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| Dear Kent Street Friends, We have seen resurging Fascism not only here in the United States, but across the globe. With chilling echoes of 1930’s Europe, we have seen far-right, nationalist parties gaining ground in a several countries, including Italy, Germany, Austria and Finland. Perhaps the most glaring example has been Hungary, where for the last 16 years Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been steadily dismantling democratic institutions and consolidating authoritarian power. And yet, earlier this month, we saw something remarkable happen in Hungary. Despite support from both Putin and Trump (with a campaign appearance from JD Vance thrown in), Orbán was trounced in the April 12th parliamentary election by his opponent Péter Magyar. Magyar prevailed despite the formidable obstacles, put in his way by Orbán and his party. designed to guarantee the Prime Minister uninterrupted authoritarian control. Among other things, Orbán had gained control of most public and private media, had engaged in election manipulation including gerrymandering and voter suppression, and had welcomed Russian interference designed to tip the election in his favor. And yet…he lost. He was defeated. And therein lies a lesson for those of us here in the United States fighting to restore American Democracy. According to Prof. Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny, success came from building a consistent and persistent resistance movement with large-scale protests AND connecting the actions to the power of the ballot box: “As the Hungarian example confirms, and the Polish one before that, the key to large turnout in actual practice is prior long-term, grass-roots organizational labor that helps people to understand how their single vote is a dignified part of a larger transformation.“ I would add that the Civil Rights Movement here in the US also successfully made the connection between large scale action and the power of the individual vote. Leading up to November, we face many of the same obstacles that Hungry faced: laws rigged to favor the GOP, gerrymandering, a legacy media that has too often capitulated to Trump. But in coalitions, large and small, here in New Hampshire and across the nation, we have been doing the work, laying the foundations for a win against what increasingly feels like entrenched fascism. But if we can connect that work to the power of the ballot box, we too can prevail. As Timothy Snyder also said: “This was an election [in Hungary], but it was an unfair one… It’s uphill, but you can run uphill. You just have to know that you have to run uphill. And then when you get there… you’ve actually achieved something.“ Let’s run uphill. Let’s do this. Let’s win! With eyes on the prize, Louise H/T to Susan C. |
Kent Street Coalition 