More and more leaders are seeking power by sowing fear. They do it because it works
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThe threats the regime describes are largely imaginary. Hungarians are free to follow their traditions if they choose. George Soros has no power over their borders. There is no global conspiracy to corrupt Hungarian children. And the fact that the opposition do not share Mr Orban’s admiration for Vladimir Putin does not mean they are warmongers. No matter.
Mr Orban’s victory entrenches a corrupt and semi-authoritarian regime in the heart of the European Union, the world’s premier club of liberal democracies. Every year he is in office, he erodes more democratic checks and balances. Most of the opposition united against him during this election, worrying that if they did not stop him now, it would be too late. They failed.
Hungary has shown once again how well fearmongering works. Voters are never more attentive than when hearing about threats, even phoney ones. Because of social media, unscrupulous politicians can easily spread vivid, viral footage that appears to support their scare stories. If such types win power, they are likely to abuse it.
Mr Putin’s regime is very different from Mr Orban’s, which does not kill people. Yet their styles overlap. The Kremlin also lies to scare voters into seeking the big man’s protection. Its mouthpieces tell Russians that they are about to be attacked by the West, which has been developing bioweapons in Ukraine, a country run by Nazis. None of this is true, but viewers of Russianhear little else. Many therefore rally around their president.
. Marine Le Pen relies on exaggeration rather than lies, and tries to put a respectable face on fearmongering. She frets about France’s “submersion” by a flood of immigrants. She proposes to ban public wearing of the hijab and give French people priority over foreigners, even. If she were a marginal figure it would not matter, but she may conceivably be the next president of France.like Mr Putin are rarer today than during the cold war.
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