There are many things about the Fidesz plan to display their political declaration in public buildings in Hungary that I don’t like, and The Economist has already made two very valid criticisms about it, but what might make this a mighty own-goal for Fidesz is that it’s allowed the Socialists to come across as the voices of reason and attack Fidesz in a way that actually stands to give them a boost for the fall elections, something that’s not been lost on the folks over at the Mandiner blog.
As a response to this plan by Fidesz, several leading Socialist MPs suggested a new law in regards to the declaration, among which would be the requirement that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s portrait be displayed next to it, along with a short biography, in an obvious nod to the cult of personalities frequently created in dictatorships. The fact that the Socialists are the ones suggesting this (albeit sarcastically), especially considering their forebears’ love of such practices in the not-so-distant past, makes it all the more biting and dare I say it, actually amusing.
Yes, but blog and their commenters seem confused about history. The ‘cult of personality’ was characteristic of Rákosi (imitating Stalin) not Kádár. Kádár simply bribed the bovine masses with the social contract of giving up their liberty for the state to provide them with the trade off in not having to care about anything. After 1956 in particular, people avoided the ‘cult of personality’. The affection (yes some people think of the sod a some sort of benevolent grandparent) that grew up for Kádár was because the people were numbed by their own slovenliness and self-interest (as is now).
The problem is Fidesz don’t have anything to trade for the people’s docility. Kádár paid for it all with loans, when it looked like this money stream had ended, so did people look to expanding their markets by getting rid of the old regime and start trading internationally. Even maintaining the crumbling ‘wall’ became unrealistic, hence the Paneuropean Picnic 1989, Sopron and everything else that followed.
Already, Fidesz is unable to extend loans through selling (enough) bonds and they have ruled out taxes (the trade off in pay later or pay now). So they are fucked.
Meanwhile the people responsible, MSZP, are actually like a bunch of smart arses. Who put Fidesz there? Jobbik are still obsessed with the costume party and LMP are… god knows… sucking lettuces, I presume.
Some amusing visual parodies of the notice can be
seen on the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ)
website:
http://tasz.hu/hirek/profilt-valt-tasz
This is known that money makes people disembarrass. But what to do if one has no money? The only one way is to get the mortgage loans or just auto loan.