Magyar News, 1997. szeptember-1998. augusztus (8. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1997-09-01 / 1. szám

nal. These show the history of the Hungarian people from the ancient times to the recent past. 1 must say many times I felt like riding an emotional rollercoaster. I was prepared to find some shocking situations during my visit. Friends told me about changes that different areas went through during the decades. But no graphic description was enough to bring out the reaction that one has when personally experiencing it. With Budapest I had no special problems. The city has a solid structure that is holding up pretty nicely. It depends on where you are in the city , but the old seasoned areas that weathered through wars and neglect will still be there at my next visit. When one steps out of the downtown areas, away from the pedestrian-streets there is a noticeable change in the appearance of the buildings and streets. These more likely fit my memory. They look just as I last saw them decades ago, with bullet holes, dete­rioration and neglect. I know that it is more difficult to clean up a highrise than a one or two story high family house. It is sadden­ing because these things take away from the quality of life of the Hungarian people. The fact that traffic has grown to an unbe­lievable portion didn't have any effect on me. The cars parked on the sidewalks were annoying but one writes it up to the layout of the streets. The designers didn't have the slightest idea a hundred years ago of what today’s needs would be. The many oneway streets, the tight mul­tiple lanes, the slip-on (hazardous) con­necting lanes, definitely cause confusion but one shrugs it off. blaming the stupid traffic control and the cow-boy drivers. The Subways were new for me, but they somehow didn’t take away anything from the character of Budapest. Under ground, out of sight - out of mind. Though sitting an the old Russian subway car didn’t add to my Hungarian spirit. I guess the stations at main crossings could be figured out after a while. Besides the underground connec­tions to the train, one has several other choices of where to emerge to the surface. One could face ten ramps at one crossing. Not necessarily does one pick the right exit at the first try. or second try . My biggest confusion came when I vis­ited my cousin, Józsi Falkus and his family in Nyíregyháza. I could have been in any strange town it wouldn’t have mattered. I finally got to where I lived, only to find a park with a public building in the center, but not our house. Nothing looked like it used to. Though I must say the very center of the town had the familiar buildings but the square and the roads around it were unrecognizable. These few building were in my memory but the total picture, the rest of the town w as alien. I tried to make con­nection but I failed. Visiting the village. Zemplénagárd. where our family homestead was. hap­pened to be an other let down. I expected changes to the better but I found our house to be very different. It truly lost its beauty. Facing the street now there are two stores in the building. My heart sunk when I thought of my childhood room that used to be there. I didn’t go ia I turned around and left. Practically, I used to know everybody in the village. I remember the busy com­ings and goings of the people working in the field, tending to their animals, but now, besides my relatives, the Siskas, I only saw two people while going through the main street. For one of them, I had to knock on a door for information. The only saving grace was my cousia Erzsi, who with the most warmest welcome had us for lunch. Lunch determines the time of the day, but the treat at that table was a royal feast. By this time questions were building up in my mind. The real proverbial straw fell on me when we reached Miskolc, the sec­ond largest city in Hungary. Approaching the city we looked at the map to find an hotel. There was none marked. From the past I knew that there was the Avas Hotel right in the center of the city . Our search did not bring any result. Finally a cab dri­ver straightened it out for us. So we got to the Pannónia Hotel. It is a small place and one has to park on the sidewalk. Rooms, about a half a hundred, lacked the health inspectors visit and my son underlined it with a remark that the place is scarry. Well it didn’t scare many people because on good days it is half empty, and on week­ends (the time for tourists) it is unoccu­pied. Where are the people doing business in manufacturing and commerce? Sad! Miskolc is not standing alone with the downsizing and closing downs. Since we didn’t travel allover in Hungary, we could­n’t come to a generalization, but as I under­stand, with some exceptions, the picture is pretty dark. To shut down industries that gave living to w hole cities is in my judge­ment a sin. Young people from Ózd, who used to work in heavy industry, set aside their skills and expertise to take on jobs as parking lot attendants and waitresses in Eger where tourism seems to give some income to people. My instinct came into the foreground. I started to look for answers to my basic question; what ever it is, does it serve the Hungarian people? Leaving great masses of people without a job does not serve the very people. As I tried to take a better look at the situation, I found that there are sev­eral players determining what happens. It is the government, the investors - Hungarian and international - and the peo­ple themselves. Naturally the bigger seg­ment of the people are not happy, they question the way things are. The multina­tional corporations, as they say are not stu­pid. and their bottom line is the almighty profit. They have the funds and they could buy anything and do whatever they want with it. Up to now their investment is around 16 Billion Dollars, that means $1,600 for every Hungarian. Sounds good.The Communist government left a 22 billion dollar deficit among many tilings it was spent on the “Gulyas Socialism.” Now the money we owe, because our interna­tional trade deficit is up 16 Billion to 38 Billion, a burden of $3,800 debt on the back of each Hungarian, including the baby who was bom yesterday. This amount is a three year earning for a teacher. The multinational corporations, or the way the call them in Hungary, the Multi-s, have a problem blending into the given possibilities of the nation. They disregard the capability of the Hungarian productioa To produce at the maximum they do import support materials and parts. If Hungarians, just as an example, would be capable to deliver most of the demand on materials and parts and the need for imports would be only a smaller portioa the Multi would still import will be the full amount. Is there a moral obligation her? For business moral let us look at the Hungarian investors. Most of them were trained and had leading positions in the previous political system, probably 90%. Half of them, according to a survey, are only interested in the profit, and even more have no respect for the laws. They are very aggressive. 65% builds on previous con­nections, 34% have European orientation and only 21% of the Hungarian investors claim to be patriotic. To me this means that consideration for the Hungarian people is on the back burner, if there is any. Both, Multi and Hungarian business people, blame the government, the Unions and the humanist intellectuals for instigat­ing anti entrepreneurs atmosphere among the people. I have no question in my mind of where 1 would be standing. There is good news too. Hungary , sand­wiched between Slovakia, Romania, and bordering the explosive southern countries, is finally getting some relief by being accepted into the NATO. For this the gov­ernment has to make favorable steps. But time is coming w hen the government that will be elected next year has to face the fact that the Hungarian people are in des­perate need of protection. It is the govern­ment’s duty to support the needs of the Hungarian people with laws, regulations, and also with the enforcement of these. The government has to put up the shield that makes it impossible, or at least very difficult to take advantage, in this transient situation, of the Hungarian people. Let us not forget that this people gave so much to the world, though not with profit but with sacrifice and blood. One day we were standing on the plat­form of the Subway during rush hour. It was jam packed. Suddenly at one end of the platform there was some commotion. The crowd parted and over a dozen teenagers, lined up in pairs, came walking down to the other end of the platform. Rhythmically they were thrusting their arms upward chanting:”Hungary belongs to the Hungarians.” Well, there is future! Page 5

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