Now we can feel for ourselves what it's like to race against time. Many people experience it personally, others - in the best case - worry about the country and nation, and there are also those who work against us.
I mean, here in the country. "Running a race against time" is, of course, just an expression. Being in harmony with time: this is the real goal. We are not running a race against time - we would certainly be forced to give up that marathon - but against the circumstances. With stupidity, aggressiveness, profiteering, hatred, destruction and all those bad qualities that seem to overcome humanity or a significant part of it again and again. The most characteristic symptom of such a state is war. If we don't ask for these typical symptoms, then by definition we don't ask for war either. But - what a coincidence - this is when we are usually under such international pressure that we have not been able to resist until now. The tools of this international pressure in the twentieth century looked like this: ideological straitjacket, involvement in a federal system, economic dependence, and ultimately military occupation. Is it about this again?
In the decade and a half after the system change, it seemed that entry into the Euro-Atlantic alliance was within reach for Hungary. Our economic development and the provision of our military defense also suggested this. Ultimately, our guarantee against any kind of occupation is still NATO membership. Of course, only if NATO itself does not become an occupier. Membership in the European Union is a natural manifestation of our economic catch-up and our entire cultural and political tradition. You can't trade this for anything else today either. You can't do it alone. I myself would have been a supporter of neutrality at the time of the system change, but it would have required a lot of courage to undertake it. Perhaps even to confront those from whom we were expecting help. Today it is absolutely impossible to risk this, because - precisely because of the madness of war - the processes are opposite. Going against it would seem like desertion, a hostile move.
So we are running a race against time, that is, against the circumstances. Can we hold out until the part of humanity entangled in world redemption comes to its senses. Can we preserve our standard of living, our lifestyle, our culture? At all: can we preserve ourselves? This is a difficult thing, because as the situation becomes more and more tense, the more compromises will be necessary. However, the line where compromises still exist is very thin, and it is easy to cross the line. The millennial abilities of the Hungarian people are now greatly needed, but in such a way that they can make decisions by learning from all their previous mistakes – their missteps. Let the person we entrust with this make the decision, and let us stand by him even at the cost of heavy sacrifices after the decision is made. This is the only way to avoid despair - and thus failure.
The situation is very serious, but certainly not hopeless. War, energy crisis, food crisis, migration, virus crisis are only symptoms. We did not cause any of them. It could all be handled. On a historical scale - the matter of peace could be solved in an instant. Russia and Ukraine - if the authoritative powers were against the war, and not against one or both sides - could be forced into peace. He would have all the means to do so. The energy crisis could be solved in a matter of weeks, together with sensible climate goals. Plans have been in place for decades to deal with the food crisis (famine) and migration. Self-restraint and self-discipline could bring results against the virus. Solving the latter would take longer, but success - as with the previous ones - would mostly require will. To decide. The seriousness of the situation is given by the fact that the compulsion of passwords and phrases has forced - bred - degenerate thinking and behavior in Europe and the USA. Therefore, there is no will to solve real problems.
There is a compulsion to identify, just like in national socialist systems or in the communist world. It is driven by fear. I can't decipher what this fear developed from, which spread into an ever-greater avalanche. Today, this fear is more than a fear of bread. Blackmail, physical threats, exclusion, stigmatization, quota mentality, numerus clausus, basically open racism. And neither Röhm's SA lads nor Dzerzhinsky's Chekists were needed for that. There was no need for Ávos, Secus, Stasi gangsters, Falangists, black-shirted fascists, Mao revolutionaries, or Ku Klux Klan hoods. So what is this fear?
From anxiety itself. From the culture of fear. From abandonment. From God, friend, companion, master. From mom, dad. This is loneliness that hides in a crowd. The world is afraid: from the end of the world, from the fact that we will freeze or fry, the seas will flood the cities, the glaciers will break on us, the extraterrestrials will come (perhaps they are already here); that we starve to death, that we overeat; we fear the virus, cholesterol, sugar; from the boss, the neighbor, the female colleague whom we have complimented for twenty-three years (me too); from domestic violence, from the family itself, the man from the woman, the woman from the man. As if being afraid of death wasn't enough. Even if he comes as a savior, even if we are almost expecting it.
We are running a race against time. We fear competition. Our ancestors did the same. Grinding between dumbed-down Nazi Germans and empowered Soviet Russians. And then we didn't even talk about all the other extreme world-saving movements. We made compromises. We made concessions. In German affairs, Jewish affairs. Always at our own expense. As much as we thought, the pressure would be bearable. Then we entered the war, only on a limited basis, with 45,000 men. It doesn't take long. Then with the two hundred thousand, then with everything. Then the Germans invaded. The Anglo-Saxons bombed. Even though we protected our soldiers and citizens - including our Jewish compatriots - everything ended up there. Ugly ending.
Then we ran a race against time again. Other people's time, not ours. Although the Russians had invaded, it was not possible to know how long they would stay? We hoped that sooner or later they would go home. We will conclude the peace treaty, pay the reparations, and what else they demand. And again we made concessions. We took the fifth military column into the government, adopted the mandatory phrases "Eternal gratitude to the liberating glorious Soviet Union and its beloved leader, Stalin the Great." We didn't notice that very quickly it turned into the idea that anyone who doesn't chant these is a reactionary. Those who are reactionary are fascists, those who are fascists must be eliminated. They eliminated who I understand. Peasant, citizen, young, old. And when we straightened the spine for the last time, without selecting the guys from Pest, but how many!
We are running a race against time. Over time? With our allotted time. He has been running with us for who knows how long. Sometimes it laughs, caresses, it is like the spring wind, other times it gets into our hair, girls' skirts, in winter it pulls us, tramples us into the snow, drives us into hiding. It's our time. But many brave young men, beautiful maidens, wise old men, learned teachers, strong princes, disembodied spirits ran with him. There in the souls. You don't have to compete with him, but with the circumstances. Which many times proved to be stronger than us. With the pressure, which we did not handle well. It's scary that many of us can't even stand it now. That's when the instigators emerge. Let's see if we manage to provoke people again into falling and destruction.
Can we take it now? You have to try, because if we don't even try, we can only blame ourselves. So let's go together. May the knowledge, sacrifice, mistakes, and commitment of the ancients be with us. We know better, we dare better, and if a sacrifice is required, shoulder to shoulder - don't leave the phalanx - we will make it together. Even if it costs a lot, because it is certain that even if this generation fails - how many people want it! –, we don't have many chances left. We have an ally: time, which runs here with us, past, present and future in one soul.
(The author is a historian)
Featured Image: PS
