Thanks to the timely reporting of Reuters, newspapers and internet sites learned this morning that Hungary is planning to create a $2 billion anti-coronavirus fund, which, in the opinion of most experts, is inadequate. But before we take a look at the details of this package, which is being heralded as the largest and best in the history of Hungary, I would like to turn to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s regular Friday morning “interview” of yesterday.
The prime minister spent relatively little time on economic matters, but he indicated that he will not change course as a result of the economic disaster that is gripping the world in the throes of the pandemic. He will march ahead on the road to success, which is full employment and no “free” money, because “aid, alms means a beggar’s life.” As far as Orbán is concerned, “there is no such thing as money as a gift without any effort. It is something that is unheard of.” The government is planning no change in the paltry unemployment insurance benefits that can be collected for only three months and no increase in the allowance to families with children. And certainly, no direct payments from the government to individual Hungarians. In brief, the Hungarian prime minister, who speaks so often about Christian values, doesn’t care what happens to people who just lost their jobs and don’t have enough money to survive for more than a month.
The government’s first priority is the “preservation of jobs” and “the creation of new jobs.” Orbán has no intention of “resorting to loans, which mostly come from abroad,” since “the IMF and financial speculators of the George Soros variety are waiting for us at the end of the road.” We know, he said, that “there are opponents of Hungary who want to plunder and grab the resources of this country.”
Details of the economic package that is supposed to allow the Hungarian economy to continue on the road mapped out by the Fidesz administration will be revealed on Wednesday, but today we got a preliminary glimpse of what Viktor Orbán has in mind. Some of the measures were announced by Gergely Gulyás, head of the prime minister’s office. The government will allocate $2 billion to an anti-coronavirus action fund. Banks will have to contribute $163 million to this effort and multinational retailers, $106 million.
The somber announcement of the stimulus package by the government spokesperson and Gergely Gulyás
There is nothing surprising about this announcement since the Orbán government employed this method once already, shortly after Fidesz won the election in 2010. But what is new are the financial measures leveled against municipalities and political parties.
All municipalities are supposed to hand over their total income from motor vehicle taxes, to the tune of $100 million, to the central government. So, if appointing central government “commissars” over the municipalities didn’t pan out, why not fleece them? It’s a typical Fidesz way of getting even.
Perhaps the most shameful part of the package is halving the central government’s financial support of parliamentary parties, amounting to $3.5 million. I’m sure the government would insist that the decision also hurts Fidesz, but everybody knows that the division between Fidesz coffers and the government budget is blurred. Fidesz campaigning, ever since 2014, has been done on government money. Hungarian taxpayers, even those who despise Fidesz and Viktor Orbán, have been paying for Fidesz’s supermajority.
The government, perhaps fearing a backlash, made one exception to Viktor Orbán’s refusal to help out individuals. People working in the healthcare sector will each receive a one-time “gift” of 500,000 forints ($1,475), and, starting in November, they will receive a 20% raise. I should add that the salaries of nurses are so low that most people believe that only by doubling their salaries could one keep these people in the country.
Gulyás talked about the “incomprehensible” amount of money the government and the central bank will sink into the economy, although, in relation to the planned budget, the fiscal stimulus program is not so unfathomable as Gulyás tried to make out. The 1,345 forint billion package is only 6% of the Hungarian budget, whereas the recently enacted $2 trillion stimulus program in the United States is about 45% of the country’s budget. No wonder that HVG called the package “slender.”
Although all opposition parties oppose the government’s program, it was only the Demokratikus Koalíció that came forth with a comprehensive stimulus package that would double the amount of money currently planned by the government. Here are some of the provisions Ferenc Gyurcsány described in a video message on the party’s website. (An abbreviated version is available in 24.hu.) DK would raise the duration of unemployment insurance benefits from three months to six. The amount of the family allowance, which hasn’t been changed in the last ten years, would be doubled. Employees who are forced to stay with their children during school closings should receive a “virus leave” of 80% of their wages. DK suggests a 100% salary raise for employees in the healthcare and social sectors. Employers with fewer than five employees should receive 80% of their average income before the pandemic. Companies that lost at least 25% of their income should be provided with 20-40% of their payroll by the government. Members of the police force and the Hungarian Army should get an additional 500,000 forints. Finally, the party suggests the establishment of a 500 billion forint social fund.
