Not going to happen
Seeing the parallels between 2025 America and 2010 Hungary is startling. Their story sounds eerily like what’s happening right now in the U.S. In 2002 in Hungary, Viktor Orbán lost reelection to the office of Prime Minister. As was the case in the U.S., Hungarians were extremely disappointed with the economy under Orbán’s rule and sought new representation. In 2010, Orbán returned to power, and his pattern will sound familiar to anyone reading this.
Hungarians thought their economy sucked under the opposition party, Orbán regained power, and he began systematically trying to take over the government. Orbán tried to take over the budget, fired leaders of government oversight agencies, and placed policymaking power in the hands of a rich ally who had not been elected to office. Sounding familiar yet? Granted, much of what Americans were unhappy about was not fact. Believing the words of a liar, many saw the economy crashing. It wasn’t. In fact, it was on a meteoric rise, but it’s certainly in danger now.
Just like Donald Trump, Orbán tried his best to turn Hungary into an authoritarian state, replacing people who he felt were disloyal with sycophants. Orbán’s people ensured that Orbán would take and remain in power, so while no one was looking, Orbán began to erode the fairness of Hungarian elections. By the time he was up for reelection, the opposition party was systematically shut out. This entire story could be about Donald Trump, as he strives to do the same things in the U.S. He is installing incompetent people in important positions, and they are doing his bidding. Already, Trump’s AG Pam Bondi has shut down the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, which will reopen opportunities for foreign leaders to infiltrate and mess with our elections. She has also created the “Weaponization Working Group,” which will review the investigations against Donald Trump.
Vox spoke with Hungarians and experts on Hungary, attempting to elicit advice for the U.S. It is amazing how much their past parallels our present. Their advice to us is to do something now before Trump goes too far. While Democrats don’t seem to be quite as divided and disorganized as the Hungarian opposition party, they need to do some work and decide what their vision of the future will be. Then, they must clearly articulate that to the American people. They must be more aggressive about pointing out lies, and they cannot be shy about touting the good things they have done for the country. We need to coalesce around what we want for this country and build a group of like-minded individuals. We somehow must make people understand that Trump is not good for the country. He’s doing a good job of showing that so far, as he has done nothing but exact revenge. We won’t survive this by being quiet. Let’s be as loud as we possibly can so that they can hear. We’re not taking this from Trump, Musk, and anyone else who wants to get in the way of our democracy. We must fight for it.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years