New Economic Mechanism
In the 1950s Hungary utilized a classic socialist economic system, one patterned on that of the Soviet Union in the 1930s and ’40s. This was successful in turning an agricultural country into an industrial nation. But by the beginning of the 1960s, results diminished. “We realized,” one economist said, “that if we wanted to continue the economic development of our country, we had to change our methods.”
So in 1968 the state introduced the New Economic Mechanism, a set of rules that to a degree decentralized planning and control, reinstated the profit motive, allowed the functioning of supply and demand, investment and permitted accumulation of individual wealth. For more information visit citrusnorth.com
“I think our system is unique,” the economist said. “And the reason is that our position in the socialist bloc is unique. Almost 50 percent of our national income is based on foreign trade. So we are obliged to have a very elastic, very flexible system.”
POOR in natural resources, save for its good earth and bauxite, Hungary must import (petroleum, natural gas, automobiles). To pay for those imports, it must export (pharmaceuticals, buses, axles, salami, wheat, alumina). About half the trade is with nonsocialist nations.
In the scramble for foreign earnings Hungary vigorously seeks joint enterprises with Western companies and searches for new markets. The French and Italians like very much the taste of white rabbits? Well, send them 40 million dollars’ worth a year. Send them also doves, pigeons, goose liver.
Does the world seek new novelties? Send it a rather curious toy, the Rubik’s Cube.
I caught up with Ern6 Rubik at the Academy of Applied Arts in Buda, where he is a professor. I had read somewhere that he had created the cube as a tool to help his students; I expected an old, kindly, possibly distracted gentleman. Instead I found a 38-year-old father of two, of moderate height, with a finely wrought face, quick eyes, clad in brown slacks and sweater and open-necked shirt. In the cabin of a jetliner, where he is often found nowadays, you might mistake him for a French entrepreneur, bound to or from a ski holiday.
I asked if indeed he had developed his cube as a teaching aid. “Everything a teacher does is related to the teaching process.” But a teacher is human like everyone else, and he creates for himself as well as for others. “I could say the reason I started to be active in this field is simply my own character. You could say it grew out of my profession. I am an architect and an interior designer.”
Of his earnings (more than 30 million cubes have thus far been produced) he would only say: “In my case, which would characterize the situation of other inventors also, I get a certain share of the sales. Of course, in the case of the cube, which is so popular, the profit is quite large.”
Yes, he has other ideas, new ones, and is pursuing them. Among them a book.
Saddle-sore
Though only two of the 12 riders completed the five-day, 150-mile ride, all teamed up again to ride at the Royal Show on July 10—very proud of the £7,500 they’d raised for Riding for the Disabled.
One of the two who finished was Mrs Irene Benjamin (pictured right with Banjo), vice-president of the Ladies’ Side-Saddle Association, who organised the event. Irene herself is disabled after a riding accident three years ago. Told she’d never walk again, she decided to conduct her own therapy, riding a little each day until in 1979 “I baffled my doctors by walking again.”
She still suffers much pain, but nonetheless pursues an active life, riding six days a week. It was her own experience that made her realise the immense help a horse can be. “Disabled people need extra interests, attention and love—and this is what countless children and adults are getting from Riding for the Disabled groups around the country. It’s entirely supported by volunteers who lend ponies and give their time,- says Irene. For more information, write to: Riding for the Disabled, British Equestrian Centre, Stoneleigh, Kenilworth, Warwickshire.
WILD AND WOOLY
Stopping the car on the roadside in the wilds of Scotland, my husband and I, with our six-yearold son, got out to have a short walk, but our son soon appeared nervous and ill at ease. “Is it safe to walk here?” he asked, looking round anxiously. “Of course it is,” we reassured him. “Why shouldn’t it be?” “What about the killer sheep?” he asked—and pointed out a roadside notice that read: “Danger. Beware of killing sheep”.—Mrs M P,
POLISH UP ROAD SAFETY
This dashing-looking character is “Mr Sheen” and, despite his racy appearance, he’s been designed to help make children aware of road safety—through a board game produced by the makers of Mr Sheen polish, Reckitt Household Products, in association with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Players have to get their Mr Sheen safely “home” from “school”, avoiding hazards and earning bonuses for good safety conduct or penalties for bad habits. With each game comes a chance to enter a Mr Sheen painting competition, with Premium Bond prizes. And it’s all free—for two product labels sent to Reckitt.
SKIRT LAMENT
What has happened to all those beautiful warm woollen skirts that we used to be able to buy ? They were so thick that you could happily go out in one with a jacket or three-quarter length coat and not feel as if the north wind were blowing through you. It seems to me that over the past 10 years the quality has gone down: the material in skirts has got steadily thinner and the price higher. Come on, manufacturers and fashion buyers—bring back our warm skirts!
—Mrs M 13 L, Weston-Super-Mare
SNAKES ALIVE!
