András Lánczi on the transformation in Europe's political culture

In the conservative weekly Heti Válasz, philosopher András Lánczi reflects on Europe's degenerate political culture: "Today we no longer say 'good day', but 'nice day', an Anglicism stemming from blasé snobism. At the same time it expresses a whole new mindset: we have replaced moral terms and concepts with pragmatic ones describing positions and relationships. To put it simply, humans can be communist, liberal or anarchist one day, and the very opposite the next. ... In the old days people were punished for violating society's moral and legal rules. Today they are penalised for holding on to their moral judgements. What we have here are two languages. The language of the political elites has split up, and they can literally no longer understand each other. This leaves reciprocal mistrust to do its dirty work and decide which interpretation will be used against the [political] enemies. European culture was once based on a moral world order. Feelings such as trust, loyalty, honour, shame and generosity have been displaced by a power-hungry, dishonest way of thinking and an arrogant, unscrupulous pursuit of interests."

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