Francis Berger's Blog, page 141
November 22, 2019
In Name Only
'In name only' used to make me wary; now it only makes me weary. I encounter it daily; sometimes countless times in the course a single day.
The nominal. The so-called. The self-styled.
Masks of unreality hiding reality. Labels that don't match the contents.
We live in the Age of 'In Name Only'. Hear the name and then decide whether the name represents an actuality, reality, or truth; or serves merely as a veil hiding the unacknowledged or unseen. People, things, actions - very few possess the qualities their names profess. And why should they? After all, there simply isn't much demand for the Real these days. The zeitgeist reveres only the fake; the feigned; the falsified.
So welcome to the perpetual masquerade! Look at what I appear to be, then guess what I really am! It's an endless game of dress-up - the sheer thrill of disguising and dissembling. Go ahead! Unceasingly deform the fabric of the universe and then eclipse it all with shadowy simulations. Conceal, cover, and camouflage until even the vestiges of veritas are cloaked in suspicion. That's the goal, you see.
The children's rhyme got it mostly right - names will never harm us, but like sticks and stones, 'in name only' most surely will.
The nominal. The so-called. The self-styled.
Masks of unreality hiding reality. Labels that don't match the contents.
We live in the Age of 'In Name Only'. Hear the name and then decide whether the name represents an actuality, reality, or truth; or serves merely as a veil hiding the unacknowledged or unseen. People, things, actions - very few possess the qualities their names profess. And why should they? After all, there simply isn't much demand for the Real these days. The zeitgeist reveres only the fake; the feigned; the falsified.
So welcome to the perpetual masquerade! Look at what I appear to be, then guess what I really am! It's an endless game of dress-up - the sheer thrill of disguising and dissembling. Go ahead! Unceasingly deform the fabric of the universe and then eclipse it all with shadowy simulations. Conceal, cover, and camouflage until even the vestiges of veritas are cloaked in suspicion. That's the goal, you see.
The children's rhyme got it mostly right - names will never harm us, but like sticks and stones, 'in name only' most surely will.
November 20, 2019
Revival of One
It's difficult to be hopeful about any sort of mass awakening that could lead to an authentic mass revival. Signs of this simply do not exist. And if they do, they are well hidden in the chaos. Undetectable. But one must remember that a mass comprises individuals. Mass is essentially a formless collective of ones drawn together and congealed into unity.
Thus, the individual is the building block of any mass that could lead to revival, which means the revival begins in the individual first - in you, in me. So work on the revival within the borders of your own existence in this world. If you can extend your personal revival to others, you will accomplish much. But know this - even if your revival awakens no one and remains sewn within the confines of your skin, you still will have gained far more than you ever could have by simply waiting for the signs of mass revival to materialize in the world around you.
Thus, the individual is the building block of any mass that could lead to revival, which means the revival begins in the individual first - in you, in me. So work on the revival within the borders of your own existence in this world. If you can extend your personal revival to others, you will accomplish much. But know this - even if your revival awakens no one and remains sewn within the confines of your skin, you still will have gained far more than you ever could have by simply waiting for the signs of mass revival to materialize in the world around you.
November 19, 2019
The Trouble With History on Wikipedia
In a post I wrote earlier this week, I mentioned I will spend Christmas in a small town in southern Hungary close to the region where I set the first part of my novel. The town is called Bonyhád and - knowing next to nothing about the place - I did a little light research into it online. The first two hits my browser pulled up were Wikipedia links - one in English; the other in Hungarian.
The English Wikipedia page dedicated to Bonyhád provides cursory information about the town's current mayor and some of the settlement's facilities, but the rest of the page focuses exclusively on the tragic history of Bonyhád's Jewish population, most of whom were deported to Auschwitz during the Second World War. The remaining information on the page details the fate of Bonyhád's surviving Jews who remained in the town until 1956, after which most decided to flee to America or Israel. The English Wikipedia page ends by citing Bonyhád's last remaining Jewish resident - a woman named Mrs. Sári Warum - who died in 2013.
