I want to say hello to everyone here-
I've been visiting the site while it was still the progressive independent for many years (I do believe as far back as '96, even if that seems impossibly long ago now), although I have never contributed to the great discussions that go and have gone on. I must say I rather enjoy reading the posts and very seldom feel that I have much to add. I have learned much and am grateful for that opportunity, that has been provided through the labor of others.

Although I am likely to continue in the well-worn pattern of simply stopping by and learning from what others have posted, I thought that since I currently reside in the Czech Republic I could be at least maginally useful, perhaps by answering questions some might have about this region of the world. Mind you, I am in the country less than a year and so my perspective is somewhat limited in scope, but I've been born here and speak the language and so, perhaps unreasonably, I feel that I do have a better view so to speak 'from the ground' than a casual visitor.

I've lived most of my life in Michigan and a part of it in Detroit. Whether I will return there is still a matter of much internal debate for me as my family all resides here.

Ideologically speaking, I consider myself well left of the center and you won't hear any defence of the capitalist system from me, nor any ideas about how it can be reworked to be more humane. That being said, I confess a great deal of political ignorance. I have read limited portions of das Kapital in my formative years and the little I understood, continues to shape my outlook on the world to this day.

That's about all that comes to my mind.
Chances are I am posting in the wrong section, so feel free to correct me.

Hey, Rusty! This is a good place to post "Hellos". Glad you can be here. Welcome (even if 16 years late!)...

Welcome Rusty.

Sure would be interested on your observation of that region of Europe. Jump in where ever you wish or start your own thread.

I want to say hello to everyone here-
I've been visiting the site while it was still the progressive independent for many years (I do believe as far back as '96, even if that seems impossibly long ago now), although I have never contributed to the great discussions that go and have gone on. I must say I rather enjoy reading the posts and very seldom feel that I have much to add. I have learned much and am grateful for that opportunity, that has been provided through the labor of others.

Although I am likely to continue in the well-worn pattern of simply stopping by and learning from what others have posted, I thought that since I currently reside in the Czech Republic I could be at least maginally useful, perhaps by answering questions some might have about this region of the world. Mind you, I am in the country less than a year and so my perspective is somewhat limited in scope, but I've been born here and speak the language and so, perhaps unreasonably, I feel that I do have a better view so to speak 'from the ground' than a casual visitor.

I've lived most of my life in Michigan and a part of it in Detroit. Whether I will return there is still a matter of much internal debate for me as my family all resides here.

Ideologically speaking, I consider myself well left of the center and you won't hear any defence of the capitalist system from me, nor any ideas about how it can be reworked to be more humane. That being said, I confess a great deal of political ignorance. I have read limited portions of das Kapital in my formative years and the little I understood, continues to shape my outlook on the world to this day.

That's about all that comes to my mind.
Chances are I am posting in the wrong section, so feel free to correct me.

Hey man!! I would personally love to hear some general thoughts on the region, because I'm not sure I know the proper questions to ask.

Welcome Rusty! With the internet it's great to be able to seek out news sources other than our standard media, but it is even better to hear the first-hand experiences of folks who are living in other parts of the world.

Welcome Rusty.

I have a question. Here's how wikipedia characterizes some of the changes in the Czech Republic:


Velvet revolution and independence

In November 1989, Czechoslovakia returned to a liberal democracy through the peaceful "Velvet Revolution". However, Slovak national aspirations strengthened and on 1 January 1993, the country peacefully split into the independent Czech Republic and Slovakia. Both countries went through economic reforms and privatisations, with the intention of creating a capitalist economy. This process was largely successful; in 2006 the Czech Republic was recognised by the World Bank as a "developed country",[8] and in 2009 the Human Development Index ranked it as a nation of "Very High Human Development".[9]

So, do citizens there feel "highly developed?" (haha) What do you see as the effects of the "economic reforms and privatisations?"

I employed a Czech immigrant who painted houses alongside my other remodeling efforts. Unsurprisingly, he was a tennis nut and named Vaclav...

Anyway, what was interesting to note was his educational background. Under the leftist government there (*which he never badmouthed), he received a university education and was trained as a civil engineer AS WELL AS trade school to be a painter, with the theory being that people trained to do both professional work and a trade would always be able to work.

I thought that very interesting and sensible though I was then just a liberal, not really thinking of the implications in terms of a socialized economy.

