Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

Why Hungary Matters

March 15, 2012, 9:02 am

A quick note here: I’m actually kind of shocked at some of the comments on Kim Lane Scheppele’s latest post [ http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/hungarys-free-media/ ] here. Not the ones accusing her of lying or getting her facts wrong; that’s part for the course, with my own experience being that the more solidly grounded in evidence I am the more hysterical accusations of dishonesty I get.

No, what shocks me are the complaints that there’s even a post on the subject, asking why bother with Hungary at all.

First of all, if you find the subject of a post boring, here’s a useful productivity hint: don’t read it.

But more than that, Hungary really should matter, both to Europeans — many of whom read this blog — and to Americans.

Look, there are currently two great democratic powers in the world: the US and the EU. The EU is not a state, but it acts as a unit in many ways, and is a powerful force making the world a better place. And the European idea has been a key driver of democracy and peace these past two generations.

So if you believe in democracy and peace, you have a stake in that idea’s success — which is why all of Europe’s current troubles are a tragedy for all of us.

And now we have a nation in the heart of Europe, a member of the EU, a nation that emerged from dictatorship, which is at the very least backsliding on democracy. This is terrible — and terribly important.

If you can’t see this, there’s something very wrong with your priorities.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/why-hungary-matters/