Dalibor Svoboda

Putting asphalt on the unpaved road …..

Nearly a year ago at the thread “The Most Successful Society” few of us debated Sweden as a Welfare State with all its good side and its flaws. At that time I did contributed with articles from newspapers and magazines which debated this topic from a range of different views. “The Most Successful Society” can be found at: http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5249 Right before the election did I read yet another article “Admire the best, forget the rest” on this matter from The Economist. Are you interested of “Admire the best, forget the rest” here is the address: http://www.economist.com/world/europe/disp...tory_id=7880173 I do have a feeling that these articles gives more accurate and better view of the current situation in Sweden than the somehow emotional postings published at this thread so far.

This is my transplantation of the text above. I hope it will help you in your search. The village of Zabokreky on Nitra river is situated in Trencin County in a district of Partisanka. The village is placed between mountains Pavazky Inovec and Tribec, not very far from the Nitra river. The elevation of the village is 219 meters over the sea (178 m at the lowest point and 260 m at the highest point). The village coordinates are; longitude18°18'10", latitude 48°37'35”. In the village live today almost 1700 inhabitants. The first historical trace to be found about the place in written documents is from the year 1291. Early inhabitations of the place of Zabokreky is documented by archaeological excavations as far back as to the Stone Age and there after throughout subsequent historical stages. Between 1872 and 1922 Zabokreky was one of the twelve districts of Nitra County. 37 villages have belonged to the Zabokreky district. Originally Zabokreky did have a rural economy later the village transform itself into important local centre of trade and manufacture. Significant building activities started in the sixties when road metalling was done and many buildings and homes were built. Also modern infrastructure (like sewer etc) was laid down since then and until today.

I came back home from my holiday weeks at my cottage to found this exiting exchange. I shall try to translate the text as soon a possible though it’s written in Slovakian language and my mother tongue is Czech.

Ano to je pěkné. Takže situace není tak beznadějná co se týče psaní všemi deseti ……….

Det är sommarlov, Anders! Dock tog du i ditt senaste inlägg ett antal viktiga frågor som är nog värda att begrunda samt så småningom ta ställning till. En sådan fråga är frågan om betyg. Så här kan man läsa om Ämnesbetyg i Skolvärden från den 15 juni i år på sidan 29: ”Övergång till ämnesbetyg från kursbetyg innebär att gymnasieskolans utbildningar ska byggas upp av studier i olika ämnen. Ämnena delas i sin tur in i kurser, och eleven läser en eller flera kurser i ett ämne. Eleven får dock betyg på varje kurs. De betygen bildar i slutänden ämnesbetyget. I det uppdrag som Skolverket fick poängterade regeringen att den stora förändringen är att ämnen och utveckling av ämneskunskaper ska lyftas fram som grunden för kunskapsutvecklingen enligt målen för gymnasieskolans olika program. Skolverket har enligt sina egna resonemang inte haft helt lätt att klargöra ämnen och ämneskonstruktioner. De har fokuserat på uppgiften att ämnena ska stödja ämnesbetyg. Skolverket har också haft svårt att tala om vad ska gälla vid betygsättningen när betygen på kurser kopplas ihop för att utgöra ämnesbetyg. När Lärarnas Riksförbund ställt frågan till Skolverket har verket inte kunnat ge något entydigt svar. Regeringen ska komma med anvisningar i en förordning.” Alltså en betydande osäkerhet i betygfrågan råder, vilket har även du påpekat. Och det kommer att bli regeringen som till syvende och sist ska avgöra hur betygen ska hanteras på skolorna.

