Last weekend, as Poles set out to elect their next president, Europe’s ideological divisions were thrown into sharp relief. In one corner, the incumbent Andrzej Duda — a man indicative of Eastern Europe’s growing conservatism — standing on a platform of nationalistic populism. In the other, Rafal Trzaskowski, a Europhile liberal and defender of minority rights.

Who Won Poland’s Election, Duda or Trzaskowski?

With the first-round votes counted, neither one had reached the requisite 50% (Duda took just under 44% of the vote, while Trzaskowski recorded just over 30%), triggering a runoff ballot to be held on July 12.

The decision ahead of Poles reflects a far wider crisis of unity afflicting Europe: the rise of nationalist governments who have generated controversy over their approach to press freedom and the rule of law in the East, versus the enduring liberal traditions of the West.

Though more moderate than, say, Serbia’s president Aleksandar Vucic or Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Duda has much in common with these right-wing leaders.

Taking a Look at PiS

Poland’s ruling Law & Justice Party (PiS) — with which he is aligned — is wedded to a program of state transformation, including new laws that limit media freedoms and punish judges who are considered to have inaccurately maligned the government or ruled by activist sympathies. As president, Duda has waved through these measures, chipping away at Poland’s democratic credentials.

Yet, the 48-year-old still clearly enjoys significant support, even though he failed to meet the 50% threshold for a first-round triumph.

Duda’s Popularity is in Decline

Duda’s popularity is in decline, however. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, he looked set for a stonking victory. But the government’s lackluster performance on the pandemic and recent allegations of corruption have seen his support base ebb away.

The emergence of Trzaskowski — Warsaw’s cosmopolitan mayor — as a viable candidate has also stung the incumbent. Perturbed at the country’s trajectory under PiS’s brand of nationalistic conservatism, many Poles have turned to Trzaskowski in the hope that he will be a check and balance against the PiS’s right-wing policies. As president, the Warsaw man would have an effective veto on government legislation.

Gay Rights Becomes a Focal Point

Startled by Trzaskowski’s striking rise in the polls, Duda’s campaign shifted gears in the weeks running up to the first-round vote, forcing the conversation onto social issues. The rights of LGBT people has been a particularly fierce battleground.

Seeking support from Poland’s rural, Catholic voter base which remains staunchly against same-sex marriage — Duda has played the family values card, promising to protect the nation against the proliferation of “LGBT ideology.”

A strong supporter of gay rights, Trzaskowski has offered Poles a very different vision with regard to equality. Elements of the media — which various mainstream and left-leaning analysts say is largely under the thumb of the administration — have sought to turn this against the moderate candidate. Sieci, a pro-PiS weekly magazine, recently published a front-cover depicting a hooded Trzaskowski wearing a rainbow armband, with the caption: “the extremist candidate”.

What Happens Next?

This attempted character assassination appears not to have worked, however. By taking 30% of the vote, Trzaskowski has secured himself a strong position for the second-round runoff. Indeed, if electoral polling is to be trusted, he — not Duda — is the odds-on favorite to win the deciding ballot next month.

That would send a strong signal that Eastern Europe still holds dear the core democratic values upon which the continent is built.

L'articolo Poland’s Presidential Race Reflects Europe’s East-West Ideological Divide proviene da InsideOver.

“Sometimes I passed by there by my sheep and dogs, but there is nothing special to see. It’s just a pile of bricks”. This was how a local driver introduced me to the palace of the last king of the mighty Sassanid Dynasty, the last pre-Islamic kingdom of Iran. “We go there out of boredom as here no one sells, eats, or milks the sheep, but what else is there?” he added. However, seeing I keep asking questions of not only the palace but the very fact that why on earth they should raise sheep without using them, he proposed: “The public mini-bus doesn’t come often and sometimes randomly; get in my car.”

And that’s how I get to one of the least known parts of Iran to hear their unique story and beliefs.

‘This Land is Cursed’

Every now and then, our blue truck reached a small village with humble mostly stone-made houses. However, unlike other parts of the country, I couldn’t see many herds of animals in these areas. He explained: “This land is cursed; randomly people raise some just as a hobby, but you can’t use them in any way.”

