Být optimistou je dnes těžké – Weigl Jiří (2023)

A long-time collaborator of Václav Klaus, former chancellor of the castle and current executive director of the Václav Klaus Institute, publishes a collection of his key texts written and published over the year since the release of his last book, State on Its Own (IVK, 2022). ****************** The pace of events around us at home and in the world is accelerating, and it is heading in a worse direction. Hardly has COVID receded – at least here – into the background, when equally fundamental crises have emerged. Just like previous inhumane ideologies, today's progressivism also provokes a natural resistance. The world has once again become an open ideological battlefield, people are starting to defend themselves, they are losing faith in manipulations and progressive intimidation and dumbing down. From the USA to Eastern Europe, we are witnessing an escalating political clash between conservative advocates of a free society and the still-dominant progressives. Their attack on the prosperity and living standards of broad layers of society is opening people's eyes and activating many previously politically passive citizens. Nevertheless, the visible advantage still lies with those who have patiently walked through institutions for many years, until they now fully control them. Being an optimist is therefore very difficult today.