Sincere Hope or Crafty Soft Pedaling?

5/11/2020

The Hungarian government has been running this public relations clip for a week or two now. The clip is worth watching for the beautifully-shot Hungarian landmarks it contains, and you don't need to understand the lyrics of the accompanying song to get the overall message the authorities are conveying. The title of the clip is "We're taking care of each other, and it'll succeed!"

Here's the million-dollar question though - is the ray of hope the government is broadcasting daily sincere? Or is it merely soft pedaling?

I'll let you decide for yourself. What do you think?

8 Comments

bruce charlton

5/12/2020 09:30:21

Well, it is different from what would be produced in the UK; because we are being told that things will *never* return to normal.

My impression is that (and this does not surprise me) 'things' are overall better in Hungary than the UK; but not sufficiently better to make any difference in the end.

Francis Berger

5/12/2020 10:02:10

@ Bruce - Having spent most of my life living in Anglo-West countries (Canada, USA, and the UK), I too get the sense that things are better overall in Hungary as far as SD and lockdowns go, but Hungary is not an isolated island. It will be interesting to see how things develop here if circumstances continue to worsen in other areas of the West.

Whatever the case, I am now convinced, more than ever, that Central Europe has a destiny that will be different from the rest of the West. All the same, that destiny might be rather short-lived (short enough to not make any difference in the end).

bruce charlton

5/12/2020 14:30:20

What is disappointing is the general failure to recognise that Now is the Time. How much more extreme do people need things to become?

Well, I suppose further extremity will happen soon enough - but one would have supposed that a world lockdown and destruction of society was enough...

People (and, even more so, nations) really can't put off for much longer choosing sides, making a primary commitment before they get swept along by events. Failure to decide is itself a negative decision, a decision in favour of the forces of darkness.

Luke

5/12/2020 14:39:44

If that ad was played here in western PA, I'd say it's soft pedaling. It doesn't address the hostility and fear that results in people stalking around each other like animals at a water hole.

Francis Berger

5/12/2020 15:51:05

@ Luke - Friends and relatives I have in certain parts of Canada and the US have reported something similar

Francis Berger

5/12/2020 15:54:21

@ Bruce - I get the sense people don't understand sides anymore or that some kind of choice needs to be made. This might explain the zombified reaction to everything thus far. People appear to be utterly discombobulated - it's as if they are literally in a state of shock, unable to grasp anything that has happened.Truly an incredible thing to witness.

bruce charlton

5/12/2020 19:19:18

@Frank - Very true. I am following William Briggs statistics blog, and the commenters keep on saying variations on that they 'can't understand' the panic, the attitudes of the authorities, that they are crazy etc. They wonder why now, why this time, why this epidemic?

SO, yes - discombobulated. To me, it's perfectly easy to understand; but them I'm assuming that demonic powers are behind it, ultimately. If humans are supposed to be responsible, it is indeed bewildering.

Francis Berger

5/12/2020 19:31:37

@ Bruce - Briggs has done and continues to do great posts on the birdemic.

Your comment about demonic powers is the key, I think. Moderns refuse to believe in the existence of such things for the same reason they refuse to believe in God. In this sense, we could add the following to Solzhenitsyn's famous dictum about men forgetting God - they have forgotten the Devil as well. It's little wonder they don't see or understand.

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Sincere Hope or Crafty Soft Pedaling?

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