Detta är en välskriven genomgång av de förändringar samt förväntningar som väntar oss, historielärare läsåret 2007/2008. Det är glädjande att ämnet historia har tillerkänts den vikt det borde ha i skolan. Samtidigt är det bekymmersamt att så få av oss lärare har en aning hur de goda intentionerna ska omsättas i praktik. På de program där historia inte har förekommit på senare tid kommer det nog inte vara något större problem att med hjälp av nyskriven lärobok fullfölja läroplanens intentioner. Men på SP-programmet, där jag undervisar uppstår ett brydsamt problem nämligen: Hur ska den korta inledande 50 poäng kursen flätas samman tidsmässigt, innehållsmässigt och pedagogiskt med de övriga tre 100 poängs kurser? På Fredrika Bremergymnasierna har vi startat en debatt om dessa frågor på: http://fredrikahistoria.blogspot.com/ Kanske kommer alla dessa debatter som växer fram på olika håll leda till en bättre förståelse för de utmaningar vi står inför.

It is always exiting to come over to Toulouse at the beginning of summer holidays. Thanks to all of you who by contributions of different kind created the atmosphere and content of the meeting.

Jen pro zajímavost ..... Někdy koncem minulého měsíce mě upoutala novinová hlavička v CITY: „Zde se budou žáci učit školní předmět štěstí a spokojenosti“. Článek pokračoval: „Anglická privátní škola Wellington College v Crowthorne západně od Londýna začne vyučovat o štěstí a spokojenosti. Lekce budou pojednavát o životě, který dnes ve své zmaterializované podobě ovládá moderního člověka. A budou též o životních normách a mentalní spokojenosti. Školu navštěvuje 800 žáků. Rodiče platí 240 000 tisíc českých korun za termín tedy půl roku vyučování.“

Most of the European newspapers wrote about the fate of Irène Némirovsky in the last few weeks. In Sweden I red about her sad story (a devastating fate!! … I could not let my eyes go off from the photos of her and her family which followed the text) last weekend in one of the morning papers. But let us turn back a to the theme of RESISTANCE ….. Tony Jude in his excellent book ”POSTWAR” , “A History of Europe since 1945” tells the readers following facts about Resistance in France ; “The Nazi administered France with just 1 500 of their own people. So confident were they of reliability of the French police and militias that they assigned (in addition to their administrative staff) a mere 6 000 German civil and military police to ensure the compliance of a nation of 35 millions.” (page 39) Few lines bellow keen readers can compare the sentences above with a sentence: “Contrast Yugoslavia, which required the unflagging attention of entire German military divisions just to contain the armed partisans.” Well so was it at that time …… there was the resistance and THE RESISTANCE!

Se skupinou žáků, kteří se chystají nyní v květnu na čtrnáct dní do New Yorku, Minnesoty a Kalifornie jsme dvakrát uspořádali na naší škole vetešnicý trh. Knížek je na takovém trhu vždy hodně, já tam objevil Vaculíkovu „Tjeckisk drömbok“ (Český snář). Je to šestisetstránková kniha a podezřívám, že ji nikdo ještě neotevřel. Pro mě bude zajímavé celou si ji přečíst poté co jsem příběh četl v uryvcích, které byli publikované, myslím si, ve „Svědectví“. Anebo to bylo v „Listech“? A také leží přede mnou „Hälsa Ängeln“ (Tovaryšstvo Ježíšovo) od Jiřího Šotoly, které jsem jednou dostal na Vánoce. Vyšla v nakladatelství kde vycházela spousta přeložených knih ze socialistických států v 70. a 80. letech. A nesmím zapomenout na Milana Kunderu! Myslím si, že byl spolu s Ivanem Klímou nejoblíbenější český spisovatel překládaný do švédštiny. Doma mám „Skämtet“ (Žert). Četli se tyhle knihy zde se zájmem? Myslím si, že ano. Nevím však jestli zdejší čtenáři vždy všemu popisovanému porozuměli tak jak jsme tomu rozuměli my, imigranti.