The Hungarian Wikipedia page about Bonyhád is far more thorough and comprehensive. It expansively chronicles the settlement's establishment in the fourteenth century and even makes note of traces of earlier possible Celtic settlements in the same location. The page then moves through the centuries, making concise stops at a few key historic dates in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. The Jewish population is acknowledged in passing in a segment reporting on the town's religious and ethnic composition, but no mention is made of the deportations to Auschwitz. Instead, the page dedicates a few sentences to the Danube-Swabians and other ethnic Germans who were persecuted, dispossessed, and expelled from the town after the Second World War.
The English page focuses almost entirely Bonyhád's Jews to the exclusion of practically everything else while the Hungarian page concentrates on everything else and barely mentions Bonyhád's Jews.
Talk about two solitudes.
The English Wikipedia page dedicated to Bonyhád provides cursory information about the town's current mayor and some of the settlement's facilities, but the rest of the page focuses exclusively on the tragic history of Bonyhád's Jewish population, most of whom were deported to Auschwitz during the Second World War. The remaining information on the page details the fate of Bonyhád's surviving Jews who remained in the town until 1956, after which most decided to flee to America or Israel. The English Wikipedia page ends by citing Bonyhád's last remaining Jewish resident - a woman named Mrs. Sári Warum - who died in 2013.
The Hungarian Wikipedia page about Bonyhád is far more thorough and comprehensive. It expansively chronicles the settlement's establishment in the fourteenth century and even makes note of traces of earlier possible Celtic settlements in the same location. The page then moves through the centuries, making concise stops at a few key historic dates in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. The Jewish population is acknowledged in passing in a segment reporting on the town's religious and ethnic composition, but no mention is made of the deportations to Auschwitz. Instead, the page dedicates a few sentences to the Danube-Swabians and other ethnic Germans who were persecuted, dispossessed, and expelled from the town after the Second World War.
The English page focuses almost entirely Bonyhád's Jews to the exclusion of practically everything else while the Hungarian page concentrates on everything else and barely mentions Bonyhád's Jews.
Talk about two solitudes.
November 18, 2019
Village Life: Butchering an Entire Pig
Raising and butchering home-raised pigs is a tradition here in Hungary. In previous generations, families - especially the male folk - tended to gather and help each other out when it came time to slaughter and prepare the animals; this usually took place in the late fall or early winter. Though the practice is declining around the country, rural families still raise and butcher their own livestock, primarily pigs.For example, many oldtimers in my village still keep pigs, cows, goats, sheep, ducks, and chickens for food. I don't own any farm animals myself, but I could easily make it happen as the house I purchased here in Fertőendred came complete with a chicken coop, rabbit hutches, a small barn, several pens, and all the paraphernalia needed to raise, slaughter, and prepare a variety of livestock.
Anyway, this past weekend a friend invited me to help him butcher an entire pig he had purchased from a local farmer in the village. Though we did not have to kill the pig ourselves, we had to do everything else including cleaning and quartering the animal. We spent the rest of the day cutting up the meat and making sausages, salted ham and bacon, headcheese, and crackling. By the time we were finished, we had prepared enough pork to last my friend's family through the winter.
It was a great experience, made all the more enjoyable by the the playful banter the free flowing pálinka and wine inspired. By way of thanks, my friend gifted me with some of the meat we had prepared, ensuring my own family savors a taste of fresh pork as the late autumn slowly turns to early winter. I'm seriously considering organizing a pig butchering party of my own for next year.
November 17, 2019
Places I Have Lived, But Never Been
The village of Obánya, upon which I modeled the fictitious village of Oszabad in my novel. Looks like I’m in for a bit of a treat this Christmas. My wife recently informed me she had reserved a bed-and-breakfast in the town of Bonyhád in southern Hungary for the Christmas holidays. In all honesty, I know absolutely nothing about Bonyhád and, as far as I can tell, there is not all that much one can know about the place. Simply put, it is a rather nondescript and – dare I say it – insignificant place. Why then, you may be asking, do I consider spending Christmas there a treat?Well, Bonyhád is not very far from a little village called Obánya, upon which I modeled the fictitious village of Oszabad in my novel. I did quite a bit of research into Obánya before I wrote my book, and I know practically everything there is to know about it – its history; its buildings; its church; its current and former residents. But here’s the catch – I have never actually been there. In fact, I have never been within 200 kilometers of it. Nevertheless, the village has lived and breathed within me for the better part of eight or nine years.
