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Just a few days ago, I posted about a NYT article that argued that Poland may lead to the downfall of Western Civilization.
Why? Poland is anti-democratic. Poland's people are primitive. They do no understand democracy.
They are allied with the EU and their presence is a contagion that may bring down Europe and all things right and good.
Today the New York Times ran a similar article about Hungary.
In the comments section next to the article, one can read many comments from educated, sophisticated people arguing that Poles, Slovaks, and Hungarians are primitives, are constitutionally anti-democratic, and that their presence threatens the EU.
Sample below:
George S.
NYC
5h ago
The real problem, one that extends beyond Hungary to include Poland, Slovakia and (to a lesser extent) the Czech Republic, is that these countries have never before had a "democratic tradition".
Both as former Soviet "client states" and even before WWII and earlier -- none were ever truly democratic nations. Carved from empires such as Austria Hungary these lands have always been dominated by authoritarian governing structures.
So to a great extent, expecting "Western Democracy" standards in terms of human rights and the rule of law, including independent judiciaries, is wide-eyed in hope versus the stark reality of the ethos that actually exists.
Whether or not the entire EU can "hold" if it begins to now "discipline" anti-democratic member states is problematic. The EU arose firstly as simply a trade and customs union. Development of supranational governing structures beyond economic issues has been tentative at best. While the EU has some trappings of a federal system -- it remains comprised of proudly independent nation states.
But reining in Hungary's anti-democratic nature is necessary if it is to remain a EU member.
And let's not ignore the fact that Hungary is in many ways simply a "test case". The bigger problem in this regard is Poland. A much larger member with similar anti-democratic and anti-human rights tendencies.
Moreover, this situation should give pause to any thoughts of further extending the EU eastwards into the Balkans or Ukraine.
Other posts objected to the dismissive tone that the article took towards Hungary, making it a point to call the Hungarian language "esoteric" and to mention Hungary's small population size.
I responded.
As my name advertises, I am one of the primitive, threatening, frightening, disruptive, anti-democratic, anti-human-rights Eastern Europeans being discussed here in the comments section.
In 1989, I, along with thousands of other EEs, risked my life in anti-Soviet protests.
My mother grew up in a country, Slovakia, with very limited access to schools, and she cleaned houses and worked in factories and put six kids through private school. Four of us went on to earn advanced degrees and all of us worked in service to others, in education and medicine. Oh, but we are backward and anti-democratic.
Maybe have a look at your own prejudices when you publish, and comment on, Eastern Europeans.
Start here: Eastern Europeans, who were, for several centuries, invaded by, enslaved by, and fought against Muslim invaders, will never regard mass, unvetted, migration of military-age Muslim men into their lands the same way that blessed-by-history and geography Western Europeans do.
Someone responded to my post:
Michael
Toronto, Canada57m ago
@Danusha Goska
Right on! Eastern European nations struggled to survive under centuries of Ottoman rule and saw their sons and daughters kidnapped and turned into jannissars and harem dwellers. After WW2, they were handed to Bolshevik Russia and lived under Kremlins rule for half a century. Of course, they refuse to dance to the tune of a bunch of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. They have not too good memories of living under the dictates of foreign powers.
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Open anti-Polish bigotry is alive and well.
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