Hungary’s Viktor Orban wins third straight term in power - Page 6 - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

Wandering the information superhighway, he came upon the last refuge of civilization, PoFo, the only forum on the internet ...

Political issues and parties in Europe's nation states, the E.U. & Russia.

Moderator: PoFo Europe Mods

Forum rules: No one line posts please. This is an international political discussion forum, so please post in English only.
#14909308
Kaiserschmarrn wrote:journalists are constrained by the preferences of their readers. However, academics have few such constraints which is why they criticise the media from a position that is even more polluted by progressivism.


Few such constraints? Surely their publications must be up to a certain standard if they want to be successful. Academics with an obvious political bias can still be excellent scientists (e.g. Krugman). Obviously the softer a science the more room there is for "personal interpretation".

In any case, I'm not sure where you're going with this. Certain jobs attract certain people, usually the ones who are good at it. Military and law enforcement are full of right-wingers, but I haven't heard you complain about it.
#14909969
Rugoz wrote:
Few such constraints? Surely their publications must be up to a certain standard if they want to be successful. Academics with an obvious political bias can still be excellent scientists (e.g. Krugman). Obviously the softer a science the more room there is for "personal interpretation".

In any case, I'm not sure where you're going with this. Certain jobs attract certain people, usually the ones who are good at it. Military and law enforcement are full of right-wingers, but I haven't heard you complain about it.

It's difficult to find data on this, but in the US at least the skew in the military towards the right is nowhere near as large as that to the left in the soft sciences and humanities. Among military officers it's around 2:1 in favour of the right *. This is comparable to the proportion of economists who identify as left wing, but economics is one of the more balanced fields. In others, like sociology, history or journalism, you are looking at higher ratios, up to 20:1 in some.

I agree that this is mostly a result of self selection.

As for where I'm going, I'm not sure what is unclear about my previous posts on this. The people who assess the media coverage are usually just as, if not more, left wing or progressive in their world view and this influences their judgement. Further, the increasing left wing dominance is also reflected in the field itself and hence the teaching and curricula, e.g.:
Oxford Bibliographies wrote:There has been a normative turn in journalism studies and, more generally, communication theory, which has led to renewed and wider academic interest in the ethics of journalism. The longstanding focus of liberal theories on autonomy and the focus of applied ethics theories on professional duty and the consequences of actions have been pushed wider since the early 2000s. Journalism ethics has become imagined as much more of a social achievement, negotiated with communities and motivated by ideas of living well together and quality public discourse. As a consequence, some of the big questions are now about virtue, justice, caring for others, and dialogue. There has been a flowering of thinking about what good journalists do and what contribution they make to public life, which is providing both practitioners and those who watch them with further resources to reflect on journalism’s role in society. This new thinking is partly a response to the many crises in journalism and public life, which direct attention to the legitimacy of Western media and political institutions. But it goes deeper. The Enlightenment imaginary of free and rational individuals is no longer held sufficient by most journalism ethicists as a guide to good practice. Ethics has also become better connected, through theories of community, public life, and social justice, with critical sociology and cultural studies. The old sociological critique that ethics is a form of professional self-justification of power or is marginal alongside structural concerns about the media has shifted to a concern about how the institutions and texts of the media position people in relation to each other. The sections on the Media and Moral Publics and on Globalized Media Ethics are testament to the field’s reach well beyond questions of individual professional decision-making. These concerns also give communication ethics greater relevance to wider thinking about justice, democracy, and social change.

If you look at other research of the two authors of Pod's second article you'll find jargon such as togetherness, othering, otherness, we-ness, bordering, deservingness, see for instance:
Zaborowski wrote:Figures of crisis: the delineation of (un)deserving refugees in the German media

[...]
We contend that this discourse of deservingness — in which the humanitarian logics of protection and the securitizing rhetoric of deterrence mutually reinforce each other — directly mirrors and extends the humanitarian securitization of European borders (Vaughan-Williams, 2015) into public discourse. Consequently, this paper offers not only an extensive illustration of how discourses of the ‘refugee crisis’ reinscribe shifting borders through which social exclusion, violence and death are legitimized, but it also points to the conditionality that underlies current humanitarian responses within European border regimes.
[...]
Within this process, deservingness operates as a mode of bordering, which is reinstated through and within the discourse of crisis, and Germany continues to be framed as a racially and ethnically homogenous entity that erects clear boundaries of belonging.

This terminology comes straight out of "critical" studies which are everywhere in the humanities by now and are also making their way into the social sciences (plenty of examples here). People who subscribe to this type of thinking have no use for objectivity and rationality. In fact, they reject them and often call them white patriarchal concepts. As the above demonstrates, it's perfectly acceptable to denounce borders and make stuff up about "racial homogeneity" and I suspect that there is actually consensus that borders, real and metaphorical (as in e.g. national identity), are bad and need to be torn down. So there certainly are standards but they increasingly revolve around "virtue, justice, caring for others, and dialogue" as interpreted by progressives.

At this point, anything on contentious topics (such as "refugees") that comes out of the humanities/soft science departments needs to be dismissed as a default until these fields come back from the brink and rehabilitate themselves.

* If you include all of the military the picture is even less skewed and quite similar to the general population.
#14915216
George Soros’ Open Society foundation ends operations in Hungary

Image

George Soros’ Open Society Foundations is ending its operations in Hungary, accusing Budapest of repressing civil society. PM Viktor Orban has repeatedly slammed the tycoon for meddling in the nation’s internal affairs.

