Hungarian Conservative

The rising number of mental illness diagnoses is a concerning trend in Western societies, particularly among younger generations. This surge is attributed to the tendency to interpret even mundane life situations through psychological diagnoses, posing a significant threat to our societies. In a conversation with Hungarian Conservative Frank Füredi, Executive Director of MCC Brussels, discussed the possibilities of reversing this trend.

‘The protests today, like the Peasants’ War, are not merely about specific policy grievances but represent a broader disillusionment with political and economic systems that seem increasingly out of touch with the needs and values of significant portions of the population. Both movements illustrate how new social forces can galvanize widespread action, pushing societies to a tipping point where change becomes inevitable.’

‘The fact that Hungary has to fight like hell for its right to be normal is a sign of the times. So is the fact that in America, as in almost every Western country, the borders are a fiction, our heroes are hated, our free speech is taken away from us, scientists proclaim the desirability of sculpting the genitals of children into works of art—and these things barely make news. We have grown accustomed to decadence.’

‘Western conservatism and mainstream Chinese political thought share an important characteristic: a culturalist worldview that recognizes what is culturally one’s own and, from this basis, acknowledges and accepts the otherness of Others in a pluralistic world of cultures and civilizations. This is a particular form of cosmopolitanism; one may call it conservative.’

‘Many Christians who hold modernity culpable for the demise of the church and dispersion of the Christian flock join forces with political conservatism, seeing in it their natural political ally and representative, while conservative politicians look upon these groups—and many of their institutional leaders, bishops, evangelists, theologians—as reliable, strong, and loyal supporters.’

In his 15 March address Viktor Orbán focused not only on national sovereignty, freedom, and unity but also placed significant emphasis on the upcoming European Parliament elections.

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.

‘It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the capitulation of the West to political Islam is no one’s fault but the West itself. The person in the twenty-first century has to realize that the socio-political construct of Islam is structured on its religious tenets that define and stipulate a Muslim’s redemptive relationship with Allah and with his fellow Muslim.’

‘Europe’s most powerful nation is now led, without exaggeration, by political extremists. The heads of the other large nations, France and Britain, are all cynical, complacent, and indifferent to the problems of their citizens to a degree not seen here since the French Revolution.

It is an interesting situation for us. So far, we have been the ones always divided up: by the Ottomans, Habsburgs, Germans, and French. Now they are the ones being sliced up and bid on by the hungry peoples of the Third World and the coldly calculating networks of people smugglers.’

The security of the Sahel is the security of Europe as well. If the EU and its Member States, including Hungary, want to avoid having to face irregular mass migration and terrorism at their immediate borders, we have to invest in the security of the Sahel, using all aspects of collaboration, from diplomacy to development and defence.

‘We must defeat, not pacify, the Palestinian dream of annihilating Israel. Defeat, not come to terms with nor even deter. But this may well turn out to be a historical turning point of history beyond Israel because it is a wake-up call for the West in general. The West has lost its immune system in a multicultural haze that has left it unable to see differences.’

‘Only the West killed God, and they did it twice for good measure: once on the cross, and more recently via the Enlightenment project to transform the world through progress, secularism, and science, rendering religion either rational or irrelevant.’

According to a recent survey, Europeans express greater apprehension towards migration and radical Islamist terrorism than towards the threat posed by Russia. The findings of the poll suggest a significant disconnect between the issues European elites focus on and the genuine concerns of the general populace.

The Hungarian Post issued its eleventh stamp series featuring motifs from the Chinese horoscope, celebrating the upcoming Year of the Dragon, which commences on 10 February.

One simply cannot put something as complexly different as the Chinese intellectual field onto either the American left–right axis or the West-European ideological taxonomy. Ultimately, the Chinese field is a different world, albeit one that bears affinities with, and shows much interest in, us Western conservatives.

A brief review of the European policy of the Hungarian Government and of that of the domestic opposition.

While the supposed freedom of a materialistic culture will tend to undermine any sense of the sacred, we can be aware of the false idols and choose to tend to our souls. Scruton, indeed, left us a final work on this very topic.

Once again, European leaders are demonstrating their total inability to adapt to the changed circumstances around Ukraine and make responsible decisions. Instead of a strategic reassessment, they persist with the same misguided policies, pouring arms and money into an unwinnable war.

‘In the capital city in particular, Ukrainians signal in a variety of small ways their desire to belong to the West. Kyiv could compete with any European capital when it comes to the number of EU flags seen on the streets. At European Square, not far from Maidan, in the middle of a roundabout the four-pointed star of NATO stands atop a metal pillar surrounded by a circle of Ukrainian and EU flags.’

‘It may very well be that in a few decades’ time, it will become clear to all analysts that the US’s rise to being a hegemonic power has carried the seeds of its downfall, too.’

‘What should Hungarians do? The question—and Orbán’s visionary answer—has meaning beyond Hungary, in ways that Americans and other Westerners only dimly recognize now. And it goes back to the prime minister’s 2014 advocacy of “illiberal democracy” for Hungary.’

Serbia’s geopolitical destiny seems preordained. Encircled by NATO and EU nations and deeply intertwined economically with Europe, Serbia is experiencing a constant drift toward the West while remaining nominally neutral. It is his ability to facilitate this complex and domestically controversial process that makes Vučić so valued by Washington and Brussels.

For years, Hungary has been under regular attack from Brussels for allegedly failing to respect ‘European values’. It is worth examining these values to see if it is in any way wrong not to respect them in the way that the representatives of the liberal mainstream in the Western world expect, and whether our entire civilization should not instead perform a paradigm shift, radically transforming its values.

‘The fact of the matter is that this is the West’s stupidest war with Britain helping to lead the way: unnecessary, unaffordable, and unwinnable.’

There is a group of people who will demand photos of Jewish victims and then, when they get them, rejoice in the fact of the killings. Meanwhile, one cannot forget that there is obviously a benign, uninformed majority that can be persuaded by either side, and Israel must not give up the possibility of persuasion.

The following is Part III of a three-part analysis that sets out to illustrate the three fault lines that are about to redraw the geostrategic map of the Old World.

‘What will determine whether the situation plays to Hungary’s favour or not will be the ability of its leaders to balance the concerns of its security partners with the benefits it gains from its economic ones. With its society becoming more dependent on cyber infrastructure, what is undeniable is the necessity to protect it from hostile foreign influence and manipulation. Its western allies offer the greatest opportunity to accomplish that but would likely come at the cost of its Chinese-built infrastructure.’

‘Most importantly, Facebook is a Western company, and we are a Western-style democracy. Facebook’s ideology is basically liberal democracy, as is ours—although the Hungarian Government takes issue with this and represents a version of it based on Christian, conservative values. The number one platform for this world and this set of values for the public is the Facebook universe: we are therefore allies; not good friends, but allies.’

The following is Part II of a three-part analysis that sets out to illustrate the three fault lines that are about to redraw the geostrategic map of the Old World.

The following is Part I of a three-part analysis that sets out to illustrate the three fault lines that are about to redraw the geostrategic map of the Old World.