Growing Up In Communist Hungary

[Ace High]

This article is awesome and gives a great view of the benefits of Hungary's communist system. Notice that she grew up AFTER Stalin was gone.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1221064/Oppressive-grey-No-growing-communism-happiest-time-life.html

[tuwix]

But there is a "small" problem that in Hungary, there was no comuunism form times of the primitive communism thousands years ago.
Using a term 'communist' to describe a state capitalism is just bourgeois propaganda.

[Delenda Carthago]

Notice that she grew up AFTER Stalin was gone.
Notice that Hungary was not in USSR.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Notice that Hungary was not in USSR.

On top of that, Hungary's political system was far more divergent from USSR's line than any other in the eastern bloc. It had social democratic reforms and economic policies similar to what's going on in the Scandinavian countries right now.

[Teacher]

Good article. Been wondering for a while when her book is going to come out.

[Red Clydesider]

Zsuzsanna Clark's memoir of growing up in communist Hungary is an antidote to the notion that there's nothing to be said for Eastern European communism.

My experience is very much more limited - just visiting friends in Prague in the sixties. Maybe things had changed in Czechoslovakia too after the Hungarian uprising, and maybe it had been much worse in the early years, but my impressions of life there chime very well with what Zsuzsanna Clark tells us.

One very strong impression I had was that there seemed to be no class prejudice. There were classes - professionals and bureaucrats on the one hand and ordinary workers on the other - but as far as I could see each generally treated the other as equals.

My friend was actually Depute Minister of Culture in the Czech government, and his wife was a lecturer at the Party College. Their best friends included a woman who was a cleaner with the Prague city buses, and a factory worker and his wife.

I'm sure Czechoslovakia was far from Utopia, but I met and talked with many people, about health care, culture and so on, and everyone seemed reasonably happy with these aspects of life. If they were critical, it was of inefficiencies rather than the system as a whole.

James.

[DasFapital]

There was a WalMart banner ad at the bottom of my screen the whole time I was reading this.

[SmirkerOfTheWorld]

Good to see the Daily Hate (HateOnline anyway) branching out a bit..

[papito]

On two occasions I spent about a month in Hungary during the late 80s and early nineties. I was quite young but old enough to appreciate how it differed from home.

Communist or not I can attest that it seemed a lovely place to live, fine people and very good leisure and sports facilities - fantastic parks etc.

I don't want to appear proud of this but we were touring the place in a shiny new motorhome which would have seemed very decadent, but we met people all over the place, accepted some of the many invites to camp in their garden and eat with them and there was not a hint of envy or negativity - you did get that in England sometimes, motorhomes were a lot less common and there was a recession on.

I mention this because looking back, I didn't put it together at the time, I can see that a lot of people had a deep satisfaction of their lot that didn't stem from personal possessions. If any leftist revolution could create some of what Hungary had then it would be a improvement.