Visiting Obánya – a place I have never been but have written about extensively – is bound to be an interesting experience. It will be fascinating to see how my fictitious depiction of the village compares with reality. I anticipate I will see much of I wrote about reflected in the buildings and the surrounding landscape, but I also feel I will encounter many things I failed to take into account or perhaps got wrong. I am also looking forward to visiting the city of Pécs – another place I included in my novel, but have never visited.
So this Christmas will be about being in places I have lived, but never actually been. Should be quite the experience!
November 15, 2019
Problems Are The Other Window To The Soul
I believe the old saying the eyes are the windows to the soul is true – eyes really can reveal much about the quality and character of an individual’s soul. But eyes can also be quite deceiving. Or they can be easily misinterpreted, even by the best “eye readers.” I have occasionally misjudged souls based on evidence I thought I had perceived in the eyes. In light of this, I think it is prudent to acknowledge studying eyes is by no means a foolproof method of soul evaluation.
In my experience, problems are a far more accurate and effective means of measuring the quality and content of an individual’s soul. People reveal much about themselves when they discuss matters, circumstances, or situations they consider distressing and detrimental. They reveal even more when they offer suggestions as to how these objectionable, unwelcome, and vexing matters should be handled and, ultimately, surmounted. Conversely, people also provide a window to their souls by when they discuss matters, circumstances, or situations they do not view as upsetting and harmful.
Case and point, the other day I overheard a snippet from a debate in Brussels between two female members of the European Parliament. One was Dutch; the other, Hungarian.
The Dutch EP member regarded Hungary’s lack of media freedom to be a major problem. The Hungarian politician rebutted this by stating that 80% of online media sources in available in Hungary were critical of the government and were also beyond government control. This elicited a round of mocking laughter from the audience who appeared to mostly university-aged students. The Hungarian EP member also claimed that the most popular television broadcaster and newspaper in Hungary are also independent and biased against the government. Thus, in her view, the Dutch politician’s vexations regarding media freedom in Hungary were exaggerated.
In turn, the Hungarian raised mass migration and open borders as troublesome and damaging to Europe in general. The Dutch EP member countered this by refusing to understand what her counterpart had put forth. As far as the woman from Holland was concerned, there was no mass migration problem. It simply did not exist. She was also at a complete loss as to why Hungary had constructed a nearly 200 kilometer fence along its southern border back in 2015. As for open borders, the Dutch MP claimed these ceased to exist when national governments in countries like Germany, Austria, and Denmark reinstated border checks and controls within the Schengen Area. The Dutch woman made no effort to explain why these border checks and controls were reinstated in the first place.
The example I have used above is probably not the best I could have found to illustrate my point about problems providing other windows to the soul. In all honesty, I’m not sure politicians – regardless of where they hail from – even have souls. All the same, much can be learned from exchanges like this (if you have the stomach for it).
I have found definitions and descriptions of problems to be a far more accurate soul gauge then they eyes alone could ever be. So the next time you are curious to know the content of someone's soul, simply listen to them describe a problem.
In my experience, problems are a far more accurate and effective means of measuring the quality and content of an individual’s soul. People reveal much about themselves when they discuss matters, circumstances, or situations they consider distressing and detrimental. They reveal even more when they offer suggestions as to how these objectionable, unwelcome, and vexing matters should be handled and, ultimately, surmounted. Conversely, people also provide a window to their souls by when they discuss matters, circumstances, or situations they do not view as upsetting and harmful.
Case and point, the other day I overheard a snippet from a debate in Brussels between two female members of the European Parliament. One was Dutch; the other, Hungarian.