Of course, the newly elected mayors of Budapest, representing opposition parties, are up in arms. They prepared a joint statement against the latest measures, which they fear might remain in force even after the pandemic is over. Most likely, Fidesz mayors in the capital are unhappy too, but they don’t dare to protest because their positions depend on the good will of “the boss,” as apparently Orbán is called among government and Fidesz leaders. I assume that, soon enough, opposition mayors of larger cities will join the protest against these new measures. Party leaders are also organizing and preparing a common platform in which they will outline alternatives to the draconian measures Viktor Orbán has in mind.
But, one way or another, Orbán is determined to use the pandemic to his political advantage. He wants to crush his opponents and strip municipalities of their independence. In brief, he wants to be the undisputed head of a government that controls everything in Hungary.
The $2 billion “action find” equals HUF 650 bil., how does it relate to the HUF 1 345 bil “package”?
The missing amount can be stolen, imagined, invented, whatever you choose. They say they will find it at the ministries. https://444.hu/2020/04/04/a-kormany-a-politikai-partoktol-az-onkormanyzatoktol-a-multiktol-es-a-bankoktol-is-penzt-szed-be-a-vedekezesi-alapba So there is money hidden there. And with the HUF going downhill, 650billion today is worth 1,345 tomorrow. So, in the end, the Viktor can choose between several possibilities.
Talking about getting free money :
– Two years ago PM Orban sold 73% of the Matra Power Station to Orbán/Mèszáros for 5.9 bil Ft (valued at 8 bil Ft at the time).
– They be took out 8 bil Ft dividend from the reserves of the loss making business and
– now the PM Orbán bought back from Orban/ Mèszáros the share for 17 bil Ft.
Hajrá magyarok,
But no free money… for you.
Ferenc Gyurcsany is the genius former prime minister who increased Hungary’s debt load from 56%/GDP in 2002, to 82% by 2010 (even though he resigned before 2010, his policies largely remained). A lot of that debt, about half of it was denominated in foreign currency. He also oversaw the FX consumer debt fiasco. He drove Hungary’s economy into the ditch a full year before the global economic crisis of 2008 struck the world. Hungary was the first EU nation to need an IMF bailout. If Orban would have continued with the IMF bailout, Hungary would have had to look forward to entire hospitals being closed, IMF mandating fewer patient hours spent in hospitals. Pension cuts, government employee wage cuts. I am basing this on what Romania had to do for the IMF. Romania’s finances BTW were nowhere near as bad as Hungary’s were by 2010, so Hungary’s road to IMF satisfaction would have probably been even more painful. Eva clearly thinks that the Gyurcsy Bacsi economic model is preferable, despite all the misery it caused in Hungary the last time it was implemented. Whether the current stimulus in Hungary will be enough or not, remains to be seen. More can… Read more »
Well, Zoliboy was it not you who praised the actual Hungarian government for the big achievements made during the last decennium? Was it not you who predicted that Hungary would be the first country raising from the ashes after the corona crisis?
And why do you think readers of the Hungarian Spectrum do not recognize your distractions, name-calling, and other primitive excuse-inventing fantasies for the major failing of this Hungarian government to take care of the people as they should do?
Ur. Zoli- Professor Balogh can defend herself and/or sees no need to respond to your personal attacks devoid of actual content. One thing for sure, she has proven again and again her honesty, courage, integrity and wise analysis. Orban and his defenders are of course the very opposite.
Zoli
And they used to beat up the blacks in America….. blah, blah…
Colonist Zoltán again with his economic predictions! IMF would close hospitals in Hungary? A pure invention of the serial liar, since the Republic of Hungary fulfilled all conditions of the IMF loan and not a single hospital has been closed. And how stupid one has to be to claim that the Fed will print any money the US budget needs. At least the Fed is independent from the government and no mad man at its top. Here in Hungary we can do so, since the MNB said that it serves the government – not our currency. Of course this means inflation and the rates of about 5% the regime sells the bonds to Hungarian citizens will increase a lot as well. Of course all stolen money is not in Forint bank accounts. BTW since you mentioned Gyurcsány and forex credits: It was not him who wanted us to borrow in Euro and Swiss Francs, that was Orbán. But why telling the truth Zoltán, the regime doesn’t pay for the truth!
