The Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide

My POV and experience: ongoing marginalization.

According to propaganda, Orban is building a family-friendly place. This is proclaimed loudly in the media, and at points where you enter the country (like metal signs saying "Welcome to the family friendly Hungary").

These family values is the usual alt-right dogwhistle, however. Same as how it's used in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_values#Organizations . In reality, the systems that actually support families, healthcare and education, are more strained than ever, due to the gov increasing their responsibility, and underfunding them constantly.

Couples are pushed to marry and have children, by providing discounted loans for them, if they sign contracts that they will bear children. Up to three, the more children they sign up for, the higher the loan will be.

They have amended the hungarian constitution to say explicitly that the mother is a woman, and the father is a man. The particular part now reads: "Hungary protects the institution of marriage as a voluntary union between a man and a woman, and the family as the basis for the survival of the nation. The basis of the family relationship is marriage and the parent-child relationship. The mother is a woman, the father is a man."

"The West" and progressive societal values are actively framed as harmful propaganda that intends to destabilize the country. Values like supporting women and lgbt+, supporting investigative journalism, having a look on migration as anything other than "very harmful".

Abortion laws are strictened. They included things like the mother having to listen to the fetus' heartbeat, before agreeing to the abortion procedure. Frankly, I think this is so evil, that I have a very hard time not to write something that wishes active harm towards these people.

Doctors don't take women seriously, and are often hostile or degrading towards them. This is not a politically directed issue, rather the result of the previous 50-100 years of political climates. For example, a female friend of mine went to a regular checkup, where the PRIVATE, for-profit gynecologist asked her if she has children, and when she said that she doesn't, and that they don't plan to have children with her husband, the doctor recommended that she reconsider, and that he can organize it that she gets pregnant, despite what the husband wants.

Hungary has a significant Roma minority. Many of the Roma people live below the poverty line, and their relation to the Hungarian population, government and law enforcement is a systemic, centuries-old issue. The current government does exactly nothing for them, nor in the short term nor towards their long-term well-being, but uses public figures of their culture to signal their support and association, and buys their votes with cheap gestures right before the elections.

LGBT people, and issues are not just marginalized, but the movement is branded as something that actively destroys society. LGBT families are regarded as unfit to raise children, they can be life partners with some of the marriage benefits, but not in a recognized marriage, and the Pride parade has been floated as something to be outlawed just this year.

These are just from the top of my head, in 30 minutes. Please feel free to ask any follow-up questions or proof, or post clarifications and corrections, I'm sure there are mistakes, and I don't intend to have any, as the well-being of my fellows is dear to my heart. Thanks for reading.

You listened to Rogan and your takeaway was “kind human”?

For sure, yours wasn't? He has some weird takes on aliens, but I can see how conservatives see him as a good example for their children on topics like social media use, taking care of your body and mind through sports and socials gatherings, based a lot on traditional christian values. I think it is very easy to take what he says out of context and thus find it important to listen to his whole podcast from time to time.

I'm not a christian, in fact I went through a rioting-atheism phase when I was young. But I'm older now, I see the good sides of religion, along with the bad sides, which makes me understand what they desire.

He remarked (in an interview with Adam Curry) that he'd give Harris a fair chance, was interested in her as a person, would, in an interview, try to show the world her best human side. I believe that he would have.

Before they blocked it over here I read Russia Today every now and then (sure I can set proton-vpn to exit in Albania and still read it but I don't really bother anymore). Yes it's propaganda, but the fear of NATO is palpable and reading RT breeds understanding for the people that get fed this news on a daily basis, even though it goes against my own worldviews.

Trying to explain the world-view of this other side usually gets me flagged here, as if I somehow say that that side is better. I don't feel it that way. There are some online communities that welcome this open type of discussion. It is my opinion that is is important to engage in such open discussions

"resist from a safe place?" If you leave, you no longer have any right to any say in the old place.

And what if the new place develops it's own problems? Wander the globe forever in hopes of finding a magical place?

If your roomate shits in your living room, "you should move out" is the second to last choice. The last choice is stay and live with it. The first and second choices in undecided order are correct the offenders behavior or make them leave.

Before that, there was already a pattern of Hungary regularly rebelling at the reformist movement in the Austria-Hungary empire.