Do Not Be One of the Kulaks of the Great Reset!

Our Hungarian correspondent László reports on the local effects of the Great European Energy Crisis.

Do Not Be One of the Kulaks of the Great Reset!

Energetic Nudging Towards a Sustainable Dystopia

by László

After natural gas and electricity prices have skyrocketed, some dramatic changes have occurred in consumer behavior in Hungary.

Even though the government has run a popular programme that subsidizes the consumer price of household energy for about ten years (a policy that could be translated as ‘Household Energy Cost Reduction Programme’), the subsidies have been significantly cut recently.

In the framework of the programme, up to a certain quantity of energy used, consumers have paid a very low price. However, above the officially set ‘average’ energy consumption limit, this will now mean seven times (!) higher natural gas prices and doubled electricity prices as of August 1.

This has made home owners panic and, afraid that they will not be able to afford heating with natural gas or electricity during the coming winter, they are now hoarding firewood and coal — in the middle of the summer. Even some of those good folks who joined in the wood rush have never used stoves and their houses do not even have chimneys. This has caused a tenfold spike in the demand for firewood, and, as a result, woodcutters unexpectedly ran out of stock.

The shocked population has also started to conserve energy like madmen, thus overall consumption is nearing a record low, despite the summer peak.

On a personal note, as we live in a detached house and partially use wood for heating, we usually stock up for the winter in early summer. But this year our family has not been able to purchase a sufficient amount of firewood for the winter yet — something that has never happened before. A strange phenomenon: wood prices are soaring, while you literally cannot buy it now — in spite of the recent export ban on firewood.

In the meantime, ‘green systems’ — such as household-sized solar panels — are now getting special subsidies from the government. On the sunny side: it is a Hungarian conservative speciality that those subsidies are tied to the number of children being raised in a family. The more young children you have, the higher the subsidies you get for solar panels. It is still the green communist agenda, forced on Hungary — with a nationalist turn, in the good sense of the word.

On the other hand, the government has now ordered the reopening of coal-fired power plants that had been closed down a long time ago, increased lumbering, and plans to heat state schools with firewood instead of natural gas. To make things even more strange, Hungarians have been informed by the media today that the natural gas storage tanks of the country have now been filled up to ⅘ of the yearly demand — conveying the message that we are safe. Such contradictions in the communication of policies would be perplexing if one attempted to make sense of them as if they were just reactions to some natural processes in the market. Which they are not. And they are not ‘caused by the war’, either…

The piece of news below would not arouse much attention nowadays: the only reason I translated this article is the presence of four words that, in my opinion, are the odd ones out: ‘motivate’, ‘losers’, ‘force’ and ‘sell’ — I have highlighted them in red in the text. Everyone will recognize the well-known globalist agenda behind those words in the context of the article.

The expert in the interview below says that

“the previous Energy-Cost Reduction Programme had made consumers comfortable and had not motivated homeowners to invest in energy-saving products.” [emphasis mine]

But now, thank God, they are motivated! Obviously, this sort of ‘motivation’ is the process of ‘nudging’ towards the ‘green’ dystopia.

So the seemingly ordinary story uncloaks some of the real motives behind the recent moves of the Powers That Be, and the fact that mass behavior-changing methods have remained in ‘their’ toolkit, even after the Corona-nudge.

The article below is actually a leftist one, which covertly criticizes the government for raising the energy prices by changing the good old ‘Household Energy Cost Reduction Programme’ — but this is not the point I am making here:

Energy Cost Reduction Programme: if you think the solar panel market is weird, look at the fireplace rush

August 5, 2022

Unexpected data has emerged: eMAG’s July 2022 sales showed a significant increase in inquiries for fireplaces, and this was particularly true for solid fuels. At the same time, solar panels have also been sold in large numbers.

Data from the online shop showed that seven out of ten customers ordered a solid fuel stove or fireplace and three ordered a solar technology product in July. In addition, the sales of solar panels and solar collectors for water heating have increased significantly this summer. According to the data, sales last month tripled compared to the previous month. Even more drastic is the 34-fold increase compared to the same month last year.

Based on average gross sales, prices of between 55,000 and 60,000 forints, most people are ordering lower-performance appliances.

