) view it and its inhabitants. When you speak to people here in the country there is a palpable anger even.

Here is the coat of arms of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (before it was just the the Habsburg Austrian Empire) 1867-1918

WIEN MACHT KULTUR!

There is a local quotation here in Vienna...which is quite apropo for this first question, being

What is culture?

As you can see the German version is the title of this blog and partially the title of this posting
Here is the translation (roughly speaking...)
"Europe is the force and/or power of Vacations - Vienna is the force and/or power of Culture!"

And when you go in the downtown of Vienna this is a palpable feeling...

The question to discuss however is not easy due to its relativity.
However for me personally it is not academic, it is traditional and personal in the way that I was raised within the different eccentricities of both the Catholic milieu of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, early Austrian-Czech Republics (break with the historical abberation of Communism here) with some regional differences but also similarities in terms of what is dubbed some times by wags "high-brow culture." I was raised to appreciate (occasionally not from my own volition) the highest forms of aestheticism which European Society has produced vis-a-vis Art, History, Literature, Music (Operatic and Symphonic), Theatre. The proper basic things a bourgeois family would instill in their younglings. Only know in this Grand and old Imperial city, with my maturity have I come to fully appreciate this. These things all interesect here in Vienna for the many nationalities that were a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation and then Habsburg Imperial Austria...