Ides of March
You should never underestimate a Hungarian's capacity for pessimism, nor the nation's talent for turning a celebration into a dirge.
If you're lucky enough to be in Budapest this week, you'll be able to experience this cultural phenomenon in all its glory, as we head towards March 15th
The past few months have been pretty much fertile ground for the spread of stories about what is going to happen on the 15th and the last few days have seen the fruit bodies of this fungus's mycelia erupt (For example, "Hungary's radical youths take to the streets").
News editors are delighted, they can pretend to be real journalists again. There'll be pictures, plenty of pictures to tell the story for them. Here we go again. The perpetual Ground Hog Day (Idétlen időkig) of Hungarian politics. For [insert your preferred deity here] sake!
I'm just hoping against hope for an uplifted, optimistic story to emerge. But instead, there's yet another survey showing that Hungarians really do have a talent for pessimism: A magyarok pesszimistábbak, mint valaha.
The Results of this survey show that of the 10 new countries that joined the EU back in 2004, Hungarians are the most pessimistic about the future. They feel job security has decreased, despite the fact that unemployment hasn't actually increased. On health reform, whilst neighboring countries have embraced change, the tendency across the whole of Hungary has been resistance, with 6 out of 10 saying it's worse since joining the EU.
A full 67% of people believe that the standard of living has dropped (an increase on the 47% who thought this was the case back in 2004). For most there is the feeling that the forces of corruption are yet more powerful - particularly in comparison with the opinions of neighboring countries. There is the feeling that millions upon millions are being syphoned off by politicians for their own personal gain.
The one positive note is that Hungarians believe that they have better educational and career opportunities.
So with all that, the thieving and lying politicians, higher taxes, few hospitals... March 15th isn't looking promising.
In preparation the police and the same thieving, lying politicians have taken extraordinary measures to make sure no one actually gets to complain too publicly. Protesters are to be kept in manageable groups away from parliament. There will be over twice as many organized (legal) demonstrations about town than in previous years, but the range of issues involved and the lack of any real cohesion between them means any message will just be lost in the clamoring for attention.
Over the last few days there have been warnings not to stop or loiter on most of the major roads and squares downtown: Budapesti forgalomkorlátozás március 15-én.
This effectively puts much of the heart of the city on a defibrillator, ticking over nicely to the tune of the very people the people want to air their grievances against.
Useful Words and phrases for the 15th
- Életszínvonal: 'standard of living'
- Jó Szórakozást: 'I hope you have a good time!', 'Have fun!'
- Az ott molotov koktél a zsebében, vagy csak ennyire örül, hogy lát?: 'Is that a Molotov Cocktail in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me'.
- Minden rosszban van valami jó: 'every cloud has a silver lining', not a particularly useful phrase to know in Hungarian.
- korrupció: go on, guess!