The Guardian of yesterday printed an interesting article ... well a future scenario written by Timothy Garton Ash under the headline “The tragedy that followed Hillary Clinton's bombing of Iran in 2009” This article not only assumed that Hillary Clinton will be elected to the highest office after a tough campaign against (not Condoleezza Rice!!) but against republican John McCain .. but it assume also that the path chosen by today’s president will probably be followed by numerous future presidents mainly because the alternatives are not to be found anywhere around. The article can be found at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1757027,00.html

I met Andrew Moore now and then at the meetings of Virtual School. He was a long standing member of this association. We learned to know each other but we never became close friends. We exchanged nods and politeness when passing and that was it. In December 2005 did I take part of a combine meeting of Virtual School and Language departments in Salzburg. Andrew Moore was yet another one of the participants there. This was a pre-Christmas time when beautiful and snowy Salzburg was every morning invaded by busloads from Italy and Germany searching for Christmas spirits. At some point during that meeting, I and Andy started to talk to each other in a more casual way. He talked about visiting an evening concert at a local church. I answered that I would more than happy to go with him there. He waited for me in the front of the very tiny and rather obscure church hidden in a petty lane outside downtown. We went inside. That evening was reserved for a mass not a concert. Andy apologised for the mistake but we decided to stay anywhere. It showed that Andy was an experienced churchgoer. I was not. I would like to think that I saw his deep believe, his spiritual and profound life focus right there, during that ceremony. But I´m not at all sure of that. After the ceremony we talked in short sentences to each other. I asked about his Christianity. He answered patiently. That he seldom miss a mass, which amazed me. I asked him if he wasn´t bothered that the ceremony had catholic style after asking him which confession he belonged too. He answered that he was not bothered by different confessions. I felt slightly unhappy wondering during our walk back from the church to the hotel why did I miss so completely .. during my lived life the Christians message about believes and hopes Andy so easily embodied in itself? That evening we decided that next morning we must attend the cathedral to listened to the morning concert there. Next day we barely squeezed inside in time for the ceremony and subsequent concert. The cathedral was crowded! But after a while we saw an unpopulated space further away which we move to. And there we stood quite amazed by the music this first Advent Sunday, December 2004. So do I remember Andrew Moore.

I believe that Francis Fukuyama has much more intellectual honesty that your descriptions of his “flip flop” change of view about Iraq war you so simplistically ascribe to him … In the article “ A Better Idea”, published at http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/fe...ml?id=110008147 , Fukuyama is honestly trying to seek after constructive alternatives to the US policy in Iraq today. He is critical of the White house approaches. But his own approach seems to me be more of an intellectual development of Bush doctrine than an alternative to it. As for my thoughts (which in this debate about Fukuyma ideas is not important at all) I still believe that it is right to fight for democracy and freedom. Sadly enough even by going to war. Which Great Britain did many times in its own past. Against Hitler and Mussolini, against Gualtieri nearly 35 years ago just to take a few most recent wars Great Britain fought ……. May I draw the conclusion that you are ashamed of them and its goals today?

Depending on whom you talk to in Hollywood these days, Hillary Clinton is either too conservative, too polarizing, too famous, too stiff or — keep this to yourself! — too sexy. And Hollywood we all should listen to, isn’t it so? At least in Sweden, newspapers like to quote what super stars of the white screen have to say about politics ….. Sean Penn I believe is most quoted actor here !!!!! Whole article printed by Los Angeles Times could be read at: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/...adlines-entnews

