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Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor of Florida, is trying to put a stop to damaging progressive theories such as gender ideology and critical race theory in his state. His efforts have already seen some success, leading to some more or less appropriate comparisons between him and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Some mean it as an insult, others an endorsement.
Rod Dreher, a journalist for The American Conservative, has been living in Budapest for some time now, and has written numerous articles about his experiences in Hungary and the Western world’s criticisms of the Hungarian government, which he regularly refutes. In his most recent article, he recalled the words of New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg, who wrote that the Florida governor was following in the footsteps of Viktor Orbán when proposing a law that would ban Florida public colleges and universities from offering gender studies and critical race theory courses. Goldberg deems this as reprehensible, and quotes PEN America’s senior manager of free expression and education, who says the bill is downright apocalyptic for higher education.
What Goldberg conveniently omits in her article, Dreher writes, is mention of the fact that the law applies to public universities, i.e., those subsidized by the state with taxpayers’ money. This is symptomatic of the American left’s futile desire to decide for itself what to do with public money, but it just simply does not work that way.
Dreher then moves on to the example of Central European University (CEU), originally set up in Hungary, which has come into a serious conflict with the government over not only the curricula taught there, but the allegedly illegal diplomas issued by George Soros’ institution. According to Dreher, the Orbán government was right to withdraw state support for some of its programs such as gender studies, because one only has to look at the United States to see what the spread of such theories has done to society there. He says the Hungarian government does not want such ideologies to spill over into the country, especially through universities that are not state-funded.
Why should the pockets of Hungarian taxpayers be picked so their children can go to university to learn that men can be women and women can be men, and spread that evil ideology throughout society?”
asks Dreher. He then goes on to make the important connection that CEU was also funded by George Soros, which does not bode well for real education, as the billionaire speculator is promoting the very ideas from which the Hungarian government is trying to protect its people.
According to Rod Dreher, Orbán probably realized that if CEU fully succeeded in taking root in Hungary, it would become a hotbed of liberal ideas such as LGBTQ rights and social liberalism, and he could not allow that to happen, unlike in the United States, where such sensitizing studies have become so widespread that one can no longer express even the slightest dissenting opinion, because one is virtually crucified for it.
Even though CEU likes to pretend that it was banished from Hungary, it is still operating in Budapest in fact, with many courses.
Most recently in January, there was a lecture at Central European University held by a transvestite who calls himself Lady Dömper. According to earlier information, the performer, whose real name is Zoltán Petróczi, and has been working in nightlife for 30 years, talked about his past and present experiences. Furthermore, as part of the advertised program, he shared his “stinging” opinion of today’s Hungary with the presentation’s participants, which as one can anticipate to be fully antagonistic towards the country’s majority conservative outlook.
Getting back to conservative politics, the United States could learn a lot from Hungary, or rather the American right from the Hungarian government, Dreher says, adding that perhaps the biggest problem in the US at the moment is that the Republican Party leadership lacks the vision needed to bring change to the country. The Republicans in Florida, for example, have no such problems, and the people there do not have to put up with the unrestrained spread of liberal ideas. “If Ron DeSantis is turning into Viktor Orbán in his state, Florida taxpayers who are sick and tired of the universities they support being turned into woke madrassas should raise shot glasses of pálinka high and toast to the governor’s good health,” concludes Dreher.
Featured photo via Facebook/Governor Ron DeSantis