The funny side to zolidiot’s rantings: Just read an academic article (sorry, only in German) that the future will bring/must bring more “infrastructure socialism”. And the globalist-marxist worldview will be strengthened by this. So the differences in standard of living between the developed European countries and the Balkan (known to some as East Central Europe) might become even bigger – of course the O1G honchos don’t care about this, they will be ok (at least financially). And they don’t care at all about the majority of average joes/deplorables/bunkó paraszt in Hungary etc – nothing new here. PS: i just remembered that this is typical for a class system – the upper class tells the lower what is right (often using god or some other higher power …) but they of course don’t have any scruples to do what they want. A few examples: Christian rulers and priests have never cared for things like the ten commandments … They warn you about the dangers of those horrible migrants – but the risk of a child being sexually abused by a priest is much much higher. The Nazi leaders enjoyed all the things from the bad USA and the other allies which… Read more »
The things learned these days in a setup such as Magyarorszag today:
The indication that the idea of wielding power is becoming more uncivilized in the sense that attempts now to fight the virus are in the vein of killing many ‘birds’ with one stone and it’s not just the virus bird.
A battle against the virus? Come again. More a battle to settle the opposition into their coffins. An ‘excess’ of them would seem to be worse outcome than the virus. Many ask, ‘Democracy?’. ‘Come again?
BTW, it seems that Hungary’s economic rescue package may be $30 billion according to Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-hungary-economy/hungary-prepares-30-billion-coronavirus-package-to-jump-start-economy-idUSKBN21M0HP
It seems Eva jumped the gun on this one!
Eva is using figures as published in all Hungarian media
so following Zoli all Hungarian media “jumped the gun”
the figure Reuters gave [30 billion USD] is based upon “teljes gazdaságvédelmi csomag a magyar GDP 18-22 százalékát fogja érinteni Gulyás szerint”
my check of the figures: GDP for Hungary in 2019 estimated 170 billion USD * 18% = 30 billion USD
my notes to this, especially Gulyás wording:
–“teljes csomag” = complete package
–“fogja érinteni” = will/could touch [not necessarily the total amount!]
most important: instead of jumping, who will use “Zoli’s gun”?
imho only his master OV, the Hungarian Serial Democracy Killer!
Zoli
BS again. The article quotes what “top government official said..”. Who didn’t say anything more than what is listed here.
Why push lies so dumb that one minute reading debunks them.
“Why push lies so dumb that one minute reading debunks them.”
He just folows the rules of regime propaganda. Repeating lies as often as possible makes them true said his boss. Who within FIDESZ ever lied in a way difficult to debunk? Why, if enough people are stupid enough to believe everything the regime tells them?
Re repeating lies:
Wasn’t it Goebbels who said this first?
O1G’s honchos are very good pupils …
So the “boss” aka Orban is quoted as saying there is no “free lunch”. The same Orban took a free grant (as many who read “Hungarian Spectrum” know) following the end of communism to attend Oxford from George Soros. Although Mr. Soros is a wise investor and statesman, even he can make mistakes i.e giving Orban a “free lunch”. Well at least from the look of things, Orban is an expert on lunch (puns intended). On another point, The stealing of public funds via the regime’s “mafia state” will only continue via this new program. Balint Magyar has written numerous books analyzing the mafia state and other “stubborn structures” of post communist regimes (also familiar to most readers of this post). Orban never disappoints in those respects. He is an expert on “free” money, especially from the long suffering Hungarian tax payor. The health system in Hungary has been sliding down hill for years, secondary to incompetent management, an over burdened (and poorly paid workforce per the present and previous posts), the failure to recognize, let alone change the double burden that women medical staff face (overworked at the medical setting and still doing much of the house work at… Read more »
DAY 6 OF THE ÚJ MAGYAR DIKTATÚRA
Just saying.. your post might have to go on auto-run. 😎
Headline in Google News this morning saying Trump is planning a full totalitarian dictatorship.
Hey, no problem. If he wants it, he can have Hungary’s with an immediate delivery date –
„oven ready” as BloJo Johnson would put it.