The driver sounds uncomfortable to give more details, his eyes were tired and soulless when he started to talk about this, and I couldn’t ask anything more. Mountains over four thousand meters high were blocking the view beside the roads, oak forests were home to so many squirrels and birds who were jumping around, and while many rivers in Iran ran dry by lack of water, here the wild water was made it an ideal rafting playground. 

I don’t know how long it took till the car halted at the very last village in that way. “Road meets the border!” I thought to myself, knowing that the next village is across these mountain ranges and in Iraq. 

The driver didn’t turn off the engine; Instead, he just indicated the peak of the mountain and noted “There you go, that’s where Yazgird palace is located; enjoy!” He turned his car back and didn’t even ask for a fee. I didn’t know he came all this way just for me. 

‘Where Have You Come From?’

“Tea?” inquired an Old man with a long white mustache that covered his mouth, and a crutch under his left arm; he was cleaning in front of his house with a broom and water. “Hi, come and drink a tea; Where have you come from?” completed his offer. I replied to his welcoming voice and greeted him back. A boy who could hardly move his hand and leg was playing with another disabled boy near his house. A few meters further on, another boy was running after a wheel, although he could hardly run and one of his hands was twice the size of the other.

Why is it like this, so many handicapped residents at first sight? I wondered.

“What brings you here?” asked the old man while pouring the tea from a kettle that he had beside the door, and took some cubes of sugar from the pocket of his dusty suit that probably was grey when he had just bought it, but now was more or less white.

 “By destiny or chance, whichever you believe”, I answered. 

‘You Are Not My Guest, but God’s’

“Destiny, destiny brings you here my younger brother” the old man replied. “You know something?  You are not my guest, but God’s. I have the honor to have you in my house. But all that had brought you here were just by God’s demands.”

I smiled back and started to drink my tea. He broke the silence:

 “Where do you come from?”

 “From the other side of the country, Mashhad”, I answered. 

The old man smiled and said: 

“Oh, dear Mashhad, I always wanted to go there and visit the shrine of Imam Reza and pray, but I never had a chance so far”. He made a big sigh. Imam Reza’s shrine is the biggest Shiite shrine located in my home city about 2000 kilometers away from their village. However, I knew this part of the country most people believe in Sunni Islam which means they usually don’t visit these kinds of shrines or at least not raise it as a wish in their first talk with a stranger.

“You need to visit me back there then” I smiled. “I didn’t know here there are Shiite villages too?” I commented.

“No, we are not Shiite; we are followers of the Yaresan religion. But Imam Reza is part of our religion too,” he explained, leaving me with a shock from hearing about a religion that I had never even heard of before. Seeing my curiosity he continued:

“Imam Reza is a truly holy man, we love him; he had David’s soul” he added.

“David’s soul? What do you mean?”, I asked him in surprise.

“Oh, my son… it’s hard to explain, we believe the human soul moves from a body to the other after their death. David is one of our holy men, and his soul was the reincarnation of Michael, the archangel” he explained. ”Human beings go through a cycle of 1,001 incarnations. During this process, they may become more purified based on their actions”.

He explained all this, trying to help me digest the new knowledge. 

‘I Never Shaved My Mustache in My Life and I Never Will’

I started to drink my tea; so did the old man. He needed to push his mustache up using four fingers, so he could make the tea reach his lips. “One should protect his words; that’s why I never shaved my mustache in my life, and I never will. I’ll sleep under the dirt with it.” he explained another part of their belief system with a smile.

 “By the way, whoever I’ve seen in this village is handicapped. Is there any special reason or background?” I finally asked.

The old man put his empty cup back on the saucer, whispered, and stood up and went to his small kitchen without saying a word. He brought a few fruits and put them in a plastic bag:

 “It’s a long tragic story, do you want to hear?” I nodded and he continued “Then let’s walk around, we can talk outside”.

An eagle was circling the Yazgerd fortress on the peak of the mountain. Adding the red sunset of that day was made it even easier to guess it used to be a very strong and enormous castle in its time.

“Have you heard of the chemical bombs that Iraq used during its war with us?”

