Take this political quiz...

[_ludwigm]

Now, take a breath and let me explain something to you.

Don't kid me !

[_MeDotOrg]

ludgwigm is right. Fascism is alive and well in Hungary.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) — Leaders of a far-right Hungarian political party accused Israelis of plotting to buy up large parts of Hungary as several hundred nationalists protested on Saturday before a meeting of the World Jewish Congress in Budapest.

Senior figures from the Jobbik opposition party harangued the crowd with charges that President Shimon Peres of Israel had praised Jews for buying property in Hungary. They said the World Jewish Congress had decided to hold its gathering in Budapest to shame the Hungarian people.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is scheduled to address the assembly’s opening session on Sunday, had ordered the rally to be banned, but a court on Friday ruled the police had overstepped their authority in trying to block it.

The congress, which normally holds its assembly in Jerusalem, chose Hungary this time to highlight the rise of far-right groups and anti-Semitism in Europe. More than half a million Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Hungary’s current population of about 10 million people includes 80,000 to 100,000 Jews.

Marton Gyongyosi, a Jobbik member of Parliament, told the crowd, “Our country has become subjugated to Zionism, it has become a target of colonization while we, the indigenous people, can play only the role of extras.”

A spokesman for the World Jewish Congress, Michael Thaidigsmann, said, “We find it a worrying sign that these people express their anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli ideology in such a public way.”

Some foreign Jews have made or planned investments in Hungary, but those are dwarfed by far larger deals from other European and American businesses.

The charge about Mr. Peres, based on comments he made in 2007 about Israeli businesses abroad, has become a mantra in Jobbik’s discourse about threats it says Hungary faces.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/europe/far-right-groups-protest-world-jewish-congress-in-budapest.html

[_honorentheos]

Now, take a breath and let me explain something to you.

Don't kid me !

Perfect.

[_honorentheos]

And respond with your number.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/test

To show how leftist I am, -5.4, -5.4.

-5.88, -5.22

In many cases, I'd have preferred to answer a question on a case-by-case basis so choosing between agree and disagree came down to nuance. I'm not sure if the nuance gave my results a slight pull to the left and down, or is what kept it in the 5's rather than even lower-left.

ETA: While watching Bill Maher this weekend I found myself thinking he is often very conservative in the way he thinks. It made me think how often the divide between liberal/conservative in America isn't one of actual ideology but position on a particular issue.

As one example of many: I think there is a big difference between the person who feels the government shouldn't be involved in a person's choices including to use recreational drugs in a responsible manner and many people I know who assert pot should be legal.

Many of the former are people who truly believes in individual liberty and have the capacity to accept contrary opinions as manifestations of this liberty in practice. The latter is just as authoritarian as the person who wants drug users to spend mandatory prison terms for possession, but without the power. They see the different between their opinion and conservative position as being one of inferiority on the part of the conservative.

To me, being a progressive means being someone who has the capacity to comprehend a pluralistic society will, of necessity, include a spectrum of beliefs and attitudes. And the humanity to believe each of these views is held in good faith by the party who holds them, making them worth consideration and of value. Not to say all views are equally good or beneficial.

Anyway, it tends to bother me when I see politics reduced to "Our Side vs. Your Side".

[_ludwigm]

Fascism is alive and well in Hungary.

... a far-right Hungarian political party ... Jobbik

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/world/europe/far-right-groups-protest-world-jewish-congress-in-budapest.html

I would like to quote from other sources (for example http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/tr ... .html?_r=0) but...


True. Fascism is alive and well in Hungary. They are marching in black uniforms, terrorize jews and gypsies (our negroes...).
If You make a google image search on "jobbik", You can watch them.
The government encourages them. The government itself is a copy of Mussolini's Italy.

OK, not the same. Here is a lot of attribute of a banana republic.
We have a certain company, Közgép. Its leader was roommate of our prime minister in the college. (by the way the president of Hungary, and the leader of the parlament were his roommates, too.)
On the Közgép's site the words "Steel structures, structural engineering" was readable as - for a long time - "Steal structures..." (really, not my joke!)


So, I know socialism (been there, did that) and I know fascism. By experience.
No need for teaching about them...

[_Molok]

-6.12, -3.64. Apparently, me and Ghandi would have hit it off.

[_ludwigm]

A little linguistic...


Jobbik - the name of the party. Read them here : http://jobbik.com/

left - right
In Hungarian this is "bal" - "jobb"

good - better - best
In Hungarian this is "jó" - "jobb" - "legjobb"

Got it?

In Hungarian "jobbik" = the better one [of options presented]

These are the better ones...
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1358&bih=643&q=jobbik+march&oq=jobbik+march

One of them:
RADICAL CHANGE in the name of people!

and another:


FYI
Árpád stripes

Árpád stripes (Hungarian: Árpád-sávok) is the name of a particular heraldic and vexillologic configuration which has been in constant use since the early 13th century in particular in Hungarian heraldry.

The recent use of the Árpád stripes both on flags and badges by Hungarian "patriots" have generated controversy, as the Nazi puppet government formed by members of the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party, which was in place for seven months (October 1944–April 1945), used a similar symbol as a component of their flag in the 1940s. Although the stripes have centuries old historical origins, there are claims that the Árpád stripes have fascist connotations.

[_MeDotOrg]

So, I know socialism (been there, did that) and I know fascism. By experience.
No need for teaching about them...

ludwigm, the reason I showed the story was because a lot of people in the United States aren't very aware of the rise of anti-Semitic and fascist forces in Europe. Especially in times of economic trouble, people look for scapegoats and ideologies with easy answers...

This was not meant specifically as a jab against Hungary. nor to imply that all Hungarians are anti-Semitic or fascist, any more than I would say all Americans are racist.

While I have never been to Hungary, I once applied for a job in Budapest and would very much like to visit there.

[_ludwigm]

So, I know socialism (been there, did that) and I know fascism. By experience.
No need for teaching about them...

This was not meant specifically as a jab against Hungary. nor to imply that all Hungarians are anti-Semitic or fascist, any more than I would say all Americans are racist.

I didn't get it as such. You said only the truth. Wrong enough is that after 6-8 decade of hitlers and stalins, here are people revitalize the same thoughts - and deeds.

When I show You the black uniforms, I don't say all Hungarians are anti-Semitic or fascist. I say if here is one of them, it is too more. And here are flocks of herds, to use the immortal words of BoM...




My word teaching refers to "let me explain something to you"...