As I have often stated on this blog there are laws in place that give any President enormous powers in the situation of National emergencies. The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed by Congress gave the President no matter who he is additional authority. Most Americans are even totally unaware of the many largely secret powers given to the presidency during the cold war that remain in place to this day. The book (2017) “Raven Rock: The Story of the US Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself” by Garrett Graff discussed some of this history. Unfortunately it was the US Congress that has authorized much of this. Soon after the 9/11 attacks President Bush established what is called the President’s Surveillance Program. As part of the program, the Terrorist Surveillance Program was established pursuant to an executive order that authorized the NSA to surveil certain telephone calls without obtaining a warrant (see 50 U.S.C. § 1802 50 U.S.C. § 1809). The complete details of the executive order have never been made public, but according to administration statements, the authorization covers communication originating overseas from or to a person suspected of having links to terrorist organizations or their… Read more »
If you are referring to martial law, that is not true. That was a rumor and only Congress can declare martial law. If you are referring to deploying troops to NY. Those are medical troops. Martial law involves the military taking over civilian governance and that is not happening.
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/491155-can-the-president-declare-martial-law-in-response-to-coronavirus
I am not.
RC may recall a few days back I discussed President Trump’s statement that he might declare a quarantine against Eva’s State of Connecticut, the states of New York, and New Jersey. The Governor of NY correctly said it would be illegal, because it would require the invocation of in Article 1, Section 9, and the activation of the militia in time of rebellion or invasion discussed at Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution. This would require a situation of Rebellion or Invasion in these states. Team Trump’s legal team quickly advised him of this and he decided such a formal quarantine was not needed.
But as wrfree indicates President Trump has existing laws relating to his extensive executive powers on his side short of using martial law, which in the USA would mean suspension of the right of habeas corpus allowing an agency of the Federal government to hold a person or persons without a charge. Up to now even very right wing members of his own administration and Republican party have contained some of Trump’s authoritarian instincts.
Martial law would be the end of Trump. Nobody would have any more illusions about him then, including his own supporters. That’s why it’s probably safe to assume he will never do it – his backers prefer the step by step program, just like the other side.
That was not in reply to you, Istvan. You never used the term martial law. Yes, he has come close.
Mr. Trump will be on a roll virus or no virus. His revenge complex is still healthy as he fired Michael Atkinson the Inspector General who informed Congress on a whistleblower’s view of Trump’s ‘quid pro quo’ phone call to Zelensky. As a result of the complaint a fallout between Congress, Trump and the intelligence community has gotten worse.
The incident is in line with the President ‘s affectation with ‘loyalties’ from his soldiers. If one goes ‘against’ him you are dead meat and ushered to the exits. Trump is now the Jacksonian Republican in thinking. It is a quest for power to flow from the rambunctious Executive Presidency and particularly from one chair in the Oval Office. Congress to be a White House garage adjunct where his cars get fixed.
One hard-assed dude that Viktor Orbán with his „NO FREE MONEY” decree.
I guess when the plate comes round in his favourite Cat’lic church he just shoves it on for some other pathetic christian soul to make a „free money” offering. [Truth is, if course, he is right, after all he donates money from Hungarian tax payers to his beloved fairy-tale dictatorship by the millions of Euro anyway.]
Remember the „Good Samaritan” story? Well, we’ve got a real bad-assed Samaritan right here, right now. Stuff the free handouts – the MONEY is MINE, “by right”.
Updated my flourish chart, showing in spreading of the virus
“Koronavírus Magyarországon – megye lakosságának arányában [100.000 lakosra]”
https://app.flourish.studio/visualisation/1799004
data about Corona as officially published on https://koronavirus.gov.hu/
@Ferenc, 4:20 am
Except the “gov.” seems to have lost count of the dead…
(better not admit it)
“the dead”
number not given anymore on main page [no clue why], but there’s a link in “elhunytak” which goes to https://koronavirus.gov.hu/elhunytak
this is a list of all “the dead” by Corona
unfortunately [deliberately?] this list is without any date, so it’s not possible to follow the develoment of the numbers in time
PS: check my comment @5:37am, about the Corona “testing” in Hungary [thanks to Hadhazi for making this public!]
@Ferenc, 6:00 am
Thank you for the “extra click” advice. The list of dead, probably purposely, looks pretty dismal – the implication being that they were all about to ‘drop off the twig’ and it was too late for us to save them, tho’ goodness knows, we tried.
One might conclude from the cloaked information on tests and testing (only “samples taken”) that the statistics could be manipulated, especially since the (nominal) increase in infections is about the slowest in any country in the world. [If you don’t really want to know how many infected people you have, don’t test.]
