Preview

How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1044 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed
How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed, written by Croatian author Slavenka Drakulic, details the daily lives of people living under communist rule. She recalls a multitude of personal experiences she has had growing up under a communist regime, and the transition from communism to democracy in the late 1980's. Drakulic seems to have a general dislike for the way the communist government treats its people, and strives to relate these feelings to the reader. She opens her book with a passage about a friend of hers who killed herself by asphyxiating on gas fumes from her oven. Shortly before that she had written an article comparing the ideology of the communist state to that of a pinball machine, "Her article, naïve as it seems today, speaking only about pinball machines, revealed the functioning and hypocrisy of the communist state. She mocked it, and she had to be punished for that." (Drakulic 5) This woman was unjustly punished for merely speaking her mind, and became a social pariah. She was shunned at the newspaper; she had become "invisible". The government could have cared less, since they implemented the system of self-management, which was supposed to make you believe that you are to blame for all your problems, not the government. (Drakulic 6) Day to day life was a struggle to meet basic needs, because no one ever knew what there would be a shortage of, but they knew there would always be a shortage of something. In Bulgaria, a woman had to feed her six-month child imported milk because there was a milk shortage, which caused the child to become extremely sick. The mother blames the government for poisoning her baby, but is powerless to do anything about it without being called an enemy of the state. The communists had such a stronghold on their people that it did not matter what they did, because they knew they could subdue any uprising. The government was so paranoid about having traitors living in their land they wiretapped anyone's phone that was

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    OUTLINE NOTES: Themes, keys, historical figures, major dates and events to know for your introductory college course. From Pre-Columbian America to the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. Study Keys will help guide you through lectures, your textbook, tests, and papers in introductory American History I courses.…

    • 4581 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “Every mother in Bulgaria can point to where communism failed, from the failure of the planned…

    • 680 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lithuania's President Antanas Smetona fled from his country while nearly 150,000 troops from the Soviet Union invaded into Lithuania in 1940(Soviet Occupation). This selfish act left families like Lina Vilkas's to be captured helplessly a year later. Ruta Sepetys's book, Between Shades of Gray relates the journey and survival of Lina's family during over a year and half of being in captivity by the Soviets. As I read Between Shades of Gray, I learned that people will show great fortitude in circumstances unimaginable to normal civilians.…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The terrors of a totalitarian government presented in George Orwell's 1984 apply not only to the Party, but also to the Stalinist Russia of the 1930's. Frightening similarities exist between these two bodies which both started out as forms of government, and then mutated into life-controlling political organizations which "subordinated all institutions and classes under one supreme power" (Buckler 924). Orwell shows how such a system can impose its will on the people through manipulation of media, constant supervision as aided by technology, and the threat of pain, both physical and mental. Orwell also shows how the state has more subtle methods for imposing its authority, such as the manipulation of language and propaganda as they are used to achieve the goal of absolute power for the system. A key parallel between the Party and Stalin's Communism is the use of technology and communication to control the economic, social, and personal aspects of life.…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The primary internal reason how Australia responded to the threat of communism was by Menzies and the Liberal Party attempting to ban the CPA. Menzies tried to ban the CPA two times. The first time was in 1950, when the Liberal Party introduced the Communist Party Dissolution Bill (CPDB). Menzies tried to make it a law so that the CPA would become illegal. However, this was unsuccessful as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and many other unions opposed it as this would lead to the Liberal Party to ban any minority group they wanted including the ALP. The second way Menzies tried to prohibit the CPA was by having a Communist Party Dissolution Referendum in 1951 which was narrowly defeated as Chifley stated his concerns to the public about how the Liberal Party would be able to ban any group they wanted. The Party in control of government, which was the Liberal Party, responded to the threat of communism by trying to ban the CPA.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Final Financial Analysis

    • 1870 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Financial Analysis is very important to the inner workings of a business. Keep track of financial statements, taxes, audits, and various other areas of financials will show how well a company has done, is doing, and how well it will do in the future. Seeing how well a company is doing into the future is important so they can see any mistakes and try to fix them before they become an issue and hinder the growth of the company. In this essay I will compare financial statements in two companies, PepsiCo. and Coca Cola Company. I will describe what vertical and horizontal analysis is then I will go over the vertical analysis of both companies, comparing one to the other. I will go over the horizontal analysis of both companies, comparing them as well. I will describe ratio analysis and I will show the ratio analysis of both companies, including the testing of a liquidity ration, a solvency ratio, and a profitability ratio. I will explain in my own opinion which company is more financial stable and why, using comparisons of the data from the data stated. I will finally include three recommendations to improve each company’s financial health for the future.…

    • 1870 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1950’s dealt with threats from the USSR and Communism which scared many people in the United States and soon became a full-fledged paranoia. There was fear of falling behind the advances of the Communist countries, especially among the Soviet Union, creating the Red Scare. As the Cold War with the USSR escalated, Americans increased their suspicions of Communist influences. Due to this, a special committee was formed in order to investigate Communists in America known as HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee). In 1947, HUAC accused ten people in Hollywood of supporting communist propaganda becoming blacklisted. As time went on, more individuals were being suspected of being Communists which eventually led to the act of McCarthyism…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Communism DBQ

