Hungarian Conservative

On the left side of today’s Rákóczi Road, on the way to Astoria, stood the Úttörő és Ifjúsági (Pioneer and Youth) State Store, which opened in the autumn of 1950 and was one of the most important shopping outlets for the youth of the time. Among its main goods were children’s clothing, sports and play equipment, children’s furniture, and, of course, as its name suggests, pioneer paraphernalia as well.

‘While Budapesters aren’t wealthy, their lives are safe, purposeful, and filled with objective beauty. They perceive that they are temporary stewards of a valuable human condition and assume their descendants ought to inherit it; society is to be preserved, rather than consumed. Mothers with infants and other young children are an unmistakable element of the Hungarian capital. I always felt comfortable when my wife walked alone at night. Violent crime and discarded needles are nonexistent. This is life in the former Eastern Bloc.’

Whatever the original plan or idea behind promoting, supporting, and organizing uncontrolled migration to Europe (and to the United States) was, social engineering has miserably failed again just as in the case of communism. For once again it failed to take into account nothing less than human nature.

According to a study conducted by the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH), printed weekly newspapers have lost the most readers, registering a 25.2 per cent decline in readership. Monthly or periodically published periodicals saw a decrease of 23.5 per cent, while daily newspapers experienced a 5.7 per cent decline.

Europe’s population could shrink from 742 million to just 586 million by 2100, and our share of the world’s population could fall from nine to 5.6 per cent. Of course, this is not necessarily bad news for all, but it is for our continent. It is our own survival that is at stake, our very existence, which, with all our—arguable—historical sins, I believe is good for the world.

Given the country profile of Hungary, it is a refreshing achievement that it has moved up a league to Moderate Innovators, even though its performance is 70.4 per cent of the EU average, below the category average, and its performance growth is also slower than the EU average.