When a charming young Canadian bride came to live here and attend our church, we all liked her accent. It only once led to misunderstanding. Just before a service she came quickly down the aisle and whispered to the verger: “Someone’s caught an adder in our pew.” Not one to shirk his duty, the brave man squared his shoulders and marched to the attack—only to find that the bell-ringer had left his “coat and hat” in their pew!
—Mrs J L, Clifionville, Kent
Star letters
“Are we giving our children a poorer education by letting them drop subjects too early?” asks Mrs J Hyde of Stockport, Cheshire. “As the mother of two teenage children I am worried about the accounts of falling academic standards. I wonder if our children are not getting education in basic subjects for long enough.
“At my children’s school, pupils are allowed to drop almost any subject they want, from the age of 14. I do realise that it is necessary for pupils to decide on their examination options, but surely this is too early an age for them to give up, say, history or biology. I know many teenagers who are studying complex subjects such as computer studies instead of literature or geography, and while I believe that these subjects may be useful in the future, I also feel they should have an all-round knowledge of basic things.
“And there are certain ironies. My 15-year-old daughter has to play netball (which she hates), yet she may give up any academic subject apart from mathematics or English language. Is anyone else disturbed by this, or am I just being old-fashioned ?”
THE MAGIC OF “MUSIC”
Cookery is always popular at our local playgroup and consequently there were lots of squabbles amongst the children as to whose turn it was to take part, until the playgroup leader thought up a good idea to stop this.
She started a kitchen band for the children not taking part in the cookery activity. Kitchen implements are hung onto a strong line and the children beat these with wooden spoons. In the background the egg-beater whirrs and the timer pings. Now the kids are happy to wait until their turn comes to cook.
—Mrs K R, Birmingham
FOREVER AMBRIDGE
It’s probably one of the most famous villages in Britain, and to millions of people it’s both familiar and well-loved, even though they’ve never been there. It is, of course, Ambridge, home of “The Archers” of BBC Radio 4 fame; and as regular listeners will know, Jennifer Aldridge and John Tregorran have been writing a book about it You may have thought that the book was just part of the story in the radio serial—but you’d have been wrong. Everything you’d want to know is contained within its well-researched pages. a description of the county, Borsetshire; lots of pictures; and a complete history of Ambridge from Roman times to the present day. Did we hear someone say that Ambridge does not exist, nor the Archers? It matters not. Here is a world as vividly created as any, and for those who love and feel part of it, here is the English village of everyone’s imagination.
BETTY THE ORGANISER
When Princess Alexandra visited a festival for the disabled earlier this year, it was a Royal occasion—and a proud day for Mrs Betty Simpson (at the bottom right in our picture, above). Betty, 54, who is both blind and disabled, had organised a trip for the blind club of which she is a member, to the festival at Carver Barracks, near Saffron Walden, Essex. Guests were entertained by the 13/18 Royal Hussars, and the highlight of their day was when Princess Alexandra stopped to have a joke and a laugh with them.
Betty, too, is always laughing, despite her handicaps, and always active. As well as her involvement with the blind club, she’s a member of the Essex Physically Handicapped Association, does basketwork and knitting, and is still kept busy with her husband, three sons and four grandchildren. Says Betty, “I love organising things.” And long may she continue!
STRANGE ARRIVAL
When I was three years old, / went to stay with my grandmother while my mother went into hospital to have what was to be my baby brother.
I don’t remember this incident myself, but I’m told that I was in the room when my mother telephoned with news of the birth. She told my grandmother to keep it a secret, so it would be a surprise to me when I first saw my brother. “Keep your voice down,” my grandmother told her. “There’s a little pig with big ears here.”
After the phone call she turned to me. “Well, we’ve got a surprise coming for you in a few days’ time,” she said.
“I already know what it is,” I replied. “It’s a little pig with
big ears !” —Ms J E L, Hundon, Suffolk
THE WAY BACK
Having just pulled myself up from the second bout of depression and exhaustion I’ve had in my long life, I’d like to pass on my encouragement and “cure” for anyone else suffering as I did. It often isn’t easy to recognise depression. You don’t necessarily even feel “down” ; it’s just that your “get up and go” has got up and gone, and you can be in a very low state mentally and physically. This can be caused by any number of things—and pills are not the answer (although they may help).
The thing is to fix a target, however small, and try to cap it each day. It may be a tremendous effort even to wash up a cup the first day, but next day it could be two, plus another little task. Eat regularly, little but often. Make a deliberate effort to turn thoughts outwards; people wrapped up in themselves make small parcels. Try to do something for someone else each day (and we can all do something, even if only pray). In this way I’ve progressed from when I could only sit around and doze, to “my finest hour” when I not only got down on hands and knees and gave a grubby carpet a massive “summer clean”, but managed to pull in the laundry I’d done (by hand) two days earlier. It wasn’t easy but, by golly, I fell into bed tired out and very happy and thankful. I hope others take heart from my experience.
—Miss E C, Nottingham