Abstract
heves, Hungary The past few years have been turbulent for Szabolcs Szedlak, far worse than most Hungarians could have imagined two decades ago, when they tore a hole in the Iron Curtain and changed their world. Szedlak, 34, came of age during the tumult of the postcommunist transition from dictatorship to democracy. Back then Hungarians were told, and many believed, they'd become like neighboring Austrians a BMW in every driveway. Just don't remind folks of those daydreams in this bleak corner of northeastern Hungary. Szedlak and his family live in Heves, a small, quiet town of 1 1,000 on the great Hungarian plains. Szedlak was born here, in the heart of the country's most depressed region. Twenty years ago, the sudden and unexpected exposure to free markets ravaged the state-controlled
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