‘The German Government, Then, Generously Supplied Saddam’s Regime with Chemical Weapons’

He broke my imagination from the last days of the Sassanid Empire and brought it to the last days of the eight years of war with Iraq. I’ve read the permanent protest sign in front of the German embassy in Tehran “The German government, then, generously supplied Saddam’s regime with chemical weapons…”. But this man has lived the history that I read so briefly, and I could see he feels limited by words to explain what he had experienced.

He told me of a time airplanes came…. Ooooooovaaaaaaaaaaaaah… and when they started dropping huge bombs, one just in the center of their small village and some in their farms… Pah, Pah, BOOOOMB!… and when they suddenly realize those were chemical bombs… “RUN… RUN, DON’T BREATH!!!” …MOOOOVE… and when one of the planes crashed and fell on his farm. BAM! He even told me of the time they captured one of the pilots and about his confession. “We were forced to come back without our chemical bombs, we should have dropped them somewhere else … and we didn’t want to fly far!” the pilot begged them. He told me that they could neither leave nor live there, chemical bombs had destroyed their fields. He told me how people drove their sheep and cows far away from the village to let them eat normal grass! Although they could not eat the meat nor drink its milk, because it would not be healthy. 

‘War Hasn’t Finished Yet For Us’

“But how did this cause these children to become handicapped?” I asked.

“You don’t know about chemical bombs yet, do you?”He made a bitter smile. “War hasn’t finished yet for us, neither for our children. Births of more than half the children here begin with serious diseases. Chemical bombs are in our blood, in our land, we couldn’t emit it yet … we will not get out of it in this life, neither will our children nor maybe even our grandchildren!” he explained.

The sun had already set. The sounds of wolves could be heard around the area. The man asked me to stay the night in his place, and I had no way to decline. At his home, I played with his disabled son and thought of how history had dragged on for them this long. The next day, I’m not sure why, but I couldn’t convince myself to visit the palace which was still waiting on the peak. 7

“History is down here, why should I visit there?” I thought to myself: “After all, it’s just a pile of bricks”.

L'articolo The Story of the Generations Who Were Shot in Advance proviene da InsideOver.

Gotham City was real — at least for a few days. Fires, looting, destruction, murder, mayhem, anarchism engulfed many cities and states in the biggest democracy on the planet. The Joker would have been proud, while Martin Luther King had to be turning over in his grave as anarchists and left-wing terrorists usurped his cause and under the false guise of protecting and furthering his legacy, tried to break the United States and push it into the flames of all-out civil war.

Turning Protests Violent

To be honest and fair with history, it is not the first time that certain violent groups infiltrate protests to further their agendas. It is not a secret that anarchist organizations, left-wing activists and billionaire philanthropists have as a goal the total destruction of the emblem of democracy and rule of law: the United States of America. They are on record admitting this, so it is neither a conspiracy nor an exaggeration.

These groups work behind the shadows to segregate people based on their race, sexual orientation, ideology and gender. In doing so, their aim is to pit the different societal groups they have created against one another. They try to make everything in our lives, including every conflict and each misunderstanding about race and gender. The brainwashing that occurs makes it possible to divide the world into victims and oppressors. This ideology states that if one is white then one is bad. White people should shut up and be discredited if they do speak up. If you are a straight white male in America, but also in Europe, you are by definition the oppressor. You are made to feel like you have committed the most egregious of sins. The media, which survives and enriches itself from the money of these groups, pushes this way of thinking and the brainwashing continues. The Democratic Party in America, and all political parties on the left embrace this divisive strategy. It was the Democratic Senator from Hawaii that during the Brett Kavanaugh hearings said all men should shut up just because they are men — an outrageously incendiary and prejudicial comment.

The Authoritarian Left Playbook: Divide and Conquer

This division and this ideology are the racist ones. They breathe life into the fires of division and hatred. There is nothing stronger than the love for family, country, neighbor, anthem, flag and tradition. However, if you put people into groups, if you segregate them into racial and gender categories and if you teach them to think into these terms, it is easier to divide them and ruin their country. This is the reason America is burning today. By brainwashing people into thinking they are victims, it is easier to rule over them and make them do your bidding. This is the strategy of the left. It wants certain groups of people to think they are weak, because once they understand their potential for greatness, they will choose what is best for them.

