Magyar News, 1991. szeptember-1992. augusztus (2. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1992-03-01 / 7. szám
Béla Lipták HUNGARIAN RENAISSANCE THE EVERLASTING SPIRIT OF MARCH 15 Hungary’s history is a series of heroic uprisings and revolutions. Five centuries separate us from Dózsa, three from the Kuruc fighters of Rákóczi, a century and a half from Kossuth’s heroes and 36 years from the bloodied but unbowed children of the streets of Budapest. But time alone can not separate us from them. Time means nothing to the human spirit! The patriots of past centuries are just as much with us today as is Bartók’s music, Ady’s poetry or Madách’s philosophy. Their spirit is in our souls, it is this spirit that gives meaning to the word “Hungarian.” The martyrs of Hungary’s revolutions did not shed their blood in vain. Today we are both participants and observers of the first successful Hungarian revolution. Aftercenturies of foreign domination, struggle, suffering and sacrifice, Hungary is finally free to mold its own future. Today’s revolution is not being fought against foreign occupiers or against domestic tyrants. The primary goal of this revolution is not territorial or material gain. It is being fought to reclaim the Hungarian spirit, to restore our true national identity, and to reclaim our leadership role in the World. We have been leaders before; this is not a new role for Hungarians! We were the second nation in the world to write a constitution; our laws on religious tolerance, declared at Torda, were the first ever written, without King Mátyás, the Renaissance would have been less of a revival, and without Bolyai’s new mathematics and Neumann’s computer the industrial revolution could not have taken place. Today the world is at the end of the industrial age and is ready for a new age, a new Renaissance, and Hungary can once again make a major contribution to this revival. The age that is ending has left both superpowers exhausted from military expenditure, has devastated our environment, has destroyed much of our family and community life, has declared God dead and replaced our past ideals with the worship of greed and selfishness. The newspapers speak of nothing but overpopulation, global wanning, the hole in the ozone layer, crime, drugs, AIDS, homelessness, terrorism, and hate, hate and more hate. Yet we know that the spring must be preceded by winter, the dawn by darkness. We feel it in our bones that it is time for renewal, it is time to put a stop to the spread of hate and hopelessness, it is time for a new Renaissance. We can stop the spread of hate and cynicism, we can apply the best and only antidote: love. We Hungarians speak a lot of the love we feel for our country. Let us show the world what that really means. It does not mean the love of some distant hero, it does not mean just the love of a poem, or a flag, a mountain or a river, it means the love of people, the love of other Hungarians here and now! Let us start the new Renaissance by refusing to be split by political parties, classes or religions and start to think of each other as our larger fám ily. Let us reject those who would want to separate us into “real” and “not so real” Hungarians. Just as the computer is defined by its software and not by the place where it has been manufactured, so with humans too, what matters is the soul and not the ancestry. Let us accept and love our fellow Hungarians of any ethnic origin exactly the same way as we accept and love our countrymen from different nationality backgrounds. If we do that, if we accept and respect our differences, let them be ideological, religious or any other, this will put a stop to the cycle of hate, and Hungary will be a better place for it Smiles will return to the tired Hungarian faces when we stop looking at each other as enemies and realize that we are in this together, that we can make our own lives easier by acting as a family. The world has already noticed that there are fewer tensions, that there is more tranquility in Hungary than in the surrounding states. As Hungarians make their peace with each other, the World will notice it. It will respect the people who could bring light to their land when most of the world is submersed in darkness and hate. Once we have the respect and attention of the community of nations, we can start making real contributions. We can spread the circle of light beyond our borders. We can show that the love of country can also extend to one’s neighbors. We can give emphasis to the positive in our relationships with our neighbors, we can emphasize our common history, our shared culture, and our common destiny. Success may be easier with the Ruthenians, Croats, Austrians, Slovenians and Slovaks than with some of our other neighbors, but the process of healing will have its own momentum and it might lead to the revival of Kossuth’s dream, the renaissance of the movement toward the Danubian Confederation. Hungary can take a leadership role in other areas too. Hungary is the natural link between the feminine East and masculine West. Hungarians understand both cultures, speak both sets of languages. Hungary can serve not only as the gate-way to the markets and resources of the East but can also become the model society for the postindustrial and post-consumerism age. The destruction of Hungary’s industries and institutions can be looked upon not only as a loss, but also as an opportunity. We can build a new, a better society: a society with less fear, less insecurity, less materialism; a society with more emphasis on the quality of life, on culture and on happiness. If Hungary can do that, it will become the birthplace of the new Renaissance just as the court of King Mátyás was the home of the previous one. Just as during the time of King Mátyás, when the library of Buda was the greatest in the whole of Europe, we now stand a chance to make Hungary the greatest software library of the world. Hungary is already the third in the world in the quantity of computer software produced, and according to some, it is the first in the quality of that software. We can use that software not only to make a living, not only to create jobs, but to redirect the quantity oriented industries toward quality. Just as the master-craftsman of King Mátyás produced the best quality goods during the previous Renaissance, our software can give birth to the age of mass production that maximizes quality and durability. This will do more than create jobs. It will change our way of life from a consumption oriented throw-away mentality to a quality oriented one. Then we can once again be proud of what we do, and get our “highs” not from chemicals, but from the satisfaction of a job well done. So what can we Hungarian-Americans do to hasten this Hungarian revival? What can we do besides the obvious of helping our homeland with our experience and ft(Continued on page 3)
