Click here for the original.
peter kabai
Monday 20 February 2012
Friday 17 February 2012
Star of David in breechcloth
Letters from Turkey
My
dearest Aunt,
I
am happy you joined the Peace March, a little walking does wonders
for your health at your age. However, I can't figure out what the
message of that demonstration was. I understand Zsolt Bayer, one of
the chief organisers told BBC:
"I
would call it a march for peace, to show the government it is not
alone, he said, and to show the European Union that we don't like how
they are treating it."
OK, fair enough.
“a
march for peace” – is Hungary at war or threatened by war?
“the
government is not alone” - less than 2 years following a democratic
election one can hope the government is not alone
we
don't like how the EU is treating Hungary – not too specific, and
as there were no speeches we should rely on the banners.
The
main message carried by the chief organisers reads: We will not be a
colony!
I
can only agree with that, Hungary should not be a colony. But who
wants to colonise this country?
It
is very clear from the following banners. There are two enemies –
probably acting in alliance. The European Union and Goldman Sachs.
According
to the banners the EU = CCCP, that is the Soviet Union,
and the
invaders should go home, well, that we have known that for a very long time (ROMANES EUNT DOMUS)
.
.
How the European Union could go home bugs my
mind. Where is the home of the EU? Hungary is a member, is it not? Am I missing something?
The Piece March seems to suggest an analogy between the pressure by the EU on the high-speed acts of the Orban government and the crushing of the 1956 revolution by the Soviets. That analogy may explain why the crowd felt they have to march for peace. Hungary is uprising, and as a consequence faces bloody retributon. As in 56. In 1956 the crowds demanded that Russians go home. That made sense, Russion troops liberated Hungary from the Nazis and then did not find their way back home and stayed in Hungary as "temporary" occupiers. Rusky go ho,me made sense, and of course nobody demanded the state of the "Soviet Union go home" - as now the crowd wanted the European Union to leave. But then a banner reading "Europeans go home" would be explicitly schizophrenic. I see only one way to solve the axymoran and that is to demand the government to break with the EU.
The Piece March seems to suggest an analogy between the pressure by the EU on the high-speed acts of the Orban government and the crushing of the 1956 revolution by the Soviets. That analogy may explain why the crowd felt they have to march for peace. Hungary is uprising, and as a consequence faces bloody retributon. As in 56. In 1956 the crowds demanded that Russians go home. That made sense, Russion troops liberated Hungary from the Nazis and then did not find their way back home and stayed in Hungary as "temporary" occupiers. Rusky go ho,me made sense, and of course nobody demanded the state of the "Soviet Union go home" - as now the crowd wanted the European Union to leave. But then a banner reading "Europeans go home" would be explicitly schizophrenic. I see only one way to solve the axymoran and that is to demand the government to break with the EU.
So instead
of uprising, Hungary could leave the club elegantly without breaking the Chinaware – which was
not possible under Soviet rule. But probably most Hungarians want to
stay. I could catch but a single banner suggesting to break with the EU:
“Shall
we be members or free?
EU No!“ paraphrasing the National Poem by Pefőfi: “Shall
we be slaves or free?”
But
nothing is lost yet. We have hope. In whom we trust? Even though the
organisers said the crowd will march in support of the government
there was not a single banner I could find on the internet praising
the government or any member of that body. Not even the President of
the State, supposedly Dr. Pál Schmitt,
who supposedly embodies the unity of the nation and represents
Hungary according to Article 9 of the Fundamental Law.
Pro banners only for the prime minister, Mr. Viktor Orban, the inventor of a new era rightfully coined (by me) as Viktorian. We love you Viktor. We are with you! Orban is right!
He is for us, we are for him. Thank you
Viktor!
I am Orban too (whatever that might mean).
And
Hungarians should not be lectured on democracy or conditions of loans
because the EU, IMF even the USA are toddlers compared to Hungary.
Hungary: 1116 years old. Impressive.
I regret the banner stops there. It could have gone on like this:
Ancient
Rome: 2800+ years
Ancient
Greece: 3300+ years
Ancient
Egypt: 5050+ years
You
see my dear aunt the older the culture the deeper the shit they are in.
