Ah, sweet life behind the Iron Curtain: ‘Happiest time of my life’

I always knew that there was a lot of propaganda in the Cold War, and that Communist Russia couldn’t possibly have been as bad as they said it was. No, it was no Worker’s Paradise. But neither was it Capitalist Awesomeness where I grew up.

And, I’ve vacationed in Cuba. And yes, I took time outside the gated resort to walk around in the “real” Cuba. And life under a communist dictatorship didn’t seem that bad. People were happy — people were proud.

If you’d like your eyes opened a little bit, try reading this essay, the recollections of a woman who grew up in Communist Hungary. She does a really good job of outlining some of the failures of our current capitalist obsessions:

Culture was regarded as extremely important by the government. The communists did not want to restrict the finer things of life to the upper and middle classes – the very best of music, literature and dance were for all to enjoy.

This meant lavish subsidies were given to institutions including orchestras, opera houses, theatres and cinemas. Ticket prices were subsidised by the State, making visits to the opera and theatre affordable.

‘Cultural houses’ were opened in every town and village, so provincial, working-class people such as my parents could have easy access to the performing arts, and to the best performers.

Programming on Hungarian television reflected the regime’s priority to bring culture to the masses, with no dumbing down.

…

Like most people in the communist era, my father was not money-obsessed.

As a mechanic he made a point of charging people fairly. He once saw a broken-down car with an open bonnet – a sight that always lifted his heart. It belonged to a West German tourist.

My father fixed the car but refused payment – even a bottle of beer. For him it was unnatural that anyone would think of accepting money for helping someone in distress.

For the record, I’ve always found it sad that people set up the argument that it’s communism vs. democracy. Communism is an economic system, contrasted with capitalism. Democracy is a political system, contrasted with totalitarianism. Unfortunately, communism has never been tried with a democracy, although I would think it could work quite well.

(I got this from Tyler Shipley’s Facebook page. I like his band, The Consumer Goods.)