As she announced in a press conference on Tuesday, a committee founded on her initiative called “Good Council for Redistribution” will decide what should happen with 25 million euros. Engelhorn emphasized that she had no say in the matter. Unconstitutional, anti-life, inhumane and profit-oriented purposes are excluded.
“Distribute 90 percent back”
“I’ve always said that I want to redistribute at least 90 percent, and now it’s finally regarding this redistribution,” said Engelhorn and appeared to be “incredibly excited.” Wealth is clearly distributed unequally in Austria, and that is unfair. The richest percent of the population owns almost 50 percent of all assets, with all the negative effects on the social structure, the political system and the media landscape. “This ensures that democracy is endangered by the disproportionate influence of a few rich people.”
But the state is not doing anything regarding it and is not fulfilling its mandate to collect taxes on assets and inheritances. That’s why she approached the idea of a citizens’ council, modeled on the Climate Council: “If you listen to people, really incredible things come out of it.”
10,000 invitation letters
Funded by Engelhorn, such a committee is now being launched. 10,000 invitation letters will be sent out these days. From these randomly selected people, 50 people and 15 replacement members will be selected in a two-stage process to represent people over the age of 16 in Austria, described Christoph Hofinger from the Foresight Institute (formerly Sora). From March to June this “Good Advice” (http://guterrat.info/) then – accompanied by a team of moderators and experts – develop ideas for dealing with the distribution of assets and decide on the redistribution of the 25 million euros. The meeting takes place on six weekends in Salzburg, and there is an allowance of 1,200 euros per person per weekend.
Video: Engelhorn reported on her plans in a press conference
According to Engelhorn, there is a good reason why she chose this path and did not simply distribute the money herself: it would then still be her decision and the power would remain with her. “I think if you take democracy seriously, you have to give it a real chance.” With a citizens’ assembly, she asks ordinary people to make a decision without leaving them alone: ”This trust is more important to me than storing the power with me.”
She wants to use the money she has left over to finance the transition period until she can start working life herself. She is not afraid that she might regret this life decision later; Rather, she is happy to give up this power. “If super-rich people wanted to save the world, then they would have done it,” Engelhorn also rejected the idea of philanthropic millionaires.
AK President Anderl has “great respect”
Chamber of Labor President Renate Anderl paid Engelhorn “great respect” for her decision in a broadcast. “The media, parliament and the federal government should take this strong signal seriously and as an opportunity to objectively discuss and implement millionaire taxes,” she demanded. The Chamber of Labor – like the Momentum Institute – also referred to the current figures from the European Central Bank (ECB), according to which Austria has the second highest concentration of assets in the Eurozone.