Hungary should be happy to be so young compared to Grece, you can still pay
the teachers and your politicians for a while.
Who
is responsible for the dept, who is the arch enemy?
Goldman Sachs of course. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc is a huge investment banking firm and the sound of their name is
enough to blame them for the misery of Hungary. The sound of their
name, because in reality the majority of the government bonds are actually owned by Franklin Templeton Investments. But see, this looks impressive:
This tells it all:
but replace Goldman Sachs with Franklin Templeton, it just doesn't sound right.
Oh Lord, save us from Franklin Templeton? Not powerful at all. I do not know why, it just isn't.
One of the best banners I think is the one pinpointing the obvious but obscured connection among EU, men without balls and Cohn Bendit.
Oh Lord, save us from Franklin Templeton? Not powerful at all. I do not know why, it just isn't.
One of the best banners I think is the one pinpointing the obvious but obscured connection among EU, men without balls and Cohn Bendit.
It reads: We are still EU members, but lest we should be eunuchs like that stinky beast Cohn Bendit. Brilliant! First of all it is elegant for playing with the words. EU - eunuchs, wonderful and does bear some truth in it. Second, it is extremely sensitive and polite, because they called Cohn Bendit a beast and not a swine, which would not be kosher at all.
However, the
winner of the banner competition for me is this one:
In
some Muslim countries the Star of David would
not be covered but proudly shown and then burned obligatoryly. Perhaps that is also true for some European countries at demonstrations of Nazis or the extreme right. However, in any democratic
European country a crowd supporting its conservative government such a banner would not be tolerated. Conservative gentlemen simply don't behave like that. They would take that as a provocation. I just wonder about the nature of negotiation on the case of the Star of David - which was worn by hundreds of thousands in Hungary and not as a fashion item and not very long ago. Did the organisers say: "OK, we
agree but please do not show it to the foreign press. Cover it with
something. Adam and Eve wore breechloths, so it should be no offence to Jews." I do not know how this banner got there and how it was transformed, but this story is sad and funny at the same time. Hungarians do have a sense of Monty Python type British humor, for semi-covering the star and demanding the USA, the Union and Izrael (or Jews in general?) to go home (What have the Romans...).
Many
banners read that Hungary is a democracy.
[We are].from heart and soul (with very small characters right above "e") Hungarian democrats
I think Hungary is a democratic country. But for how
long?
This
is the link to the Unites States Constitution:
http://www.house.gov/house/Constitution/Constitution.html
Read it carefully: Constitution.html and not Constitution_Republican_Party.html
This
is the official link to the Hungarian Fundamental Law at the Parliamental Portal:
http://www.parlament.hu/angol/alaptv_angol_fidesz.pdf
which
translates as /fundlaw_english_FIDESZ.pdf, where Fidesz is the party of
Viktor Orban. Interestingly, the name of the file suggests that the official Fundamental Law is a Fidesz version. Were there any others? Of course not. Perhaps they just wanted to emphasise their copy right to their Constitution.
By the time you receive my letter they may correct that (again, sad and funny) mistake. Letters travel slow these days. It is extremely cold here and the caravans are hold back by heavy snow, camels have very little forage left.
By the time you receive my letter they may correct that (again, sad and funny) mistake. Letters travel slow these days. It is extremely cold here and the caravans are hold back by heavy snow, camels have very little forage left.
I
hope you are in good health, please join every march – there will
be quite a few – to stay fit.
Yours, as ever,
Kelemen
Thursday 2 February 2012
Hardly any influential foreign journalists understand the Hungarian language. Unfortunately.
Letters
from Turkey
My
dear Aunt,
the
Batthyány Society of Professors issued a logical explanation why
„The
reproachful attitude towards Hungary has spread”.
Do they
„imply
that the politicians and institutions of the world collude in doing
injustice to this country? Well, not exactly. In fact, it is pretty
sure that all false allegations spread from within this country...”
[i.e. Hungary]
Pretty sure, the professors say. See,
you can't catch me, I can give you examples of conspirational
theories from any hue of the spectra if you wish.
