Leader of Hungarian Anti Semetic party finds out he's Jewish.

[Keystone Phil]

"Oops" - http://m.npr.org/story/158773637?url=/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/08/14/158773637/leader-of-anti-semitic-party-in-hungary-discovers-hes-jewish

[Beet]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Ha ha ha, oh wow.

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Please elaborate.

[Beet]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Please elaborate.

People care about two things (1) economic populism, and (2) identity politics. The left's advantage historically was (1), while the right's advantage was (2). However, the European right has caved on (1) and embraced the leftist position. Therefore, unless the European left caves on (2) and embraces the rightist position, all is lost for the left.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Please elaborate.

People care about two things (1) economic populism, and (2) identity politics. The left's advantage historically was (1), while the right's advantage was (2). However, the European right has caved on (1) and embraced the leftist position. Therefore, unless the European left caves on (2) and embraces the rightist position, all is lost for the left.

Just over the past few years? Because the left caved on (1) before that, but you're right that the trend seems to be reversing.

I definitely agree that the left needs to articulate a strong set of cultural signifiers and markers for itself that people can be attached to the way they currently are to this sort of far-right unpleasantness.

[Beet]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Please elaborate.

People care about two things (1) economic populism, and (2) identity politics. The left's advantage historically was (1), while the right's advantage was (2). However, the European right has caved on (1) and embraced the leftist position. Therefore, unless the European left caves on (2) and embraces the rightist position, all is lost for the left.

Just over the past few years? Because the left caved on (1) before that, but you're right that the trend seems to be reversing.

I definitely agree that the left needs to articulate a strong set of cultural signifiers and markers for itself that people can be attached to the way they currently are to this sort of far-right unpleasantness.

Yes. Read the Economist article about resentment in Hungary against the 'multis' - basically rich businessmen who are seen as agents of foreigners.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

lol

---

Stop trolling, Beet.

[MaxQue]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Well, it's already the case in Quebec!

[Hatman 🍁]

And in the Netherlands when you have socially liberal far right parties that are far right because immigrants aren't liberal enough.

[Vosem]

Hopefully he'll embrace his Jewish heritage. Also 'economic populism' sucks.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Hopefully he'll embrace his Jewish heritage. Also 'economic populism' sucks.

I love this post because it perfectly encapsulates your posting. The latter inflammatory sentence has basically nothing directly to do with anything the topic set out to discuss, but you feel the need to post it, because you super duper want people to notice you're a neoliberal, a term virtually nobody proudly labels themselves with, because it's used almost entirely in the pejorative sense, unless they're trolling or completely oblivious. You are trying way, way too hard.

[Tender Branson]

LULZ.

Reminds me of that South Park episode in which Cartman blames all the red-haired people of being evil and subhuman and then Cartman wakes up as a red-haired himself the other morning ...

[Redalgo]

Hopefully he'll embrace his Jewish heritage. Also 'economic populism' sucks.

I actually agree with this, more or less. The bloke should make peace with his heritage one way or another without rejecting it as some kind of impurity. Then again, ethnicity is a construct and he is under no obligation whatsoever to identify as Jewish or embrace any aspects of the ethnic nation's culture(s), so I guess the only thing to relish here is the irony of the situation. As for the economic populism, I'm not fond of us vs. them mentalities and I feel the left actually betrays its egalitarian values when it regards economic elites in general with disgust, prejudice, or disdain (i.e. treats them as an inferior social group relative to the masses, 99%, or whatever).

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Please elaborate.

People care about two things (1) economic populism, and (2) identity politics. The left's advantage historically was (1), while the right's advantage was (2). However, the European right has caved on (1) and embraced the leftist position. Therefore, unless the European left caves on (2) and embraces the rightist position, all is lost for the left.

Just over the past few years? Because the left caved on (1) before that, but you're right that the trend seems to be reversing.

I definitely agree that the left needs to articulate a strong set of cultural signifiers and markers for itself that people can be attached to the way they currently are to this sort of far-right unpleasantness.

Yes. Read the Economist article about resentment in Hungary against the 'multis' - basically rich businessmen who are seen as agents of foreigners.

I'd rather the left articulate a different set of cultural signifiers, mind.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Hopefully he'll embrace his Jewish heritage. Also 'economic populism' sucks.