What happened with George Floyd was pure murder and nobody, in the US or elsewhere, disputed that. It was a terrible, tragic, heartbreaking event. His murder was condemned from the highest offices of Washington, to the simplest citizen. President Trump urged that those responsible face justice immediately, while expressing his condolences and sorrow for what happened. Police officers everywhere condemned their killer colleagues without hesitation. The perpetrators were immediately fired. It was the perfect opportunity for everyone to come together as a nation and mourn Floyd, make sure his killers received the harshest punishment under the law and discuss how to confront violence and root out the corruption that is inside the police.

Are there bad cops? Of course, there are. There are corrupt policemen and policewomen who kill whites and blacks. In fact, according to the official statistics, they kill more whites than blacks. Why not address the causes of violence? There are ways to identify the bad cops and prevent these cases. The Wall Street Journal had an op-ed piece providing a solution to this. However, bad cops are a very small percentage. The idea that a black person cannot go out of their homes without fear of being killed due to racism is false and ill-intentioned. I am not alone in saying this! Larry Elder, a black attorney, Martin Luther King Jr.;s niece Alveda King and many other respected people from the black community have consistently sought to dispel this myth.

Black On Black Crime is a Deadly Serious Problem

On the other hand, it is also true that blacks are the ones who kill more blacks. Where are these far-left organizations such as Black Lives Matter in the black neighborhoods? Why have they not done anything to improve the lives of the black community, build schools for them, and make their communities safer? Why is black on black crime higher in states run by Democrats – the very ones who claim to have the best interest of this community at heart? The ongoing black on black murder rate in Chicago and Baltimore is one of the most horrendous and tragic things in America. These crimes go unsolved and the individuals many times do not have the resources to hire lawyers. This increases their belief that the system is stacked against them.

However, we should remember that they are worse-off in states led by the left. Why has the welfare state created by the left wing President Lyndon B. Johnson not helped black people? Moreover, why unemployment of the black community dropped to record level only when a Republican President took office? We have on one hand the identity politics rhetoric of the left who wants the votes of the black community and for them to be dependent on the government and on the other we have the conservative solution of letting them free to make their decisions, get proper education and careers.

Racism is Real, ‘Systemic Racism’ is Propaganda

Are there racist people in the US? For sure there are, in the US and elsewhere. There are white people who are racist just as there are black people who are racist. However, to say that there is systemic racism is simply untrue. To say that all Americans and Europeans are racist is false. Racism is shunned by the majority of people in the US and in Europe. Having racist people in a society and being racist as a society are two very different things.  In 2019, there were 10 shootings of unarmed black people. So, in a nation of 330 million, does that statistic prove black people are targeted by police systemically? No, it does not, especially when compared to the number of black on black murder. Both of these occurrences need to be addressed. No one disputes that. Nevertheless, let us ask this: if the US were the racist and evil place that the media and the left depict, then why would millions of people cross the border illegally to live there?

There are white Americans or white Europeans that have a harder life than many black people do, and the opposite is also true. How can a whole population be racist, when they elected a black President, have had black Secretaries of State, Attorney Generals, prosecutors, army leaders and officials in the highest levels? No other country gives the opportunity to become whomever you want, from basketball player, to actor, musician, and even President, as the US does. The capitalistic meritocratic system in the US made of these celebrities and sportspeople billionaires. Yet, many of them hate America and want to see it burn.

‘You Ain’t Black’

Yes, there are racists in America. They are those like Joseph Biden, previous Vice President under Obama and current Democratic nominee for President, who said that if you do not vote for a Democrat you are not black. This is called identity politics and it is disgustingly racist. It is practiced by the mainstream media, the Democratic Party, their counterparts in Europe, the Hollywood elites and all their followers who cannot think for themselves. To order people to think, speak or vote in a certain way just because of their skin color, gender or sexual orientation is plainly racist and should be condemned by elected officials, by the media and by every citizen. However, the media is corrupt, and half of the public officials get their funding by far-left organizations.

