Gábor Túri: Modern mandrake, or Germans guided by the magic word of populism

Mandrake - officially known as Alrauna or Mandragora officinarum - is an ancient medicinal and narcotic plant, the root of which was once used as a magic potion.

Its origins go back to ancient times, through the Mesopotamia of the Sumerians and then the Akkadians, to the world of the Bible. (Gen 30:14) Common names: magic root or fool's apple. Of course, this is not used nowadays, if only because the narcotic role of the mandrake, or "magic root" in modern Western civilization, has been taken over by television.

Thus, in today's times, without knowing it, the German citizen also stuns himself with this. They got used to it. And just as in ancient times and in the Middle Ages only a narrow group of "insiders" could administer the magic root, in the same way today "insiders" administer it to those sitting in front of the television. In other words, the German citizen gets the modern version of the mandrake day and night, until he faints.

And lo and behold, that is why we can hear more and more often about Hungary and its Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, on German television. Of course, here too, not by giving a realistic picture of him, which would show the economic development of the country, and through it emphasizing the successes achieved by its leader, but through a crooked mirror, as a "dangerous factor" who puts European unity and thus the existence of Europe at risk.

And it has escalated to the point where even satirical and entertainment evening shows are dealing with him and the alleged "problem". Such as Nov 2020 on the 23rd in the "heute-show" program, which was later summarized as follows:

"heute-show-Satirikerin hatte Neugründung der EU "ohne die beklopten Ungarn und Polen pröglich", that is: the satirist of the "heute show" proposed the re-establishment of the European Union without the embattled Hungarians and Poles.

I think there is no need to comment on this, just like the 10-minute film Ungarn und die EU: Die Orbán Story, side to be able to speak to him.

The film introduced the young Orbán, who fought against the Soviet occupation as a young revolutionary at the end of the 80s. Then "What contrast?" - sighs the moderator when he compares this "freedom fighter" young Viktor Orbán with the current, populist and "autocratic" (quote: Alleinherrscher) politician that they think he has become. In order to prove this, Ákos Hadházy was also voiced in the film, who presented the "truth" about his opponent, Viktor Orbán, in a way he was already familiar with. I assume that he tried to speak very objectively and without bias, which he can obviously be proud of (because he spoke German), but I think he had to make sure that the cameraman's camera did not accidentally fall on his socks during the recording.

After that, the hostess asked worriedly what the possibilities are, what can WE do about it? Which in the psychology of brainwashing means what can WE, the GOOD, do? In the end, the speakers in the program "regretfully" agreed that they see only one possibility, namely that the two rebels, Poland and Hungary, should withdraw the 20 and 6 billion euros of EU support, respectively.

So, we can hear such and similar statements in this film as well, and for the majority of viewers, all of this is believable about Hungary, since they do not get (where could they?) the opposite, true picture of the relationship between the EU and Hungary.

Still, there are those (e.g. browsing through the reader comments of Focus and other portals) whose comments are quite contrary to what was said in the film, and so that these opinions do not cause confusion in the general agreement, the Weltspiegel invited its readers to the following before the comments section attention:

"Please note: Kommentare erscheinen nicht sofort, sondern werden innerhalb von 24 Stunden durch die Redaktionen released." In other words: Please note: Comments do not appear immediately, but are activated by the editors within 24 hours.

Which, of course, means nothing more than that the editors have a good 24 hours at their disposal to carefully filter the comments and then only let those appear that agree with the accepted opinion of the German mainstream. It's a good thing that they didn't write about it: because we have freedom of opinion, unlike in Orbánia.

And in order to avoid that accusation, I am living with selected, rare examples, and I will also quote another one, because the same tone was used in the NTV report of November 14, 2021, in which the well-known mantra was once again uttered in relation to Fidesz:

"Zu Fidesz' EVP-Austritt war es gekommen, nachdem sich die Differenzen zwischen Orban und den deutschen Unionsparteien zum Thema Demokratie und Rechtsstaat zugespitzt hatten." In other words: The resignation of the Fidesz people's party took place after the contradictions between Orbán and the German union parties intensified, on the issue of democracy and the rule of law.

Of course, the German citizen listening to the program does not have the slightest chance to find out what it is really about and what exactly the question of the rule of law means. Of course, since then, this has been going on non-stop from the channels of the Western media, no matter which tap we turn on, and especially now, when the European right-wing, conservative parties organized a meeting in Warsaw. In the West, this was presented as if it were a real assassination attempt against European democratic unity and common coexistence worthy of human beings.

But, well, none of this is new - anyone could say - because it's been going like this for years. And you are absolutely right! These news are the same as what was broadcast on Phönix TV on the morning of December 1, 2017, in which the "refugee" issue that arose from 2015 was summarized. Although the film apparently tried to paint a neutral picture of the situation and its escalation, from the Willkomenskultur to the AfD's Siegeszug (that is, from the uncritical reception of migrants to the victory of the German political opposition, the AfD), it nevertheless remained fundamentally manipulative. The countries that take a stand against the migrant quota are responsible for the problem in which Europe now finds itself, i.e. the film clearly points to the Visegrád countries as the culprits.

