sandorski
No Lifer
- Oct 10, 1999
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Basically no part of Europe had any tradition of democracy such as we know it today in the days before the Russian revolution. Some countries had parliaments, but they also had kings with formal power, and in my country for example women lacked the right to vote.
What I meant though wasn't looking back at the pre-Soviet era (which only a tiny fraction of society can still do today, you'd have to be well over 100 years old to have any genuine memories from that period), but looking back with nostalgia at the actual Soviet era. It sounds crazy, but some people actually do that. It's the good ole "the devil you know" factor, plus, like I said, rose-colored glasses. The past tends to seem brighter and better once you've put some distance to it. I know; I feel the same way myself about the '70s and '80s.
From some Warsaw Pact Nation Immigrants I have conversed with, the few that do have nostalgia for it do so based upon how well/bad things have become Economically. No matter how Politically harsh a Government may be, as long as it meets the basic Needs people have, it will have some support.