Francis Fukuyama is a thinker who often attracts ones prying eyes seeking for fresh thoughts in the magnitude of articles produced every day by media. Francis Fukuyama wants definitely to speak about what he feels is important and should be considered and reconsidered. Therefore I reprint yet another of his thought published in The Guardian few days ago. Europeans should beware of wishing for US failure in Iraq The chaotic outcome of Bush's war is feeding US economic nationalism and isolationism, which are a threat to Europe Many opponents of the Iraq war both in the US and Europe have felt a not-so-secret sense of schadenfreude at the developing chaos in Iraq. While many might intellectually support the emergence of a stable, democratic, pro-western government in Baghdad, "success" in this matter would be seen as a vindication of all of the baggage that the Bush administration loaded on to this project, including its unilateralism, use of force and incompetent execution of the war's aftermath. Many would therefore be happy seeing Washington suffer a setback, to deter such interventions in the future. But people should be careful what they wish for. A domestic nationalist backlash against the policies that led to the war is brewing, with implications for how the US will deal with Europe and the rest of the world down the road. Like it or not, American power and involvement are necessary to the proper functioning of world order, and the kind of role that a post-Iraq United States may play is very much up for grabs. Two recent events constitute straws in the wind. After the protests and embassy-burnings over the Danish cartoons, no major US newspaper was willing to publish the cartoons, and most editorialists took a holier-thanthou attitude to those European papers that did. While one might question the prudence of publishing the cartoons, the violent reaction was a clear case of intimidation, in many cases officially sanctioned, and few Americans criticised the protests or stood up for the right of free speech. Many seemed to feel a certain satisfaction that this time Europeans rather than Americans were feeling Muslim wrath. The second, and more egregious, case was the successful blocking by the US Congress of the purchase by Dubai Ports World of a British company that operates six US ports. Coming at a time of heightened economic nationalism on the part of countries such as France, Spain and Poland, which have recently sought to prevent such takeovers, this shameless pandering to public fears of terrorism undermined every principle of openness and globalisation that the US has been preaching in recent years. What was most notable, however, was the identity of some of the panderers. While many rightly blamed George Bush for creating a general fear of Arabs and terrorism, Democrats were among the loudest critics, in particular Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, the Democrats' leading candidate for president in 2008. Clinton, who has positioned herself to the right on security issues, saw an opening to attack the president and argued that the Dubai takeover would constitute a violation of US sovereignty. It seems not to have occurred to her that by this logic American multinationals are violating the sovereignty of virtually every country on the planet. Schumer, Clinton's fellow New York senator and liberal torchbearer, has been leading the charge against outsourcing and competition from China and India. He has been pressing relentlessly for sanctions against China for not revaluing the yuan and for a host of what he labels unfair trade practices. While the world has focused on Iraq, trade and jobs remain the most important international issues to many US voters, and Schumer and other Democrats are ready to respond with a protectionist agenda. We have, then, the makings of a perfect storm. Bush's red-state conservative base tends towards a pugnacious nationalism that opposed humanitarian intervention during the Clinton years. These voters were mobilised by September 11 to support two wars in short order; while they remain loyal to the president, perceived failure in Iraq will turn them in a more openly isolationist direction. Democratic voters, meanwhile, have been moving in an economically nationalist direction and are gearing up for a big fight with America's leading trading partners in Asia. Voters in both parties have become more sympathetic to calls for closing America's borders and reducing immigration. Many in Europe are eagerly awaiting the end of the Bush years, but it is not clear that a Democratic administration will be more broadmindedly internationalist. By invading Iraq, the Bush administration allowed what should have been characterised as a fight with a narrow extremist ideology to escalate into something the Islamists could claim was a clash of civilisations. But that clash will play itself out in large measure in Europe, the breeding ground for Mohammed Atta, Mohammed Bouyeri and the July 7 bombers. The controversy over the cartoons underlines the fact that the US and Europe have more in common in the struggle with radical Islamism than either side would like to admit. Cooperation to prevent this escalating into a broader civilisational struggle, and to maintain a generally open, integrated international order, will require solidarity. Neither European indulgence in feelgood anti-Americanism nor a bipartisan rise in US nationalism and populism brought about by perceived failure in Iraq will help. Francis Fukuyama at http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1735628,00.html

Thank you for the photo documentation of the meeting. Looking at the photos from The Caves reminds oneself how many exiting and unknown places there still are to be discovered in our old Europe. And thank you for organizing the meeting over such outstretched piece of Netherlands, in the Heerlen, Valkenburg and Maastricht. I enjoyed much when driving the borrowed car to look through the front window at the hilly landscape of Zuid Limburg.

