The Actual Problem Is Germany

I wish that Americans would refrain from criticizing or even commenting on the internal matters and politics of other countries, with which they are even less familiar than they are their own. Or, at least count 10 before letting fly. Let’s begin with the first sentence of the Washington Post editorial to which I linked earlier:

Poland’s right-wing nationalist ruling party, Law and Justice, has been steadily losing ground in recent months.

What is a “right-wing” party in Poland? I have no idea. These characterizations do not translate well. So, for example, the UK’s Conservative Party more closely resembles the American Democratic Party or, at least the Democratic Party before it began its mad dash towards its progressive wing, than it does anything an American conservative would recognize. Actually, both of our major political parties are more like the Tories than any other British political party, as the Brits have laughed about for years. A “right-wing party” in continental Europe is frequently a royalist party.

Also is the PiS (no comment) actually a “nationalist” party? Again I have no idea.

Poland has a parliamentary system. The ruling coalition (called “the United Right”) is twice as large as any other coalition. Said another way it doesn’t matter whether PiS loses a seat or two as long as the coalition remains in power which is a pretty good likelihood.

After the throat-clearing here’s what they’re complaining about:

It should be no surprise, then, that Law and Justice is reviving an effort to neuter the country’s highest-rated news station, TVN24, which unlike state-owned channels broadcasts independent news and critical commentary about the government. This week the head of the state broadcast regulator, a former Law and Justice member, told Reuters that the station was in violation of foreign ownership rules, and that its license might not be renewed by a Sept. 26 deadline.

What’s their specific complaint? The news is dominated by a state-owned channel practically everywhere in the world other than the U. S. France 24 is state-owned. Germany didn’t even have privately-owned channels until the late 1980s. Why isn’t the WaPo complaining about the BBC?

Here’s their conclusion:

The Biden administration has taken note of what would be a devastating blow to media freedom in Poland. The U.S. charge d’affaires in Warsaw and the State Department’s spokesman have tweeted their concerns. “Strong democracies welcome a free and independent press,” said State’s Ned Price. That’s just the problem: Under Law and Justice, Poland’s democracy has become progressively weaker. The United States must use all the leverage it can muster to ensure that independent television news in the country survives.

which I think is hyperventilating. Let me provide another way of looking at matters. The Poles and Hungarians are fighting a rather desperate rearguard action to preserve their own languages and cultures. Both Polish and Hungarian are spoken almost exclusively within their respective home countries, by their diaspora and children, and a few language scholars. Both are rather small countries. Both are very Christian countries which struggled under Communist rule for 40 years. Both countries have historic experience of depradations by Muslim invaders and they see themselves as having defended Germany from the same fate.

The actual problem is Germany. The euro is a vehicle for German exports. It was Germany that invited open immigration from the Middle East and North Africa—it furthered German ends. I feel safe in suggesting that very few of the people from the Middle East who accepted Germany’s invitation spoke either Polish or Hungarian. Shouldn’t the Poles and Hungarians be excused for believing they are fighting for national survival?

One more point. The German are quite ignorant of history including their own. They don’t know what happened during World War II. They don’t know what happened in the 1930s. They don’t know what happened during World War I. What they do learn invariably casts Germany in a favorable light. What else would you expect when the education (other than job training) of 2/3s of Germans ends at 10th grade?