Hungary is not explicitly a poor country. But it is a frustrated, and frustrating, place — with its “seen better days” culture, antiquated manias and obsessions, barely functioning bureaucracy, tepid economy and corrupt politicians.

“I play a new game these days,” a friend of mine said. “I watch the news with my back turned to the TV, and just by listening I can tell which party a politician belongs to. If he blames the government for the refugee crisis, he’s from the opposition. If he blames the European Union and its legislation, he must be with the government.”

An easy game to play, no question. My friend is a sensitive woman who has dedicated many years to organizing the lives of senior officials in international charity organizations with offices in Budapest — in the course of which she has witnessed many flaws in the way they operate. And because she’s smart, she also saw that while, economically and culturally, Europe hardly knows what to do with the refugees, some are glad to have them as tools to shape domestic politics.

If you want to find out whether Hungarian people possess any measure of good will toward these poor creatures, go to the Keleti train station and take a look at the mounds of donated goods, distributed by a growing army of volunteers. But if you enjoy studying the various forms of hypocrisy, then browse the Facebook posts of Hungarian intellectuals who parade their own narcissistic love of humanity and their disgust with the government.

Posing as a fully fledged humanitarian is not that difficult. Much harder, these days, is for a politician — especially one who claims to be conservative, patriotic and Christian — to show a compassionate human face and at the same time soothe his worried voters. Compassion is a minimal requirement: Even if you don’t have it by birth, you must learn to fake it.