The current blockade brigade is also a threat - a real danger. Not this revolutionary with a couple of hundred puttons, not even the siserahad that is very much in the making, but the slimy mentality that spreads on the hot asphalt and then seeps into the air. The mentality that the blockade brigade has the right to limit my freedom. He has the right to override the will of the people. You have the right to break the law. He has the right to harm.
A question comes back from time to time, it seems that neither of us can get rid of it. How does society survive crises and upheavals, is it even able to recognize what its interests are and is it able to recover from crises without tragic casualties?
The burden presses on the shoulders of all of us, some take on more, some try to pull themselves out from under the burden. The communist dictatorship was a daily shock in our lives, but - one way, the other - we tried to create for ourselves the space hidden in the smoke and veil, which enclosed the comrades and the political system. Absolutely no one could succeed in this, perhaps not even those who "dissected", but we could inhale the scents of freedom from love, music, theater, nature, literature, and work. Some had enough of their own little apartment, with the strange liberty-shaped objects with which they decorated it; or the holiday home, the "cottage", the "bungalow". There were rebellions, but somehow it seemed that our generation would not get rid of the Russians, and therefore not even the communists.
And then came the great collapse - a great liberation - and for many, a great shock. I'm not thinking about the comrades-in-arms, they didn't care a hair (the garden of their villa), but more about those who lost their jobs or their little savings due to the huge inflation. However, despite all the difficulties, the system change was a positive change for the nation, it contained the hope of development, free life, and a better life. It was decisive that it took place peacefully, and that such extremism could not prevail, as the communists or other "radicals" did before.
They tried - they occupied bridgeheads, built fortresses in the economy, culture, and the press - but in the end they recoiled from the violent attempt to take over power. Or they were held back. Does anyone else remember that in October 1990 a small group - the taxi drivers and some other carriers - paralyzed the country? And how much others would have settled on this - taking advantage of the Prime Minister's stay in the hospital. If it had no other merit, József Antall and the MDF's firm stand for parliamentarism and democracy was a historic act. Not to throw the will of the people at the blockade brigade of a few thousand "protesters" who imagine themselves to be the people. To remain a democrat even when told everything.
It was about money then, a price increase, which triggered the blockade. But no! About much more. About democracy. About how we can get out of trouble that we didn't cause. The price increase was necessary.
The country was not economically bankrupt because there was a system change, but because the country was completely economically (politically, socially, demographically, medically, morally, etc.) bankrupted by the communist system.
We got the problem under control then, but it led to many political dead ends. For a lot of wasted time. It was not possible to prevent the former state party from returning to power, but it was possible to prevent it from deviating from the path of people's representation. In 2006, however, he grossly violated the democratic norms.
And now he announces: "We are ready!" At least as menacing as the famous arrow poster: "We're coming!"
It is of great importance that we did not allow ourselves to be diverted from the right path. There must have been historical experience as well. Somehow, it has trickled down to the vast majority that the mobsters roaming the streets and arbitrarily restricting the freedom of others, or those who send mounted policemen to swordplay, cannot determine the direction. Because this can only lead to a dead end.
He was surprised that in 1945 and the following years, the Rákosi's overthrew Hungarian parliamentarism with this blockade brigade. True, then "international support" meant direct Soviet occupation. But anyway, this crowd was needed. To show off. To refer. You see a hundred thousand people standing behind me! That is, the people. This soon turned into "the people standing behind me as one person". However, Rákosi and his party did not even get seventeen percent in the elections. Who are the people who didn't vote for him - asked the progressive intellectuals in Szabad Nép. The backward, reactionary, fascist - well, let's say deluded - people. Out with the enemies of the people! To hell with parliament, we are the people. We are the Party. And now the dice-and-ball brigade is standing on the bridge.
I was also surprised by the fact that in 1918, when the unification was needed the most, the self-proclaimed world saviors usurped power with a crowd of a few thousand people. Then, of course, the communists overthrew them too, because it is the case that only the real will of the people can give legitimacy. And to measure this, no better solution has been invented than general, equal, secret and direct parliamentary and municipal elections.
This popular will authorizes a firm rejection of the violent actions of the bandits. And this also obliges the will of the people. It would have obliged the parliament and the government to resolutely resist between 1945 and 1947. Respect to the few exceptions, then this, too, went bankrupt. It wasn't easy, I know. Some fled after the dissolution of the parliament, some resisted and continued to fight, but most gave in to the threat. Because there was no shortage of threats.
The current blockade brigade is also a threat - a real danger. Not this revolutionary with a couple of hundred puttons, not even the siserahad that is very much in the making, but the slimy mentality that spreads on the hot asphalt and then seeps into the air. Like a virus, it can be contagious.
The mentality that the blockade brigade has the right to limit my freedom. He has the right to override the will of the people. You have the right to break the law.
He has the right to harm. "It hurts!" He has the right to ignore the facts, and he has the right to use violence. And the instigator has the right to threaten hanging, he has the right to form a constitution in a minority, he has the right to humiliate those who disagree with him in their human nature - even in their female and maternal qualities - with profanity. He has the right to insult those who disagree with him because of their national commitment and religious beliefs. You have the right to use all tools. You have the right to set quotas. To stamp. It is right to withhold remuneration. The end justifies the means. The worse the better: what a moral contagion this is.
The blockade brigade does not rest. Provoke. We also have to bear the burden of this. Because there is no doubt that we are living in the period of the most serious moral, economic - and soon political - crisis of not only our country, but Europe's post-war era.
I say to the young people running on the bridges: be careful, because the Béla Kuns, the Tibors Szamuely, the Rákos, and the Gábors Péter are all around you. Now they laugh with you - they offer you beer - but soon they will laugh at you and rudely push away the hands you extend to them.
Every crisis has its toll collectors who build on blindness, despair, and selfishness. Don't be fools.
The nation will survive this crisis as well, but it doesn't matter at what cost. It is the responsibility of all of us to get through this crisis - and this war - without tragic casualties. Let's not drift into any kind of armed conflict, let's not succumb to any kind of aggressive extremism, any kind of selfishness, desperation. And no provocation.
Let's look ahead, know the next steps, and if necessary, make corrections. A nation that has a clear goal, a definite program and an unquestionable national identity can recover quickly and effectively from a crisis - we can read this precisely from history. Which has faith and cohesive power. Adhesive. It is characterized by solidarity, so that every faltering shoulder does not break when trouble comes. In possession of these, today's attempts of the blockade brigades, which were so successful in the past, become a lousy farce and cannot do any harm.
Károly Szerencsés / Magyar Hírlap
Photo: Viktor Krĉ
