2018-09-12

Next Up, European Civil War

Eastern Europe, including East Germany, are on a different political trajectory from Western Europe. The West is turning nationalist on migration, but the East has a full program. Today's move by the, Putin puppets in Europe?, makes a formal break by censuring Hungary for being against "European values."

ZH: Hungary's Orban Slapped With Unprecedented EU Censure Over Claims Of "Authoritarian Rule"
On Wednesday members of European Parliament voted on the move as a result of what EU lawmakers say is a breach of the European bloc's values and laws and eroding democratic standards, and amidst accusations Hungary is now an "autocracy". The rebuke was passed by 448 votes to 197.

Meanwhile Orban bit back ahead of the EU censure vote, saying before Parliament the planned move “insults the honor of the Hungarian nation” and was “a slap in the face”; and the controversial prime minister further cast the whole charade is an attempt to "blackmail" Hungary into bowing to EU pressures to soften its hard line stance on the migrant issue.
For those who want to understand where Orban comes from and his political goals, and have only heard the mainstream description of him as an autocrat, this book is worth checking out: The Second Term of Viktor Orbán: Beyond Prejudice and Enthusiasm

From the outside, it looks like Orban destroyed communist influence in his country. Much of his policies were designed to eradicate communist influences. Many communists stayed on in government and various government institutions. Orban removed them.

The socialist-leaning mainstream in Europe is rightly shocked at how effective he's been at wiping them out and leaving very little trace. Their power base is in state media, courts and schools, and once flushed out, the Eastern European public does not want many leftist policies. If they can manufacture consent and control the terms of debate they can win because it creates a false choice, but in a free-for-all, they lose. Hence in the United States, the censorship on social media. They do not want a level playing field where all ideas compete. Those who scream loudest about democracy are often the most undemocratic of all.

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