1. As a child growing up under socialism, I can draw parallels to a lot of things now in the US. And back then there was no pandemic to offer up a half-assed glib explanation grounded in zero facts designed to assuage the terminally gullible.
The flashbacks are getting painful.
The flashbacks are getting painful.
2. Food lines: my father would wait hours in line to get our weekly "ration" of sugar and flour.
Then he'd go from store to store in search of baby formula for my brother.
Then he'd go from store to store in search of baby formula for my brother.
3. Cars: cars were in severe short supply.
The wait-list for one was up to a year long and the rich or politically connected routinely paid to cut in line. Thankfully we never had money to afford a new car.
And back then cars didn't have chips to explain the shortage.
The wait-list for one was up to a year long and the rich or politically connected routinely paid to cut in line. Thankfully we never had money to afford a new car.
And back then cars didn't have chips to explain the shortage.
4. Government: people saved cash, there were no digital currencies or even credit cards. Income tax evasion was a matter of pride.
And the government showed up at your door without a warrant and seized your cash.
Of course, everyone was corrupt and you bribed your way out.
And the government showed up at your door without a warrant and seized your cash.
Of course, everyone was corrupt and you bribed your way out.
5. Quotas: every facet of life, from school to workforce, the government mandated quotas for certain ethnicities and religious groups, regardless of their financial station.
Merit was a distant second to the accident of birth and the favored just happened to be a voting bloc.
Merit was a distant second to the accident of birth and the favored just happened to be a voting bloc.
6. Mob violence: If you expressed the wrong opinion, mobs would come to your home or place of work and destroy it. Of course the government denied and even occasionally condemned the mobs, but never prosecuted them. It was an open secret.
7. Polling: always a massive turnout, and somehow only the most corrupt, uneducated and violently bloodthirsty politicians were elected.
The government encouraged illegal construction and zoning violations under the umbrella of social justice and refused to enforce laws.
The government encouraged illegal construction and zoning violations under the umbrella of social justice and refused to enforce laws.
8. Population: the government encouraged high rises, multi-family housing and over-taxed single family homes and eventually erased them completely from cities.
Mass migration from villages to cities flourished, infrastructure collapsed, power blackouts became routine.
Mass migration from villages to cities flourished, infrastructure collapsed, power blackouts became routine.
9. Gun control: nobody could buy a gun.
And yet all politicians had armed security and all criminals carried high capacity weapons.
Murder, rape and assault were everyday phenomena, and politicians denied its magnitude.
And yet all politicians had armed security and all criminals carried high capacity weapons.
Murder, rape and assault were everyday phenomena, and politicians denied its magnitude.
10. People: the more educated and nonviolent the person, the less likely they were to participate in government or even to vote.
People were convinced that this was their fate and nothing they did mattered.
Public apathy was matched only by the government's antipathy.
People were convinced that this was their fate and nothing they did mattered.
Public apathy was matched only by the government's antipathy.
11. And the best part was that people genuinely thought that they were free.
Because a government that defines your freedom, also defines the boundaries of your Liberty and the content of your thought.
It's not hard to do.
Just look all around you.
-Fin
Because a government that defines your freedom, also defines the boundaries of your Liberty and the content of your thought.
It's not hard to do.
Just look all around you.
-Fin
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