Botond173
1hr ago
Back when the Chapo Trap House subreddit still existed, they'd practically never shut up about "MAGA chuds" = overtly anti-feminist male commenters anywhere, basically.
Botond173
2d ago
Focusing on anime is missing the point, I think. As far as I can tell, you're right, strictly speaking - I'm also not aware of a single school shooter known to be obsessed with anime. But if you substitute 'anime' for other types of online content that is not normie-adjacent and are addictive, then OP's point stands.
Botond173
3d ago
And this is the case in every country that is allied to the US, not just the UK.
Botond173
3d ago
I'd argue that in Hungary as well the point has been passed in society where such 'accusations' haven any political effect at all. I reckon the last time something like this happened was in 2015, in which case the individual in question did indeed turn out to be a grifter Jew.
Botond173
3d ago
It's basically what indeed happened this time. The photos in question were taken on April 16th, officially Holocaust remembrance day in Hungary, as this was the day deportations started in 1944. See here:
https://mazsihisz.hu/dr-grosz-andor-zsidok-es-nem-zsidok-egyutt-mondunk-nemet-a-gyuloletre/
Botond173
3d ago
He most certainly is not. The photos are real though. See my comment below.
Botond173
3d ago
Most of those actual real life men will be socially invisible to them, so I find all this rather doubtful.
Botond173
3d ago
The Israeli government initiated a Middle Eastern war that is completely disrupting the global trade in crude oil, natural gas, aluminium, helium etc.
Botond173
3d ago
I’d tell her what I think is the truth or at least close to the truth regarding these issues. That her hairstyle is laughable and should be changed (if she looks like a feminist activist who repels normal people with her appearance in itself). Her anger in itself isn’t bad or unwarranted. Some of her problems are caused indirectly by Trump’s and Israel’s policies to a small degree. Other problems of hers are caused by Starmer to a much larger degree. Yet other ones are caused by billionaires. Some of the men she is attracted to are likely to treat her badly. There also men who would do the opposite, but many of them are invisible or unattractive in her eyes. And I wouldn’t bring up Ancient Egypt as it’d just be triggering.
Botond173
4d ago
[reposting this here after I posted it in the earlier transnational thread of April 9th as it generated no responses.]
Hungary to stick with veto on EU Israel sanctions following Orban election defeat
Highlighting some parts from this news article:
Hungary's likely next prime minister, Peter Magyar, on Monday said that he would block proposals for the European Union to sanction Israel in one of the few policy positions aligned with those of outgoing nationalist leader, Viktor Orban.[...] Cautioning that he did not want to “rush ahead” in deciding how Budapest should position itself in EU decisions, he added that “Hungary will continue to block EU decisions regarding Israel”.
In a post on X, Mr Netanyahu's office said he extended his “deep appreciation” for Mr Orban, “who stood firmly by Israel's side in the face of unjust international vilification”.[...] Under Mr Orban, Hungary angered EU states by persistently vetoing aid packages to Ukraine, but also sanctions against Israel that require unanimous support. However, consensus among EU states on sanctioning Israel is far weaker than backing for Ukraine, with major states including Germany, Italy and France reluctant to take punitive measures.
More recently, the EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas voiced frustration at Hungary for opposing a package of sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied territories. “We don't do what the majority wants, but actually we are doing what this one country wants,” Ms Kallas said in February, without naming Hungary.
From another article:
Certain statements condemning Israeli actions — such as high-casualty military strikes during its war with Hamas in Gaza — that the bloc sought to issue on behalf of all 27 countries were often blocked by Hungary, forcing EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to issue them in her name alone, the official explained.
On substantive policy, however, Hungary’s role is narrower.
The only concrete EU measure that Hungary alone has blocked is a package of sanctions targeting violent West Bank settlers and organizations that support them.
Kallas has repeatedly stated that 26 countries have approved the sanctions measure, and it is widely understood that Hungary is the single country blocking it. Other proposed measures against Israel, such as suspending trade preferences, lack sufficient support regardless of Hungary’s position.
