Hungary is lost. Don't think it can't happen in America. We're on the way.

[sharedvalues]

https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2019-04/european-union-hungary-democracy-viktor-orban-english

Hungary Is Lost
Viktor Orbán ist destroying Hungary's democracy. The institutions, the legal system and the social fabric are nothing but a pile of rubble. And the EU let it happen.
Ein Essay von Beda Magyar, Budapest

The author is a Hungarian academic, formerly with Central European University (CEU) in Budapest. At the end of 2018 pressure from the government of Viktor Orbán forced the CEU to move to Vienna, Austria, at least partially. Beda Magyar is a pseudonym, ZEIT ONLINE is aware of his real identity.

Hungary has committed suicide in plain sight, and it has done so with the inept assistance of the European Union – while the rest of the member states stand by and watch helplessly. The death dance of democracy has begun again, just like in the 20th century, by painting human rights, freedom of the press, judicial independence, science and art to be political questions. By portraying facts and reality as a matter of threatened identity. And by depicting hate and violations of the law as moral obligations. This is not just taking place within the EU, this is the EU itself, living up to the delirious nightmares of the far right. What right-wing nationalists call "bureaucrats taking away national identities" means, in practice, that Brussels continues to provide full financial support even as mentally ill rulers dictate the destruction of entire countries – their art, literature and science – in the name of resisting interference in domestic affairs, and by keeping borders open for those chased away. The mass moral hysteria of Hungarian political conservativism is the driving force of the cold civil war that has been battering Hungary since 2002. Is there a way out for Europe from the mess it has created?

Die Zeit.

[democratisphere]

1. Very sad state for Hungary and the rest of the world.

[Stargazer09]

2. Scary

I can only hope that something positive will happen soon. Our world deserves better.

[JohnZSmith]

3. Blame game.

So it's all the EU's fault for being too lenient and for being too strict, rather than Hungary's fault for being too ignorant and allowing it to happen. Sorry, not buying it.

The author seems hysterical and scatterbrained.

[MBS]

4. Agreed.

Orbán and Hungary did this to themselves.Which makes their turn toward fascism even more of a cautionary tale for us.

[WhiteTara]

6. trump and America are doing it to us

right in plain sight. Scary indeed.

[MBS]

7. you bet.

If anything, people aren't scared enough. It's high time the American people reclaimed our country from these dark forces.

[StevieM]

9. I would argue that Trump is not the cause...he is the symptom.

We would be barreling towards fascism, even if at a slower rate, under any Republican. Maybe having Trump as the 2016 GOP nominee moved up the time table, but it was always going to be bad.

Besides, it was the move towards fascism that led the GOP to nominate Trump to begin with. They were determined to elect someone who would do the best job of validating their hatred.

[dalton99a]

5. Kick

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

8. Checks and Balances?

I am honestly curious about the checks and balances built into the foundations of both the EU and the member governments.

I realize the checks in the US Constitution are limited in the current situation by the moral cowardice of the republican leadership in the House (until this year) and the Senate (ongoing). The Legislative Branch has to choose to use their oversight and removal powers to check the runaway Executive. THey have chosen not to do so in order to get what political gains they can out of the situation. On the other hand the Judicial branch has been active in stopping or at least slowing Executive overreach.

I would hope that ultimately the powers of these two co-equal branches, along with executive workers (civil servants and military members) of good conscience will stop us from losing our democracy completely and will help restore it eventually.

My question is what are the institutional forces in various European countries to help prevent this sort of slide into despotism?