Free Market Foundation

For a long time under Orbán’s illiberal regime, the common sentiment on the street was that the EU should intervene to help Hungarians. This was, of course, unrealistic, and should the EU have intervened more, Orbán would have used it to get Hungary out of the Union. The EU, however, is still in the focus of sentiments on the streets.

After 16 years, illiberalism fell in Hungary. The markets predicted it while Fidesz pollsters and politicians were blindsided, proving yet again that free markets are better than government control.

Hungarian voters elected the opposition Tisza party with a landslide, ending 16 years of an illiberal Orbán regime. The constitutional majority vested on Tisza will be needed to undo the crony system, restart the economy and reinstate rule of law, but there are inherent dangers that this absolute power can corrupt the new government.

The US and Canadian military are tracking Santa with private money, and you can bet on the results, all due to a typo. It is the season when people’s gaze is waylaid by the shiny, sparkling, colorful paraphernalia of Christmas attention-seeking, and so it is increasingly difficult to write about an important topic not sprinkled with holiday jollity. My feeble attempt to gain readers a couple of years ago depicted Santa as a Marxist monster.

Labubus, with their naughty smiles, have stolen their way into most homes with kids, but their colorful furs hold a sinister secret. They are the newest presentation of a Chinese soft power takeover. With the US clogging up its channels of influence, we had better prepare for a wave of Chinafication. Soft power is marked by the promotion of positive values.

According to Yalom, the experience of loss is present in almost every decision we make, as saying yes to one thing simultaneously means saying no to another. This tension manifests in everyday situations, such as when choosing one scoop of ice cream from a vast selection. Many rely on familiar routines, others seek the healthiest or newest flavors, and some conform to the preferences of their social group or family.

There is a great transportation divide between Western and Eastern Europe. The latter is slow to catch up to the growing high-speed train network of wealthier countries, hindering cohesion efforts. Trains revolutionized the transportation of people and goods, significantly reducing travel time and costs.

EU antitrust regulations hinder innovation, which is the most effective way of fighting monopolies and strengthening the EU as a global power. That is ironic since the nominal purpose of those antitrust rules is to fight monopolies, not to empower them. The European Union needs to pivot its approach to businesses to be competitive globally, maybe even to fill the growing void left by the U.S.

Hungary is a beautiful country: homogeneous, democratic, united, and Christian. These facts are so obviously true that I do not even have to provide sources. My country also has an excellent educational system, which teaches journalists working in the booming and free media sector that sarcasm is not a good linguistic tool to use in an article. Why should I do otherwise?

A new Pope is about to assume his office, but what once was a greatly influential position, making and breaking kingdoms, is becoming obsolete, at least in the Western world. Should a new Pope change that? The relevance of the Pope is hard to measure, but for those interested in number-crunching, several metrics are available.