The Dutch EP member regarded Hungary’s lack of media freedom to be a major problem. The Hungarian politician rebutted this by stating that 80% of online media sources in available in Hungary were critical of the government and were also beyond government control. This elicited a round of mocking laughter from the audience who appeared to mostly university-aged students. The Hungarian EP member also claimed that the most popular television broadcaster and newspaper in Hungary are also independent and biased against the government. Thus, in her view, the Dutch politician’s vexations regarding media freedom in Hungary were exaggerated.
In turn, the Hungarian raised mass migration and open borders as troublesome and damaging to Europe in general. The Dutch EP member countered this by refusing to understand what her counterpart had put forth. As far as the woman from Holland was concerned, there was no mass migration problem. It simply did not exist. She was also at a complete loss as to why Hungary had constructed a nearly 200 kilometer fence along its southern border back in 2015. As for open borders, the Dutch MP claimed these ceased to exist when national governments in countries like Germany, Austria, and Denmark reinstated border checks and controls within the Schengen Area. The Dutch woman made no effort to explain why these border checks and controls were reinstated in the first place.
The example I have used above is probably not the best I could have found to illustrate my point about problems providing other windows to the soul. In all honesty, I’m not sure politicians – regardless of where they hail from – even have souls. All the same, much can be learned from exchanges like this (if you have the stomach for it).
I have found definitions and descriptions of problems to be a far more accurate soul gauge then they eyes alone could ever be. So the next time you are curious to know the content of someone's soul, simply listen to them describe a problem.
November 14, 2019
Image For The New Cover
Since I am completing major revisions on my novel, I thought it would be a good idea to create a new cover for the book as well. The revised novel - which I hope to make available in December - will feature this vintage black-and-white postcard photo of The Chain Bridge and Buda Palace. 
I'm quite fond of this old photo; I believe it better reflects the overall themes, mood, and content of the narrative. Now I just have to figure out a way to make it into a good cover.
I'm quite fond of this old photo; I believe it better reflects the overall themes, mood, and content of the narrative. Now I just have to figure out a way to make it into a good cover.
November 12, 2019
A Little Heavenly Humor
An elderly couple die within days of each other and arrive to heaven at the same time. Strolling hand-in-hand through paradise in their youthful and invigorated resurrected bodies, they marvel at the idyllic, breathtaking landscapes, and savor the tranquil, harmonious feeling of love that permeates everything.
Suddenly a sour expression appears on the man's face. He stops walking and gives his wife an angry stare.
Perplexed by the annoyed look on her husband's face, the wife stops and asks, "Why do you look so upset? Look at where we are! It's all so beautiful and wonderful. Aren't you happy to be here?"
"It is beautiful and wonderful," the man mutters. "And I am thrilled to be here."
"Then what's the matter?"
"Something occurred to me."
"What?"
"We could have gotten here much sooner if you hadn't insisted we take our vitamins, exercise, and go on that stupid low-carb diet."
Suddenly a sour expression appears on the man's face. He stops walking and gives his wife an angry stare.
Perplexed by the annoyed look on her husband's face, the wife stops and asks, "Why do you look so upset? Look at where we are! It's all so beautiful and wonderful. Aren't you happy to be here?"
"It is beautiful and wonderful," the man mutters. "And I am thrilled to be here."
"Then what's the matter?"
"Something occurred to me."
"What?"
"We could have gotten here much sooner if you hadn't insisted we take our vitamins, exercise, and go on that stupid low-carb diet."
A Nearly Forgotten Master - Gyula Benczúr
Gyula Benczúr (1844 - 1920) rose to prominence in the Hungarian art world and achieved notable international success after he won a national historical painting competition with his depiction of the baptism of St. Stephen of Hungary. 
