Like most countries, the U.S. included, Hungary has a checkered past and a border with no relation to geography or culture, created by politics (mostly wars) driven by economics or a psychopathic egomaniac.
Briefly, at the end of WW II, Hungary was a Soviet puppet state. Although not officially part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), its allegiance was to Moscow. Mátyás Rákosi had great influence from 1945 until, through subterfuge, but mostly intrigue and outright murder, he became the Stalinist (his idol) absolute leader of Hungary from 1949 to 1956. Rákosi was a copycat Stalin in the worst ways: state-controlled media as a propaganda machine; dispensing of leadership threats and enemies through the degrees of bullying, forced labor camps, imprisonment, and assassination; cult of himself with statues, busts, monuments (sounds familiar!) spread around the country; emphasis on building military strength and the armament industry while ignoring the basic needs of the people (Wow, again sounds familiar, $1.5 TRILLION is Trump’s proposed military budget, while many have to choose between food or heat here). There’s more, but we must move on towards the present. There was the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which many of us can remember. It started with a peaceful protest against the Soviet puppet government of Rákosi, which was broken up by tear gas, then open fire by the police, killing one student. Other protests quickly erupted around the country with more killings of peaceful protesters. It wasn’t long before the protesters took up arms, then the government called for Soviet help, and the USSR tanks rolled into Hungary. An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Hungarians were killed before the Soviets put down the uprising. Although unsuccessful, neither the spirit of the Hungarian people nor the desperate straits for them that the government had created died. They were to be helped by changes in the Soviet Union, itself.
Stalin died in 1953 and in a radical change in February 1956, Nikita Khrushchev gave his famous “On the Personality Cult and its Consequences” speech denouncing the crimes, purges, and deaths initiated by Stalin. This led to the end of Rákosi not long after, but only slight improvements for the Hungarians.
Through a variety of historical convolutions we end up with Viktor Orbán. We often forget that he initially was a centrist. “In June 1989, a young Viktor Orbán called for free elections and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary. As a three-time prime minister and a Marshall Memorial Fellow, Orbán played a key role in his country’s transition to a liberal democracy and free market economy only to make a political U-turn and spend the last seven [sic, written several years ago] years dismantling both.” [https://www.gmfus.org/news/when-people-elect-strongman-rule]
Fast forward to the recent election that was the best news for at least the past year. How did the Hungarians do it? In spite of Orbán crony billionaires owning the the press, attempts at controlled elections, and all the other tricks used by Erdogan, Trump, Modi and others, Orbán lost! I don’t include Putin because he doesn’t even have to pretend.
John Oliver with his interpretation of Orbán’s rule and the election overthrowing him is accurate and funny, if you can tolerate all the f*** language. I highly recommend it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkRw83GV-wA
The Hungarians apparently had enough of the deterioration of public services and the terrible economy amidst the rampant corruption of the government, plus an opposition possibility, Péter Magyar, who managed to stay alive. Orbán, unlike Rákosi, couldn’t be a total Putin (the new Stalin), look-alike. Political assassinations would have been difficult in this case. As well, some Hungarians remembered only too well the Stalinist influence and were particularly concerned about that along with Hungary’s standing in the EU. Granted, it remains to be seen what Magyar does to reclaim Hungary’s democracy and get its economy and its people ‘healthy’ again. In these early days, the situation is hopeful.
The question remains: What’s wrong with the Americans? All of those conditions are obvious here, although difficult to find that information from most standard news sources. But the economic situation is felt by all of us, and the corruption is right in front of us. So we sign petitions asking corrupt agencies run by Trump loyalists to do the right thing: protect the environment, don’t sell off national parks, restore US AID, and so on. Rather a waste of time and effort, don’t you think? We have big protests, which get bigger each time and make those who participate feel better (I know I do), but for what end? We now have not only the Hungarians, but the citizens of Minneapolis, to show us how to stand up for our country and be the true patriots needed to save our form of government, but also our country from being the laughingstock of the world, as well as feared because no one knows what will happen next. Canada, Greenland, Iran, tariffs….?
I hope, as happened with the Hungarians, that our next election will make a difference, but the attempts to skew it are so extreme, I have concerns about that. Let us vote, no matter what, and in the meantime keep fighting for whatever issue matters to each one of us as individuals: child sexual abuse, climate change, the deficit, health care, education, affordable housing, foreign policy….
