Don't need a book. I lived through the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia myself. People absolutely took everything good in socialism for granted and thought they were going to keep it, while also getting the capitalist treats as well. What followed was a nightmare of transition to crony capitalism, mixed in with a war. As a kid, I was also "hoodwinked" by the western media, but realised something was off with the whole narrative of wonderful capitalism, when I traveled abroad and was shocked to see so many homeless people and people going through garbage...something I haven't ever seen in socialist Yugoslavia. Soon after the transition, garbage scavengers became a regular thing and now it's all just a bunch of failed sorry states and ruined societies, staying barely afloat, mostly because of the achievements of the past socialist governments.
it's always telling that the former socialist citizens living in capitalism praise it always talk about their own successes and treats and people that those who despise capitalism always talk about the poverty experienced by not just themselves but others. nice little microcosm of ideology there. none to be found in watching a human being scavenge the waste of others for food.
yeah, in hungary, we thought we were getting western european social democracy (or rather, what we imagined that was). when in fact, this mythical beast was already on the way out even in western europe.
Don't need a book. I lived through the dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia myself. People absolutely took everything good in socialism for granted and thought they were going to keep it, while also getting the capitalist treats as well. What followed was a nightmare of transition to crony capitalism, mixed in with a war. As a kid, I was also "hoodwinked" by the western media, but realised something was off with the whole narrative of wonderful capitalism, when I traveled abroad and was shocked to see so many homeless people and people going through garbage...something I haven't ever seen in socialist Yugoslavia. Soon after the transition, garbage scavengers became a regular thing and now it's all just a bunch of failed sorry states and ruined societies, staying barely afloat, mostly because of the achievements of the past socialist governments.
it's always telling that the former socialist citizens living in capitalism praise it always talk about their own successes and treats and people that those who despise capitalism always talk about the poverty experienced by not just themselves but others. nice little microcosm of ideology there. none to be found in watching a human being scavenge the waste of others for food.
yeah, in hungary, we thought we were getting western european social democracy (or rather, what we imagined that was). when in fact, this mythical beast was already on the way out even in western europe.