ABSTRACT
Despite recent changes, the Big Bargain between the rulers and the ruled in Austria still safeguards the principle of "all for the people but little by the people". Close to 38% of the respondents in a 1986 youth survey subscribed to the statement: "I do not care about politics, what matters is that I'm fine". In Vienna, the percentage was significantly lower (33%). The authorities care for the people's amusement and daily needs and provide for an orderly funeral, but expect complacency in return. Citizens and authorities alike want to be left in peace to mind their own business. In order to maintain the privacy of public and private matters, general harmony must be pretended. The price of conflict control is lies and repression. In the Austrian mind, the idealization of the private sphere leads to a sharp juxtaposition of private and public. The litigation between public vices and private virtues inevitably ends with a conviction of the first. Most citizens are convinced that "all politicians are crooks" and that "all politicians lie".
