Hungary: Position and Potential

The Hungarian State Opera House at night

Having awoken now on the sixth morning of my stay in Hungary, it is lightly cloudy now after a day of rain, and that mood fits what I want to write.

Those not familiar with Hungary need to know that it is both a place with deep roots and a place over which tides of successive invaders and empires have washed.  The Magyars established the Arpad dynasty in 896 after centuries of rule by a host of other forces, and over 1,000 years their power rose and waned and became involved in some supremely complex politics, including occupation by the Nazis during World War II.  The borders of Hungary have shifted greatly over time, yet modern Hungary still claims as Hungarian citizens those who are Hungarian but live outside its borders.

In today's Hungary, there are Magyar people and there are Roma people. There are many expats.  There are sushi joints in Budapest and tourists with a million cameras buying peasant dolls; there are dirt roads and no electricity in the poorest areas. There is a complex and evolved political system; and yet it is difficult for the public to freely express its opinions.  There are brilliant and sophisticated Hungarians, and yet the options for many are limited because of money or the system.  It is a place in which American community organizers should be mindful that our Hungarian colleagues make only $2.50 US per hour.

Those who organize protests or any kind of resistance here can be subject to very intense government scrutiny. In the US, we take it for granted that we have the right to gather in public and to speak freely about our opinions, including about our government. Here in Hungary those activities have greater risk, and with each passing year this could grow riskier. And yet those who care about the rights of people with disabilities, about Roma, about the homeless, about the poor, about LGBTQIAA people, they are willing to try.

From the disability perspective, I am angered that those people with disabilities who want to live in their own flats in the community, with home services, are prevented from the same range of services we can access in the US.  To only have a personal attendant from 8-4 Monday through Friday, for people with severe disabilities, is not enough. Apparently fewer than five people in the country are able to do this...and yet in Illinois alone we have about 30,000 who do so.

I am angered that Hungarian parents of children with disabilities are prevented from accessing meaningful financial support for their children.  One of Anett's campaigns has been to raise the government stipend for families.  Children with disabilities need every opportunity possible and when the stipend is very little it means that parents will institutionalize the child.

I am angered that the Hungarian school system will not allow, generally, for flexibility in curriculum and physical space to provide for real inclusion in the schools. Hungary is of a size that inclusion could work extremely well.  But the education system holds on to old values of standardization and patriarchy that make inclusion negotiations very difficult. I cannot help but suspect that there are teachers within the system who know what is possible but are barred from doing much.

Last night, Anett, Kristen and I went to see Faust at the Hungarian State Opera.  The building is completely beautiful, a jewel box of an opera house. The performance had supertitles in English and Hungarian so we were all easily able to follow along (the singing is in German). The singers were Hungarian and Ukrainian (Taras Shtonda for the curious minds).

Yet when the curtains opened, there was Faust in his old age...in a wheelchair. The performance made excessive use of up to about eight manual hospital chairs during the performance (there were eight dancers who were supposed to be old people or war vets). It was very odd to us as disability advocates. What is the attitude behind this? Is it creativity or passive bias?

And yet above the wheels, the singers sang soaring arias of pain and love, Faust in an orange and blue golfing outfit, Marguerite in a maid's uniform. And above it all in a soft spotlight above the stage, a large gold replica of the Hungarian royal coat of arms.

Hungary is brilliant. It is also a challenge to itself. All I can really say is that the truth is that the public, the people, are amazing, like lights at twilight, holding strong.