I think being free means that I have the right to everything that other people have the right to. I would call this a social order.

For many, many years, we were told that democracy (first the socialist one, then the one we have now) is the pinnacle of social existence, freedom itself. From here there is no higher, i.e. there is no better, this is perfection itself. In theory, it may be so, but practice shows otherwise.

Because I think being free means that I have the right to everything that others have the right to. I would call this a social order, which can hardly exist without freedom. And why I'm thinking about order and freedom right now, well, I can thank a person who came to us from a country - sorry, an empire - which empire is increasingly shaping the right to dictate the direction of everything, even our thoughts, as the chief inspector of the wider world.

I suspect that some have already guessed that I was thinking of the fulfillment of the truth of the expression nomen est omen (the name reveals its bearer), who, of course, as the ambassador of the United States to Hungary, tries to "put us in our place" and dictate who and what we should think about, and what not. The other day he targeted Miklós Horthy, reprimanding everyone from the prime minister on down who dares to acknowledge the former governor's policies. The press reported on this in abundance, I won't go into detail, it was a huge lack of objective knowledge, or even greater willful ignorance and a flurry of lies that he presented in relation to the former historical figure.

In other words, he wanted to prevent – ​​not for the first time – from thinking what we want about anything and anyone.

I suspect that it also had something to do with the fact that the Israeli embassy also joined its particular interpretation of history in the Horthy case, because they also condemned one of our politicians, János Lázár, saying that he glorified Horthy.

Would this be freedom? Interfering in the life of a country with lies and concealment and misinterpretation of historical facts? Is this governor talking to us about democracy? About who to praise and who not? If he has the right to judge our history and its characters, how come we don't have the right to correct him?

In any case, I would recommend him to have deeper knowledge, while I know that the fate and way of thinking of such a small people, like the Hungarians, can hardly reach the threshold of irritation of the governors. Nevertheless, I will try and briefly quote the thoughts of a Hungarian thinker, the late István Bibó, a lawyer and university professor, about democracy:

"Being a democrat means above all not to be afraid: not to be afraid of those with different opinions, of other languages, of other races, of the revolution, of the unknown evil intentions of the enemy, of enemy propaganda, of disparagement."

Well, I think that behind Mr. Pressman's opinion, which consistently belittles us Hungarians, fear is hardly at work, but rather a sense of superiority. His soul is on it. But it wouldn't hurt if you read a bit of Széchenyi, Kossuth, Ferenc Deák, and so on. You would realize that we didn't just start thinking about freedom, democracy, or the lessons of turbulent European history. We also have some experience with the behavior of governors.

As a summary of the above lines, let me add a few more thoughts to all of this.

We live in times where we have to protect our lives mostly from ourselves.

for we ourselves seem to be the obstacle to our own freedom. Only we can set ourselves free. With courage, determination, and knowing that the truth sets you free. And also knowing that we are now prisoners. They are addicted to technology, warfare, delusions, money, and the desire to dominate others.

Well, I'm not the only one who feels this, actually! A dear friend of mine recently gave me one of her books. Its title: Away from my life with your hands. The hefty book was written by Ágnes Golenya, and you can agree with every word of it. Even with the ones he explains, we cannot give the key to our own life out of our hands. Neither covid, nor war, nor economic extortion, nor race hatred, nor nobodies playing supremacy can rule over us. Only and only the one who created us in his own image. So: Hands off our lives! The warning goes out to all those who foolishly want to rule. Also to Mr. Pressman.

Author: journalist Katalin Kondor

Source: Magyar Hírlap

Cover image: MTI Photo: Imre Földi