Ausbeutung ist eine Bezeichnung für Ausnutzung jeglicher Art, wobei der Begriff besonders auf die Ausbeutung von Menschen durch Menschen bezogen wird. Genauer bestimmt wurde er in marxistischen Theorien als Aneignung fremder Arbeit. Wenn beispielsweise 6 Arbeitsstunden täglich zum Erhalt des Arbeiters und seiner Arbeitskraft notwendig sind, er aber 8 Stunden arbeitet, so hat er 2 Stunden Mehrarbeit geleistet. Wird das Produkt dieser Mehrarbeit von einer anderen Person abgepresst, wurde der Arbeiter in diesem Sinne ausgebeutet.
Der Patron heißt Norbert Bäck. Ist ein Österreicher, ein 46-jähriger Ingenieur aus Graz. Er ist 45 Jahre alt und lebt seit neun Jahren in China. “Die Dynamik hat mich fasziniert”, erzählt er. Bäck ist mit einer Chinesin verheiratet und spricht die Sprache fließend. 800 Menschen arbeiten für seine Firma SXN Electronics, die sich knapp außerhalb von Peking angesiedelt hat. (more…)

steiermark.orf.at
Foto Galina Toktalieva
Die Wirtschaftskrise hinterlässt auch im Bereich der Sozialhilfe immer deutlichere Spuren. Laut der Halbjahresstatistik des Grazer Sozialamtes hat sich die Zahl der dauerhaften Bezieher im Vergleich zum Vorjahr verdoppelt. Sozial schwache Menschen bekommen die schwierige Wirtschaftssituation mittlerweile mit voller Härte zu spüren: Waren im ersten Halbjahr 2008 noch rund 960 Grazer dauerhaft auf Sozialhilfe angewiesen, sind es heuer fast 1.900 – also nahezu doppelt so viele, sagt die Grazer Sozialstadträtin Elke Edlinger (SPÖ).
Umso wichtiger sei die geplante Mindestsicherung, die ab Herbst 2010 die Sozialhilfe ersetzen soll – allerdings nur zwölf Mal im Jahr und nicht wie die Sozialhilfe 14 Mal, kritisiert Edlinger.
Die Betroffenen bräuchten den 13. und 14. Bezug extrem dringend, sagt die Sozialstadträtin: “Nicht, weil sie damit auf Urlaub fahren möchten, sondern mit ein paar hundert Euro im Monat auskommen ist so schon extrem schwierig und wenn dann außertourliche Anschaffungen anstehen – egal, ob die Waschmaschine kaputt ist oder ob eine Zahnspange für den Nachwuchs notwendig ist – solche größeren Brocken sind für die Betroffenen fast nicht schaffbar.”

Проект поддержки беженцев Уты Бок

Mit wenigen privat angemieteten Wohnungen begann Ute Bock vor Jahren mit ihrem Engagement für obdachlose Flüchtlinge. Mittlerweile umfasst das Wohnprojekt rund 70 Unterkünfte für mehr als 220 Menschen aus Krisenregionen. Im Ute Block schreibt Frau Bock über ihre alltäglichen Erfahrungen in der Flüchtlingshilfe.

Da gibt es Familien, wo der Vater und seine zwei Kinder einen negativen Bescheid kriegen, die Mutter und zwei andere Kinder aber einen positiven. Die Hälfte der Familie soll nun abgeschoben werden. Was ist denn das? Schutz des Familienlebens?
Ob eine Familie schützenswert ist, richtet sich in Österreich eben nach der Herkunft. Und genauso ist es wohl bei der Gesundheit.<…>
Mittlerweile fühlen sich Tschetschenen auch in Österreich nicht mehr sicher. (more…)

Galina writes about her adventures with Wohnbeihilfe (accommodation social help) and Austrian post-office.
Do you know somebody never making mistakes? It must be specie of artificial intellect. Humans simply need to miss a target now and then to guarantee one accurate shot.
I don’t claim to be possessor of absolute truth. Like any other mortal, I make wrong judgments on certain occasions in my search for true fact. I may be completely in the power of ego sometimes, feeling the world developed personal grudges against me.
But then change of tide brings ability for detached view and main condition for objectivity – inner piece. Unhappy people tend to be subjective and make those around them unhappy too. Those who steadily accumulate unhappiness: poor, sick, outcasts, drug-users, illegal immigrants, persons in refugee camps and prisoners – accumulate also enormous destructive force to strike back, subjected to uncontrollable aggression, which affects innocent people. Society must care more about deprived and downtrodden to improve general psychological climate and prevent murder, rape, robbing, domestic violence and suicide.
As I also witness certain deprivation, I started to use instinctively such instrument of defense as word to restore my equilibrium between good and evil. This instrument contains huge destructive and creative potential, in spite of mask of Internet gibberish it carries.
I always tried and would use every my word with consideration. (more…)