So
why would politicians and institutions of the world attack Hungary so
reproachfully? Because “Unfortunately, hardly any influential
foreign journalists understand the Hungarian language”.
Now this is
truly unfortunate, we should do something about it, perhaps
education, such as, will help our nation are. I
thought this line of explanation was copyrighted by Miss Teen South
Caroline (US Americans don't have maps) but no, it was not, it is being used by conservative university professors. I
know you are busy with Öcsi (I wish he gets better) so do not read the whole document but the
“Explanation” section consisting of three short paragraphs.
The
first paragraph says that since foreign journalists do not read
Hungarian they indiscriminately accept the false allegations spread
by the Hungarian opposition. Why do they not accept the truth from
the mouth of the government? For that to understand you need to study
the second paragraph which gives you the brief history of the
Socialist Party – including the family matters of a former prime
minister who “married the grand-daughter of an arch-Stalinist”.
Why is the marriage of Mr. Gyurcsány crucial in understanding the
false allegations made by Ms. Clinton, Mr. Barroso and the IMF? That
is unequivocally revealed by the third paragraph: under communism
“these people [referring to Hungarian journalists, I guess]
developed strong links with their colleagues in the western press and
other institutions (perhaps even to intelligence services) [sic!],
and they are still able to use these links to serve the interest of
their political side.”
Now
wait a minute! What breed of Hungarian journalists – under
communist rule - would risk a death sentence for developing strong
links to institutions and intelligence services of the “enemy”.
The communists? Bogs my mind! (And please do not come with the double
agent argument, because I shoot back with my triple agent theory.)
Anyway,
the heart of the problem is the complete ignorance of the Hungarian
language by leading politicians of the world. See, if Ms. Clinton or
Mr. Barroso could somehow turboprop [I know this is a noun] their understanding of the
Hungarian language, they would be propelled to under
the Tree of Enlightenment in no time. But Ms. Clinton and Mr. Barroso are unable to do so, because they don't have maps, as such.
If they could get a hang of Hungarian they
would revoke their false allegations with due apologies, and of
course they would feel to be obliged to fire their expert advisors
who developed strong links with the communists some 30 years ago. And
are still under the influence.
When Ocsi gets better (anyway, does sitting by
him non-stop really help your dog?) you could read the whole text, a
real diamond in the publication coal mine of the Hungarian
professorate. This is what education is all about: there is good,
there is evil and the difference between the two is clearly marked by
the superabundance of adverbly adjectives [I know my place in
English grammar].
If I am 100% right, what I am endlessly, I do not need to understand the arguments of the other side, because those must be ridiculous - because they are wrong. If I am right, what I am. Understanding their motifs and secret tactics is time spent well, because that helps me to win the case.
The
headline of the document is: “(Mis)Judgement on Hungary”. I think the full title should read "(Miss Teen South Carolina's) Judgement on Hungary".
What
did the vet say? You can always get a new one. I mean a new vet!
Bye now, I love you
Tuesday 31 January 2012
Hysterism against racism
Letters from Turkey
My dear Aunt,
I am with you on that point. Moreover,
you do not need rocket science to create a package of some
cherry-picked solid facts, a bit of exaggeration sprinkled with
morsels of blatant lies and you have a set of arguments which can be
used for or against any cause. The more emotional and the less
rational, the better. And once you launch your package, bits will be
picked up, reproduced, modified and disseminated, a self-organising
campaign will emerge if seeded properly. After a while nobody will
know what the facts and who the sources are.
Fukuyama's eloquently written analysis
of the emerging (rather sinking) soft dictatorship in Hungary
contains some factual errors. Somebody somewhere must have stated
that the retirement age of constitutional judges was lowered and this
comes back again and again as an incriminating evidence, although it
it not true. And this is from a philosopher, a scientist, who works
from facts.