“Faced with an increasingly repressive political and legal environment in Hungary, the Open Society Foundations are moving their Budapest-based international operations and staff to the German capital, Berlin,” the group confirmed on Tuesday.

Patrick Gaspard, the president of the Open Society Foundations, lashed out at Budapest, saying it has “denigrated and misrepresented our work,” while repressing civil society “for the sake of political gain.”
The group based its decision on the fact that Budapest "prepares to impose further restrictions on nongovernmental organizations through what it has branded its "Stop Soros” package of legislation.”

Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly spoken out against the detrimental agendas of Soros’ foundation and other NGOs, accusing the billionaire of meddling in Hungary’s internal political affairs by funding opposition groups.

Speaking on the recent election and the victory of his Fidesz party, Orban said, “I know they won’t accept the result of the election, they will organize all sorts of things, they have unlimited financial resources.”

When news of the Open Society Foundations’ possible departure from Hungary broke in April, Orban said: “You might understand if I don’t cry my eyes out.”

In February, Fidesz submitted a bill to parliament called the ‘Stop Soros Act’ – in reference to the Hungarian-American tycoon – which would curb immigration and would also affect foreign-funded NGOs. The bill says that all NGOs which “support illegal immigration” need to be registered, while any NGO which gets money from abroad must pay a 25-percent tax.

Also, foreign citizens and Hungarian nationals who support illegal immigration could be subject to a restraining order which would keep them away from the border. “If Soros is found to have engaged in such activity, meaning he organizes illegal immigration, then the rules will apply to him,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said in February.
The 87-year-old worked as a trader and analyst before establishing Soros Fund Management in 1969. He became one of the world’s foremost investors, generating enormous wealth for himself. The Hungarian-American made a fortune, but also earned notoriety for shorting Britain’s pound sterling, which forced the currency’s collapse in the 1990s.
The Open Society Foundations project was started in 1979, with the first non-US foundation opening in Hungary in 1984. The group currently has annual expenditures of over $940 million, operates in over 100 countries across the globe, with 26 national and regional foundations and offices.

The billionaire was once likened to Satan for his calls to bring migrants into Europe, which was perceived by some Hungarian MPs as an attempt to destroy the independence and values of nation-states. Hungarian lawmaker Andras Aradszki of the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) said it is a Christian duty to fight what he called “Satan’s Soros plan.”

The billionaire also faced accusations of meddling in British politics after news emerged that he donated almost half a million pounds to a campaign seeking to reverse Brexit.

Orban, a harsh critic of illegal immigration and Brussels’ mandatory migrant quotas, once stated that the recent wave of refugees entering Europe is an invasion. In December 2017, Hungary, along with Poland and the Czech Republic, said they reserve the “right” to reject EU-imposed refugee quotas in spite of pressure from the European Commission. The three countries argued at the time that the refugees could pose a direct threat to public security.

https://www.rt.com/news/426729-soros-fo ... s-hungary/

This is good news for Hungary.
At least one place Soros will no longer be able to interfere with his globalist obsessions.
#14915292
Ter wrote:There is no conspiracy.
He is doing all the interfering he is accused of.
Promoting globalism, check
Promoting mass migration, check
Yes, he is Jewish, but that is not relevant.


I doubt it.

Most of the accusations seem like conspiracy theories. Let us look at the accusation by Orban, where Orban accuses him of supporting illegal immigration. Is there evidence for that?
#14915316
Pants-of-dog wrote:I doubt it.

Most of the accusations seem like conspiracy theories. Let us look at the accusation by Orban, where Orban accuses him of supporting illegal immigration. Is there evidence for that?


I will look again tomorrow, but here is a big article with lots of information.
The source is not neutral however.

The gist is : Soros, through sponsoring NGOs, promotes immigration

https://sovereignnations.com/2018/03/24 ... sed-italy/
#14915348
Pants-of-dog wrote:So I am supposed to read some long opinion piece written by someone else who agrees with you, and find your evidence for you?

Haha I thought you are a house man with too much time on your hands.
Anyway I have given you an executive summary:
Soros bankrolls NGOs that promote migration.

I will come back with some evidence if I can find it.
#14915350
Ter wrote:Haha I thought you are a house man with too much time on your hands.


Your incorrect ideas about me are not relevant.

Anyway I have given you an executive summary:
Soros bankrolls NGOs that promote migration.

I will come back with some evidence if I can find it.


So, no evidence that Soros is involved in illegal immigration to Hungary. Got it.
#14915361
Ter wrote:There is no conspiracy.
He is doing all the interfering he is accused of.
Promoting globalism, check
Promoting mass migration, check


OMG somebody promotes views I don't like, burn the heretic! :knife:

Besides, you're delusional if you think Soros was pushed out because he promotes globalism and migration. Those aren't dangerous to Orban.
#14915367
Pants-of-dog wrote:What part of “it’s not my job to find your evidence for you” do you not understand?


The part where I know it is a waste of time to bother presenting it to you. It is all there if you care to read it.
  • 1
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7

EU is not prepared on nuclear war, but Russia,[…]

It is implausible that the IDF could not or would[…]

Moving on to the next misuse of language that sho[…]

There is no reason to have a state at all unless w[…]