Palóc André, spokesperson of the Hungarian Ministry for National Economy, delivered a presentation that followed the usual propaganda script: repeat it, reinforce it, and insist that everything is perfectly fine.
The message is familiar and relentlessly repeated: “Nothing is wrong. You are actually better off.”
It works the same way as the chip presentation, where people are told that the cheaper option is better for them, even when their own experience tells them otherwise.
Instead of confronting reality, the narrative is carefully packaged and endlessly recycled. Lower consumption is rebranded as a smart, conscious choice. Financial pressure is reframed as responsible saving. Decline is sold as success — as long as it is repeated often enough.
This is not analysis.
It is conditioning.
When everyday reality contradicts the message, the response is not correction but repetition: say it again, say it louder, say it with charts and averages, until people are expected to doubt their own lived experience.
Just like with the chips:
you’re told the cheaper one is better for you —
and if you disagree, you’re told you simply don’t understand.
That is not communication.
That is propaganda.
Lately there have been these comparisons claiming that our consumption is, say, lower than that of others—I don’t know whom exactly. What they fail to mention alongside this is that the savings rate, relative to income, is among the highest in the EU. What does this mean? It means that consumption is also expanding, but people are currently rebuilding their savings. And in fact, when measured relative to income, their savings are not doing that badly either. Again, I’m not claiming that everyone is wealthy or that everything is fine, but it is certainly true that we have managed to improve the real value of people’s savings on average.