It is very difficult today to find objective commentary or reporting in the media. Most of the media and almost all the celebrities are so far left and anti-Trump that they are willing to see America and the world burn just to destroy the American President. They could not bring him down with the Russia collusion hoax, the impeachment, countless accusations, the pandemic, so now they are resorting to civil unrest. They are encouraging and justifying the thugs burning down businesses because it suits their agenda.

Protests Have Been Hijacked by Extremists and Criminals

There is no doubt that there were peaceful protesters when the protests started. They were the people who initially went into the streets, and their cause and aim were undoubtedly sincere. They went out to protest because they are poor and frustrated about what they feel is injustice.  However, the protests were hijacked by the Marxist organization Black Lives Matter, the far-left anarchists Antifa and also the street thugs that simply want chaos. Many of these thugs, in their lust for destruction, let slip to the few honest journalists on the ground that they were there to steal and destroy, admitting they were being paid to do that. Nothing to do with the death of George Floyd. What Antifa and Black Lives Matter are doing is not only criminal and illegal, but also an insult to the memory of Floyd. At least, they are exposing themselves for what they truly are.

These two groups want to destroy America as it is and remake it into a communist country. They have stated it themselves. That is why they are burning businesses of innocent people and targeting only white neighborhoods. They see them as a symbol of capitalism and meritocracy, freedom of expression and entrepreneurship. One of the editors of the New York Times, together with many so-called journalists admitted that fire is necessary so that a new America is born, like the phoenix. They want to implement the opposite of the values upon which America was built. Just by looking at the program of the Marxist Black Lives Matter, one can understand the type of tyrannical vision they have.

A recent report uncovered by Sean Hannity shows that they have been planning the riots and destruction since November 2019. This is further proof that they do not care about the black community, simply want to use them. Otherwise they would not have killed a retired black police officer, Captain David Dorn. Captain Dorn was killed for the sin of protecting the business of his friend. Why are there no protests over his death? Why did the media not cover his murder by the rioters? Why did no celebrity post anything on social media in solidarity? Why has the media not mentioned that the rioters set fire to a home with a child inside and then blocked the firefighters’ access to the home? Using just causes for political purposes is evil and there should be agreement by all sides on this. However, when people do not get the full objective story by the media, it is unavoidable that there will be division, which certain politicians will use without shame. Statism is what breeds more racism, so we should all be aware of those who advocate for it. We should not forget that it was the left that advocated for racism and it was the Republican Party that abolished it, under Abraham Lincoln. Left-wing politicians were supporters of the Klan. What is currently happening is just a derivation of it, under the guise of equality. It is the same mentality, just different tactic.

How to Solve racism?

The solution to racism is simple: the right kind of education. The one that teaches people to think for themselves, raise their individual awareness, make them able to overcome difficulties, make the system more meritocratic and avoid putting people into baskets based on their race or gender. Judging people collectively is a communistic way of thinking aimed at entrapping people into doing others’ bidding. Responsibility should be individual, as should merit. The black community, the white community and everyone should vote for whomever they think will do the best for them. We must understand that all lives matter, all lives are worth having dignity, freedom, education and the opportunity for greatness. If the tax cuts and deregulations helped both the blacks and the whites to have the lowest unemployment ever, than they should reject any politician who tells them how to think, vote and act.

Everyone should see beyond the divisiveness of the mainstream media and the left and value each other for who we are, our actions and achievements, and not race or gender. As soon as we understand this, and reject the sickening identity politics, then we will have made a step closer to the real end of racism.

L'articolo Identity Politics – the Agenda to Burn Down America proviene da InsideOver.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”

For Whom the Bell Tolls, by John Donne

Since the 2016 American presidential election, it has become quite usual to hear dire warnings about the waning of American leadership and its retreat from the global stage. The bells of alarm have been rung frequently about the coming wave of protectionism, isolationism and nationalism that will threaten global peace and lead to the destruction of the world order. Purportedly, these fears have crystallized since the moment Donald Trump came down from the escalator of Trump Tower and announced his intention to run for President of the United States.

