For, example I met a Polish immigrant in LA who used to do music gigs in student clubs - he was followed by a bunch of fans and groupies and thought of himself as the Polish Bob Dylan. He left Poland after the Solidarnosc breakdown. When he came to the US, he went to LA hoping to make it in Hollywood (I have problems telling that with a straight face, but people really are that stupid) - but was greatly disappointed that if he could get any gigs at all, they would be in some sleazy bars and clubs. That was beneath his "artistic dignity" - the poor fellow had hard time understanding that in this country bar and club gigs is what musicians do for a living - even the first class musicians. It was quite pathetic to see this guy descending into denial and the most rabid variety of ant-communism imaginable - for example that "Polish Bob Dylan" loved Gem Pinochet because "Pinochet killed Commies."
Unfortunately, this guy was the rule rather than an exception in the émigré circles. I saw technicians and skilled workers throwing tantrum fits at their sponsors when they were offered minimum wage jobs - they felt entitled to $20-$30 an hour (that was back in the 1980s). This of course does not mean that in principle every worker should not be making at least that much - but these folks were not about principles. They felt they were special and deserved that much before anyone else, especially ethnic minorities. Needless to say that racxism was quite rampant in those circles.
Sometimes, when I get really sick of life in the US of A and feel trapped in this shallow commercial wasteland, suburban sprawl, and idiotic public culture I think of these guys and their compatriots back in the old country and say to myself - "Ok, would like to be a part of that?" It usually helps.
Wojtek
S. Wojciech Sokolowski, Ph.D. Senior Research Associate Institute for Policy Studies Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD 21218 (USA) email: sokol at jhu.edu voice: +1 410 516 4056 fax: +1 410 516 7818
> -----Original Message-----
> From: joanna bujes [mailto:jbujes at covad.net]
> Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 8:03 PM
> To: Mike Ballard; ssokolo1 at jhem.jhu.edu
> Subject: Re: EE intellectuals.........
>
> In that case, let me add one more thing. In Romania, my parents were
> part of the charmed circle of intellectuals, writers, and
professionals.
> My mother was a writer; my father was a film producer. The privileges
> that were showered on such types are hard to fathom in the west.
>
> Like everyone else, of course, there was free health care, free child
> care, and a wonderful educational system, also free. In addition, the
> former mansions of the aristocracy had been appropriated for these
> folks. One mansion in Bucharest was transformed into a subsidized
> restaurant for university professors, artists, and intellectuals. For
> next to nothing (what you'd pay in the sleaziest cafeteria), these
folks
> could enjoy two meals a day that could compare favorably to what is
> served at the best french restaurant in your city. I know because we
ate
> there twice a day, seven days a week. I don't remember my mother ever
> cooking a meal when we lived in Bucharest. Other mansions -- by the
> lakeside, in the mountains -- were transformed into artists
"retreats."
> Was city life too noisy and stressful for composition? Why then, you
> could apply to go to one of these retreats and compose in silence and
> beauty for weeks or months, depending. Oh, and should I mention that
if
> you were an artist: poet, writer, playwright, philosopher, painter,
> etc., you didn't need a day job. That WAS your day job.You got to do
it
> as your full-time job. Oh, and did I mention that my father had a
> chauffeur driven Rolls?
>
> The reason why I was so utterly sick with a lot of these people is
that
> they simply felt entitled to all this and more...much, much more. They
> had utter contempt for the workers who toiled to make all this
possible.
> A trip out to the country, to present some of their work to the
"masses"
> was viewed as a nightmare. As to their children being assigned to the
> provinces for a stint -- oh, endless, inconceivable horror. Their only
> dream was to come to the West, where they could be properly
> "appreciated". The Americans did not help things by providing grants
for
> visits and suggesting how wonderful life could be in the West. Those
who
> emigrated to these wonders, found out soon enough that they would have
> to compete for these wonders with the rest of the capitalist artist
hoi
> polloi. Of course, there were always extra goodies for those who sang
> loud and clear about the evils of communism, and some did.
>
> Sure, there were problems too; there was censorship, there were
> political games to be played, but so there are in the West--without
one
> tenth the support--except that which the market bestows.
>
> Joanna
>
> Mike Ballard wrote:
>
> >Thanks you two for the enlightening dialogue from an
> >EE perspective. I've passed it on to some others.
> >
> >Cheers and beers this Friday from Perth, Australia!
> >
> >Mike B)
> >
> >
> >
> >Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu>
> >To: "'joanna bujes'" <jbujes at covad.net>
> >Cc: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> >Subject: [lbo-talk] RE: EE intelligentsia
> >Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> >
> >
> >
> >>PS. An excellently sarcastic portrait of the EE
> >>
> >>
> >intelligentsia can be
> >
> >
> >>found in the novel _The Joke_ by Milan Kundera.
> >>
> >>Thanks, I'll read it. You wouldn't believe how many
> >>
> >>
> >of these EE
> >intelligentsia types I have
> >
> >
> >>known in my life. UTTERLY, UTTERLY DESPICABLE!
> >>
> >>Joanna
> >>
> >>
> >
> >I agree. Part of my negative experience at the DLI in
> >Monterey was
> >that
> >there were too many émigré intelligentsia. They often
> >defected as a
> >"career move" so to speak, hoping that if they portray
> >themselves as
> >"freedom fighters against Communist oppression" - red
> >carpets would be
> >laid for them. What they discovered, however, was
> >that nobody really
> >gave a shit and they found themselves sweeping floors
> >and washing
> >dishes
> >with Third World immigrants. Teaching at the
> >Institute was a vast
> >improvement vis a vis office cleaning or dish washing
> >jobs, but still
> >well below the status they left in their old country.
> >
> >
> >=====
> >*****************************************************************
> >"the Council Republic is not the culmination of everything, and even
less does it stand for
> the most perfect form in which humans can live together. However the
Council Republic is
> a prerequisite for the reconstruction of culture, because it makes
possible the liquidation of
> the state,. It must be the task of the revolutionary of today to work
for the Council system
> and the Council Republic". (Der Ziegelbrenner)
> >
> >
> >
> >http://profiles.yahoo.com/swillsqueal
> >
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