These postings shows the owners of the Education Forum power. Should the owners have these possibilities ... to decide who could contribute and who should not be allowed to contribute?? Personally, I think that this is a complicated question. I would like all the participants at this forum to a bit of soul searching! Is this decision RIGHT? Can I ( can you) support these kinds of decision now and also in the future? How far are such kinds of decision hampering the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression? What is my personal believe? I have been observing a practice of not “just” handling of postings expressing different (sometimes unexpected) views. Views probably disliked by owners of this site. This made me observant and discomfortable. My own conclusion of what I have experienced up till today is that this is not an independent and true searching Forum…. Which of course force me to be not as creative and intellectually searching for answers as I hoped that I could be when accepting the membership.

1. I had so far produce three picture series which are describing the fate of women (and men) who did participate in resistance movements or being persecuted by communist regime. The first story “The attack on SS Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich” deals with the assassination of “Reich Protector” Heydrich in Prague and the Czech resistance movenent who were involved in this courageous deed. The text of this story is written in English. The second story “Stories of Injustice” ("Příběhy bezpráví") is 12 mini stories of Czech people, eight men and four women who were persecuted mostly during the fifties when the communist regime started to reshape Czech Republic. The text of the story is in Czech. The third story is about Czech “iron curtain” called “The Stories of Iron Curtain” (“Příběhy železné opony”) at the time of communist regime. My thought with these two stories is to put the parts telling about women together. The result should be a digital story made in Premier or Movie Maker with English speaking voice guiding the viewer through. I´m prepared to show these three stories during my half hour long presentation. 2. I also had done two filmed interviews, each approximately 60 minutes long. One of the interviews is made with Dana Zatopkova, javelin gold medallist from Helsinki Olympic. At the same Olympic her husband Emil Zatopek took unprecedented 3 gold medals in three running events. For those who do not know the Zatopek story you can read about it at: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/33656 The other interview was made with Julie Hruskova. Julie Hruskova crossed repeatedly Czech borders with Austria and West Germany after the communist regime established itself as the ruler of Czechoslovakia, helping persecuted persons to escape. Julie Hruskova became also active resistance fighter against the regime but was betrayed, sentenced to 15 years of harsh labour and served 11 years in prison camp. As other women political prisoners she got amnesty 1960. These two interviews, done last week are still on film cassettes. 3. I also published my earlier contributions at E-HELP homepage. It could be view at: http://www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupHomepa...p?GroupId=46506

Czech television, Channel 1 is sending every Monday right now a documentary called “The Stories of Iron Curtain” (in Czech “Příběhy železné opony”) . The newspaper “DNES” ( in English “Today”) describe the documentary in these (rather cryptic) words: “Who murdered and forced to murder at the strenuously guarded borders of communist Czechoslovakia? We are delivering heartbreaking stories in a new documentary about bravery and death done by Czech television according the script made by journalist of MF DNES Ludka Navara.” Very fast did I produce yet another PowerPoint presentation of these stories based on the newspapers articles. My thought is that I in the near future shall put together stories told about women’s fate in “The Stories of Iron Curtain” and “Stories of Injustice” (in Czech "Příběhy bezpráví") which I described in previous posting at this thread together. The result should be a digital story made in Premier or Movie Maker with English speaking voice guiding the viewer through.

I came back home from Prague yesterday late evening. I spent two days by visiting and interviewing for the E-Help project interesting women. Now I have in my possession two filmed interviews, each approximately 60 minutes long. One of the interviews was made with Dana Zatopkova, javelin gold medallist from Helsinki Olympic. At the same Olympic her husband Emil Zatopek took unprecedented 3 gold medals in three running events. For those who do not know the Zatopek story you can read about it at: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/33656 The other interview was made with Julie Hruskova. Julie Hruskova crossed repeatedly Czech borders with Austria and West Germany after the communist regime established itself as the ruler of Czechoslovakia, helping persecuted persons to escape. Julie Hruskova became also active résistance fighter against the regime but was betrayed, sentenced to 15 years of harsh labour and served 11 years in prison camp. As other women political prisoners she got amnesty 1960. To my knowledge there doesn’t exist any home page about Julie Hruskova yet. I hope that I can accomplish more interviews with other interesting women in due time and then put all of them together into a short documentary movie.

