Chapter 29 3. Return to Hungary

Nearly twenty years later, in August 2008, I had another opportunity to visit Slovakia and Hungary by bus from Vienna along the old road.Vienna is still so graceful and majestic, but the airport looks outdated. I just came from Beijing Airport, and I was really not used to it all at once. I really felt like I was in the third world.The shops at the airport are still decorated in the 1980s.The three taxi companies with red, yellow and green marks have counters at the airport, lined up in a row, and the staff inside make exaggerated expressions, vying to pull you into their car.The night view of Vienna that left a deep impression on me 20 years ago seems so ordinary today, far from the bright and charming night view of Shanghai.The characteristic of Western Europe is that it has remained unchanged for decades. Anyway, it is a developed country and can rest on its laurels. The characteristic of China is that it has been catching up with developed countries without stopping. This is something.

Our bus soon entered Slovakia. Now that Slovakia is a member of the European Union, there are no border checkpoints. An English sign of "Welcome to Slovakia" standing beside the highway reminded us that the car had entered Slovakia.Over the years, Slovakia has joined the European Union because of its cheap labor force, attracting a lot of foreign investment.The old town of Bratislava has been greatly improved, and a large pedestrian commercial street has been restored. Many famous brand boutiques have moved in, but the popularity is not strong.What surprised me was that the Bratislava railway station was still as simple as it was twenty years ago. There was not even a decent waiting room, and most passengers sat on the floor.There isn't a single decent restaurant at the station either, just two mom-and-pop shops with seven or eight rickety tables and dozens of plastic chairs, serving unflattering Slovak pizza and Russian borscht.I really don't know why this Eastern European country, which attracted the most foreign investment per capita at that time, didn't invest in the renovation of infrastructure such as railway stations and bus stations.

Although Slovakia is already a member of the European Union, the new government elected in 2005 is a headache for the European Union.Because the new cabinet includes some extreme nationalists, they can openly abuse the country's two main ethnic minorities, Hungarians and Roma, calling them "ugly, bow-legged, suspected Mongols on hideous horses." .Ivan Miklos, the former deputy prime minister of Slovakia, said to me: "Fortunately, there is an EU above, so that these radicals dare not go too far in terms of national policies, otherwise they will be in big trouble." Slovakia promoted a number of market-oriented reform programs that were widely praised in the West, but his party was defeated in the 2005 general election.He has always been worried about this: "In order to carry out reform, it is best to just do it and not talk about it. If you talk about it first, you can't do anything in the end and you will be scolded."

The train drove for 3 hours, and I came to the long-lost Budapest Railway Station.But when I got off the bus, my biggest feeling is that there is not much change here compared with 20 years ago: those lively small shops are still there, selling all kinds of cheap tourist souvenirs, bags, lighters, DVDs, etc.; There are also private banks in China, there are about a dozen of them, and there are a few "scalpers" beside them, but the number is smaller than that of twenty years ago; the old men and women who rent out the houses are still there, the only change is that an old man wrote in Chinese I yelled: "Rooms, rooms." Later, I found time to go to Rauxie Commercial Street in Budapest. There were a lot of goods, but everything from property decoration to service facilities was outdated, and there was a big gap with the prosperity and fashion of Chinese metropolises.However, Budapest's urban layout is graceful and majestic, with dignified and elegant classical buildings, and the wide tree-lined streets are pleasing to the eye. It is even more refreshing to climb the Castle Hill by the Danube River, and the scenery of the whole city is unobstructed.

I saw my old friend H Jun and his wife again.They asked me to meet at Cafe Gerbeaud at the end of bustling Vaci Street, the most exquisite cafe in Budapest, with antique furniture.The biggest surprise to me this time is that the political passion of 20 years ago has disappeared.We chatted about the changes in Hungary in the past 20 years. Mr. H said: "It's hard to say, there are gains and losses, but it feels a bit bitter, just like this coffee." He continued: "It's bitter because we didn't expect the change to be so It’s not easy, do you think we are politically independent? We are now controlled by NATO, we don’t like Russia, but we don’t want to get into trouble with the Russians. Do you say we are economically independent? Our economy is now controlled by foreigners. "

We talked about Gorbachev and Kadar. Mrs. H pointed to the bustling Vaci Street outside the window and told me that in June 1986 Gorbachev and his wife Raisa, accompanied by their husband and wife, took a walk on this street. Gorbachev was surprised.Later, he repeatedly stated that the Soviet Union should learn from Hungary's experience to solve the Soviet Union's economic problems.Now it seems that he is a bit exaggerated, not as down-to-earth as Kadar.I know that many people in Hungary miss Kadar now. Mrs. H said: "At that time in Qatar, everyone had jobs, universal medical insurance, and paid vacations. Our life was better than that of neighboring countries."

She also said: "Qadar is very clean, even his political opponents do not deny this, which is in stark contrast to the powerful today. People of that generation have principles. Khadr was falsely accused and thrown into prison in the 1950s For four years, his wife was also implicated, she was expelled from the party, and she had no place to live. Later, a family of ordinary people in Budapest took her in, and the Kadar couple kept close contact with this family until their death.” Mr. H interjected at this time : "Do you know how we describe our country's politicians now? These people no longer say 'Hello' to each other when they meet, but say 'Are you a multi-millionaire?'" Thinking of Mr. H's dissatisfaction with Kadar , I can only sigh at this time.This is a very interesting phenomenon. Taiwan has been democratized for 20 years, and the most popular leader is Chiang Ching-kuo, who is close to the people and strong. Yugoslavia has also been democratized for more than 20 years, but the most authoritative politicians are still determined Steel Tito, history is fair, and the people have a steelyard in their hearts.

