In comments to my last post, few people asked me what I see in California that reminds me of my old country - the Soviet Union.
The list can go on, but here are some.
- Censorship of opinions.
Many people disagreed with party politics in USSR, but it wasn't something that you could voice publicly. It was a topic for kitchen conversations among friends. A public statement meant problems at work, public shaming, possibly being fired. No, you didn't go to GULAG, at least in 80s, but your life was ruined.
- Quotas.
Colleges, workplaces, had quotas for how many people of different religions and ethnicity they had to accept.
- School Education
The role of the school was to 'foremost raise a good soviet citizen' kids were taught everything from how they have to think, to what books they could read. snitching on parents was encouraged in case kids heard something different at home.
- redistribution of wealth
i think this is self-explanatory
Happy to share more and answer questions.
Updated: copied from my comment below.
I can go on and on for hours (literally) telling stories of life in the Soviet Union.
Let's just say when we had shortages of toilet paper back in March, us Soviets were just laughing at it. Toilet paper was a luxury back there reserved for select few. When I walk into stores now and I see "Limit 1" or similar, it brings out PTSD. When I see lines to walk into a store it brings back lots of bad memories.
But that's not the issue that I see as pressing at the moment. Communism/Socialism has proved to be a flawed system. One has to be either blind or have a financial benefit in mind when advocating for it.
The main issue is the divide that we see. A difference of opinion is good. It's fine if someone is having a different opinion. I have friends that are leaning much to the left and we have friendly fights over the dinner al the time. It doesn't get in a way of being friends. But what I see a lot is that the left more and more doesn't allow for a descent. I've lost friends (real life friends) that labeled me this or that because of my opinion. I know families where kids don't talk to their parents because of different views.
This is how it starts. It doesn't start with GULAGs or executions. It starts with us vs. them, ally vs enemy.
It wasn't Stalin who killed 20 million of his own citizens. He just orchestrated it. It was millions of fellow citizens that complained to KGB (called NKVD at the time) when they heard a friend or a neighbor voicing an opinion. It was mob mentality "If you are not with us, you are against us" (reminds you of something?).
This is what I am seeing today in California.
