''consumer standards''

there is a lot of graffiti throughout Kecskemét. this particular piece stood out to me.

as old and small as the town is and feels, there are factors of rapid culture affecting and redefining it daily, like the mega-mall which had been built within the past decade and took the place of the town square as a gathering/event place. this sort of situation was described to me as ''capatilism making up for lost time''.

Mercedes-Benz will be building a plant in Kecskemét that will be operational by 2012, creating 2,500 jobs. interested to see how this will affect the towns future.

''the opening of a ''second economy,'' in which Hungarians could find extra earnings as more or less private entrepreneurs, has sent many Hungarians on a frantic pursuit of the consumer standards of the West. Only, they said, at Hungarian wages and prices it takes much more work for a person to meet such standards''

the article linked above is twenty years old but can help to provide an interesting perspective on the situation. the suicide rate in hungary is still among the highest in the world.

also, it seems that Hungary has an interesting culture precedence when it comes to collecting (i.e; collecting as a revolutionary act, a reaction to communism). more on that later.