I would like to note that there was already a related program in the same place the night before this (with the title Populisten an die Macht/ Populists in power), in which a 45-minute film was shown about the leaders of the countries accused of populism, especially Viktor Orbán. Sure, sure, you have to soften the viewer!

This film, released on December 1st - Europa und die Flüchtlinge (Europe and the Refugees) - is so deeply unfair, manipulative and lying that I had a hard time watching it. At the same time, it is interesting to observe how the German people can be influenced by the media. You could see his joyful greeting and uncritical embrace of those who came here, which characterized the initial euphoria. And then there is the fact that even though even in 2016 more and more people saw the reduction of the capacity to receive immigrants, and then the reduction of opportunities (apartments, hygienic conditions, medical care, vaccinations, kindergarten capacity, school places, etc.) to almost zero, they still did not dare no one to openly act against him. And here the emphasis is on "daring"!

After all, the person who finally came forward was immediately accused of populism, racism and right-wing, and later even of sympathizing with the AfD, which is more than a simple stigma in political circles. And the population accepted this too! As they still do, they also believe that all the current problems are solely the responsibility of the countries opposing the quota and the distribution of refugees.

They are perceptibly mocking the German citizens, suggesting the wish that the Visegrad countries, which are already balancing on the "edge of the plate" of the EU, should finally be pushed out of there, but at least muzzled.

It can be felt that they are looking forward to the results of the 2022 elections, not hiding their hope that the "Orbán" conservative government will finally fail. This open and hostile attitude towards the Hungarian elections almost borders on influencing domestic political events, which is impermissible within an EU community.

Of course, the question arises, what would be the correct Hungarian political step in this case? Should the EU proposal be accepted and the Arab and Black African immigrants allocated according to the quota accepted or not?

Shall we throw away our country's efforts so far, which wanted to prevent the development of this situation that has now become catastrophic in the West? And without anyone west of Lajta acknowledging the correctness of the direction of the Hungarian political leadership up to now, or apostrophizing at least some of them as necessary or expedient. However, we do not even see the appearance of this when we look at the current political mood in Western Europe, instead we see a political leadership that instructs us and points to our defined "end of the line" place, which essentially instructs us.

So, would it be right for the government to buckle down and let in the refugees imposed on it? What would be the consequence of this? Would someone please thank me? Would there be cheers of approval in the western part of Europe?

I do not think so!

And with this I contradict those who, unfortunately, in Hungary - who knows why? - they are demanding this very step from the government. However, they would know that this Hungarian step would simply be classified as daily news in Western Europe, and would only emphasize that, lo and behold, under the very consistent German and Western European pressure, the Hungarians finally gave in and realized that that they should participate in solving common problems. And then there would be a glorifying cascade of words about how much Western (especially German) politics had done for this.

Of course, there would be no mention of the fact that these are precisely the problems that Western European countries are responsible for, and that the Hungarian government has drawn attention to again and again for six years. However, all of this is not taken into account, as it was then, and is not taken into account today, because how can such a tiny country like Hungary's - which has just dropped into the "good old" European Union - want to come up with ideas worth considering? Better be glad it exists and hasn't been torn down even smaller for the benefit of your neighbors.

So the EU would quickly put the quota issue back on the agenda, but Hungary would have even more problems on the domestic front once it enters the EU meat grinder. He could rack his brain as to how many thousands of the next (and the following, and the following) wave of refugees he should take in again, of course "voluntarily", since he gave in. And from there it is impossible to dance back.

Let's note that Hungary (and the Visegrad countries) are not the wheels of the solution to European problems, but rather draw attention (even with their political presence) to the error and wrong direction that the European Union is currently pursuing.

In a real Union, the parties would receive equal status and consideration, and the problems raised would be resolved through negotiations and weighing pros and cons, rather than categorically stated instructions, as is the case today. Because nowadays, the posture of strong member states is more likely to be perceived as blackmail and threats of various retorts, rather than treating smaller member states as equal partners.

And they do all this in the name of liberal EU democracy, except that their actions are more dictatorial than democratic. Of course, the average German citizen has no idea about this. But you can't even know about it, and the reason for this can be found precisely in the mandrake's popular name, the "fool's apple". Because just as the biblical first pair of people obtained knowledge by biting into an apple plucked from the tree of knowledge, in the same way, those who today bite into the mandrake, i.e. the apple of fools - through the television of the modern world - acquire only foolishness and false knowledge. This is why the German citizen believes the alleged populism of the Hungarian government, and those who administer it know exactly why they do it.

After all, let's not forget, "according to some legends, in order to own and use mandrake, you had to make an alliance with the devil", in Hungarian: you had to make friends with the devil. Just like today! And with that, the veil falls on what some circles actually want to disguise.

Dr. Gábor Túri
Germany

Featured Image: Facebook

The original of the closing quote: "Nach manchen Sagen war, um einen Alraun besitzen und nutzen zu können, ein Bündnis mit dem Teufel eingzugenhe."