Same story, different decade. The people lost hope, they voted for change, and they became slaves.

"In 1938, Austria was in deep depression. Nearly one-third of our workforce was unemployed. We had 25 percent inflation and 25 percent bank loan interest rates. Farmers and business people were declaring bankruptcy daily...

We looked to our neighbor on the north, Germany, where Hitler had been in power since 1933. We had been told that they didn't have unemployment or crime, and they had a high standard of living. Ninety-eight percent of the population voted to annex Austria to Germany and have Hitler for our ruler. After the election, German officials were appointed, and like a miracle, we suddenly had law and order. Three or four weeks later, everyone was employed. The government made sure that a lot of work was created through the Public Work Service...

When the mothers had to go out into the work force, the government immediately established child care centers. You could take your children ages four weeks old to school age and leave them there around-the-clock, seven days a week, under the total care of the government. The state raised a whole generation of children...

The population was predominantly Catholic, so we had religion in our schools. The day we elected Hitler (March 13, 1938), I walked into my schoolroom to find the [religious symbols] replaced by Hitler's picture hanging next to a Nazi flag... Sunday became National Youth Day with compulsory attendance... The first two hours consisted of political indoctrination. The rest of the day we had sports...

In 1939, the war started and a food bank was established. All food was rationed and could only be purchased using food stamps. At the same time, a full-employment law was passed which meant if you didn't work, you didn't get a ration card, and if you didn't have a card, you starved to death.

Soon after this, the draft was implemented. It was compulsory for young people, male and female, to give one year to the labor corps... After the labor corps, they were not discharged but were used in the front lines...

After Hitler, health care was socialized, free for everyone. Doctors were salaried by the government. The problem was, since it was free, the people were going to the doctors for everything. When the good doctor arrived at his office at 8:00, 40 people were already waiting and, at the same time, the hospitals were full...

Our tax rates went up to 80 percent of our income... All day care and education were free. High schools were taken over by the government and college tuition was subsidized. Everyone was entitled to free handouts, such as food stamps, clothing, and housing...

My brother-in-law owned a restaurant that had square tables. Government officials told him he had to replace them with round tables because people might bump themselves on the corners... He couldn't meet all the demands. Soon, he went out of business...

Next came gun registration... Most citizens were law abiding and dutifully marched to the police station to register their firearms. Not long afterwards, the police said that it was best for everyone to turn in their guns. The authorities already knew who had them, so it was futile not to comply voluntarily...

[There was] no more freedom of speech. Anyone who said something against the government was taken away. We knew many people who were arrested, not only Jews, but also priests and ministers who spoke up...

Totalitarianism didn't come quickly, it took 5 years from 1938 until 1943, to realize full dictatorship in Austria. Had it happened overnight, my countrymen would have fought to the last breath. Instead, we had creeping gradualism. By then, our only weapons were broom handles."

-- Kitty Werthmann article

All socialist systems are essentially identical, operating on the principle of "oligarchical collectivism". For background, see "Wall St. and the Rise of Hitler" by Antony Sutton.