I'd comment on this from a culture war angle because the issue here appears to be largely symbolic, and I think culture wars are largely about symbols and gestures.
Regarding the legacy of anti-Semitism in Hungary and the long-term effect it has had on the attitudes of local liberals towards Israel, I offered a summary of my own interpretation here before so I won't repeat myself. What I'd add here is that the self-declared right-wing conservative ruling party that is alluded to in these articles which has been in power for 16 years has wide opposition, as evidenced by its recent decisive defeat in national elections. And the opposition does not only include the local version of the Blue Tribe (to the extent that they exist), but we can surely say that every local liberal leftist (and every neoliberal for that matter) supports the opposition.
But it seems that the issue of relations with Israel may become a source of internal division for them, and declarations such as the ones quoted above are undoubtedly adding fuel to it. This isn't that visible now but I'm sure it will be visible down the line. Observing the former satellite states of the USSR, I'd say the overall influence of the Israel lobby is maybe nowhere else as strong as in Hungary, and it usually asserts cultural influence through sympathetic liberals in important cultural positions. (Again, please see my comment I mentioned above and another down further down in the same chain for more commentary.)
The seemingly obvious reason this has now been shifting for some time is that local middle-class urban young liberals, the most vocal opponents of the now-ousted government, are increasingly acculturated in similarly aligned US online echo chambers and cultural spheres (subreddits, online news sites, vloggers, forums etc.), which in turn are increasingly dominated by a vehemently anti-Zionist tendency. And I think they will increasingly crowd out local older, less online and more Zionist liberals.
Botond173
4d ago
I'd like to call your attention to this. Just recently you discussed the allure of right-wing extremism to autistic men and their concept of fairness. Would argue that this here is a valid left-wing feminine parallel?
Are you referring to futile right-wing resistance and an impending severe economic collapse please?
Botond173
4d ago
I wouldn't dismiss this as a fringe phenomenon. They appear to be average middle-class / precariat urban college girls to me.
This just means that he was popular, not that the consequences of his policies are not terrible.
Botond173
4d ago
Hungary to stick with veto on EU Israel sanctions following Orban election defeat
Highlighting some parts from this news article:
Hungary's likely next prime minister, Peter Magyar, on Monday said that he would block proposals for the European Union to sanction Israel in one of the few policy positions aligned with those of outgoing nationalist leader, Viktor Orban.[...] Cautioning that he did not want to “rush ahead” in deciding how Budapest should position itself in EU decisions, he added that “Hungary will continue to block EU decisions regarding Israel”.
In a post on X, Mr Netanyahu's office said he extended his “deep appreciation” for Mr Orban, “who stood firmly by Israel's side in the face of unjust international vilification”.[...] Under Mr Orban, Hungary angered EU states by persistently vetoing aid packages to Ukraine, but also sanctions against Israel that require unanimous support. However, consensus among EU states on sanctioning Israel is far weaker than backing for Ukraine, with major states including Germany, Italy and France reluctant to take punitive measures.
More recently, the EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas voiced frustration at Hungary for opposing a package of sanctions against violent Israeli settlers in the occupied territories. “We don't do what the majority wants, but actually we are doing what this one country wants,” Ms Kallas said in February, without naming Hungary.
From another article:
Certain statements condemning Israeli actions — such as high-casualty military strikes during its war with Hamas in Gaza — that the bloc sought to issue on behalf of all 27 countries were often blocked by Hungary, forcing EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas to issue them in her name alone, the official explained.
On substantive policy, however, Hungary’s role is narrower.
The only concrete EU measure that Hungary alone has blocked is a package of sanctions targeting violent West Bank settlers and organizations that support them.
Kallas has repeatedly stated that 26 countries have approved the sanctions measure, and it is widely understood that Hungary is the single country blocking it. Other proposed measures against Israel, such as suspending trade preferences, lack sufficient support regardless of Hungary’s position.
