Francis Berger's Blog, page 182

Dostoevsky on the Origins of Socialism

I once held liberal and socialist views and beliefs. It took me a long time to understand why I held these views, but once I understood the underlying reason, I quickly realized the error of my judgement and changed my course. It seems to me that people are drawn to liberalism and socialism for a variety of reasons: hedonism, relativism, and altruism being chief among them. When I look back upon my own experience, it was a combination of all three, but it took me many years to understand what it was that had propelled me toward accepting liberalism and socialism as my core beliefs.

Dosoevsky understood the origin of liberal and socialist sentiments and beliefs and he captures it perfectly in his novel The Brothers Karamozov through the character of Alyosha who ponders the question early on in the book:

"In the same way, if he had decided that God and immortality did not exist, he would at once have become an atheist and a socialist. For socialism is not merely the labour question, it is before all things the atheistic question, the question of the form taken by atheism to-day, the question of the Tower of Babel built without God, not to mount to heaven from earth but to set up heaven on earth."

Is this not the absolute essence of modern liberalism and what inspires most to adopt progressive and liberal attitudes and beliefs? Though they have abandoned God, most people strive to be good people who do good things. They want to make the world a better place, to literally bring Heaven down to Earth. Essentially, liberals are nothing more than atheists with good intentions. Unfortunately, roads paved with nothing but good intentions tend to lead to one place and one place only. Dostoevsky understood this perfectly. I have only begun to understand this recently. Most will never understand this at all. 

A Place Where Poetry Still Lives

Over the past few months I have been pleasantly surprised and extremely impressed by the esteem with which most Hungarians hold poetry. Poets' names grace streets and buildings all over the country; statues of national and, occassionally foreign poets, stand in squares and parks in many cities and towns. In addition to that, verses frequently find their way into daily discourse and discussion. Ask the average Hungarian to name five Hungarian poets and they will do so with ease. Simply put, poetry is still very much alive in this place. It is interwoven into the fabric of the culture and its people and it has been a truly refreshing and invigorating thing to experience. 

Ideology Trumps Reality

You can't "handle" the truth . . . we won't let you. "The consistent triumph of an ideology over reality is a good definition for totalitarianism. As a writer, I have always found this subject fascinating.  In a totalitarian world, the only reality that is regarded as real is that which agrees with the ruling ideology and any truth that contradicts ideology must be visciously outlawed, suppressed, censored and, ultimately, forgotten. Freedom of speech is one avenue that should, at least theoretically, leave open the possibility of the acknowledgement of reality and is often  praised as a virtue and a value because of this, but in practice totalitarian ideologies work hard to create a social climate where citizens feel anxious to speak their minds if it happens to go against the ruling philosophy of the day. Truly successful totalitarian ideologies make people feel anxious simply for acknowledging reality or thinking thoughts that go against the philosophy of the day. In the ultimate totalitarian regime, citizens will refuse to speak up against the ideology even when the ideology creates circumstances of utter evil in reality. The Rotherham rape gang scandal is a perfect example of this. For over a decade officials, social workers, police, and politicians willingly chose to abide by the ruling ideology of political correctness, multiculturalism, and anti-racism instead of coming to the defense of over a thousand girls who were systematically abused, tortured, and gang-raped by groups of Muslim men. After Rotherham, it was discovered similar atrocities had been and were occurring all over the United Kingdom. Unspeakable acts of evil were simply ignored and allowed to happen in order to protect ideology - this is totalitarian ideology at its finest.

Fast forward to recent events and notions of freedom speech. When the Charlie Hebdo massacre happened in Paris, I remember feeling a little discomfitted by the universal outpouring of defiance in the defense of freedom of speech which included a sombre parade of politicians, arms-linked, marching in unity in support of this unapproachable right. I felt uncomfortable because I knew that most of the politicians and the plebs that followed them through the streets of Paris were anything but true defenders of the right to freedom of speech. Angela Merkel was one of those "Je Suis" politicians yet barely more than a year later she was captured on an open-mike ordering Mark Zuckerberg to essentially censor any and all criticism of the migrant crisis that might make an appearance in his facebook realm. Since then, Germany has made no secret of its censorship and blackouts when it comes to anything related to the migrant crisis. In Merkel's world, the right of a puerile and tasteless cartoon satire rag that goes out of its way to offend must be protected, yet the right of a country's citizens to voice valid concerns about developments that directly offend them must be suppressed and outlawed. 

