Hungary is a backwater, and absolutely NOT representative of the EU, probably not even of the old eastern bloc. Unfortunately, it is. For example, the median s

Hungary is a backwater, and absolutely NOT representative of the EU, probably not even of the old eastern bloc. Unfortunately, it is. For example, the median salary in the Czech republic (the western-most "eastern Europe" country, also in the EU) in 2011 was around 630 Euro (net), which is about $10k per year (net). I also cheer for the lofty let's-share-the-social-burden ideals that people present in this thread. But I fear these folks are just blissfully oblivious of how their money is redistributed and where it really ends.