By Miklós Pogrányi Lovas
Since the end of the Second World War, European politics has been leading a shadowy existence alongside the rival great powers. Germany has (apparently) given up on being the leading cultural and military power in Europe; but it has achieved an economic advantage that has not existed since the Second World War. From time to time there have been statesmen (like Charles de Gaulle) who wanted to go it alone in Europe, but ultimately European politics has always been about bowing to the demands of the great powers.
Main trends
The dynamism of European history has been determined by two factors: the forces of stability and those of progress. The successful leaders of the European countries were those who managed to distinguish between things worth preserving and things in need of renewal. History is full of recurring patterns, but the problems are always new, and it often takes decades to learn the right lessons from events: Western public opinion has long refused to accept that liberalism and socialism are related ideologies – the enemy twins of progress. Superficial observers of world politics interpret the decades of the Cold War as a struggle between these two ideologies,
Classic liberalism has been in decline since 1914.european righte
The big winner of the last hundred years has been socialism, inasmuch as the first half of the twentieth century can be summed up as a struggle between its different variants. In 1989/90 it was not socialism that lost, only its Soviet variant. Today it is China – the second most powerful country in the world in economic and military terms – which it has perfected in an updated form and thus built a veritable Orwellian society. At the same time, the leading world power, the United States of America, is moving steadily in the direction of socialism: since the Second World War, the expansion of the prerogatives of the federal government has never been slowed down. just as little as the increase in welfare state expenditure or the parallel increase in nominal national debt. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the power of successive federal governments has surpassed that of pre-2001 governments by one or more orders of magnitude. They monitor the lives of their citizens to an unprecedented extent and take control of more and more areas of civil society. Bernie Sanders advertised in 2016 with the promise of socialism based on the Scandinavian model, while Joe Biden’s presidency was marked by the beginning of the construction of a gigantic welfare state. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the power of successive federal governments has surpassed that of pre-2001 governments by one or more orders of magnitude. They monitor the lives of their citizens to an unprecedented extent and take control of more and more areas of civil society. Bernie Sanders advertised in 2016 with the promise of socialism based on the Scandinavian model, while Joe Biden’s presidency is marked by the beginning of the construction of a gigantic welfare state. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, the power of successive federal governments has surpassed that of pre-2001 governments by one or more orders of magnitude. They monitor the lives of their citizens to an unprecedented extent and take control of more and more areas of civil society. Bernie Sanders advertised in 2016 with the promise of socialism based on the Scandinavian model, while Joe Biden’s presidency is marked by the beginning of the construction of a gigantic welfare state.
In the midst of these superficial tremors, the power of the tech giants is also growing inexorably, leading to the formation of centers of power such as world history has never seen that monitor the activities of individuals and companies through big data and are already potentially able to predict the outcome of To influence elections.
Today globalization has overtaken all systems of political thought. It gutted liberalism down to free market worship and modernized the left: the hard versions of communism as well as its soft versions . Progressivism has even colonized many of the forces that consider themselves conservative . Within this process, the awakening of Central European self-confidence in the 2010s, followed by Donald Trump’s presidency (2017-2020), has proven to be a disruptive factor.
The European right: a diagnosis
The European right is divided into two main currents: 1) The radical wing is characterized by a discourse that often makes itself inedible by presenting the problems too openly, as well as by a policy of false alliances. In the West, the careers of Enoch Powell or Jean-Marie Le Pen were typical examples of this, while in Hungary it was of course István Csurka who best represented this team. This radicality is always subject to a glass ceiling. In times of crisis, these parties see their popular support surge, but their attempts to take control of the political center fail.
2) The European center-right camp however, is always looking for unity. Its aim is to reconcile stability and progress within the confines of a given local context. It seeks to dominate the center of the political game through compromise solutions, while preserving as far as possible traditional values – European and national. Traditionally, the European center-right camp bases its models on the argument of natural law. The secular principles derived from Christianity (protection of human dignity, subsidiarity, solidarity) are often supplemented by the appeal to Christianity itself, sometimes in the form of explicit references to the social teachings of the historical churches. Until recently, the main umbrella organization for this trend was the European People’s Party (EPP), whose strength lay in two factors. On the one hand, the support of the masses – broad sections of the population, because the member parties are mostly broad-based center-right parties. On the other hand, the economic forces that favor it: the financial strength and economic influence of European big business. The parties that joined the EPP gained room for maneuver and influence at the international level. who favor it: the financial strength and economic influence of European big business. The parties that joined the EPP gained room for maneuver and influence at the international level. who favor it: the financial strength and economic influence of European big business. The parties that joined the EPP gained room for maneuver and influence at the international level.
