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> A general lack of ideological “mind viruses” that seem to plague the western world Uhh, the Law and Justice party was packing the Polish Constitutional Court

> A general lack of ideological “mind viruses” that seem to plague the western world Uhh, the Law and Justice party was packing the Polish Constitutional Court, filling the government with party loyalists, and placing restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly only a few years ago. I suppose veering close to a constitutional crisis isn’t ideological per se, but that framing doesn’t seem quite right

keiferski 5mo ago
I mean more in the sense of the people themselves. PiS did some shady things for sure, but ultimately most of their supporters are just old conservative people. I would describe that as a fundamentally different thing from the cause-of-the-day ideology and its backlash movement that sweeps through Western countries every decade. I wouldn’t describe PiS and its supporters as a dynamic cultural movement in the way MAGA is.
wrzuteczka 5mo ago
Didn't expect that stuff to reach HN... anyway: > packing the Polish Constitutional Court This didn’t start with PiS. PO, just before losing power, tried to elect five Tribunal judges at once, including two seats that weren’t theirs yet. The Tribunal later said: three OK, two not OK. PiS then did the PiS thing: ignored the three valid ones too, and installed its own people. So yes, PiS behaved badly. But "PiS packed the court" skips the opening move. American-ish version: lame-duck Senate tries to pre-fill future SCOTUS seats. Incoming side responds by throwing the furniture around. > filling the government with party loyalists For normal political jobs, what’s the issue? That’s politics. Republicans appoint Republicans. Democrats appoint Democrats. > placing restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly What are you referring to exactly?
- rsynnott 5mo ago
  > For normal political jobs, what’s the issue? That’s politics. Republicans appoint Republicans. Democrats appoint Democrats. You're presumably coming from a US point of view (the US has an unusual system where the entire top level of the civil service, pretty much, are always political appointees), but in Europe this often _would_ be seen as a sign of corruption (and honestly it should be in the US too; it has gotten way worse there since Trump I; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform_Act#Aftermath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform...).

keiferski 5mo ago

I mean more in the sense of the people themselves. PiS did some shady things for sure, but ultimately most of their supporters are just old conservative people. I would describe that as a fundamentally different thing from the cause-of-the-day ideology and its backlash movement that sweeps through Western countries every decade. I wouldn’t describe PiS and its supporters as a dynamic cultural movement in the way MAGA is.

wrzuteczka 5mo ago

Didn't expect that stuff to reach HN... anyway: > packing the Polish Constitutional Court This didn’t start with PiS. PO, just before losing power, tried to elect five Tribunal judges at once, including two seats that weren’t theirs yet. The Tribunal later said: three OK, two not OK. PiS then did the PiS thing: ignored the three valid ones too, and installed its own people. So yes, PiS behaved badly. But "PiS packed the court" skips the opening move. American-ish version: lame-duck Senate tries to pre-fill future SCOTUS seats. Incoming side responds by throwing the furniture around. > filling the government with party loyalists For normal political jobs, what’s the issue? That’s politics. Republicans appoint Republicans. Democrats appoint Democrats. > placing restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly What are you referring to exactly?

rsynnott 5mo ago
> For normal political jobs, what’s the issue? That’s politics. Republicans appoint Republicans. Democrats appoint Democrats. You're presumably coming from a US point of view (the US has an unusual system where the entire top level of the civil service, pretty much, are always political appointees), but in Europe this often _would_ be seen as a sign of corruption (and honestly it should be in the US too; it has gotten way worse there since Trump I; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform_Act#Aftermath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform...).