Today is May 1, Labour Day, a holiday in Austria. There will be a big rally of the Social Democratic Party in front of Vienna city hall. But it will only be a poor copy of the rallies of the past. When I came to Vienna some twenty years ago, many housings, especially those ran by the city administration, were decorated with red flags at every window. Today, you will have to look very carefully to find just a few of them. When the Social Democratic Party came to power in Vienna after WW one, they immediately started an ambitious housing programme, which brought a big improvement in living condotions for the lower classes, who until then had often lived under incredible conditions. The muncipial housings also became the lowest entities of the party organization with meeting rooms in each of them. Today, only the writing on the wall reminds of these days. The party facilities in this housing in Vienna's 3rd district look like they were rarely used, and the poster in the display beside the door has not been changed in months. Well, the Social Democratic Party still has a strong majority in Vienna's city council. Other recent uploads