So this type of policy – the policy of compromise – had certain advantages – to compensate for certain acceptable losses and certain acceptable sacrifices. However, the status quo established in the 1990s was shaken by several events: the financial crisis that hit the EU in 2008, which culminated in the 2015 migrant crisis, and then, in 2020, the return of a long-lost natural scourge – the coronavirus pandemic. In the face of each of these three challenges, the Union has proven ineffective and unable to react quickly, which has repeatedly undermined social order and reduced living standards. The Union’s policy is characterized by its bureaucratic slowness and the fact that
These deficiencies already had damaging consequences after 2008: the crisis in the real estate and financial markets led to considerable capital transfers from which the citizens of the member states could not benefit. The migrant crisis has further undermined the sense of security in Europe: in several large cities it has disrupted a previously fragile ethnic balance, unleashed violence against women, dramatically increased the number of crimes against Jews and gays and increasingly targeted Christians. In France, attacks on churches have become systematic and religiously motivated murders are committed.
During the coronavirus pandemic, bureaucratic politics did even more damage than in the past.
The habit of “ letting go of the problems ” has so far cost tens of thousands of European citizens the lives and the Brussels elite have still not drawn the necessary conclusions, despite the fact that one event after the other the arguments of the national, right-wing and sovereignist ones have been raised Parties confirmed.
Progressivism is taking over the West
The economic crisis that broke out in 2008 has proven to be a historic opportunity for the “forces of progress”: progressivism has shifted into a higher gear, the transformation processes are accelerating. We are all faced with the challenge of dynamic globalization, and as part of this major restructuring, the interpretation of the world is also subject to competition. Globalization itself has a leveling effect on the world: the differences between the continents are constantly shrinking – as was already established at the beginning of the last century ( Ortega y Gasset: The uprising of the masses , 1929). It is in the interest of international big business to accelerate this spontaneous process, but also to channel it. To this end, it continuously strengthens its influence, also through the system of cultural and scientific institutions. It determines the dominant trends in the entertainment industry (the topics of TV shows, films, video games) and the media agenda. In the West, she has already secured almost total control over social science research and publications – an operation that serves several purposes: on the one hand, to create a repertoire of terms that enables ongoing processes to be described in a way that suits her interests.
This process involves the impregnation of the moderate European right with the ideals of progressivism.
From this, among other things, the current dominant trend of “Christian democracy without Christ” developed, which is decreed as a universal model for the states of the western cultural area. A right-hand facade is being built in which the props, slogans and visual elements conjure up the atmosphere of conservatism without, however, jeopardizing any of the strategic goals of the progressive forces. The aim of this far-reaching process is to dilute the differences between cultures, to mix the populations between the continents and to weaken the internal cohesion of societies. One of the most important semi-official decision-making bodies in the world (the World Economic Forum) believes that it is time to private property should be abolished in the next ten years . But all these intentions come up against the obstacle of sovereign European Natio-nal-state . So the opposition between globalism and sovereignty has become the real political divide in Europe today.
The geopolitical trap we’re falling into
The European right wants to preserve what made our culture great in the past and what is still the source of its strength today. However, this apparently self-evident goal is detrimental to many interests. The effective European cooperation of strong European nation states contradicts the interests of power centers like the American democrats and the financial capital or big tech companies that support them. A strong Europe serves neither the interests of communist China nor those of the Arab monarchies, which export oil and political Islam in the same breath. It is also common to refer to Russia as a state that has no interest in Europe’s success – which in reality is anything but self-evident.
In this globalized world, it would be in the interests of Europe, which is caught in the vices of America, China and the Arab world, to have effective cooperation. But that is not the purpose of the direction this covenant is currently taking. The enlargement of the Brussels administration is clearly having a negative impact on competitiveness and defense capacity. Political decision-making becomes bureaucratized, and at the same time the bureaucracy is ideologically inflated – unaccountable officials decide in which direction the worldview of 446 million people should be steered ( Cancel Culture, Gender ideology, LGBT lobby), even if vaccine procurement stalled, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths in recent months.
Until recently, the paradigmatic concepts of European politics were neoliberal economic theory and liberal democracy. The former definitely failed in 2008 – the latter in 2015. The economic crisis that started in America made it clear that the financial markets should be placed under much tighter control. The migrant crisis and the cynical reasoning of the “human rights drudgery” who advocate these major invasions have made it clear that Europe’s natural desire to preserve its identity can neither be formulated nor defended in the language of liberalism.
The previous intellectual framework of the world order has fallen apart, but a new framework has not yet formed: We are in a time of paradigmatic crisis.
We experience the merging of political forces that were once labeled as “liberal” and “socialist”: Progressivism has created a new hybrid political phenomenon that on the one hand advocates a total (quasi-liberal) libertinism of the private, this of all natural However, individuals who liberate ties want to place them in a new kind of global (quasi-socialist) dependency, which is framed by structures over which no democratic control is possible.
The challenges for the new European rights
Opposing global structures is a great risk. So the right has to come up with something – if necessary also from the international left, which still prefers to use instruments outside the system of political institutions. Aggiornamento seems inevitable: across Europe there is a need to organize a movement of the conservative spirit and professional support for community building (lobbies, action groups, demonstrations, performances). To achieve this, an economic force should be organized on a pragmatic basis, of which the American pro-life movement could be an example. This effective and successful initiative has created a coalition for the defense of life between the Neo-Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox faiths.
