A crie de coeur against sectarian polarization

Three days ahead of the Parliamentary election, a ‘radical centrist’ pundit calls on public intellectuals to act as independent critics of politics, rather than propagandists for their preferred political camps.

In Magyar Nemzet, Róbert Puzsér calls for less sectarian and biased public debate. The centrist columnist known for his highly impassionate views finds it disappointing that even public intellectuals act as ideological ‘commissars and druids’ of political parties in Hungary. Puzsér accuses public intellectuals of being complicit in the dumbing down of political language and culture. As pundits become completely uncritical of their favored political camp and increasingly hostile to their opponents, politicians can ‘bluff and lie’ without having to fear challenges from their intellectual allies.

Tags: 2018