Foreign Correspondent Inside Track On World News By International Syndicated Columnist & Broadcaster Eric Margolis ,,ggddY"""Ybbgg,, ,agd888b,_ "Y8, ___`""Ybga, ,gdP""88888888baa,.""8b "888g, ,dP" ]888888888P' "Y `888Yb, ,dP" ,88888888P" db, "8P""Yb, ,8" ,888888888b, d8888a "8, ,8' d88888888888,88P"' a, `8, ,8' 88888888888888PP" "" `8, d' I88888888888P" `b 8 `8"88P""Y8P' 8 8 Y 8[ _ " 8 8 "Y8d8b "Y a 8 8 `""8d, __ 8 Y, `"8bd888b, ,P `8, ,d8888888baaa ,8' `8, 888888888888' ,8' `8a "8888888888I a8' `Yba `Y8888888P' adP' "Yba `888888P' adY" `"Yba, d8888P" ,adP"' `"Y8baa, ,d888P,ad8P"' ``""YYba8888P""'' Prisoners who miss their jail By Eric Margolis 30 May 1996 SAN FRANCISCO - Twenty years ago, the Maoist anthem, `The East Is Red' echoed around the Pacific Rim. Asia then seemed destined to fall to communism. Today, communism is fading everywhere in Asia. Ironically, , parts of the West are now threatened with going Red. I'm speaking, of course, about East Europe, where communists, who style themselves `democratic socialists,' have pretty well managed to regain power after the Soviet Empire collapsed in 1991. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria have elected governments dominated by former communists. Romania and Serbia are still ruled by pre-1991 communists. Most of the break-away parts of the old USSR are still run by updated communists. What really occured after the Soviet collapse in 1991 was not the much ballyhooed `death of communism,' but rather a generational revolution. Out went the Old Guard of grim, geriatric communist bosses in baggy suits and fedoras. In came a younger generation of smiling, blow-dried Bolsheviki in Armani suits. Fed up with economic austerity, short-memoried east Europeans turned back to the `reformed' communists. The most outrageous example of this reversion is Albania. There, support for the resurgent communists reached an astounding 40% in some recent, pre-electoral polls. This tells us something very nasty about human nature. Last Sunday, Albania's 2 million voters went to the polls. Just before voting began, the Socialist Party (the renamed Communists) and smaller parties pulled out of the election, producing chaos. The communists, who rigged votes for 50 years and shot or jailed all opponents, had the chuzpah to accuse the ruling Democrat Party of intimidation and fraud. The communists' real motive was to avoid certain defeat. So the Reds went off to sulk. Albania's capable President Sali Berisha and his Democrats won the unopposed and utterly chaotic election. But how, I ask, could any Albanian vote communist? Albania was ruled for nearly 50 years by a Stalinist dictator, Enver Hoxah, who turned this tiny Balkan nation into a huge concentration camp. There was one secret policeman for every ten people, and hundreds of thousands of political prisoners. Chrome was mined by slave labor. . Barbed wire, watchtowers and minefields surrounded the country. The despot Hoxah outlawed all religions, forcing Albanians to worship him as a god. I have visited most of the world's horrible nations, but Albania in the 70's was the most frightening, depressing, nightmarish place I have ever seen. Albania was reduced to abject squalor and misery, a nation of rags. Yet, incredibly, more than a third of Albanians still support the communists.? How can this be? Those who fed heartily off the communist state apparatus yearn for the old days: Party bigwigs, bureaucrats, official artists and tame intellectuals, film makers, teachers, diplomats, the military, and secret police. Many East Europeans who were reared under ubiquitous state control have no understanding of real work, and are unable to function in a free-market economy. Under communism, connections, not personal initiative, were the key to success. Albanians still suffer that curse of all communist societies, envy of people who have more. Instead of emulating those who succeed, numerous East Europeans yearn for a return of the secret police so they can denounce their better-off neighbors. Anti-communists, meanwhile, make sure that all jobs and perks go to family, friends and non-communists, further deepening the rift. East Europeans reared under communism mistakenly believe that reports, speeches, meetings and dialectics equate to economic action. They don't yet understand the need to make and sell things other peoples want. Many long-term convicts come to thrive behind bears; after years, they can't live on the outside. Better a big man in the jailyard than a nobody on the street. That, alas, is what has befallen East Europeans. Too many long for the security of their old prisons. copyright Eric Margolis 1996 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** --------------------------------------------------------------- To receive Foreign Correspondent via email send a note to Majordomo@lglobal.com with the message in the body: subscribe foreignc To get off the list, send to the same address but write: unsubscribe foreignc Back Issues can be obtained from: ftp.lglobal.com/pub/foreignc For Syndication Information please contact: Email: emargolis@lglobal.com FAX: (416) 960-4803 Smail: Eric Margolis c/o Editorial Department The Toronto Sun 333 King St. East Toronto Ontario Canada M5A 3X5 ---------------------------------------------------------------