So no wonder, people who do not make a
living of studying facts and are emotionally involved in some issue
make more mistakes. Take as an example the serial murders of the Roma
in Hungary between July
2008 and August 2009. The first attacks were not sufficiently
investigated by the police either because of racist prejudice,
laziness or apathy. No matter what the reason might have been, it
was a gross professional error. But unfortunately this is repeated
all over the world: attacks against the poor are never examined so
thoroughly as attacks against the rich and infamous. Not just
negligence, but the repeated crimes committed against the Roma by the Roma also increased the threshold of the authorities. Brutal fights
erupt from time to time between Roma families, sometimes guns are
shut. Loan sharks regularly intimidate non-paying customers by
shooting at their houses or beating them up.
Nobody died in the first four attacks (of the series as we know now)
many people – including myself - thought these were acts of
intimidation by loan sharks. February 23, 2009. was a turning point
in the attitude because that day a five year old child was murdered
in the most brutal way. Roma loan sharks do not execute 5 year old kids. Nazis do. However, the police saw no connection among the attacks until their similarities became obvious: at the edge of the villages houses of poor Roma
families were put in flame by Molotov cocktails, escaping people, young and old were shot at indiscriminately.
Still, eyes of the investigators were
blurred and if you read the last paragraph of the report from that
time
you would see why. If the attacks were
not committed by Roma loan sharks, than they must have been done by
the anti-Roma Hungarian Guard. So this is the crowd you have to watch
to find the murderers.
The FBI helped the police to set the
profiles of these coward criminals who were finally tracked by cell
phone data. Although they did not use their phones at the scenes,
they were not smart enough to turn them off, or leave them at home.
Four men were arrested. They do not
seem to have any affiliation with political parties or with the
openly anti-Roma Hungarian Guard banned in 2009. Interestingly, one
of the accused had been under surveillance since 2004 because of his open,
militant racist remarks. The Office reported that surveillance was
halted in early 2008, interestingly, just when the group started to
get arms. According to other sources the surveillance lasted until
August 8, the very day of the attack at Piricse.
Another suspect of the four gentlemen
worked as an informator for the military intelligence and reportedly
made remarks that he could help to track the murderers for the hefty
reward. That notion was not picked up by his link.
The case is not yet closed, surprises
may arise. But even now, we know for fact that one of the guys was
practically an agent for the military and the other suspect was
watched closely right until he would have deserved an even closer
surveillance. Nothing else is needed for a conspiracy theory: The
government was involved in the murders in some way, either by
initiating them, or at least by not halting them until the whole
world watched Hungary. Is our package of facts done to prove the
racist attitude of the Orban government? Not really, because all this
happened during the previous government. I am sorry.
How are these events interpreted by the
great pianist Andras Schiff in an interview given following a
conference on anti-Semitism in Hungary?
“Aber
es ist auch ein moralisches Problem. Es gab und gibt offene Pogrome
gegen Roma, die von der Polizei und der Justiz überhaupt nicht oder
nur sehr schwach geahndet werden. Die bewaffneten Garden der
Jobbik-Partei zünden Roma-Siedlungen an und die Polizei greift nicht
ein. Ein Vater kommt mit seinem kleinen Kind auf dem Arm aus einem
brennenden Haus und wird von den Jobbik-Leuten mit Maschinenpistolen
niedergeschossen.“
He
basically says there is a moral problem: open pogroms have been going
on against the Roma and the authorities watch them with folded arms.
Members of the Jobbik (a radical right wing party in the Hungarian
and European Parliement) kill a child with machine guns etc.
Non
of it is true. There were no “pogroms” - and to use the term
pogrom is especially unfortunate in a German newpaper. What happened
in 2011 was frightening, but nothing like a pogrom. Although the
socialist government banned the Hungarian Guard, that paramilitary
organisation was able to get reborn anew under a different name. That
allowed them to move into a village and march on the streets in
uniform to intimidate the local Roma population. Until a new law
constructed by the Orban government was accepted by the Parliament
these thugs were just marching up and down. And then it was over, and
unlike during the previous government you do not see groups dressed
in black uniforms marching anywhere. It is over, thanks to Mr.
Orban, the man I am not a fan of.
