Saturday, March 15, 2014

Hungarian Revolution Day

Today is Hungarian Revolution Day. It's a celebration of an important day back in 1848. In the current political climate, it's a day that prompts several political demonstrations, bussing in of demonstrators from the countryside and an increased reaction of blatant prejudice. This can be seen on the streets, trams and throughout the city.

Today we encountered some Roma racism that made us get off the tram a couple stops early and catch the next one. Passing one of the major squares we saw people setting up for the Jobbik Party rally. Their supporters gathered on corners here and there baring political symbols from the days of World War 2 that scare everyone outside of Hungary and some Hungarians too. Being that it's election time in Hungary right now, Budapest is in high political fervor. Today that fervor crept out from the corners it sometimes hides in. This political atmosphere makes me feel like I'm back in time in the first half of the 20th century. I imagine the political views of many Hungarians today are somewhat the same as they were back then, and we know how that ended... the genocide of thousands of Hungarians.

On this holiday new laws also came into effect... You can no longer take pictures of people in public unless you have the consent of those in the photo. That means when you're at Buda Castle or Parliament or any other beautiful site in Budapest, you can't snap a photo if someone you don't know is in it. You have to first ask their permission. Really? Great for your tourism industry Hungary.

So happy Hungarian Revolution Day. Hungary, I urge you to remember your leader, Kossuth Lajos, who led this revolution and actually hoped to make a multi-ethnic federation along the Danube. He fought for minority rights in Hungary. This is what I choose to celebrate on this day... equal rights for all people in Hungary.

3 comments:

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  2. I just want to add a few points, first off all I do not support any kind of racism, but forced multiculturalism is a form of racism too, its enough to look at London or Paris nowdays, the brits themselves call it Londonistan and are fleeing to smaller cities or the countryside, the same is happening in the US. on its southern border, just one example is California, its not a fun place anymore, gangs are taking over and they have plenty of reinforcements from Mexico via the drug cartells, its all public info, at least here.
    Its also worth to pay attention to criminal statistics or simply the daily news, I cant recall any incidents where romas were the victims on the other hand you can read read on a weekly basis about older pensioners attacked and killed in their own homes mainly on the countryside and the offenders are 9 out of 10 times from the roma minority, interestingly thats not called racism, double standards at its finest, the same is happening in the US. only the belligerents are different.

    About the political turmoil? Well, according to the Global Peace Index Hungary is one of the most peaceful countries on the planet right now placed 23rd(2013) if I recall it correctly, in 2012 it was the 17th, we dont have a 1000 military bases in 160 countries, we are not engaged in endless wars and proxy wars,we dont do mass wiretappings on the whole planet, and we have no NDAA nor reinforced Patriot Act that basically suspends the US. Constitution and Bill of Rights, nor do we have a race war going on, no mass police brutality, no checkpoints, no TSA, no VIPR teams, no militarized police the list goes on...
    Most hungarians are peacefull people who get along very good with everybody from anywhere, Hungary is one of the most culturally enriched countries in Europe, we have hungarian, slavic, germanic,turkish, jewish, persian, roma, romanian,and other minorities living together for hundreds of years, and most the time we were better off than the rest of Europe, even today the number of hatecrimes in France or the UK or the US are significantly higher than here, so what are we talking about.

    And the photo ban, dont take that too seriously thats mainly against google cam, and AI surveillance cameras and satellite photos, and thats not a joke, but they couldnt write that in the law for obvious reasons its a protection against an 1984 style police state and not against tourists, you just have to read beetween the lines.

    Thank You for reading my comment, and have a nice day.

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    1. Dear Pocok, I agree that Hungary is a very peaceful place in relation to the rest of the world. I feel much safer in Hungary than I do in my own country of the US (for obvious reasons when you read the news). I love the way Hungarians care for each other and I have seen this countless times in Budapest (see my other posts). So some of what you say I can agree with. I don't completely agree with you about your opinions of what racism is exactly and that multiculturalism is a forced thing. Racism is a world-wide issue. I see it in the US. I saw it in Kenya when I lived there. It is everywhere. To admit to it in Hungary is no different than admitting to it in the rest of the world. So on this point, I must disagree with you. Thank you for your thoughts and respectfulness in sharing them.

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