A week ago did I find an interesting article which I red through and then saved thinking that it should be reread in the future. I reprint some of its conclusions here in a hope that the content can bring at least some clarity into this debate though the main purpose of it was to compare Ronald Reagan economic policy with the economic policy of recent president. Well, let’s take a look at the Reagan legacy on federal spending and deficits. In 1980, the last year of Jimmy Carter’s presidency, government outlays were running at 21.7% of GDP and the budget deficit was 2.7% of GDP. (The economy was also a basket case, which is when you would expect budget deficits to be at their worse.) In 1988, Reagan’s last year in office, outlays as a percent of GDP were running at 21.3% with a deficit of 3.1% of GDP. The budget deficit over Reagan’s eight years averaged 4.2% and ran as high as 6.0% in 1983. Bush entered office with an economy that was booming: in 2000 government outlays ran at 18.4% of GDP with a budget surplus of 2.4%. But the stock market implosion, 9/11 and the war quickly changed the budget dynamics and the surplus switched to a deficit of 3.5% in 2003 and 3.6% in 2004. In 2005, the budget deficit came in at 2.6%, with government outlays running at 20.1% of GDP. The point here is that there is lot of hyperventilating about the Bush administration’s spending and “out of control” deficits, much of it by folks who praise Reagan yet trash Bush. But the most recent “out of control” Bush deficit at 2.6% of GDP is far below the eight-year Reagan average of 4.2%. This is not meant to disparage Reagan, only to provide perspective. When you look at the numbers on a proportional basis - which is the only way to honestly compare different eras - Bush’s federal spending is not “out of control,” at least in comparison to Ronald Reagan. What is not fully appreciated in analyzing the Bush legacy is that the combination of the stock market implosion (Nasdaq: 5,000 – 1100, S&P: 1500 - 800 ) and the economic impact of 9/11 created a perfect storm of forces that came perilously close to tipping the economy into a deflationary depression. The tandem of the Bush tax cuts (and deficits) coupled with the FED’s fire hose of money led by a 1% FED Funds rate saved the economy from a real disaster. Given the circumstances Bush inherited in his first 18 months in office, the economic growth we have sustained over the last 4 years is nothing short of miraculous. And when it comes to talking about spending and deficits, growth is the most important factor – something critics of the President seem quick to overlook. The whole article could be found at: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentar...7_06_JM_pf.html What is also disturbing when we look at economy growth are Fareed Zakaria words I found in Newsweek at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11298986/site/newsweek/ It's often noted that the European Union has a combined gross domestic product that is approximately the same as that of the United States. But the EU has 170 million more people. Its per capita GDP is 25 percent lower than that of the U.S. and, most important, that gap has been widening for 15 years. If present trends continue, the chief economist at the OECD argues, in 20 years the average U.S. citizen will be twice as rich as the average Frenchman or German. (Britain is an exception on most of these measures, lying somewhere between Continental Europe and the U.S.) People have argued that Europeans simply value leisure more and, as a result, are poorer but have a better quality of life. That's fine if you're taking a 10 percent pay cut and choosing to have longer lunches and vacations. But if you're only half as well off as the U.S., that will translate into poorer health care and education, diminished access to all kinds of goods and services, and a lower quality of life. Two Swedish researchers, Frederik Bergstrom and Robert Gidehag, note in a monograph published last year that "40 percent of Swedish households would rank as low-income households in the U.S." In many European countries, the percentage would be even greater.

