Life After the USSR: Buying the Dream, Living the Nightmare
NOVANEWS
By: Eric Draitser
Supporters of the Russian communist party attend a rally. | Photo: Reuters
The reality of life in post-Soviet Eastern Europe is not at all what was promised.
Standing in front of the Berlin Wall in June 1987, then President Reagan famously proclaimed:
There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace … General Gorbachev, if you seek peace - if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe - if you seek liberalization: come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
Despite the neoliberal talking points about “freedom,” “democracy,” and “peace,” the reality of life in post-Soviet Eastern Europ...