Here is the first of May, the former great holiday of the former international labor movement. But where is the parade now, where have you gone, waving comrades?
I'm not saying I miss them, never have. I never once saw them waving from the grandstand.
The first and last parade I ever stomped through happened when I was a little kid. My grandfather (I never asked if he voluntarily marched with the workers of the Vörös Csillag tractor factory) led the crowd by the hand. He was watching me the whole time, I don't think he was particularly interested in who was swinging his arms "up there", I was only interested in Bambi and the pretzels, what all the fuss was about, I really didn't care.
For the second time when I was a high school student, I was among the designated volunteer marchers (the entire class was designated as a volunteer), but even then I did not/we did not reach the waving comrades. As the procession started from Verseny Street, we started too. In the opposite direction. "Long live May 1st." We left the signboards leaning against the wall, and we targeted the Sport bistro. We had a good time, so we rightly praised the great holiday of the international working class. Long live May 1st, long live pints of beer!
Because it was beer, although you had to pay for it. We only found out later that at the end of the procession we would have received free hot dogs. No problem, we didn't miss out on the liquid bread anyway, and besides, the beer in the bistro was cold, while the beer in the procession was warm. The hot dog was cold for them.
By now, the grand marches, the ceremonial tribune, the waving comrades, the Lenin statue, and even the Parade Square itself have disappeared. Not to mention the working class, which has transformed so much that it no longer exists.
At that time, in the "cursed" it was often mentioned: work is a matter of honor. Of course, the comrades and their successors today used and use the terms in the opposite sense: democratic centralism equals dictatorship (prolidiki), community equals ME, fair wage equals low wages, fair pension equals 13, taking away a monthly pension, and we could go on and on. At that time, the work only had honor in words, but for the caste of the comrades, it smelled bad even then.
It is no different today. They attack the government building a work-based society with hysterical outbursts and even today they do not value manual creative activity. It is no coincidence that they are enemies of modern vocational training. On the other hand, his supporters are income earned without work (they have a lot of experience in this), welfare (because those who live on welfare depend on those who help them) , and they don't hide this either. Gyurcsány recently announced in a triumphant post that the European Union is dealing with the idea of the so-called basic income.
That's good too. For those who are satisfied with warm beer and cold hot dogs. The DK comments show how great it will be that you don't have to work, but the money will still come. Of course, Mrs. Gyurcsány does not discuss who will find (pay in taxes) the basic income cover , and she does not give a single word about what will be used to pay pensions, if many people just sit at home and wait for the roast pigeon with their mouths open. But for a little, right, we don't give...
It is also fortunate that our friends from DK at least give evidence of their admiration for Hungarian poetry. primarily focus on the art of Sándor Petőfi
"Unemployment is just life.
I have life because I live.
The peasant is the thing"
The last line of the poem is no longer quoted: I am a Hungarian nobleman. Because it's true that work ennobles you, but they don't want dog's skin. They believe that the time of nobility has long passed.
We, on the other hand, do celebrate work, because an activity done well and with honor is the basis of self-respect. Respect to those who feel and act this way. We celebrate them on May 1.
Comrades should just wave to each other.
(Cover photo: János Kádár and other waving comrades. Source: Fortepan)
