I recently asked a Hungarian friend of mine about the situation in his country and how the people feel about it. He is an activist for the LMP, a Hungarian progressive party, comprised of Greens, Pirates and others, which was founded in 2008 and gained 16 parliamentary seats in 2010. So I asked especially about the conservatives holding more than 2/3rd of the parliament´s seats and the New Hungarian Media Law taking effect in 2011. That´s what he wrote (I deleted a few personal parts):

“Hi Fabio,

I wish you too a Happy New Year!

I have had an extremely busy year […] Honestly, I prefer to wait and see how LMP lives up to my expectations […] it’s time for those in positions to prove us right. Of course, we help out with advice, research, activism, etc.

Hungarian politics are quite sad right now. After 8 years of MSZP rule, even I had a teeny-tiny ray of hope that Fidesz will bring some good. Some they did, but alarmingly little. Instead, this power-hungry group with an over 2/3 majority is raping this nation and feeling good. They are taking our private pension savings, they don’t seem to be able to solve any economic and social problems, and they are ruling our media just months after taking over.

Those consuming major media (tv, radio, newspapers) learn little about the international critique of our proposed media law, which Fidesz will easily pass of course. Only the info hungry, internet intelligentsia understands how damaging this might become. LMP has very little power unfortunately. Yet. I am satisfied with its parliamentary work, but with Fidesz owning the house, there is very little to do, especially given our potential opposition partners: Jobbik (ha-ha-ha, luckily already falling apart) and MSZP (juck). The other issue is that LMP has to grow mature. There are internal problems within the party with self definition and other stuff, whereas we need to get our act together and start building up a strong base for years to come. We will either gradually grow or just disappear for good, and given our name (Politics Can be Different) ruining the chances for and belief in future new parties to come.

It’s quite a grim situation, but we have to survive and prove that there can be alternatives to the corrupt-powerhungry-dumb current political gangster elite. That’s how I see it now. What’s the situation like in the decaying West?

Best for you.”

That´s it. It sure looks grim. Most interesting was for me how he described the rift between the “info hungry, internet intelligentsia” (nice word btw) and the big rest. I think in Germany has been more of a trend to listen to what the web says, especially after the Zensursula debate in 2009, but no one can be sure it will not be a short time, vanishing effect. Let´s stay informed, alarmed and active about parallel developments at home.