The Baptism of Vajk - 1875 Benczúr painted portraits and historical scenes and was respected throughout Europe during his lifetime. Despite his immense talent, he has been all but forgotten in the West. Nevertheless, Benczúr is still esteemed in his native Hungary where many settlements and cities have streets named after him. Though most in the West have forgotten this Hungarian painter, some may find a few of his paintings familiar. A good example would be The Recapture of Buda Castle, which, rather unsurprisingly, is quite popular among those who move within nationalist and traditionalist circles. 
The Recapture of Buda Castle - 1896
The Baptism of Vajk - 1875 Benczúr painted portraits and historical scenes and was respected throughout Europe during his lifetime. Despite his immense talent, he has been all but forgotten in the West. Nevertheless, Benczúr is still esteemed in his native Hungary where many settlements and cities have streets named after him. Though most in the West have forgotten this Hungarian painter, some may find a few of his paintings familiar. A good example would be The Recapture of Buda Castle, which, rather unsurprisingly, is quite popular among those who move within nationalist and traditionalist circles. The Recapture of Buda Castle - 1896
November 10, 2019
Does Cognitive Dissonance Exist Anymore?
For reasons I can't explain, I got to thinking about cognitive dissonance today, and after a while I found myself wondering if such a thing even exists anymore (at least for the majority of modern people in the West). In a nutshell, cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual holds two or more contradictory ideas, convictions, beliefs, or values in his or her mind at the same time. This dissonance creates mental and psychological stress, which inspires the individual to find a way to work out and resolve the contradiction created by the two conflicting ideas in an effort to diminish the psychological stress the contradiction has caused.
We have several options when our perceptions, convictions, and assumptions of reality are challenged by contradictory ideas or experiences. We can abandon our previous idea and embrace the new one; or we can reject the new idea and keep our old one; or we can adopt the new idea and place it next to our old one and believe in them both even though they contradict each other. The final option is truly where cognitive dissonance occurs.
Now, cognitive dissonances can be alleviated by all sorts of mental tricks including, but not limited to, rationalization for, justification of, and even rejection of the contradiction between the two conflicting beliefs. Though these defense mechanisms do often reduce the psychological stress the dissonance has cause, they are dangerous tools because they are essentially lame attempts to renegotiate reality. In other words, the pain reality causes is sidestepped or assuaged through adjustments that basically dismiss the validity of reality.
But here's the thing - the West has become biggest and most effective reality-denying system the world has ever known. Acknowledging reality is not only frowned upon, but punished, whereas embracing unreality is celebrated and rewarded. In other words, the most successful, praised, and celebrated people in the West are those who hold the uncanny ability believe in nothing but that which contradicts reality. But do such people truly feel any sense of cognitive dissonance? Do they feel any mental discomfort or psychological stress or does that disappear when one abandons reality in favor of unreality?
If so, then cognitive dissonance might be going the way of the dodo; hand-in-hand with the West.
We have several options when our perceptions, convictions, and assumptions of reality are challenged by contradictory ideas or experiences. We can abandon our previous idea and embrace the new one; or we can reject the new idea and keep our old one; or we can adopt the new idea and place it next to our old one and believe in them both even though they contradict each other. The final option is truly where cognitive dissonance occurs.
Now, cognitive dissonances can be alleviated by all sorts of mental tricks including, but not limited to, rationalization for, justification of, and even rejection of the contradiction between the two conflicting beliefs. Though these defense mechanisms do often reduce the psychological stress the dissonance has cause, they are dangerous tools because they are essentially lame attempts to renegotiate reality. In other words, the pain reality causes is sidestepped or assuaged through adjustments that basically dismiss the validity of reality.
But here's the thing - the West has become biggest and most effective reality-denying system the world has ever known. Acknowledging reality is not only frowned upon, but punished, whereas embracing unreality is celebrated and rewarded. In other words, the most successful, praised, and celebrated people in the West are those who hold the uncanny ability believe in nothing but that which contradicts reality. But do such people truly feel any sense of cognitive dissonance? Do they feel any mental discomfort or psychological stress or does that disappear when one abandons reality in favor of unreality?
If so, then cognitive dissonance might be going the way of the dodo; hand-in-hand with the West.
