lbo-talk-digest V1 #7345

[ChrisD(RJ)]

At 10:08 AM 01/31/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>It's amazing for someone who grew up hearing the most hysterical cold
>war propaganda to read these tales from Woj of daily life in Poland
>and from ChrisD of the kids in Komsomol drinking, flirting, and
>listening to Pink Floyd. Has anyone done anything on daily life under
>formerly existing socialism?

I back them 100%. The problem in Romania was mostly Ceausescu, who was 
truly demented, and the IMF loans, which bled the country dry. The other 
problem was the legacy of hundreds of years of colonial and feudal 
servitude (Ottoman empire) and the habits and consciousness these
engendered.

Joanna
---
This is why I don't get all hot and bothered about, e.g., the WWP being
called "Stalinists." "Stalinism" is a word. How people actually live is what
matters. I know nothing about the WWP, but if the "Stalinism" they defend is
that of Brezhnev, big fucking deal. People in the USSR lived much better
under Brezhnev than under Gorbachen. BTW, people he released from the Gulag
still put flowers on Khrushchev's grave. A real oaf, but he did a lot of
good. I think history will treat him kindly.