In 1989, when communism collapsed in Eastern Europe, I was 36. My generation was young enough to adapt to the new reality but the going was much tougher for people 10 or more years older. When I visited Prague in early 1991, the streets, buildings and people still looked shabby but the mood was almost ecstatic. It was hard to believe that the 40 year darkness had lifted. “They’re gone, they’re really gone!” It was all a beautiful dream.
When I returned in 1999, the place had been totally rejuvenated. Streets were clean and full of new stores, restaurants and cafes. The quality and selection of merchandise was no different than in Vienna or Berlin. In 10 years, the economic leap was miraculous. Yet, somehow, the mood was more subdued than on my 1991 visit. People in their 50’s and 60’s were disillusioned with the realities of free enterprise and increased competition. For 40 years, no one had to worry about the cost of medical care or education, about getting and keeping a job, about being able to afford the basics. Yes, the doctor’s office was cleaner now and the wait was shorter but who can afford the price of medication? Basic education was still free but there were extraneous costs never encountered before. And the supermarket selection was colorful and plentiful but the prices were sky-high while salaries were low. In that painful transition, the folks I spoke to seldom mentioned the word “freedom” and if they did, their tone was almost derisive.
I’ve been back a few times since. As I said, my generation has adapted well, for the most part, and no one dreams about having the communists back in power. But even on my last trip, in 2016, almost 30 years after the Velvet Revolution, I still encountered folks in their early 70’s and older, who spoke of the communist years with a dash of nostalgia. “Everything important was free, I could afford a five week vacation every year and always had cash for beer and basic staples. Now I’m still on my feet 8 hours a day, working in a supermarket, many years past my retirement age because our social security money and pensions simply aren’t enough to live on” Naturally, this is not an unknown phenomenon in the West but here in the US, it’s understood as a fact of life. The gentleman behind the cash register in my supermarket today looked to be in his early 80’s/ Nothing was ever “free” and expectations are not as high for “the government” to take care of you.
My point is this: hunger for bread trumps the hunger for liberty every time. We have lost many freedoms in the US (though far less than in Canada which is now a sort of more benign North Korea) but no one I know complains about it. The fact that unvaccinated foreigners still cannot enter the US bothers no one. The fact that many corporations still insists on pushing useless vaccines on their employees bothers no one (aside from the people directly affected) The fact that millions still walk around like zombies with masks that look like pig snouts seems to bother no one.
Here’s why: people do not understand the essence of freedom until it’s snatched away from them completely. Little piecemeal thefts of liberty don’t count as long as there is bread on the shelves, beer in the fridge and time on the weekend for fishing. People don’t go to war over “vaccine passports” because they can keep enjoying the small necessities of life as long as they go along with the authorities. People generally don’t understand that freedom is either complete or it doesn’t exist at all. It’s a zero sum proposition. Try to explain that concept to your happily jabbed, Jamaica vacationing relatives and they will look at you weird. But freedom is invisible. Once we start dividing freedoms into categories - which we have - the road to Easter Europe-style communism isn’t long.
Freedom is not the government rescinding rules and edicts. Freedom is government not interfering in your life AT ALL, as long as your behavior remains within the bounds of the law. But as some of the people I have met in Prague over the years told me - freedom wasn’t really all that important. “What good does it good to me that I can now travel to France when I can’t afford it and if I could afford it, I wouldn’t have enough vacation time?” That was what I heard in the 90’s. Things have improved and I think the generation even the least bit nostalgic for the good old commie days is now dying out. Nevertheless, the principle holds. Until they come for you, beer is more important than freedom.
Brilliant insight into freedom! It is helpful to examine the issue from both angles: freedom from as well as freedom to. We must have both to have true liberty.
Very well written, my opinons are almost identical with Geaorge's as well as my place of born To be as brief as possible. there is one problem beside many others: Bad memory meaning my countrymen, even if the great chance for good and normal lie after regime change in 1989 with the time evaported, the life there is now beter than ever before, existing problems lead to the lamentation about how many things vere so nice, so relativly cheep, jobs guaranteed, etc. but also lack of many basic lie necessities, closed borders, political trials still in 1970s, lies,, censoship, dictature by only one political party etc.
And in the US, what a tragic election 2020....rediculous as well as very dangerus duo Biden-Harrss in the world's most powerull spots! The age of Darkness before us!
Vladimir Cicha, Vancouver