Huge demand for fireplaces

From June to July of this year, the number of searches for the word “fireplace” on the company’s website increased seven and a half times. “Interestingly”, their press release goes, “previously, the only products that attracted similar interest in the summer months were air-conditioning units [heat pumps] used for cooling and heating”. The [government’s] announcement of the changes to the energy bill has led to a surge in sales of solid-fuel stoves and fireplaces. The figures show a seven-fold increase compared to June and a twelve-fold increase compared to July last year

Last month, these solid-fuel appliances accounted for 90 percent of total sales, with electric fireplaces accounting for roughly 10 percent. This clearly shows that the sales of electric models have not stopped. In the group of the solid-fuel heaters, six out of ten customers ordered a fireplace and four ordered a stove in July, according to the press release of eMAG.

The housing market could also change completely

As we have reported, the previous Energy-Cost Reduction Programme had made consumers comfortable and had not motivated homeowners to invest in energy-saving products. But on July 21 2022, the government announced a detailed decree that limits the scope of the price cuts. This means that the subsidized price will only remain the same below the level of average consumption, which could make the housing market turn around.

According to László Balogh, the chief economic expert [on real estate] at Ingatlan.com, who spoke to Index, properties will appreciate in value if they are either small or have a new, renovated heating system. According to him, these [properties] are more profitable for buyers, even if lower consumption is coupled with a higher purchase price, because the payback period is shorter due to the high energy prices.

But there will be some [types of] properties that will clearly be among the losers. In this group we find mainly multi-generational family homes in rural areas. The [owners of these] houses will either reduce consumption or use energy more efficiently; and if they cannot afford the new energy bills, it will force them to sell their properties.

These squanderers of our community deserve to lose their inefficient homes, for the greater good! They are the Kulaks of the Great Reset. Don’t be one them! Be motivated! Be very motivated.

For previous essays by László, see the László Archives.

8 thoughts on “Do Not Be One of the Kulaks of the Great Reset!

  1. I would recommend everyone NOT pull out their “carbon” heaters/fires which use wood or coal as no one can be sure what the future holds. I was looking at properties and some had the old corner heater stove and at first I thought pull it out and make more space then I realised it was best to keep it in case you have to burn something, like the furniture or floorboards, to stop freezing to death. This can only be done with a proper fire place or you die from carbon monoxide poisoning or a house fire.

  2. Ukraine is losing the war, and so is Europe |

    A commentary by Oscar Silva-Valladares.

    https://tube4.apolut.net/w/xk9XHd9W4MsfyNNY5NffyJ

    In addition to the damage in Ukraine, the war has also caused major losses in the rest of Europe, as the continent loses its most competitive energy supplies, jeopardising the region’s manufacturing advantages and accelerating a wave of inflation that will seriously affect the well-being of the population over the coming winter through higher energy costs.

    Europe has been trying to diversify its energy sources for several years, but has not had a comprehensive contingency plan to counter the effects of the sudden disruption of access to Russia’s oil and gas since the war in Ukraine began. European politicians have grossly exaggerated the substitution potential of other energy sources (e.g. LNG) and are now forced to accept alternatives that were not so long ago considered politically unacceptable, such as the resumption of coal production in Germany.

    How did this gross miscalculation come about? It is clear that the European leadership could not foresee the real economic consequences of the economic war being waged against Russia in Europe and beyond. One explanation for the boldness and confidence with which Europeans behaved at the beginning of the war against Russia was the firm conviction that the combination of anti-Russian sanctions and military support for Ukraine would lead to a significant weakening of Russia’s political, social and military position and thus to its defeat. This explains, for example, the bold declarations that the war could only be resolved on the ground, as the EU’s foreign representative confidently declared in March.

    It could be argued that the misjudgement of the war’s outcome stems from inaccurate US-British intelligence that predicted Russia’s defeat through economic warfare and thus a limited impact of sanctions on Europe. That this was not the case has now prompted European leaders to look for solutions. Meanwhile, the political consequences have already begun to be felt, with the UK and Italian prime ministers the most visible victims of domestic events triggered by their own Russian sanctions. More importantly, the remaining European leadership (led by von der Leyen, Macron and Scholz) seems reluctant to change course without losing credibility.

    On the other hand, dissenting and unorthodox political views are increasingly being heard in Europe, such as the recent speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Orban in which he boldly declared that Russian sanctions and arming of Ukraine have failed, that Ukraine cannot win the war, that the more weapons are delivered to Ukraine, the more territory it will lose, and that the West should stop arming Ukraine and focus on diplomacy.