It will be interesting to see what the next 2 or 3 weeks bring in terms of active cases and death rates. Wouldn’t it just be great if the disease had indeed been contained in Hungary? However, it is way too early to reach that conclusion.
There is another site that lists the death toll.
http://pandemia.hu/magyarorszag-koronavirus/
It is odd they removed that from the other site.
Re the numbers
I already hear faithful repeating the propaganda lines:
– there is shortage of protection gear everywhere
– we are doing much better than Italy, France, etc.
There will be lies and we’ll probably never know the real numbers, but will hear that “Orbàn defended the country much better”.
Anyone wanna bet?
Már nem is szűrik koronavírusra a betegeket?
Are patients no longer screened for coronavirus [in Hungary]?
https://www.facebook.com/hadhazyakos/videos/892243497946727/
Orbán says that “there is no such thing as money as a gift without any effort. It is something that is unheard of.”
He must have been thinking how difficult and what hard work it has been for him to get free money from the EU. I guess it entailed him crossing the hallway, from his office to the treasury department, and simply using his keys to grab the loot – moneys which were supposed to go to hospitals and schools.
Poor guy, must have been really hard work, carrying all those heavy bags of cash plus the extra overtime to cover up the theft.
Orban wants to see more cars on the streets and take away more money from the local governments at the same time.
He ordered that public parking should be free from Monday.
I think he still thinks that everybody should catch the virus and die or survive.
He did not read the study describing that the majority of the initially asymptotic people would develop serious symptoms later. [We also do not know whether we can get immunity at all and if we can, for how long].
Lord Corona will award Orban with the Parking Lot Medal of Glass Lung.
https://24.hu/belfold/2020/04/05/koronavirus-parkolas-ingyenes-orban-viktor/
“Moses then summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them,”
[…]
“None of you shall go outside the door of his house until the morning.”
The tenth plague, Exodus 12
“asymptotic” stands for “asymptomatic” here. 🙂
Orbán’s latest video:
https://hirklikk.hu/kozelet/orban-most-lesz-gondolkodnivalonk-sajat-magunkrol-is/362121
Does that man have no other problems?
And another view to think on …
‘Faith is a fine invention
For gentlemen who see
But Microscopes are prudent
In an emergency’.
Emily Dickinson…
Like many things in life it’s all a matter of ‘balance’. Curious if the priests understand or can delve into that.
Remember this?
“Dear Mr. Secretary-General,
….
With all due respect, I have no time for this!
….
Yours sincerely,
ORBÁN Viktor”
Orban is generous with the prayers to compensate for the lack/shortage of protection gear, tests, medical personnel, which he doesn’t want to spend money on, since that would mean less billions into his pocket.
The linked story is about the intense situation today at the the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York City. The Hospital is part of Mount Sinai hospital system and it related medical school. I would say the situation is qualitatively worse than what I am seeing at Stroger Hospital here in Chicago, where I have been volunteering and will be again Monday morning. It is also very possible in the near the future some hospitals in Budapest will be having soon, and similar to what has happened in Spain and Italy. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/04/nyregion/coronavirus-hospital-brooklyn.html
On Friday as I indicated I had to perform emergency intubation using a bag-mask ventilation (BMV) with supplemental oxygen for an intake patient, a code blue was called for the intake area of the emergency room. The truth is neither I nor other EMTs and nurses waited for the team, and if we had the patient would have died or had potential brain damage. The team arrived and quickly move the patient to the ICU where he was put on a ventilator immediately.
Endotracheal Intubation video
Very interesting article on German coronavirus testing programme: 1/3 – ½ million tests/week!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/germanys-devolved-logic-is-helping-it-win-the-coronavirus-race
Test, test, test and test again. Why is the Orbán government not following this approach?
Does the Kármelita know something that our German friends do not?
The death rate in Germany is about the lowest anywhere. Hungary needs to learn from them – starting 5 weeks ago!
Yes, it would cost money and YES it would save Hungarian lives,
SO WHY IS IT NOT BEING DONE?
Expensive. The commercial price per test is $40-$100.
500 million tests per week means $20-$50 billions per week.
Germany can afford such a mass-testing strategy but not Hungary.
@Invidious, 3:09 pm
So we are all f*^ked then? Thought as much.
So much for “On Protecting Against the Coronavirus”.
