Hungarian citizens may tolerate systemic corruption when the economy is strong. However, EU financial sanctions have slowed Hungary's growth, causing economic pain that fuels public anger. This anger over corruption becomes a potent political weapon for the opposition, making Viktor Orbán's regime vulnerable.

To become more than the sum of their parts, fragmented activist groups need an umbrella formation. Historical examples like South Africa's United Democratic Front and similar alliances in Chile and South Korea show how a coordinating body can give strategic shape and greater power to a broad-based democracy movement.

Effective opposition relies on 'negative coalitions'—broad alliances of disparate political groups united only by their opposition to the regime. This requires abandoning purity politics for the single, shared goal of 'getting the Jeep out of the mud.'

Despite differing systems—communism in China, nationalism in Russia, theocracy in Iran—modern authoritarian regimes form alliances based on a common enemy. Their unifying principle is a shared dislike and fear of liberal democratic values like the rule of law and individual rights.

Directly attacking a charismatic leader can backfire due to personal loyalty. A more effective political strategy is to target their key advisors. Removing controversial figures can weaken the leader's power structure, as it is easier to build consensus against "bad actors" than the principal.

The goal of nonviolent resistance is not to "melt the heart of the dictator" but to strategically create defections within their pillars of support. By growing large and diverse, a movement builds direct ties to elites in business, media, and security, systematically shredding their loyalty to the regime.

The most potent threat to an authoritarian regime comes not from visible dissidents, who are often neutralized, but from patriotic loyalists within the system. These insiders believe the current leadership is corrupt and harming the country, making their patriotism a powerful tool that can be turned against the regime.

Dictatorships can tolerate individual criticism but actively suppress mechanisms that create common knowledge, like public assemblies or organized online groups. They understand that power rests on preventing citizens from realizing that their grievances are shared. Once dissent becomes common knowledge, coordinated revolt is possible, which no regime can withstand.

To hold leaders accountable, a nation must agree on a core set of values. Without this shared ethos, politics devolves into tribalism where each side justifies any action, making it impossible to remove a leader for violating principles that are no longer commonly held.