For months the German media was flooded with only positive images of the migrant crisis because they were convinced, rightly so in my opinion, that the German public would not be able to handle the truth. Oh, there were hugs and chocolates and signs welcoming refugees and great selfies and big smiles. But all of that is melting away and many Germans are waking up to the fact that the migrant crisis is not all hugs and chocolates and warm, fuzzy Wilkommenskultur. The ruling ideology will not bend, however. If truths about current circumstances exist, they are certainly not allowed to be aired. If there are truths that deserve to be heard, Merkel does not want her citizens to "handle" them.

And here we are in November fresh off another Muslim terrorist attack in Paris - the second in a year. Unlike Hebdo, which was more or less a targeted attack against a publication that freely mocked Islam, the latest attack was a direct and brutal attack against the people of France. The reactions, thus far, have been entirely predictable. Candlelight vigils, a lot of weepy faces, and vows of "not giving into hatred and intolerance" while in the background cleaning crews work hard to mop up the blood from the streets. Hollande has declared war and has thrown a few bombs into the Syrian desert. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of unscreened and unvetted migrants continue pushing their way through Greece and up into the Balkans.

Naturally, most EU politicians, Merkel and Juncker at the forefront, have made the assertion that there is no viable or meaningful connection between the terror attacks and the migrant invasion. Even thinking anything that comes close to this notion is anathema and makes you a xenophobe and well, a horrible person who needs to fuck off and go die a lonely death somewhere far away from happyland. Despite the brutal slayings of over one hundred of their own citizens, they have reasserted that any criticism of the migrant crisis or "inappropriate" remarks about Islam and its connection to the Paris attacks will be deemed hate speech and dealt with in the harshest manner. As is to be expected, most people in Western Europe are more than thrilled to tow this line. Firmly trapped in their liberal comas they will continue to subscribe to the ideology politicians like Juncker represent even when it threatens their very existence. This is totalitarian ideology of liberalism in its purest, rawest form.  

This totalitarianism has always been there as long as liberalism has reigned, but never has it been so absurdly obvious, so astonishingly on-the-surface. One could almost argue that perhaps it has been irrevocably exposed. And I have a feeling that more people are becoming aware this exposure. Ideology can be strong, but reality is inevitably stronger. Even the most brainwashed will find it hard to ignore reality if their own life is at stake.  If liberal ideology is becoming exposed, it faces an acute "emperor has no clothes" problem. Unlike that story, most people in Western Europe will not listen to the first or even the thousandth person who points and shouts, but if enough people begin pointing and shouting it could begin a chain reaction. For the sake of Western Europe, it had better, because of this ideology manages to trump reality for much longer it will annhilate not only itself, but all those who believe in it.  

Time For Europe To Listen to Orbán

I do not consider myself a vulgar man, but in light of the Paris attack, I find I can only express myself thus:

The liberal elite of Europe need to shut the fuck up and listen to this man.

And they need to do so very quickly.

And if the liberal elite refuse to listen to him, the people of Europe need to rise up and replace their politicians and leaders.

And they need to do so very quickly.

Quid Est Veritas?

Christ before Pilate, Mihály Munkácsy, 1881 For me, Truth is something that is not only factual and self-evident, but also something that does not have to be argued, explained and, above all, justified.

Truth remains truth regardless of what confronts it. Truth does not need a majority vote in order to be valid. Truth exists even if no one hears it. Truth can be spun, censored, suppressed, attacked, denied, hidden, and scorned, but it can never be destroyed. Truth obliterates relativity. Truth forces choice and acceptance. Truth is beauty. 

Above all else, Truth is power - this is why so many despise it and seek to destroy that dare to utter it.

Quid est veritas? All of the above, and so much more - most of which can barely be expressed in words. 

Nihilism Leads to the Deathtrap of Despair; Or, Why Faith and Hope Are Crucial

My novel, The City of Earthly Desire, deals with many themes, chief among them the problem of nihilism brought about by a culture that has turned its back on all sense of meaning, religion, and tradition in the blind belief that materialism and the pursuit of pleasure alone provide for and fulfill all of humanity's needs.

The problem is they don't. 