You can have all the protection you need so long as it doesn’t cost the Money Mill too much.
Ovoda, don’t you know that Hungary has only about 10% of Germany’s citizens?
So how many tests do you think the country needs and can afford?
Just consider the money that the Fidesz mafia takes every month …
@Invidious, 3:09 pm
Yes, Bloomberg estimated $50 – $100 for a test. I very much doubt that Germany pays that much for the quantity of tests the put through. If Hungary can spaff Euro >1,000,000,000 on foci stadiums, then the country can afford to have a responsible coronavirus testing programme. Don’t forget, to enrich Mr. Meszaros alone, every single Hungarian has paid Euro 150. Apart from which the government now gives a guarantee of life and safety to every Hungarian citizen. The country CAN afford it.
It´s the weekend team Ovidiu who needs 500 million tests per week (for how many weeks?) for a population of 9 million people.
It is time primary schools open again tomorrow in Moscow, be alert in the math class
Ovi
This is a MONSTROUS LIE.
Only the above mentioned BFüred/Tihany project and the Mèszàros rip off with the Màrta Power Station can pay for
3 MILLION Tests at $ 75/shot. (Ft 50+25 bil / 330 = $ 227 million /75 = 3 million)
So far 22 k done, if you believe the ever lying crooks.
Orbàn’s greed will kill thousands, again.
The Spiegel has a video (with text transcript) on Anna Donáth’s fight against the Ermächtigungsgesetz:
https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/notstandgesetzgebung-in-ungarn-das-hoffen-der-orban-kritiker-auf-die-eu-a-025f85a5-2c50-4dc1-930c-e77f1fbe8833
“Fauci: no evidence anti-malaria drug Trump [Orban] pushes works against virus.”
This is basically a right wing hoax but Orban’s intelligence people picked it up as something real. As they say: Molodec.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/coronavirus-fauci-trump-anti-malaria-drug
God hath spoken: “No ‘definitive evidence’ hydroxychloroquine works. In a year or two we’ll get definitive evidence. Until then please die without complaining.”
As I have posted in the last several days there is appearing across the USA a disproportionately high of Covid 19 infections. Today the Chicago local affiliate of National Public Radio ran this story https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/in-chicago-70-of-covid19-deaths-are-black/dd3f295f-445e-4e38-b37f-a1503782b507. It is showing that of the deaths from Covid 19 inside the City of Chicago 70% are among African Americans (61 of the 86 recorded deaths in the City). Actually this is worse than I had suspected it might be. Hopefully Hungary’s Roma minority will fare better than African Americans are here.
This should especially interest Ferenc in The Netherlands.
https://hvg.hu/360/20200405_Hollandiabol_nezve
Dear Eva, we read endless number of pieces like this one every week.
All talk, more talk, then talk again. But no action of any kind. Have we as people become incapable of doing anything other than talking and talking and talking?
Just an interesting tidbit.
Judit Varga, Minister of Justice received 9.6 thousand likes (!) on her denouncing of “the liberal media”. She has circa 50k followers. This is an enormous activity by her supporters. Varga is a political nobody with no own political base. She was put forward by Orban but fideszniks apparently adore her.
Meanwhile, Gyurcsany Ferenc’s most popular posts have between 2-4k likes. Fekete-Győr András of Momentum has 1-2k likes at most, Bertalan Tóth of MSZP has 1-2 hundred (!), Péter Jakab (Jobbik) has 100-500 likes (!).
Not even the party leaders have a fraction of what any random Fidesznik minister without political base can muster. And this is on FB on which the competition is (mostly) free. Without enthusiastic supporter base the opposition will not win but apparently it has no such base. Not nice to face this reality.
Guess what, I have ZERO “likes”, because… I’m NOT on FB…
and so what!
If you are a politician who doesn’t have several national TV channels, radio channels, rural dailies, women’s interest magazines etc. at his/her disposal then FB is key (in Hungary people don’t use Twitter, Instagram is also popular I understand but I don’t use that).
So if they are so weak on FB than this is a huge problem. Especially because Momentum and Jobbik are supposed to have relatively young and therefore internet savvy voters.
Honestly, I was stunned by the 9.6k likes of Varga’s complete lie of statement. It’s a really huge number. Even if you compare to the numbers of any 444.hu or 24.hu or index.hu news articles (people don’t really share or like these posts).