Another strategic goal that can only be achieved in the long term, but is also unavoidable, is to minimize our dependence on information technology. By building our own infrastructure, we could reduce our dependence on the influence of the tech giants. One way to do this is to build independent international media networks – a project in which American Republicans might see their interest. Due to the much discussed double standards in media policy, it would be in our interest to create our own TV, radio, social networking and other online platforms.
Room for maneuver for Hungarian rights
The Hungarian right is currently able to exert influence on three levels. 1) The first, for obvious reasons, is Hungarian domestic politics. 2) The second is the Carpathian Basin, which the Hungarian left traditionally refrains from, while the Hungarian right takes responsibility for it and has even included it in its radius of action since 2010. 3) The third level, on the other hand, is new: the migrant crisis triggered in 2015 put the Hungarian right on the European map. Our country then – together with its allies in Central and Southern Europe – became an upstream bulwark of European defense. But this unexpected return to a role of the past has also brought back conflicts,
In 1989/90, through liberation from communism, people in Central Europe were given the opportunity to become an integral part of Europe again. In the West, on the other hand, at the end of the twentieth century, the transformations that correspond to the model of secularization were completed: the Europe that the Hungarians and Poles looked at through the gaps of the Iron Curtain – that Europe no longer exists. After the regime change process began, it took these Central European peoples about two decades to discover with astonishment that the essence of Europe still resides in Central Europe itself – the West is nothing but a promise of prosperity.
By the beginning of the 21st century at the latest, however, it became clear that the West had no interest in improving the standard of living in Central Europe.
The logic of colonization remains unchanged: the great powers refuse to admit that our region could have interests of its own, try to radically annex the countries of the region and undermine the solidarity that can unite us . However, Hungary and Poland stick to the ancestral traditions of Europe: against postmodernism and transhumanism, they defend the image of man created by antiquity and Christianity. As a result, one has the just ended decade of independent Central European conservatism-ge-is emerging , still relies on what the West is no longer committed. It is this new conservatism that is now being institutionalized, with its own forums.
For a political alliance to be sustainable, it must be based on common interests, but also defend a number of common values. The Hungarian-Polish alliance , reinforced by Italians, is in the strategic planning phase. The main goal is to achieve a minimal text that other right-wing forces can join. The European right is sovereign: it wants to put an end to the European Union’s growing democratic deficit. It is to be expected that she will insist on reducing bureaucracy and maintaining the principle of subsidiarity. And in order to defend the interests of the native nations, it is to be expected that they will also be in their opposition against uncontrolled Einwan-de-tion will be unprecedented radical.
When it comes to values, there are the following possible points of contact: In Western Europe, traditional religiosity has essentially ceased to exist, but Christianity is still part of the cultural foundations of society. From a spiritual point of view, it is therefore likely that the new European right, even if it does not officially declare itself to be Christian, will clearly adhere to the legalistic teachings of Christianity. On such a basis it will be able to justify its adherence to the principle of tradition, the legitimate cultural defense and the defense of life. For the legitimate defense of indigenous nations, it will devote significant economic resources to promoting indigenous and natural birth rates. This must go hand in hand with the propagation of conservative feminism: the education systems must be radically reformed so that European women can combine motherhood with a professional career and a first degree. We can assume that all of this will also be linked to calls for a simplification of the tax system, lower taxes for families and a taxation of financial capital. so that European women can combine motherhood with a professional career and a first degree. We can assume that all of this will also be linked to calls for a simplification of the tax system, lower taxes for families and a taxation of financial capital. so that European women can combine motherhood with a professional career and a first degree. We can assume that all of this will also be linked to calls for a simplification of the tax system, lower taxes for families and a taxation of financial capital.
The formation of a new political community becomes possible when the political will is demonstrated over the years.
It is also necessary to organize an economic force capable of supporting the European right, whose survival without such a force is an illusory prospect. To do this, it is necessary to establish points of contact with those branches of the economy whose interest – including financial interest – consists in ensuring that the nation states retain their prerogatives both in tax policy and in the regulation of economic activities. We need partners who are willing to accept financial losses in the medium term in order to secure political representation in the long term.
Summary
Most political elites in Europe do not think for themselves and are unable to pose problems sensibly. They import political products invented by the institutes of American progressivism, developed by the American political system in conjunction with the international media, and disseminated with the help of soft power instruments (scientific collaboration, NGOs, film and other platforms of mass culture). For the sake of simplicity, let’s call this phenomenon “left drift”. If the European right is to survive, it must adopt a much broader horizon than its current one. It has to look beyond Europe and even beyond the western world. It must be inspired by the enormous cultural creative power of Orthodox Christianity and also incorporate conservative ideas from South America. And it also has to look for political allies on other continents.
Source: UME