Nobody in the West really gets communism.

No. They did not. They are following the pied pipers of Equality and Social Justice off a cliff into another dark age. But this time, there will be no foreign advocate, no Ronnie and Maggie leading free and prosperous lands to face down the tyrants and offer liberty. This time, there will be nothing on the other side of the wall.

The West needs the first hand testimony of you and people like you. Our children have been cheated of the knowledge of Liberty and tyranny by the educational establishment, by the popular culture, and yes, by our complacency. Time is short, and we must make clear to the young in the West just where current political trends are carrying them. We need to be really loud about it, too.

Keep writing Adriana. You are a treasure.

As you know, I am not old enough to remember communism, but *know* what happened on the other side of the Curtain. I do my best to fight collectivism, but I find it increasingly more difficult.

It seems like every day someone conceives a new, better, more “fair” way to better society through legislation and expansion of government. When I look at government, any government I see failure, and an inability or unwillingness to adapt. I understand the yearning to have the government take care of you, but I don’t understand why so many people fail to see the logical conclusion of that desire.

I find political discussions with my the overwhelming majority of peers increasingly disheartening.

Thanks again for the heartfelt post.

I cannot imagine the stultifying, ennervating, and terrifying reality into which you, and so many, many others were born

VR, re ‘terrifying’, here’s what I think is a crucial point: at least by the time I was born into it (1960) there was no fear. A few years ago I was arguing with some good people in the blogosphere against the very point Adriana makes. I grew up thinking that the N…s were the scariest people that ever walked the earth – and that was even before I knew about the H…….t and the fact that the N…s were especially scary for people of my ethnic persuasion. Sure, I heard of people in the 30s having been dragged out of their beds to never be seen again for being “enemies of the state” (my grandfather was one of them, even though he was a wide-eyed idealistic communist). But I figured, at least it was for something you did or said, not for the genes you were born with. And, like I said, by the time I was able to think a little (very little), it was all ancient history (30 years). So life was not terrifying, it was…well, something very important was missing (beyond material things like jeans, Beatles records and chewing gum – or a refrigerator, for that matter, although we kind of wondered about those as well), and for years I just couldn’t put a finger on what it was. My point is that it is not so much the fear that we all have to, well, fear right now, but the hopelessness and the lifelessness Peter Saint-Andre describes so accurately, and that we just might expect if things continue going the way they have been for the past decade or two. He says: the only exceptions were the children, who had yet to have the life beaten out of them. I was 14 when I was taken out of there, and nothing has been beaten out of me yet, but I can tell you that I have definitely felt it: as a child, you need horizons to look to, so to speak, and I vividly remember there being no horizons. No fear at all, but nothing to look forward to. And this may be the scariest thing of all.

I cannot imagine the stultifying, ennervating, and terrifying reality into which you, and so many, many others were born

VR, re ‘terrifying’, here’s what I think is a crucial point: at least by the time I was born into it (1960) there was no fear.

A few years ago I was arguing with some good people in the blogosphere against the very point Adriana makes. I grew up thinking that the Nazis were the scariest people that ever walked the earth – and that was even before I knew about the Holocaust and the fact that the Nazis were especially scary for Jews.

Sure, I heard of people in the 30s having been dragged out of their beds to never be seen again for being “enemies of the state” (my grandfather was one of them, even though he was a wide-eyed idealistic communist). But I figured, at least it was for something you did or said, not for the genes you were born with.

And, like I said, by the time I was able to think a little (very little), it was all ancient history (30 years). So life was not terrifying, it was…well, something very important was missing (beyond material things like jeans, Beatles records and chewing gum – or a refrigerator, for that matter, although we kind of wondered about those as well), and for years I just couldn’t put a finger on what it was.

My point is that it is not so much the fear that we all have to, well, fear right now, but the hopelessness and the lifelessness Peter Saint-Andre describes so accurately, and that we just might expect if things continue going the way they have been for the past decade or two.

He says: the only exceptions were the children, who had yet to have the life beaten out of them. I was 14 when I was taken out of there, and nothing has been beaten out of me yet, but I can tell you that I have definitely felt it: as a child, you need horizons to look to, so to speak, and I vividly remember there being no horizons. No fear at all, but nothing to look forward to. And this may be the scariest thing of all.

Thank you for writing it, and sharing it with the world.

The “Black Book” is essential. As usual: there is no way around Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago”. Conquest: “The Great Terror” and “Harvest Of Sorrow”. Bullock: HItler And Stalin: Parallel Lives”.

You’re the only one that I’ve seen hit this theme, Adriana. I definitely wasn’t up for all the cheering about The Wall last week, looking around at all the fucking commies getting all set to eat me alive here in America.

Has anyone beaten Francis Fukyama’s ass raggedy, yet? The goddamned fool.

Thank you for sharing your story and thoughts. Reposted here: http://vocalminority.typepad.com/blog/2009/11/20th-anniversary-of-the-czechoslovak-velvet-revolution.html(Link)

We are in the most dangerous place the world has been in a long time, IMO.