Possessions end up possessing you and no matter how much you love them, they do not and cannot return your love. Pleasure, though quixotically addictive and fun, tends to fade rather quickly. The void left behind immediately demands newer and newer pleasures until, ironically, the idea of pleasure recoils back upon itself, becomes utterly perverted, and becomes saturated with sadism.

What is left after the possessions turn cold and the pleasures run black? In all honesty, not much. Nothing, in fact. This point marks the border of nihilism, the vast poisonous belief desert of nothingness which inevitably leads to despair. What is despair? Amnesia of meaning. Abandonment of hope. Rejection of faith. Past societies had built-in safety mechanisms to combat such existential crises, but modern societies have contempuously cast these aside thinking, rather foolishly, that the fight against despair is one they would never have to fight and, in the unforeseen event that they would, that materialism and pleasure would provide them with the weapons needed to win the battle. 

The problem is, they haven't. 

This why the rediscovery of faith and hope are crucial. They are the only things that can, not only save us, but also give us lives that are worth living. Even if we are defeated, we go down swinging or, at the very least we go down smiling, which is far more noble and human than allowing darkness to corrode us before simply cratering in on ourselves and existentially imploding.

Faith is a deep sense, seemingly bottomless, that despite so-called evidence to the contrary, absolutes exist. And hope is the undying belief that these absolutes will ultimately triumph, regardless of how bleak and meaningless the present might appear. Both are crucial and both are needed, perhaps now more than ever. 

A Boot to the Head: The Migrant Crisis Meets Reality

For months the liberal establishment has denied the reality of the mass destabilization event currently taking place in Europe. Since their ideology is based on the denial of reality, it is only natural that liberals in Europe oppose anything that is even remotely anchored in some sense of truth. To do so would be the kiss of death for liberalism, which is why liberals are such masters of repudiation. They will deny, surpress, refute, attack, scorn, reject, and forbid anything and everything that contradicts their nihilistic belief system. Lying, spinning, shaming, ridiculing, flouting and poisoning are weapons they commonly employ in their quest to convince the world of the utter non-existence of  truth and reality.

For the most part, they have been exceptionally successful in their campaign against veritas. Nowhere is this more evident than in their early efforts to deny the obvious reality behind the current phenomenon known as the migrant crisis. Nevertheless, as the weeks drag on and the crisis intensifies, it is becoming quite apparent that liberal ideology may have met its match. No matter how hard they continue to try to deny the truth in their effort to plant the seeds that will destabilize Europe by weakening national sovereignty, dissolving social cohesion, and annhilating what remains of tradition and Christianity, the liberal elite are no longer able to hide the flames of the fire they have ignited on the continent. More and more citizens of Europe, many liberals among them, are becoming aware that the elite's version of the migrant crisis is nothing more than a series of chimerical illusions hiding something that, in essence, is sinister to its core. 

It is a painful experience for many, especially for those who have soaked and permeated by the ideology of liberalism. It can't be helped - getting a boot to the head is never a pleasant experience . . . but it is a necessary experience, and despite the shock and agony it causes, people should be grateful for it because it allows them to touch earth again and begin to see things as they are. Whether they have the strength or honesty to remain rooted in reality is another matter entirely.

I sincerely hope most do.   

This May Be the Beginning of the End for the Left

I am not a prophet. I have no crystal ball to show me how the future will develop. No sixth sense that probes time yet to come. All I have to work with is the present and the past. Of the present, I can perceive and absorb but a sliver. Deciphering the past is akin to deciphering mysterious heiroglyphics that have been interpreted a hundred different ways by a hundred different scholars. Nevertheless, I have my senses and my reasoning and they are often enough to give me some clues about what may have happened, what is happening, and what might happen.

Having said this, there are some delicate signs that the leftist/liberal elite is losing control. Whether this is intentional or not is something I do not know and cannot comment on, but one thing is clear - planned or accidental, the powers that be are slowly losing their grip. At first glance the very idea if it seems ludicrous - somehow beyond belief. After all, for generations left-liberalism has been the only game in town. As a social, economic, political, and cultural force, it has been and continues to be a merciless juggernaut, ruthless crushing and destroying everything upon which it sets it sights. Despite its unquestionable success, faint clues that the juggernaut may be slowing are beginning to emerge. Slight hairline cracks have appeared and are rippling over its hull over which a faint question mark is starting to materialize, barely visible to the naked eye, but there all the same, like some spectral prenumbra or ghostly mirage. Could this mark the beginning of the end?