Hysteria
is true emotions evoked by false facts. Political hysteria on one
side elicits hysteria on the other side. Hysteria is a dialogue stopper. There is nothing to discuss. Should you present all the
evidence to Mr. Schiff to make him see that his facts are wrong, he
might say, all right, all right, but still I can feel Hungary is a
racist country. Should you present all the facts to the extreme
right, that the language of the Jobbik in the Parliament is
anti-Semitic, even if it is coded, you could not rock their
conviction that the attacks against, well, Hungary (? Orbán, the
Sacred Crown?) is led by the international Jewry.
It
is convenient to keep this style of arguments, because that does not
force anyone to do anything. For the Roma, for example. Roma are poor
because of the racist discrimination by Hungarians. No, the Roma are
poor because laziness is encoded in their genes.
Either
case, the authorities are not responsible. Society as a whole is not responsible.
And
it is a killer of everything. For a Berliner (like like Bobby Kennedy)
pogroms, communities in flame, children massacred by machine guns as portrayed by Mr. Schiff should ring a bell: it is like hell, nazi Germany. And I do not want to live as my father did under (or for) Hitler. I'll never ever go to Hungary, bye Balaton.
For the crypto anti-every-race-but-us-Huns that type of argument based on false facts is the betrayal of your mother(father)land. And tragically, there seems to be no middle ground.
When
will they ever learn? Sung by my love at grandma age:
Best
to you.
P.S.
I remember, we've had that. Again, I am not suggesting that communists
and Nazis, the extreme left and the extreme right are equal when racism is considered. I just
do not want hysteria to be the language of discussion (óξύμωρον
– oxymoron)
I love you, but I have to go.
I love you, but I have to go.
Monday 30 January 2012
We are proud, we hold, we are us, Huns
Letters
from Turkey
My
dear Aunt,
I
suggest we should really move on from the Fundamental Law of Hungary
to more fundamental questions, such as the tragic shortage of
geographical maps in the US of America.
Americans
need our help if we can find them on this Globe without maps!
I know
you and I knew you would cherish this text. Why does it bug your mind
that I am not so enthusiastic about it? Also, why do you feel to be
personally offended by some EU politicians coining the Law as
nationalistic rather than patriotic. You did not write this! You do
not have to identify with this! And then you must of course ,
because you are first of all a member of communities, religious,
ethnic, cultural – and only then an independent individual. The Law
eloquently summerises this: “We
hold that individual freedom can only be complete in cooperation with
others.”. But I hold that true cooperation with others can only be
based on individual freedom. Scratch cooperation in lack of
individual freedom and you find coercion. Do you see the difference?
I am
first of all an individual
(as we
are all different: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVygqjyS4CA)
Five
year old Johnny loves his mother, moreover, he IS in love – he
promised to marry her when he grows up. You ask him why, he tells you
that Mom is the kindest, the most beautiful, the whateverist. And it
may sound odd but true, if you listen to the little men at the
playground you might hear them competing on the beauty of their
mothers or strength of their fathers (gender stereotypes – I know -
but that is not the point here). They may even fight over the issue,
little 5 year olds, whose mother is the cutest.
But
little children, chimps or ducklings do not love Mom for her beauty.
It is the other way around. They see her beautiful because they love
her. So simple. The need to get attached to the caregiver is
hardwired in their brain. This is the basis for imprinting learning.
Now, you may love your mother-tongue, your home, your village, your
contry, your religion, your nation, your culture, fine. But to
appreciate all this you do not need to prove your stuff is superior
over my stuff. You were simply brought up in this, you are imprinted,
enjoy.
So
please do not give me a list of things you are proud of to make me
compete.
“We
are proud of the outstanding intellectual achievements of the
Hungarian people.” Outstanding, compared to whom? Us Turks? We
built steam baths in Buda (still working) at the time when even kings
of Europe did not clean their genitals regularly.
“We
are proud that this people fought in defense of Europe for many
centuries...” Well, in defense of whom? Again, us Turks? If you
look at the map, seriously, which power was in between the Ottoman
Empire and Europe at that time? The Huns? Of course not, they were
the Hapsburgs.
