Reflections on Life Behind the Iron Curtain

Reflections on Life Behind the Iron Curtain Here’s a Hungarian joke of the 1950's when Eastern Europe lived behind the Iron Curtain. “The definition of Communism: an incessant struggle against difficulties that would not exist in any other system.” “We knew perfectly well that before the war the Party had the support of a minority of the population, but we believed that this was an enlightened minority, one which would lead the way to national progress. We also knew that if we took power and conducted politics correctly, we would win over people who didn’t trust us, didn’t believe us or were against us.” Marxist speaking before WWII. Even if a rebellion ended badly, rebels never give up hope. “Someday the sun of freedom will break through the clouds. Someday our exile will end, and we will see our motherland again, a a beautiful motherland, free of the arbitrary rule of the dukes and lords...” To what kind of rebellion does this refer? One for a Communist state, believe it or not. To see and believe a reality contrary to truth is the essence of Communism. expressed in the novel, Doctor Zhivago: “And so it was necessary to teach people not to think and make judgments, to compel them to see the nonexistent, and to argue the opposite of what was obvious to everyone...” George Orwell nailed Communism with his definition of Newspeak: “Facts no longer made contact with the theory, which has risen above the facts on clouds of nonsense, rather like a theological system. The point was not to believe the theory, but to repeat it ritualistically and in such a way that both belief and doubt became irrelevant... In this way the concept of truth disappeared from the intellectual landscape, and was replaced by that power.” Lastly, Anne Applelbaum reminds us in her masterful work, “Behind the Iron Curtain that a Communist regime aims to damage, undermine or eliminate opposition to its goals. “ Its success reveals an unpleasant truth about human nature, that if enough people are sufficiently determined, and if they are backed by adequate resources and force, then they can destroy ancient and apparently permanent legal, political, educational and religious institutions, sometimes for good.” Does any of this ring alarm bells here in America? Is any of this happening in our Beloved country? Are totalitarian repression, a liberal minority rule, an atheistic agenda and manipulation the remains of our days? What is to be done? Every joke, says Orwell, is a revolution. So let’s keep poking fun at the insanity of the Obama administration.