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As communism spread in the twentieth century, communist regimes initially enacted gender reforms in order to gain a female following. “While women struggled for freedom throughout the western world, communist revolutions were radically equalizing for females, helping the suffragettes everywhere.”However, as feminist movements became more radical, communist governments slowed this reform.While women struggled for freedom throughout the western world, communist revolutions were radically equalizing for females, helping the suffragettes everywhere. The Soviets even had a special part of the government devoted to women, whereas in the west, women struggled to vote, have jobs, or gain political voices. Women’s rights have been a struggle since the…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A theocracy is a type of government in which God or a deity is the ruler, and whose practices, laws and teachings are led by a priest, or a minister. The most recent leader, Warren Jeffs, was a self proclaimed prophet who claimed that God was here to minister to the people through him. Communism is a type of government where everybody is treated as equals and every one earns the same amount of money. Goods and money are controlled in the FLDS society and only a particular group of people (the founding families) had luxuries. A patriarchal society is one where men take control and importance over women. The women in the FLDS culture are brought up to have the mindset that they are put on this earth to please men only. So, I would consider the FLDS culture to have similar or a…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After World War II, the United States faced a malevolent philosophical dispute that had spread from within itself. Chapter nine in Thinking Through the Past is titled “Pop Culture as History: The War Comes Home” because it identifies America’s disposition over the subject of communism during the Cold War era. Historian Stephen J. Whitfield writes his secondary source entitled, “The Culture of the Cold War” which presents a detailed analysis pertaining to the lives of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum of anti-communism during the 1950s in United States. Questions arise that carry significance to cultural and social growth during the period: How was communism threatening the US and why? What did the threat of communism do to the culture of the US during the 1950s? Finally, does the secondary source written by Stephen Whitfield align with what is mentioned in primary sources or do they conflict with one another. Communism held a powerful grip on the United States’ cultural development during the 1950s. America was either too ferocious in its’ approach of defeating communism on the home-front as Whitfield suggests, or it’s necessity is overlooked and was prudent to end the political and social agenda of communism in the United States. In either case, communism held an astounding affect on the social aspects of the United States during the 1950s regarding motion pictures, novels, advertisement, music, and much more. Although, the majority of the population in the US sealed communism’s fate as they would not allow it to become apart of the popular culture during the 1950s.…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Learning theories have been influential since the 20th century and are now used as diagnostic tools to help identify styles in which learners learn, (Avis et al. 2010). The summary behind these concepts, propose that all people learn differently, and to ensure individual learning needs teachers need to recognize these styles to address differentiation and learning needs of individual within group of learners, (Jarvis, 2006). The key learning theories from research are; behaviourism, cognitivism and humanist. Key academics Pavlov, Skinner and Watson (1973) influence the theory behind behaviourism. They approach behaviourism as a scientific approach towards a desired goal, consisting of reinforcement to shape behaviour. In thus the teachers act as a stimulant; shaping behaviour via repetition and habit forming to create a response. However influential theorists Bruner (1966), Piaget (1926) and Gagne (1985), argue that this style is manipulative, the learner will know how that learning process takes place but not necessarily know why? Behaviourist looked at the environment stimuli influencing response, whereas cognitivists look at the individual’s mental process in learning and how they gain that knowledge. Bruner (1966) believes people learn with the acquisition of knowledge as social process of problem solving. The focus stems to establishing positive conditions that promote the individuals path of being ‘ready to learn’, establishing a ‘meaning to learning’; with initiative and analytical thinking and finally with relevance of self- fulfilment of what ‘motivates the learner’. This takes away the behaviourist approach of learning without an external reward to learning with independent meaning in which you create your own path. Lastly Humanist approach to learning develops the idea of the learners at the centre of the learning process, (Maslow, 1970 and Rodgers et al, 1983). Rogers (1983) influenced this approach and believed that each learner is free to direct…

    • 2325 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Despite how the 50s are painted as an idyllic time in American history, they were also a time when the nation was exploring the fear and exploitation associated with communism. Many people encountered the fear personally due to being forced out of their government jobs, and ideas were freely exchanged about what exactly it meant to be American.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The fear of communism extends into the US, Over 80,000 communists in the US after WWII, Some members of the government turned over documents to a pro-communist magazine.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comrade Yen Psychology

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages

    We are going to look at the life and problems of Comrade Yen a 40 year old teacher in china that has been on a gradual decline after the popularity fall of communism.From her background and her relationships with her family members currently.All of her medical and psychological seems to be connected to a very specific span of years in her life and choices she made.We will also…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why are people against Communist? J. Edgar Hoover, Sidney Hook, and William O. Douglas have written articles about their opinion relating to Communist expanding throughout our Nation. Communism is a social organization based on the ownership controlled all economic and social activities. J. Edgar Hoover, Sidney Hook, and William O. Douglas have numerous points of view on Communism. Their voices and minds reveals that Communist is not who they say they are.…

    • 1037 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays