Retrospective: GAIA get-together in the Lungau

Ten people attended in total and spent the evening together with interest, great willingness to cooperate and in good spirits.

After the usual welcome, there were first reports on the extremely successful meeting in Amstetten between the GAIA leadership, Mr Roberto Reuter and Mr Gottfried Herrmann, and the organiser of the Lungau group. The conditions for the best possible, trusting cooperation are absolutely in place.

It was palpable and tangible that GAIA’s principles – such as respect for one’s neighbour, altruism and the will to improve unsatisfactory situations – are not empty phrases but are actually put into practice in a living way.

A few brief remarks were made on the relationship between GAIA and COEMM in Italy: after the last meeting, COEMM’s executive board unanimously decided that it wants to work with GAIA. Both organisations can learn from each other. And various projects can be integrated into the work of the other association.

Then came the focus of the evening: an Austrian film on unconditional basic income, which is one of many alternatives to the prevailing, deeply inhumane, often brutal economic system that endangers the Earth’s biosphere. Of course the alternative model is hushed up, discredited or presented in a massively distorted way by the “oh-so-independent” mainstream media. And yet there are various countries in which this alternative economic system is practised with great success. Not, of course, in the oh-so-progressive “Western world”.

Finally, we celebrated the farewell from GAIA Lungau of our long-standing member, helper and friend Hans Hirsch. Although Hans will be missed at future evenings, the mood did not sink into sadness, because we will stay in touch with him. There will continue to be exchanges of ideas and even mutual visits.

In any case, our thanks go to Hans for his involvement, for his contributions and for his wisdom, and we all wish him the very best for the future!

The evening was rounded off with the usual delicious snack from the Sauschneider organic farm and came to a close late.