Protest in cars! Block the roads, enjoy the music, grab some snacks.

11% sarcasm

lie that its the fault of <insert oppressed minorities/foreigners>

I think it’s important to note that that that’s one of the things that lead to Orbán’s downfall. They did this constantly, for more than a decade, ignoring or subverting real issues. People eventually had enough of it, including his supporters.

Note that the election theater in Hungary replaced a Putin rightoid with a Euro rightoid. Their results were nothing more than a extension of a geopolitical power shift. The elections themselves were not that relevant. No mere election is. And no geopolitical power in the world order really REALLY care about teh authoritarianism or populism.

The current scene in the US election theater is about the blue faction of the uniparty hoping to pull a mini miracle and reach 50 seats in the senate, so they can see Vance tie breaking. And even that is very unlikely. Not that the whole thing matters in any way, no matter the results.

Since you asked so nicely, I’ll cut the bullshit and only tell you stuff that directly affects me and has either already happened or the implementation is close enough to already have an effect on my life.

From the beginning of next year, the personal income tax will be lower. The family allowance will double. My extended family also automatically received a school supply allowance. They’re also bringing back a simplified taxation form for self-employed people, which I might take advantage of.

Nearby hospitals got an upgrade on their HVAC systems. There’s an online platform where I can provide feedback on the care I received. This is an improvement to the previous system, where you complained on Facebook and the former Minister of Health told you to go fuck yourself. No, I am not kidding, this happened.

There’s a bridge I have to go across when I visit my parents. It’s in such a bad shape that I roll my windows down every time I cross it so that I can wiggle out of the car if it collapses under me. The guy previously responsible kept delaying the renovation. The new guys started working on it not long ago.

For the past few years, every second billboard outside screamed at me that there’s war and immigrants and Ukranians and ugly old people with Jewish or Jewish-sounding surnames out there to get me. And that my only hope is Orbán. Everyone else wants me dead and penniless. In the months before the election, almost every surface outside was covered with fear-mongering political messaging. Orbán then seized a Ukranian money transport and then tried to blame a false-flag operation on Ukraine. Because of this and his Russian bias and his fiery speeches against Ukraine, I was fully convinced that if he won, we’d declare war on Ukraine by the end of the year. I actually made preparations for this eventuality. Along with every non-Orbán supporter I knew. The billboard ads are now gone. The rhetoric has calmed down. Maybe this last point is not tangible enough. But I literally cannot tell you how relieving it is to be finally free of it.

These are off the top of my head. Without mentioning that blocked EU funds have been secured (because that’s a bonus for the economy, I don’t get shit directly) and that the capricious rule by decree is over (because that’s boring legislation). Magyar and Tisza are populists, and they promised the world to Hungarians. But now they need to deliver because we’ve had enough empty promises, and they know this too. We’ll see if they can keep it up.

EDIT: I could also walk this year’s Pride without being threatened with fines and cameras with facial recognition tech! Silly me, I almost forgot that the government-mandated gay bashing has finally ceased.