The Left’s False Panic Over the Rise of National Populism

These concerns are voiced in Europe any time Matteo Salvini, Giorgia Meloni, Santiago Abascal, or Viktor Orban speak, campaign or win elections. If one were to wake up from a decades old slumber and hear the mainstream media’s and left-wing parties’ warnings on them, one would think they are the heralds of the Apocalypse. This is dishonest at best, and perversely ill-intentioned at worst, independently on whether one agrees with these conservative and right-wing parties. The left often treats its opponents as an enemy to be destroyed at all costs, which ironically empowers their opponents in many cases.

According to many mainstream public voices, the current coronavirus emergency has emphasized once again the risk the world faces in going back to isolationism, this time due to the current crisis, which will give more public space and ensure electoral victory to sovereigntist forces. A prominent figure in the financial and political world, the former US Treasury Secretary during the George W. Bush administration, Henry Paulson, recently urged leaders and policymakers to “save globalization to secure the future” in on op-ed for the Financial Times.

Standing Up to Skewed Worldviews

I believe it is important to analyze and discuss this point of view not as a personal reply to Paulson, but as a refutation of an untrue assumption that respected members of different communities make when they contribute to the public discourse. In the name of fairness, it is important to provide to the public analysis based on facts, while respectfully opining about the issues that affect our lives.

As someone who holds a certain amount of respect for Paulson’s efforts in the 2008 financial crisis, and believing he did his best to save the American economy at the time, I was curious to read of his thoughts on the post-COVID19 world. I was not shocked at discovering he is a defender of globalization. However, I was taken aback that underlying his analysis is the same mistake made by the majority of the global media, a considerable part of the center right groups and all the left of center parties. They all perceive the future as an either-or situation between only two paths. Either we totally isolate our countries by voting for leaders such as Trump, Salvini, Abascal or Orban, who will supposedly close their economies, leading to more inequality, unemployment and economic misery and leading the world to nationalism, which in turn will result in on-going conflicts and lack of cooperation. Or, we can continue down the path of globalization, open borders and economic bliss. This is the black and white world the media and the left present to the public, purposefully omitting that there is a middle way of implementing the best of both worlds. Leaders such as Trump are doing exactly that.

Why Paulson is Wrong

Similar to the left and most of the media, the former US Treasury makes an erroneous assumption, which at this point has been proven more a myth than reality. He takes for granted the belief that the US President and similar European leaders want to “close trade, capital flows, innovation and global institutions”. However, neither of these leaders has advocated a return to closed economies. It is a pure lie to say they are isolationists. It would be absurd even to think it possible in market-based economies. Trump has championed free and fair trade and bilateral deals instead of multilateral ones with the reasoning that the former provide more transparency and less ways to cheat. All these right-wing leaders warn about the dangers of open borders and unchecked illegal migration and rightly so.

Paulson and His Ilk Need to Stop Tilting at Windmills

However, this does not mean these countries are closed for business. Their right-wing leaders want fairness in dealing with other countries and they put the interests of their citizens first. They encourage innovation and technological breakthroughs. It should be the duty of a country to ensure the well-being of their citizens. A fact that many forget is that politicians are under the employment of their own citizens, not those of other countries. It is simply common sense. However, no one has said that taking care of your people, and making sure that your house is in order excludes cooperation with others.

It is actually quite the contrary. If the leaders of a country implement the right economic policies, they will lead to more well-being, prosperity and social harmony. This country, afterwards, would be in a better position to help its neighbors, trade partners and political allies. If a country’s leaders are inefficient or unable to lead their nations to prosperity, it is easier for their citizens to hold them to account. With unelected bureaucrats in supranational institutions, accountability does not exist, and the possibility for abuse is much bigger.

The Isolationism Scare Tactic Doesn’t Work Anymore

A return to the national governments, local communities, families, the individual, cultural roots, diversified supply chains, renegotiated bilateral trade deals do not  exclude being a good neighbor, collaborating on issues of economic, political, cyber-security or medical nature. It simply means that to be a good neighbor, and a good citizen of the world, first you need to be a good citizen of your own country. Thus, all this alarm about falling down the path of isolationism seems more a scare campaign tactic than a possible scenario. It is unfortunate that esteemed members of the public sphere take it as a given reality when making their analysis.

