In the fifth installment of the popular Harry Potter books, Dolores Umbridge, the personification of government meddling in education, forbids professors in Hogwarts from disclosing anything beyond what is strictly pertinent to their lessons. One rebellious schoolkid, however, points out in Umbridge’s class that she cannot reprimand him for misbehaving during the lesson, as it is irrelevant to the subject. He gets detention.
Human-centric cities are much more pleasant than the centrally planned monstrosities during communism, but it is not only people but the flora and fauna that can also be thankful for free markets and democracy. One of my favorite books as a little child was a story of Krtek, the beloved mole from the cartoons of Czech artist Zdeněk Miler. The story, written during communism, depicts how the little mole with his critter friends find themselves in the middle of a city development project.
Hungarians are eager to eradicate mosquitoes, but it seems that the government is reluctant to collaborate with its citizens in doing so. Mosquitoes are a big problem everywhere. Not only do they annoy people with their hums and the itchiness of their bites, but also spread a lot of diseases. Therefore, when I visited rural Hungary, I inadvertently served as an open buffet for a cloud of these pests while conversing with someone from a small Hungarian village.
Although history repeats itself, if it is not taught properly, we will not learn from it. Hungarian education distorts the events of the past to accommodate a glorified but inaccurate image of historic Hungary. Instead of teaching historic facts, classes often incorporate folk tales and other romanticized stories. In the lower grades of primary school education, history is taught through stories, which is appropriate.
As part of their Poems of Liberty series, the European Dialogue Programme of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and the Hungarian Free Market Foundation are launching a new edition under the motto Project Europe 2050!
It used to be easy to gain a lot of information from the way a person looked. You might try it today in Europe, and still get it right in at least some of the cases, but you will be completely baffled once an American walks into a room.
It is a basic need for every human being to connect with others. Social psychology classifies the need for connection as one of the basic human motives, since humans are essentially social beings. Belonging somewhere has countless advantages. But what about when it’s not a partnership or a group, but a crowd?
If works of fiction taught us anything, it is that imaginary creatures should have rights as well. Can this be translated to real life and to real rights?
Russia. The word still evokes images of conspiracy behind gray concrete blocks, while a strong military marches through the streets in a tour de force of the iron hand that rules the harsh country. The Kremlin was working hard to ensure that this stereotype, of influential and ruthless Soviet toughness, is exaggerated. Disinformation, ostentatious secret service operations and bellicose rhetoric all served this illusion.
Europe. It is an area. It is an idea. It is a culture. It is a collection of diverse people and countries. It is a work in progress. It is ever-changing, ever-twisting, shaped by its people. Europe is a complex idea. The latest edition of Poems of Liberty, a publication by The Friedrich Naumann Foundation, European Dialogue and the Free Market Foundation aims to encapsulate it through poems.