Každá znalost kterou se žáci naučí je samořejmě dobrá. Pro žáka i pro společnost v které tento mladý člověk potom bude žít a pracovat. Umět psát všemi deseti byla dovednost kterou i já se chtěl naučit. Pamatuji si jak jsem si kdysi dávno vypůjčil na naší škole cvičební sešity a pilně (ale zbytečně) cvičil. Samozřejmě, že mně vadí že to neumím. Tak jak mě vadí, že neumím spoustu jiných věcí ...... Znám lidi, kteří nemají řidický průkaz a ohromě jim to ztěžuje život. Dnes se na naší škole vyučuje teoretická přípravka na řidický průkaz. Zaměstnavatelé ji od mladých žadatelů práce dnes požadují. Znám lidi, kteří neumí plavat. Jsou to přistěhovalci. Protože ve Švédsku se znalost plavání považuje za důležitou vyučuje se v první a druhé třídě na základnich školách. Švédský stát si nepřeje aby občané přicházeli o život utopením. Livskunskap, to je předmět o jehož zavedení do gymnasiálních škol se dnes moc ve Švédsku diskutuje. Livskunskap je znalost žít. V době drog, alkoholu, pitomých televiznich serálů, mobingu, zvyšující se kriminality mezi mládeži, znepokojujícího růstu sebevražd mezi mladými lidmi atd. je tento školní předmět považovát za důležitý. Na naší škole ještě zaveden není ale několik kolegů již absolvovalo školení aby tento předmět v budoucnosti mohli učit. Mohl bych dát více příkladů kdy výuka ve školách se přizpůsobuje potřebám společnosti. Otázka na kterou nedovedu dobře odpovědět je proč se dnes žáci neučí psát všemi deseti když se to za důležité považovalo včera. Další otázky na které též dost dobře nedovedu odpovědět je kdo by tedy vlastně měl rozhodovat co je důležité učit na školách? A co není důležité učit ve školách neboť se to dá naučit jinak a jinde?

When visiting my former homeland, previously with my curious school colleagues today more often with friends who wish to enjoy Prague hospitality one question emerge from time to time when debating with Czech people: How bad was it to live during Nazi occupation compared to Communist regime? I still remember an old teacher answering clearly and loudly that communist or totalitarian regime as it is simply called in Czech republic since Velvet revolution was far worst than Nazis. At first this judgment surprised me (and my colleagues around) greatly. I was always taught in great details how incredibly brutal Nazis were compared with nice comrades striving for bright future of my country, well, yes for the whole mankind. The old teacher then argued heatedly for his standpoint not altogether convincing neither my 15 colleges nor me. I think most of us looked at him puzzled …. he was …… his unexpected answer was …. a curiosity. But most of the following encounters between wondering friends of mine asking this kind of questions and Czech people, delivered the same answer. The communist regime in socialistic Czechoslovakia was far worst in its way to manipulate people, in its way to mercilessly and with unbelievable brutality deprive people of lives and dignity, in its willingness to harm ordinary people by stupid petty injustices whenever it whished to do so than Nazi regime. During its time it held power there didn’t exist a way to hide from its far reaching wrath and willingness to humiliate. And older people, wise by age, could compare and draw conclusions. And this, I believe should be a core of this debate. Not the discussion about who in the past red which books about Russian revolution and subsequent communist regime. Not self-centred rambling about writings of Richard Pipes and Robert Conquest versus Rosa Luxemburg and Leo Trotsky! Not discussion about how folks fought for socialism in Great Britain by fighting police on the streets ( it´s somehow pathetic to read this recollection. How about asking these millions of “Eastern Europeans” who already at that time experienced a real socialism in action! After all they lived just a couple of hundreds kilometres from you ….!). It´s not about how the initiative by Göran Lindblad, the conservative Swedish MP could be fitted into oncoming Swedish election. This debate should be about the simple fact that there still around us exists an admiration for the ideology which was brutal and inhuman in the same way as the Nazi ideology. This debate should be about the simple fact that there still exist communist parties in the western democracies who cooperated and often were financially and by other means supported by oppressive communist parties from Eastern Europe. This debate should be about the simple fact that members of these communist parties still dream to bring forward the same political change which so many in the Eastern Europe was forced to go through. Subsequently, this debate should be about how we, democratic minded and free citizens should in the best way handle these shameful facts.

Thank you. I just did it.