Journalists belong to special caste. Whoever starts on this thorny way, rarely change profession. The reason is simple: they are forced to proceed. Staff manager of any company apart from PR and news agencies, looking through professional history of applicant, may be alarmed by facts of his intimate affairs with mass media. Such a reputation considered to be seriously compromised. Every company and institution has something to conceal from public view. Many organizations dread of journalists, who demonstrate: first- certain level of literacy, and second- ability to prostitute this literacy, if something goes wrong. And in company sooner or later something always goes wrong. Therefore journalist, who wants to start new profession, must break wall of distrust toward person capable of collecting information and selling it. For mass media professionals there is no way back, as there is no way back for agents employed by a state to obtain secret information or individuals with serious criminal record. The journalism is as ancient as bodily prostitution, and has much in common with it.
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Whenever I look out of window, and see a piece of blue sky, roofs with black dots of crows at antennas, and hear distant lulling clang of tram, I feel piece and sweet anticipation of new rendezvous with Vienna. I go out and gaze at surrounding curious subjects as newly born soul and wish I would walk forever and lose myself in the city, where every street is terra incognita and deja vu. But if I dwell not in parks or secluded suburban streets, but move to the center, where heart of the city beats, very soon tiredness and gloomy indifference go down as fog at me. It is monotony, that saddens me. As many other cities of the world, Vienna central streets are there mostly for shops and cafes.
Accepting my destiny of frustrated pedestrian, und would enter all boutiques that will come my way, one by one, responding to appealing grace of mannequins in shop windows.
Avoiding enthusiastic assistance of sales-women, I would look at long rows of cloth and brood over the fact that many shops live on one simple operation of selling goods, that were produced in China, East Europe and countries of the third world.
By other words, trade gets profit at difference of prices. This wool pullover was made somewhere at the other side of globe and brought here for sale. Group of worn out factory women knitted it  and probably got their decent  share as 20 cents for item, and then the managers, drivers, pilots, watchmen got their modest rewards too. But main payment would be received by local shop-keepers, when you enter Vienna shop and buy this pulli for 40 euros. (more…)

Some time ago in group of Austrian unemployed I participated in anonymous psychological test on personal wishes and dreams. Living on allowance, people dream mainly about money.
If to go to Amazon with idea to find most popular self-improvement books, it will be books how to become rich.
It seems there is no sphere of life free of common monetary passion. But even in the midst of race for more everybody would agree, there is always at least one point of higher importance for us – our health.
Circumstances were so, that recently I came in touch with Austrian health care in the role of patient.
My health self-insurance in Austrian institution GKK was automatically canceled because of mistake one of the clerks in district social office made. After a lot of fuss between Social office and GKK, the first unwillingly produced sheet of yellow paper for temporary free medical help. The simple resolve of problem with insurance filled my heart with euphoria. I thought: “All these years were not in vain, I live in truly advanced social state and even can use free medical help!” Soon it came the chance to try my new yellow paradise ticket. (more…)

Banality often contains concentration wisdom of folks. They say, it is not shameful to be poor. Poorest can obtain social security benefits. What is poverty in Austria, how it looks, tastes and smells? Apart from concept, I wanted to know this as personal experience. Being granted with work after five years of survival training in Graz, I felt myself enormously rich  being registered as poor in Vienna. Low income is inevitable lot for many emigrants. In case of Austrians, poverty is often life philosophy. Those whose income is lower than 893 euros are considered to be poor and can buy goods on lower prices in social supermarket. There I paid visit yesterday, hungry for new experiences.
It was crowd in front of gloomy building forty minutes before opening. This crowd spoke different languages and had shopping bags on the wheels. I felt curious about miraculous presents life had in store for me and found modest size of my bag regretful. Austrian woman nearby started talking to me, and I paid attention to her exquisite make-up and numerous silver rings. She told one must pay or wait, and she preferred the second. Eventually the first two visitors were let in the store, and after half an hour we together with silver lady reached the entrance, where joined new queue to registration office. I counted sufficient quantity of social workers around, who briskly moved forth and back in front of us, but line was moving on with speed of snail. Pale woman in front of me in long Muslim dress and scarf told she was close to faint after two hours of waiting. The dark young mother behind, had three small children, who shrieked playing run and catch, what added to whole turmoil. Meanwhile I was observing faces of buyers leaving store, and there was no air of satisfaction at them. They dragged their bags with listless expression.
After my patience was significantly strained and sweat flowed on my backside under cloths, I was let in registration room. (more…)