And we
could go on and on. I love you more than fighting over words. You
happen to like sentences starting with “shell be obliged” and I
don't. You seem to love statements with deep emotional charge, I
don't. I love facts, you do not mind. You are a painter, I am in
math. I am free, and you are sinking into soft dictatorship without
noticing it. At the beginning. Holding your breath does not help.
Keep an oxygen tank at hand. And honey for your cup of tea.
Still
love you, but let us find some common grounds, bye...
Sunday 29 January 2012
Adult children shall be obliged to look after their parents
Letters from
Turkey
My dear Aunt,
sure, there must
be great passages in the Fundamental Law. Even among the few picked
at random I found a sentence both important in practical terms and
elevated ethically.
Although it is
another obligation (of which there might be more than of rights in
the Law), I fully endorse it.
Article
XVI
(4)
Adult children shall be obliged to look after their parents if they
are in need.
Now, I have adult children and
I am in need. Great need. As in this case there is no reference to a
law to be written I take the obligation at flat value, my children
should look after me unconditionally, period. That is good news.
That is the practical
part, but the morality of that message is more important. A true
Christian idea, no ifs and buts. Adult children shall be obliged even
if they were physically assaulted, abused, raped, sodomised,
neglected, maltreated or simply unloved. The Fundamental Law of
Hungary would oblige Elisabeth Fritzle to help poor Joseph, who is
indeed in need serving his sentence.
A short paragraph and still
embraces the essence of Christian morality: forgiveness and
unconditional love.
I really have to go now, please do your homework (remember?), love.
"Property shall entail social responsibility"
Letters from
Turkey
My dear Aunt,
the Fundamental
Law does reflect a philosophy or at least a viewpoint, a way of
thinking. Not necessarily coherently, but it does. Again, I have no
problem with that, it is simply not the kind of text I would read
every night before going to bed.
You
write I misinterpreted Article O: „Every person shall be
responsible for his or herself, and shall be obliged to contribute to
the performance of state and community tasks to the best of his or
her abilities and potential.”
See, this is in
line with article XII obliging you to contribute:
Article
XII
(1)
... Every person shall be obliged to contribute to the
community’s
enrichment
with his or her work to the best of his or her abilities and
potential.
This
is not a mistake. This is philosophy. So what if you don contribute?
What if you do not want to contribute with your work for the
enrichment? You do not want, because you happen to be selfish, or
autistic, or simply dislike the community. It does not matter a bit,
you shall be obliged to work for the community by the Fundamental Law
carved in concrete as only a 2/3s majority can change it.
And
here is a weird one, Article XIII which obliges not only the persons,
but the property itself (could be poor translation, how would I
know).
Article
XIII
(1)
.... Property shall entail social responsibility.
So what if my
property does not entail? Will it be confiscated (just kidding).
Again, I have not read the Law and probably will never read it.
I just picked some
sentences at random. Basically, I can classify the text into two
categories: poetic text without concrete meaning, or factual
statement on something which could be regulated by a simple law.
Here
is a poetic one: “In
order to create and maintain peace and security, and to achieve the
sustainable development of humanity, Hungary shall strive for
cooperation with every nation and
country
of the world.” Why? Why should Hungary strive for cooperation with
North Korea?
And
here is an example for the other kind: “With the exception of the
President of the Curia, no judge may serve who is older than the
general retirement age.” So what if 120 years from today there would be a shortage of judges? Hungary simply running out of them? You will
not be able to ask a 65 year old judge to stay in office for another
5 years unless you change the Fundamental Law. True? Not quite. You
can change the definition of “serving”.
The
same happened to the definition of flat rate taxation. Hungarians pay
16% flat rate tax, which for many means more than 16%, because
strangely they do not pay taxes after their income, but after their
income + certain percent of their income. So that 16% carved in a
cardinal law becomes 20-30 or whatever percent. Prof. Fukuyama is
right, not institutions but good practice guaranty democracy. But
again I would add, until unwritten conventions evolve the laws should
be scrutinised, and compliance with the law should be checked. Why
don't you sue your government for taking more that 16% of your
income?
I
really have to go now, love.
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