John Derbyshire On Hungary, France, And Britain: “Putinism,” Patriotism, And Populism

The big downer: the decision by the government of Hungary to ban Richard Spencer’s conference, scheduled for October 3^rd-5^th in Budapest.

(In fact, on October 3, Richard was actually taken into custody by the Hungarian police—an atrocity that, as I write this on Saturday afternoon, does not yet seem to have made it into the Main Stream Media here in the Land Of The Free.)

Richard is an occasional VDARE.com contributor, former editor of Taki’s Magazine and founder of AltRight.com, now president of the National Policy Institute, a white-identity think-tank, and Editor of its journal, RADIX. I have shared platforms with Richard on a number of occasions over the years, and shall be doing so again at the H.L. Mencken Club bash this coming October 31^st weekend. (It’s not too late to register!)

The Budapest conference, titled “The Future of Europe: Its Culture, People, And Civilization,” was outlawed by Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Fidesz party.

Fidesz is variously described as “center-right,” “populist,” “far right,” or “Putinist.” Whatever it is, the party’s leader apparently thinks it outrageous that people would want to gather peacefully to discuss Europe’s future.

Hence the ban, to which Spencer responded by reorganizing the conference as a private gathering.

“It’s true that the government’s actions are going to make our meeting a little more inconvenient than it otherwise would be. But life is full of such challenges,” Mr. Spencer said.

[Hungary Bans Conference by U.S. Group It Calls ‘Racist,’ by Margit Feher, Wall Street Journal, September 29, 2014]

I commend Richard for his cheerfully philosophical approach. But the underlying issue, after the harassment of the American Renaissance conferences here in the U.S. (also ignored by the MSM) is very grave.