Mate Hajba

Director of the Free Market Foundation, which advocates economic freedom, civil rights and tolerance. He is also the author of several books promoting free markets and civic liberties. He served as the Vice President of Civic Platform, which runs anti-racist campaigns and promotes democratic values. He is interested in the relationship between the state and the individual and in the concept and history of liberty. He writes for international press on issues such as intolerance in Hungary and international relations. To promote the concept of individualism, liberty, tolerance and free market, he co-founded a youth organization named Eötvös Club.

Society

Value of Trust

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / July 20, 2021

I wanted to expand on the idea that relatively novel platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, are changing the way we see things. Everyone with a camera phone can make videos without any regards to aesthetic rules about composition, lighting, narrative structure and so forth. Those videos that are much more composed are regarded as too artificial, and are trying too hard, whereas realism gained in importance.

Politics

Liberalism Failed COVID Test

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / July 16, 2021

Liberalism is based upon the premise that individuals are to be trusted, that they know best what is in their interests, that laws, regulations and rules are superseded by the freedom of an individual, and the legislator intervenes only when absolutely necessary. Why then do we still not return to this notion after more than a year after the COVID restrictions started in earnest?

Society

Myths about Antisemitism Debunked

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / March 31, 2021

The stereotype that Jewish people are rich and greedy, and that they corrupt non-Jewish people, is an important factor of far-left antisemitism. The Soviet Union had a long history of antisemitism, often masked as anti-Zionism or anti-cosmopolitanism.

Publications, Think Tank News

How to Counter Antisemitism?

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / March 30, 2021

Fake news, disinformation, conspiracy theories, antisemitism. Today, when reaching a large audience, easier than ever free access to information comes with a price. Political extremities, populists, fanatics, and mailous actors can polarize people to their own gains using the above mentioned methods.

Society

Liberal Takeaways from Harry and Meghan’s Interview

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / March 28, 2021

With the younger generation supporting the couple and the older generations the Palace, everyone has an opinion on the matter. Pundits were eager to take sides and show their own views. But what is the truth?

Society

Beneath It All in Hungary Is Political Corruption

BY Mate Hajba, Free Market Foundation AND Liberal Voices Syndicated / January 30, 2021

Hungary is the black sheep of the European Union. Its contrarian agenda offends the common opinion of other member states. Just recently, the Hungarian government not only threatened to veto the EU recovery budget but also voiced its opposition to the Gender Action Plan, a foreign policy initiative to buttress the rights of women, girls […]

Politics

Hungarian MEPs Down the Drain

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / December 22, 2020

Hungary had a scandal-ridden month in the EU. As the new EU budget is connected to rule of law, Hungary fought it tooth and nail, claiming it’s not about corruption but Soros and immigrants.

Society

10 Books to Read During Holidays

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / December 22, 2020

While most of the world cooped in here are some recommendations for liberals (even though the books might not be) as to what to read during the holidays.

Society

Christmas Presents, Tradition, Politics

BY Mate Hajba AND Free Market Foundation / December 21, 2020

Until the 19th century, the birth of Jesus was nothing more than a strictly religious holiday. Two centuries ago, the industrial revolution brought mass production, the still lasting exponential growth of wealth, health, population, and standards.

Review #13

REVIEW #13: Understanding the Weaponization of (Dis-)Information in Present-Day CEE [Afterword]

BY Daniela Oberstein, Mate Hajba AND 4liberty.eu / October 9, 2020

“Fake news!” The phrase has been thrown about so much lately that it lost most of its meaning and gravitas. But what does it actually mean? One definition explains it as “deliberately presenting false information as news” and differentiates it as a subset of disinformation.