The main proof of this will always be the Presidency of Donald Trump. He ran on a platform of putting his own citizens first. He cut their taxes, made them less reliant on government, encouraged their spirit of entrepreneurship by deregulating, thus extending an already long bull run and making his country more prosperous and independent in many aspects. He renegotiated trade deals with major partners and put an emphasis on reforming decaying international institutions such as NATO and the UN.

In the Post-COVID-19 Nations Need to Put Citizens First

In this regard, Paulson has more in common with Mr. Trump than he cares to admit. While defending the phenomenon of globalization, Henry Paulson admits that the US should lead the restructuring of such institutions. President Trump is doing exactly that. His opponents warned that he would retreat from the global stage. He has actually continued the policies of his predecessors, in their essence, adding his own style of diplomacy and actually making them more effective. America is stronger today in the global stage both economically and with regards to its foreign policy. In Europe, conservative and right-wing leaders are aiming to do the same.

In the post-COVID-19 world, countries should prioritize focusing on their citizens, on technological and medical innovations, diversifying supply chains, producing more within their own countries and being less dependent from ill-intentioned trade partners, strengthening alliances with reliable associates through cooperation on matters of cyber and national security, medicine, economy, technology and so on.

As protectionism, mercantilism and isolationism have failed individuals and nations in the past, so has the unchecked and extreme globalization, together with corrupt supranational institutions. The individual and his entrepreneurial spirit must take precedence. Reliance on government must be greatly reduced. A community of nations that defend free markets, meritocracy, cooperation, entrepreneurship, free and fair-trade deals and freedom of thought and expression should be the path forward for Europe, the US and all other nations.

L'articolo Globalization vs. Isolationism proviene da InsideOver.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has introduced his latest measure designed to boost Hungary’s sluggish fertility rate. Since 1 February Hungarian couples have been able to obtain free IVF treatment from the country’s fertility clinics that the Fidesz government took into state ownership last December after announcing that the sector was of “strategic importance” to the Central European state. Budapest wants to raise the fertility rate from the current 1.5 births per woman to the replacement level, which is considered to be 2.1.

‘Threatened With Extinction’

In an interview with the Hungarian daily newspaper Napi Gazdasag in 2015 Orbán expressed his concern that Hungarians were “threatened with extinction” because of their low fertility rate. The country’s population has fallen from around 10.7 million in 1980 to around 9.7 million today. The decline is not only due to fewer children being born but also to large-scale emigration by working age Hungarians. According to UN data the country’s population may fall to approximately 8.5 million by 2050.

Orbán’s 2019 Family Protection Action Plan

Orbán’s move follows his announcement in February 2019 of the Family Protection Action Plan that includes a preferential loan offered to every woman under the age of 40 when they first get married; a loan program to support home purchases; a subsidy for purchase of a car for large families; a loan payment of up to 1 million Hungarian forints ($3,235 USD / €2,955) for mortgage loans taken out by families with two or more children; lifetime exemption from personal income tax for women who have raised at least four children; thousands of new nursery places in the next three years; and subsidized parental leave for grandparents. The speaker of the parliament, Kövér, commented: “Good Hungarians not only speak Hungarian but have 3 to 4 children and 9 to 16 grandchildren who speak Hungarian.”

The Fidesz government introduced its first family friendly measures immediately after coming to power in 2010 when Hungary’s fertility rate stood at an all-time low of around 1.3. According to Minister of Family and Youth Affairs Katalin Novák in a recent interview with the US National Catholic Register, Hungary’s abortion rate dropped by 33.5% between 2010 and 2018, marriage increased by 43%, and divorce fell by 22.5% between 2010 and 2017. Policymakers will be observing whether Orban’s measures prove effective. Trump officials reportedly attended a “Make Families Great Again” conference organized by the Hungarian government in Washington D.C. in March of 2019.

Hungary’s demographic problems are of course hardly unique and some European countries are faring even worse. Italy, Portugal and Greece, for example, are currently languishing at around 1.3 in terms of their birthrate. What marks Hungary out, then, is not population decline in itself but its response to the phenomenon. For decades Western Europe has touted immigration—including mass immigration from non-European cultures—as a solution, but in contrast to the liberal establishment Orbán has steadfastly ruled out such an option and, in particular, he has ruled out mass immigration from Muslim nations.

