Retrospective: Lungau get-together in October

There is something to be said for being able to meet like-minded people regularly.

All the more so when we can talk about events and facts that lie far beyond empty gossip. Being able to speak openly about what is close to our hearts, and to discuss things far removed from the generally accepted “that’s-how-it-is-and-that’s-how-it’s-done” views, in order to gain clarity and certainty for ourselves – yes, that is fulfilling! That is what brings interested people together again and again.

Of course, it happens time and again that some members of the group are kept from attending every meeting by other commitments. So sometimes more and sometimes fewer people discuss the announced topics.

Energy was on the programme, and energy was mainly what was discussed. It was shown how highly practical inventions – which would above all be very kind to the environment, extremely inexpensive, and would have the advantage of ending dependence on corporations – have been and are being boycotted, and how inventors have been and are being intimidated, persecuted and eliminated. Yet these inventions would be extremely important above all in times of crisis and disaster, if the public power grid were to collapse. A video demonstrated the consequences and effects a total blackout would have. Such scenarios clearly reveal the incompetence and unwillingness of political decision-makers, who seem more beholden to corporations and banks than to doing what is best for the people, for human beings. In such moments an omnipresent powerlessness becomes clearly palpable – one that could, however, be overcome through solidarity and turning away from selfish behaviour.

The presentation of a wide range of technical devices for generating sufficient, cheap electricity then turned the discussion to the problems of wind turbines. This topic is currently a regional issue, as the plan to build eight wind turbines on the Fanningberg is stirring up feelings. In such discussions you can observe so clearly how easy it is for the “doers” to mobilise emotions on the basis of inadequate expertise, to play the groups for and against off against each other, and then to achieve the goals they are aiming for. If things go well, the project is accepted; if things go badly, it is the little people who have to pay for the mistakes anyway.

In the group, however, the discussion and arguments were kept as objective as possible, which once again proved the high human quality of those who attend the meetings. And so the evening came to a peaceful close.