To address the housing shortage, nearly 1 million dwellings were built under the housing programme between 1961 and 1975, 300,000 of them in Budapest; and a large part of the country’s population still lives in the apartments built during that period to this very day. Despite the difficulties and the negative aspects, anyone who has lived in or visited a prefab will never forget it. Public housing cannot be said to be entirely negative or positive, can be loved or disliked, but it is a legacy from the past that defines who we are.
‘The liberal aspirations of the 21st century include the destruction of human autonomy and freedom, and making people as dependent as possible on the state and other circles of power and wealth. One of the best ways to counter such aspirations is for everyone to live in their own property, which, incidentally, is constantly increasing in value.’
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.