Hungary’s Moments In The Global Spotlight

As historian Norman Stone pointed out, Hungary has hit the world’s headlines on three occasions since the Second World War. In 1956 when the country unsuccessfully attempted to throw off the Soviet yoke and in 1989 when it opened up its borders, heralding the end of the Cold War. The third moment came in 2015 when, faced with hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim refugees and economic migrants trying to reach northern Europe, Orbán ordered the deployment of the military and the erection of a razor wire fence on the border with Serbia and Croatia. This move turned him into the standard-bearer of the populist-nationalist movement across Europe and a hated bête noire of the left. In a controversial interview with the German newspaper Bild in 2018 Orbán claimed that Hungary did not want “Muslim invaders” on its territory, adding that migration threatened the “culture and sovereignty” of Hungary. In a fiery speech in Rome a year later he reiterated his rejection of mandatory EU migrant quotas but said he would accept deportation quotas “with pleasure.”

Hungary’s New Constitution

The new Hungarian constitution passed by the National Assembly in April, 2011 heralded Orbán’s rejection of globalism and post-modernism. Its adoption demonstrates that the post-modern model of society is not irresistible. The preamble states, inter alia, that: “we Hungarians are proud that one thousand years ago our King, Saint Stephen, based the Hungarian state on solid foundations, and made the country a part of Christian Europe”;

“We are proud of our forebears who fought for the survival, freedom and independence of our country”;

“We are proud that our people have over the centuries defended Europe in a series of struggles…”;

Article L (1) states that “Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman…” and, according to Article L (2): “Hungary shall encourage the commitment to have children”.

These last two provisions in particular constitute a radical break from the Western liberal orthodoxy of recent decades.

Magyarphobia

Orbán has of course raised the ire of the liberal media and globalist politicians. His landslide victory in the 2018 election triggered a veritable hate fest. German public broadcaster ARD lambasted Hungary’s electoral system as unfair and argued that Hungary’s government had fed voters with disinformation. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Hungarian voters had simply been “brainwashed”. Readers will note similarities with the attacks on the “stupid” UK electorate after the 2016 Brexit referendum. And of course Adolf Hitler had to come into it sooner or later: in 2019 Swedish minister Annika Strandhall compared Orbán’s pro-family policies to the Third Reich. The demonization of Orbán and Hungary looks set to continue into the foreseeable future.

Traditional Magyar Saying: ‘A Cowardly People Has No Homeland’

In an article in the Swiss weekly magazine Weltwoche in 2015, journalist Boris Kálnoky outlined the historical origins of Hungary’s intense preoccupation with its identity and survival as a nation. The Magyars’ self-image, he argued, is marked by an eternal struggle for survival. Kálnoky is surely right. The Hungarians gained control of the Carpathian basin in the 9th and 10th century and had established a Christian kingdom by around 1000, retaining their non-Indo-European language in the process. They lost many times: against the Mongols in 1241, the Turks in 1526 and the Russians in 1849. The Ausgleich of 1867 finally accorded them parity with the Austrians but in 1920 they lost two-thirds of their territory in the Treaty of Trianon and in 1956 their attempt to expel the Soviets ended in disaster but somehow they survived.

Speaking at an event to mark the 170th anniversary of Kossuth’s rebellion against the Austrians in 1848 Orbán warned: ” […] there are those who want to take our country from us. Not with the stroke of a pen, as happened one hundred years ago at Trianon; now they want us to voluntarily hand our country over to others, over a period of a few decades. They want us to hand it over to foreigners coming from other continents, who do not speak our language, and who do not respect our culture, our laws or our way of life: people who want to replace what is ours with what is theirs. What they want is that henceforth it will increasingly not be us and our descendants who live here, but others. […] Day by day we see the great European countries and nations losing their countries: little by little, from district to district and from city to city. The situation is that those who do not halt immigration at their borders are lost: slowly but surely they are consumed. External forces and international powers want to force all this upon us”.

L'articolo Viktor Orbán, Demography And Hungarian Identity proviene da InsideOver.