I'd comment on this from a culture war angle because the issue here appears to be largely symbolic, and I think culture wars are largely about symbols and gestures.
Regarding the legacy of anti-Semitism in Hungary and the long-term effect it has had on the attitudes of local liberals towards Israel, I offered a summary of my own interpretation here before so I won't repeat myself. What I'd add here is that the self-declared right-wing conservative ruling party that is alluded to in these articles which has been in power for 16 years has wide opposition, as evidenced by its recent decisive defeat in national elections. And the opposition does not only include the local version of the Blue Tribe (to the extent that they exist), but we can surely say that every local liberal leftist (and every neoliberal for that matter) supports the opposition.
But it seems that the issue of relations with Israel may become a source of internal division for them, and declarations such as the ones quoted above are undoubtedly adding fuel to it. This isn't that visible now but I'm sure it will be visible down the line. Observing the former satellite states of the USSR, I'd say the overall influence of the Israel lobby is maybe nowhere else as strong as in Hungary, and it usually asserts cultural influence through sympathetic liberals in important cultural positions. (Again, please see my comment I mentioned above and another down further down in the same chain for more commentary.)
The seemingly obvious reason this has now been shifting for some time is that local middle-class urban young liberals, the most vocal opponents of the now-ousted government, are increasingly acculturated in similarly aligned US online echo chambers and cultural spheres (subreddits, online news sites, vloggers, forums etc.), which in turn are increasingly dominated by a vehemently anti-Zionist tendency. And I think they will increasingly crowd out local older, less online and more Zionist liberals.
Botond173
5d ago
But as far as I know, the rampant criminality of the black lumpenproletariat, as alluded to by Rev Jackson, was largely the combined consequence of various policies and reforms initiated during the Great Society project of the ‘60s. And it wasn’t until the emergence of the narrative about ‘super predators’ that it turned into a relevant political issue in the US, and that was in the early ‘90s. I know the War on Drugs played into all of it, but the idea that it was all just a veiled exercise of intentionally pandering to racist whites is pretty much a case of retcon on the part of Blue Tribe culture warriors.
Historically speaking, this is a rather recent development, so I doubt you can draw such sweeping conclusions about American society based on this.
I noticed that Scott Alexander recently published a political treatise entitled Orban Was Bad, Even Though We Don't Have A Perfect Word For His Badness which ponders the thorny question where we draw the dividing line between democracy and dictatorship. The related discussion on the SCC subreddit is available here. I don’t claim to have the answer to this dilemma but I’m fairly sure Orban’s perceived badness in the eyes of his Western critics is almost entirely the result of the triggering factor that is his overt anti-wokeness. Without this there would be scarce incentive to even notice his actions.
The reason, I think, is that anti-wokeness is normally a fringe political phenomenon even in Central Eastern Europe (or the European former satellite states of the USSR). Anti-woke politicians do exists but they are, again, normally fringe and insignificant.
I’d quote observations from two commenters in the Reddit thread:
Orban was a culture war pioneer and very influential culture warrior. He wrote the playbook that Trump and his allies used, the anti-immigration stuff, the anti-woke stuff, etc. He funded think tanks across the world to spread the far-right populist propaganda. He spoke at CPAC and encouraged a right-wing takeover of the media.
Orbán imported all of his anti-woke ideology from the US. (It didn't really work because woke isn't really a thing in Hungary.) He did volume-boost anti-immigration somewhat (he took most ideas from the European far right, but he was the first mainstream leader to embrace them), it was mostly kayfabe though. The only thing he seems to have true convictions on is allying with Russia rather than the West (which isn't really popular even in postliberal circles).
Hungary is basically playing the same role for postliberalism as Venezuela for socialism: the country is going to shit, opponents like to point that out, and proponents feel compelled to defend it and pretend everything is peachy because otherwise they'd have to admit that every single attempt to make postliberalism the governing ideology ended detrimentally. (Plus there's the extra layer of attention he was able to get by abusing the EU's generous and somewhat naive veto/consensus rules.)
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