Top opposition names (I only wrote about the party leaders) don’t have more than a few dozen likes either. The difference is staggering.
Marty – Why do you suggest that the opposition adopts Varga & Co’s fraudulent marketing strategy of buying commercial bot-followers and their likes and emojis? Those artificially inflated figures are as worthless as the Hungarian election results, and don’t start to pretend you don’t know all about that!
The difference might seem “staggering” by comparison- so does all the rest of the propaganda.
Now you owe it to the readers here, to say exactly how far into phony fantasyland you think the opposition should go.
You are delusional if you think Orban is buying Hungarian name bots in the tens (hundreds for him) thousands. That’s a very primitive method and I don’t think they use it exactly because nobody cares about this metric. I accidentally bumped into Varga’s comment, was astonished by the number of likes knowing how many the opposition people get and then did a little research. Fidesz has enthusiastic followers every polls shows that, this is just one reminder that the difference in enthusiasm is staggering. Jakab and Tóth receiving 2 hundred likes vs. Varga’s 10,000?
“That’s a very primitive method and I don’t think they use it” – OV not primitiv????
” exactly because nobody cares about this metric”
you answered it yourself
“I accidentally bumped into” – yeah, sure…
Unfortunately, the methods of the propaganda machinery are sophisticated. The game is not about the number of likes per se, but creating engagement, keep supporters occupied, create buzz and enthusiasm. The number of likes is just a means to this end (but engagement is more complex). Since I don’t follow any fidesz personality i was not familiar with their numbers (I have many fidesznik acquaintances and relatives but they are not sharing the overtly fidesznik stuff, or at least I don’t see them, only the more tricky memes and fringe site which also exist in great number) and I was frankly astonished. Don’t underestimate an autocrat’s propaganda machinery.
So I can count myself extremely lucky?
Because neither my wife nor her children and other family members nor her friends which are on facebook show the slightest sympathy for the Fidesz mafia.
There’s only one “Christian” propagandist among her friends on facebook and we atheists are all laughing at her and her loonie statements/prayers. 🙂 🙂
PS:
I know I’m not to say it but it seems that the Communist propaganda of almost 50 years really has turned many Hungarians into bunka paraszt – my experiences with East Germans are similar btw.
Marty – That makes two of us! – I’m not a lawyer either! And like you, I’m aware of the personal responsibilities attached to utterance in a public forum. So I rely on stretching the customary academic benefits of doubt. And just like you, I too am free to make contributions of marginally informative and seemingly relevant observations and references, always of a strictly moral- and confidence-degrading, blatant and obvious character. Whenever challenged, I just claim sincerity and concern in order to benefit from the reasonable doubt I claim to raise. I know very well, that my claims are essentially worthless, but that is impossible to prove. Such claims may not imply any obligation to reveal the real intention behind my, admittedly I know, but hey – let’s face it, It’s a savage world we live in – intentionally adverse nature of my utterances. By simply claiming sincerity of “concern” and affirmative loss-assessment, I can safely rest my case on the laurels of sanctimony. Trust me, I’m not a bully! I would never enter the ring to add new kicks to a contender who is already down – that, I leave to the bullies. I merely reach in and rub… Read more »
Meanwhile Turbo Hungarians living in Romania are enjoying 75% of their wages paid for by Romania. I bet they are not waving the Sekler flag when they go collect their checks from the Romanian State. This terror thief Ali Baba Viktor Orban gave them billions of forints and now wants the poorest Hungarians to pay up…..
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My favorite part is what he is doing for the pensioners who can barely make it under the best circumstances.
“As part of a family and pension protection scheme, the government will reintroduce in four phased steps the earlier system of granting a 13th month’s pension to seniors, he added. Orbán said that seniors will receive an extra week’s pension in February 2021, to be followed by the same amounts in 2022, 2023, and 2024.” from https://dailynewshungary.com/here-is-orbans-five-point-economic-protection-plan/?fbclid=IwAR27szeqnrpA_3eVtHPI9ZweuuONeQIqbcrI6Gr45bDSlGRte-CFQCBrd_Q.
OT and not really. This article makes a good read!
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america?fbclid=IwAR1dMxv5tmiyoysh7ZsFVT_OE4Z1tdd0W070Vzx3Y_E3vg2IZ9e9AXbwviE