The entire left/liberal establishment operates very much like a team of plate spinner happily twirling their ceramic disks perched atop thin wooden rods for the amusement and amazement of all. When it comes to spinning, no one is better than the left. They have the uncanny ability to keep dozens of plates balanced and moving and on the odd occasion that they forget about a plate and it crashes to the floor, they are quick to distract their audience by raising and spinning two or three other plates in place of the broken one which is quickly forgotten by the spectators who are quickly lulled back into their warm, comfortable trance. They are excellent spinners, the left, and they are well aware of their excellence, but this self-knowledge has led them to hubris. With every passing year, they raised more and more plates smug in the belief that they would keep them all spinning no matter what. 

However, there are signs that perhaps, just perhaps, the left have overshot themselves. There are simply too many plates and no matter how quickly they dash back and forth between the rods, they are slow to reach them all in time to keep the momentum going. Many plates are beginning to wobble, tugged out of the charm of their spinning by the cold demands of gravity. More and more spins are deteriorating into fits of elliptical teetering. At the very end of the line of rods, two or three plates crash to the floor. Several dozen more seemingly beg to follow. The left seem panicky. Whether their panic is sincere or planned is difficult to know, but one thing looks certain - the left are either losing or surrendering control.

That most, if not all of the plates will fall and explode on the floor, seems inevitable. The only question that remains is what will happen afterwards, after all the broken ceramic shards are swept up and the rods taken down. Will there be a chance for a sincere renewal? A return to reality. A resurrection of Goodness, Truth, and Beauty? Or will the left merely return to the ring with an even more entrancing and even more horrendous circus act? 

A Mass Destabilization Event; Keep Calm and See the Thing for What It Is.

"Keep calm and see the thing for what it is."

I received this piece of invaluable advice when I was a much younger man and I have kept it in the forefront of my thoughts ever since regardless of where I am or what I am doing. Granted, the advice referred specifically to writing and a writer's duty to maintain a sense of composure as they searched to find the truth behind whatever event or circumstance they encountered or witnessed. Regardless, keeping calm and seeing the thing for what it is an immeasurably useful and perhaps even necessary dictum that can easily be applied to the life in general.  

I must admit I have struggled to maintain my calm as I have been examining the events plaguing Europe, but I have been trying ceaselessly to see the events for what they are.

After much rumination, analysis, and reflection, I have come to the conclusion that the narrative the liberal media and the majority of governments around the world have concocted regarding the so-called refugee crisis confronting Europe is a nothing more than a bold deception. Though there are or have been some genuine refugees among the teeming hordes pushing their way from one country to another, it is plain to see that the crowds of young men aggressively pushing into the heart of Europe is really nothing less than, at best, a merry band of opportunists exploiting an irresistible moment of absurd and illogical European weakness or, at worst, a subversive invasion force whose perhaps unconscious but seemingly true aim is mass destabilization.

Keep calm and see the thing for what it is. 

This is not a refugee crisis; it is a mass migration with a seemingly endless supply of migrants who are not interested in following legal asylum procedures.

This is not a refugee crisis; it is a planned movement meant to weaken and undermine Europe. 

This is not a refugee crisis; it is a campaign to tear down order and replace it with chaos - a campaign that, with the exception of Hungary and a handful of other central European countries, has gone utterly unopposed, unimpeded, and unobstructed. 

This is not a refugee crisis. 

This is a mass destabilization event. 

Keep calm.

​See the thing for what it is. 

Yeah, I Will Dare. . .

Circumstances have arisen that I can no longer ignore nor remain silent about. These circumstances have brought into existence a perfect storm which has battered my sensibilities and beliefs and I find myself in a situation where silence is no longer an option.

For months I have been asking myself, "Should I?" The immortal lines of T.S. Eliot's The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock haunt me. "Do I dare / Disturb the universe?"

Yes.  Yes, I will dare . . . 

But it is not simply an assertion of will. It is an obligation.  A must. I have no choice in the matter. In these times, silence is death. And I refuse to be silent. I refuse to die. 

Universe, get ready to be disturbed . . .