Orbanism is dead? I didn't even know it was sick!
Modern, Hungarian Conservative though and its lack of consequences have been a disaster for... well, no one.
This post is my summary of the last Hungarian CPAC… just kidding! Nobody gives a shit.
There’s a hilarious post on J’accuse by “Franz Pokorny” about The Danube Institute, who seems to be an insider. It’s a bit bitchy, a bit gossipy, but very entertaining. Take it with a grain of paprika:
(Rod) Dreher, […] works for the Danube Institute, the prize pear on a cheese platter of right-wing institutions set up by the outgoing Hungarian prime minister to make Budapest, […], “the new European capital of conservatism”.
The first thought that comes to my mind about The Danube Institute is “nice real estate”. It’s also pretty much the only thought. Their offices are located in the Lónyay-Hatvany villa, on the side of the Castle Hill overlooking the Danube. A stunning piece of property.
I’m not the only one:
Chris offers a correction:
Actually, it’s both.
I used to keep an eye on this scene, but it was clear by 2022 that their output is utterly inconsequential. Haven’t paid much attention to them since. Did I miss out on anything? Extremely unlikely.
The Danube Institute’s biggest impact was the fake and gay outcry by Brussels (the city, not the idea) when they wanted to host a National Conservatism Conference there in 2024, a forum of dangerous ideas, unsafe for the locals. Spooky!
Rod Dreher, as long as he lives in Budapest, is not even the most dangerous intellectual in the apartment building where he resides.
The reason for this article is Borg’s comment on my main post-election post, prematurely lamenting the death of Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), which, according to its own definition:
is an educational institution and research center devoted to the flourishing of the Hungarian nation. Focused on developing the skills and talents of young Hungarians, MCC provides supplemental education, without charge, to young Hungarians throughout the Carpathian Basin
And it’s part of the same government-funded, vaguely Orbanist, somewhat internationally focused — for lack of a more charitable word — blob that the Danube Institute is. I’ll call it the (broader) MCC universe.
I’m not personally privy to what goes on inside the MCC universe: I’m not a young conservative, and although I was once young, I was never a conservative. I’m also not a geriatric has-been foreigner of mediocre intellectual fame (or as we say in Hungary: “a somewhat famous faggot”) looking for a cushy retirement job, with occasional trips to Paris to sample the oysters.
If you’re young, conservative and ambitious, the MCC universe provides scholarships, events, a chance to network with like-minded people and learn the ropes to eventually become… one of the next generation of European conservative leaders? Or some shit. In itself admirable and purely meritocratic, as far as the youngsters go. Without such institutions, the Brusselites of the future would only come from the nepo babies of the elites, Left or Right.
Most of my knowledge comes from young people who took the opportunity to make a career in politics through the MCC universe: they are smart, hard-working, and infinitely more deserving of their place in the international political system than the nepo babies who usually fill these posts. Good for them!
However, the MCC universe is an order of magnitude greater than what is required to accomplish this objective. It’s lavishly overfunded.
Despite its magnificent facade (there’s even an MCC summer festival), the MCC universe seems insular. For those who are outside its walled garden, it has zero impact, in Hungary and abroad.
Messing with it costs little, if any, political capital. So the new government does.
For young conservatives here who are eager to learn:
The title is a play on philosopher-comedian Norm Macdonald’s famous sketch. Unlikely to be part of your curriculum.
The subtitle is a play on the first line of mathematician-sociologist Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto. Unlikely to be part of your curriculum.
I'm old enough to appreciate both the title and subtitle :)
But with a grain of salt; the "lack of consequences" of Hungarian conservative thought...
Last time I checked, we live in Red Queen's world, where you have to run like crazy just to stay out of criminal proceedings for having called a man a man.
Hungary having managed to STAY in that same place, while all the rest of Europe slides into oblivion, is actually a quite sizeable consequence.
Maybe it could be attributed to "Hungarians in general" and not to anything that any university did, but... in my experience of social dynamics in many countries, the effects of universities are practically impossible to underestimate.
If MCC is particularly useless *among a bunch of RW universities*, then of course yes.
But is that the case? What's the actual pulse across the bulk of the other Hungarian universities?
In West Europe, they're practically all gone and done for. And I know that in a lot of East Europe, it's half-half, with the sane side consistently losing...
Can people expect much of the same policies, just under a different (younger) leader?