I have a newsflash for you. Most of the citizens of the USSR were NOT personally threatened by their government. Only the ones that stepped out of line, politically, verbally, whatever.If you toed the line, you lived without any problems. I only have the reports from the USSR and my experience in East Berlin to go from.
You had black market meat? You stepped over the line.
How many of you would even think of governement before joining an investment club?Hmmm, private investment? In the USSR? Not something I'd recommend. They did have to maintain their Communistic rhetoric.
We have more freedom here. As you've noted, we can study what we want (what was that about the government being able to check your library reading list), say what we want (I won't even go into this one right now), invest where we want (just make sure that there aren't any ties to terrorist organizations there), and so on.
You simply forget that the "line" was going right across your daily lives.And I'm watching people trying to push that line further into our lives here.
Bullshit! In his old country, he wouldn't dare to peep in the presence of almighty Secret Police, or any police at all. Yes Sir! Immediately, Sir! Or, if you are a dissident - just silence. This cartoon disproves its own premise better that any speech I could have made.We now have an unknown number of people in prison in this country who are not allowed to talk to their lawyers. Who have not been charged. And so on. We're not yet as bad as the USSR was, but we're starting down that road.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.