I actually agree with this, more or less. The bloke should make peace with his heritage one way or another without rejecting it as some kind of impurity. Then again, ethnicity is a construct and he is under no obligation whatsoever to identify as Jewish or embrace any aspects of the ethnic nation's culture(s), so I guess the only thing to relish here is the irony of the situation. As for the economic populism, I'm not fond of us vs. them mentalities and I feel the left actually betrays its egalitarian values when it regards economic elites in general with disgust, prejudice, or disdain (i.e. treats them as an inferior social group relative to the masses, 99%, or whatever).

     The article did indicate that he was embracing his Jewish heritage. Besides, I'm pretty sure that his former buddies won't accept him after this, regardless of how he reacts to it.

[Velasco]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

I think that SPD leaders were claiming by 1932-33 that they were Germans too. It was useless.

[Hash]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

No. Stop trolling.

[Leftbehind]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Please elaborate.

People care about two things (1) economic populism, and (2) identity politics. The left's advantage historically was (1), while the right's advantage was (2). However, the European right has caved on (1) and embraced the leftist position. Therefore, unless the European left caves on (2) and embraces the rightist position, all is lost for the left.

I largely share your analysis but rather than (1) being won by the Left(?!), it's been forfeit, whilst (2) is alive and well in politics, and allows the Right dominance. My solution would be then for the Left to re-adopt (1) (and to hell with how capital reacts).

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Beet, you are this close to my ignore list.... please don't give me more reasons to ignore you.

[Tender Branson]

LULZ.

Reminds me of that South Park episode in which Cartman blames all the red-haired people of being evil and subhuman and then Cartman wakes up as a red-haired himself the other morning ...

Found it:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155061/gingerfication

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The European left must adopt the cultural nationalism of the far right, before it's too late.

Please elaborate.

People care about two things (1) economic populism, and (2) identity politics. The left's advantage historically was (1), while the right's advantage was (2). However, the European right has caved on (1) and embraced the leftist position. Therefore, unless the European left caves on (2) and embraces the rightist position, all is lost for the left.

I largely share your analysis but rather than (1) being won by the Left(?!), it's been forfeit, whilst (2) is alive and well in politics, and allows the Right dominance. My solution would be then for the Left to re-adopt (1) (and to hell with how capital reacts).

Yeah, I've been thinking about this since yesterday and, since when did we 'win' on (1) exactly?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

It was never 'economic populism' (however defined) that won elections, but the promise of something better. Not that that has anything to do with Hungary anyway, as tempting as I'm sure it must be to pronounce grandly (and presumably also very seriously) about 'the fate of Europe'.

[Associate Justice PiT]

It was never 'economic populism' (however defined) that won elections, but the promise of something better. Not that that has anything to do with Hungary anyway, as tempting as I'm sure it must be to pronounce grandly (and presumably also very seriously) about 'the fate of Europe'.

     I find it humorous enough that someone had the notion that all of Europe must be regarded as one entity to which one strategy can be successfully applied. Who'd have thought that different issues resonate in different places?

[Beet]

Am what I am proposing really so controversial? After all, the French Socialist party in the 1950s supported the Algerian War, which far more nationalist/offensive that almost anything going on these days.

Leftist nationalism is being so universally denounced here as unthinkable. All the popular leftists in history, both good and bad, utilized nationalism to their advantage-- from Gandhi to Mao to FDR to Napoleon to Hugo Chavez. What is the alternative? Cosmopolitanism and globalism will always be a minority, and it is too easy to tie to the out-of-touch elite.

And really-- I'm not the one who started pronouncing collectively on Europe. The Economist does as well. Plus, I don't see how it's so controversial to notice that far-right politics has risen in many different countries in Europe. While each is suited to the spectrum of the individual country of course, all of them have the same essential characteristics of cultural nationalism.

I would submit that I look at the facts and evidence before me, and I would not make pronouncements in the absence of such.

[Beet]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I said the right caved on #1, not that "we won." I was referring to the political far right, not the rightists at the Bundesbank, of course. Look at the National Front in France-- the biggest and most articulate party in favor of French freedom from Bundesbank tyranny. They haven't "won" but they have "caved;" economically they're more populist than liberal or aristocratic.