When we talked about electoral politics in Hungary, Mr. H admitted: "It seems that we were naive at the time, thinking that as long as free elections were held, everything would be fine. But twenty years have passed, and both leftists and rightists have been in power. They are all politicians. There have been no politicians. There have been no politicians in Eastern Europe for the entire twenty years, and that is the conclusion of the EU." He asked me, "Have you heard about our 'cheat prime minister'?" I nodded, referring to the Hungarian Prime Minister Gyurcani said in an internal speech of the ruling party in May 2007: "We screwed up, not a little bit bad, but terrible! No European country is more stupid than us... in In the four years we have been in power, the government has not produced a record that we can be proud of. How are we going to account to voters for what we have done? ... We have taken every step to ensure that this secret is not leaked before the election. In the past For two years, we have been lying." This statement was later disclosed on the Internet, causing an uproar in Hungary, followed by the largest protest demonstration and police-civilian clashes in Hungary in the past two decades.

"Frankly speaking, I am very pessimistic now," Mr. H said, "We are not choosing between 'good guys' and 'bad guys', but between 'bad guys' and 'worse guys', between them The struggle for power has divided the entire society." He also quoted the comment of the Hungarian scholar Akos Heiszler: Hungarians lack "political culture and the wisdom of compromise", so today's Hungary is "a deeply divided society".I know quite a few Eastern European friends. They used to think that as long as the political system changed, everything would be better, but later they found out that this is not the case.Revolutions are romantic, exciting, passionate, and full of hope, but after a revolution people suddenly find that old habits and behaviors are still ingrained, and everything is as if it were yesterday, or worse.

I also met a senior Hungarian political scientist who was more blunt: "Look, is there any hope for our country? Half of Hungary's assets were sold to foreigners, and the other half was embezzled. What is' Shock therapy'? That is selling all companies that can be sold to foreign companies, the largest oil company sold to the Americans, the Americans sold it to the Germans, and now the Germans sold it to the Russians .Today it is mainly Germans who control our economy, and even the media is controlled by German companies. You probably can’t imagine that our taxi company has also been sold to foreigners, a British company, and a Turkish company, They corner the price.” I take taxis a lot these days and notice how expensive taxis are here, close to Switzerland.

He showed me the results of the latest poll conducted by the world-renowned GFK company in Hungary: In 2008, 62% of Hungarians believed that life is not as good as it was in the Qatari period 20 years ago. In 2001, the proportion was 53%.Only 14% of people today think that now is the "happiest time", while 60% think that the Kadar period is the "happiest time".He said with a sigh: "Many things are precious only after they are lost, just like air and water. Once they are gone, you will know how precious they are. Now the life of a small number of people is indeed better than before, but Most people's lives are worse. The price rises too fast, the currency depreciates too much, wages have increased by five or six times, but gas, water, public transportation, etc. have all increased by 20 to 100 times, and those of us who suffer the most For the elderly with pensions, their pensions cannot keep up with the rate of inflation, and for the young, there are too few job opportunities in Hungary, and the unemployment rate has reached 10%.” As early as the mid-1980s, Hungary had accumulated a lot of experience in economic reform. At that time, China sent many delegations to investigate the situation of Hungary's economic reform.I asked the scholar: "If we stick to the reform line of Qatar at that time, can Hungary find a better path?" He said: "Hungary's original reform model is very good. It will walk out a successful path similar to China's gradual reform. But the United States, Germany and other Western countries don't like it. They don't want this kind of reform to succeed. And our elites completely follow them, abandoning gradual reform and turning to radical revolution And thorough privatization, and finally sold all companies that could be sold, including banks, to foreigners, we can no longer control our own destiny." He sighed.The former governor of the Hungarian Central Bank also told me: "We sold the water company to a French company, expecting them to invest in the development of our mineral water resources, but they promoted the French 'Evian' mineral water in Hungary." However, he also told me: "The prosperity during the Qatar period cannot be exaggerated. It was maintained by borrowing foreign debts. As a result, Hungary was heavily indebted. After the new regime came to power, it could only repay the debts by selling state-owned assets." A Hungarian friend also talked to me about a thought-provoking phenomenon: Although the system has changed, many things of the old system are still in operation, especially the security system that was originally established according to the former Soviet model is still in Hungary and in many Eastern European countries. The state still has a huge influence. "People in the old security system have close ties with political parties, politicians, and the underworld. On the surface, there is a multi-party system and freedom of the media. In essence, these people continue to control many political and economic resources, and continue to conduct private exchanges of various interests. Independent The judiciary system has not been established at all, and there is no efficient civil service team, and the phenomenon of cronyism is widespread." Even the "Economist" magazine recently published an article lamenting that the past two decades in Hungary were "disappointing". Twenty years of disappointment" (Economist on line, 9 August 2010).