    At the heart of the EU’s current problem is its inability to reconcile its economic and security interests with sufficient autonomy to look after its own interests. It is rooted in the architecture of the post-World War II era and in the consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the case of Ukraine, this was demonstrated by the inability to implement the Minsk Accords, which clearly offered a Russian-Ukrainian peace path, but which France and Germany were unable to implement due to relentless pressure from the US and Ukraine.

    It seems that only significant political changes in the European countries that matter – namely France, Germany and Italy – will allow for a meaningful change from the current path of confrontation with Russia and ultimately economic self-destruction. Otherwise, all political initiatives to resolve the war will be in the hands of Russia and the United States, and if that is the case, a lasting solution will not be in Europe’s interest. It would be tragic if a core European problem such as the war in Ukraine were ultimately to be resolved by the machinations of a Euro-Asian and an American power.

  3. “It will force them to sell”. What a coincidence. The banks can then buy, and the former owner can rent it back better. He’ll own nothing and be happy. Voila.

  4. Since C19 plandemic, I am watching with increasing suspicion what Viktor Orban’s government is doing. They executed the C19-WHO protocols lockstep with others, forced the vax (Pfizer only) on every teacher, every state employed worker, all first responders or got fired. Viktor was also a WEF Global Young Leader, just like Trudeau and many others. Of course he can talk the talk: fight against Brussels, fight against Globalism and LGBTQP propaganda, but the deeds are speaking for themselves: Once the public propaganda against EU dies down, they quietly sign all agreements and bow to their will. Large international companies taking home record amount of profits from Hungary and the law made against LGBTQP propaganda is empty, because they are not enforcing it.

  5. Time to find a chimney sweep and check my unused for the last 15 years tile stoves…in case MOL runs out of gas to fill my tank.
    I’ve toyed with the idea of a solar panel or two but then talked with a friend and discovered that all unused electricity their panels generate must be sold back to the national grid. That there is no possibility of having a solar battery to store power so during any power outages they are as dark as everyone else.
    I guess we are on the slow road back to the dark ages. But I am glad there is a ban on export of Hungarian wood.. It always made me sad and angry to see trucks and trains loaded with good Hungarian trees heading west to Austria.

  6. Orban:
    “To hell with the globalists”

    Published 7 August 2022
    Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban came down hard on so-called globalists and cultural Marxists during a speech in the US.

    – The West at war with itself. We have seen what future the globalist ruling class has to offer. But we have a different future in mind. The globalists can all go to hell – I’ve come to Texas!

    So said Viktor Orban in his speech at the CPAC conservative conference in Dallas, Texas, earlier this week.

    Orban described how Hungary stands alone against the derailment of the West.

    – Hungary is an old and proud but David-sized nation standing alone against a woke-globalist Goliath.

    The Hungarian leader called on Republicans in the US to support him in the fight against globalism, and in the face of leftist billionaire George Soros.

    Orban also flirted with American audiences by referring to the tough action actor Chuck Norris.

    – Fewer drag queens and more Chuck Norris!” he said.

  7. The firewood situation is very similar in the Czech Republic, I have managed to buy a winter load of fire pellets and brickets only because I always buy early in the spring, it took them 3 months to deliver, and now they say that “all production till the end of the year has been sold off in advance”. I feel sorry for the people who depend on the pellets for heating, but will be unable to buy – like one of my neighbors, who has either pellets, or electricity for heating, but hasn’t bought his pellets yet.

    It’s kind of tough when all those people who depend on russian gas are suddenly looking for “alternative sources of heating”.

    I found that interesting that Hungary banned exporting firewood. Czechs are not so lucky, most wood cut in the Czech Republic goes to Austria and Germany, and Czechs are forced to pay German and Austrian prices for firewood. Czechs are generally being sucked dry of all “energy” by the simple fact that average German makes 3x as much money as average Czech, but the Czechs still pay more for gas, and the same price for firewood, as do Germans in Germany – which makes it all unfair and Czechs generally wonder why the Czech Government doesn’t do it like Orban in Hungary?

    IMHO, everything the current crop of politicians does seems to be aimed at making the population poor through extortion-level energy costs.

  8. For those cultivating a need to know, I would heartily recommend digging in to: “Fossil Future by Alex Epstein. Lock and load the facts and conclusions contained therein. The heavy lifting has been done for us in this remarkable volume. Settle yourself.

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