Anyway, not so sure that relates at all but it did come to mind.

Welcome.

Nice to hear of another Rusty. That's my real life nickname, and I have to report I have met Far More dogs named Rusty than men, ha.

Well, I was hoping that by posting here I would be automatically recognized as to just how "highly developed" I am =)
But really though, if the World Bank says highly developed they probably mean ready for the reaping..

The "economic reforms and privatization" are generally understood here to mean a free-for-all. From what I gather, the whole of the state's property, and by that I mean nearly all means of manufacture and distribution, housing, basically the whole caboodle, has been stripped, taken apart and stolen. Well you know, the capitalist model. I am told by a friend that the current president, Klaus, who was one of the people in charge of the privatisation process, proclaimed something to the effect that to divide the property among the citizens of the country "we need to turn the lights out in the room for a moment". Purportedly the process was rushed so as to prevent communists from gaining power back, I personally feel there were other motivating factors, namely power and profit.

Frankly, when I left here I was in my teens and so the particulars of the system escaped me. It might be that he got through trade school and then became a civil engineer, but that's just a speculation. From what I recall, somewhere around 7th or 8th grade one got evaluated and some time thereafter was sent to a trade school or to continued education. Again, my memories are not that clear.

To me, the region of eastern europe, after the collapse of communism, seems to have reverted to its traditional role of an economic colony of western europe. The communists did much to develop industry and infrastructure in the area, and promote self-sufficiency, however, with the collapse, much of the industry has been sold to western companies and investment groups.

Factories and their contents were taken apart and shipped elsewhere, when possible, along the model that I saw in the US with and before the advent of NAFTA. Just as I heard from a former worker about a factory in Pennsylvania, here too, before the last of the workers were let go, they helped to build the tracks to the plant, helped to take it apart and load it up on the train...

I feel that the people here primarily exist as a market for goods from western europe and increasingly China. I haven't studied the matter, but as a casual observer, it seems that there are few domestic brands that aren't subsidiaries of western firms. The news I get here and there, from Poland, Slovakia or Hungary paint a similar, rather bleak, picture.
Many of the people who remember a different system, long for aspects of it that are long gone. Guaranteed employment and a standard of living that though not an envy of the world was enough to get by on. Education and healthcare that were, if not excellent, then certainly good. Of course, all these things had to or are making way for the imagined progress of free trade and globalization.
Don't get me wrong, there are few who cry for the old system to return, but the euphoria of the "Velvet Revolution" has worn off and most of those who wanted change certainly did not imagine it would turn out like this. At least that's the sort of feeling I get when I talk to people here.

To me, the region of eastern europe, after the collapse of communism, seems to have reverted to its traditional role of an economic colony of western europe. The communists did much to develop industry and infrastructure in the area, and promote self-sufficiency, however, with the collapse, much of the industry has been sold to western companies and investment groups.

Factories and their contents were taken apart and shipped elsewhere, when possible, along the model that I saw in the US with and before the advent of NAFTA. Just as I heard from a former worker about a factory in Pennsylvania, here too, before the last of the workers were let go, they helped to build the tracks to the plant, helped to take it apart and load it up on the train...

I feel that the people here primarily exist as a market for goods from western europe and increasingly China. I haven't studied the matter, but as a casual observer, it seems that there are few domestic brands that aren't subsidiaries of western firms. The news I get here and there, from Poland, Slovakia or Hungary paint a similar, rather bleak, picture.
Many of the people who remember a different system, long for aspects of it that are long gone. Guaranteed employment and a standard of living that though not an envy of the world was enough to get by on. Education and healthcare that were, if not excellent, then certainly good. Of course, all these things had to or are making way for the imagined progress of free trade and globalization.
Don't get me wrong, there are few who cry for the old system to return, but the euphoria of the "Velvet Revolution" has worn off and most of those who wanted change certainly did not imagine it would turn out like this. At least that's the sort of feeling I get when I talk to people here.

Hello, Rusty.

The Czechs are required to buy Bosch ovens and Krups coffee makers now that the Greeks have run out of money. It is destiny. What do the Czechs know about making things anyway?

Joking aside... the Czech Republic is reminiscent of Pennsylvania in many ways... and not just in both of their recent "choices" of coffee makers. "Steel? In Pennsylvania? Don't be silly."

Welcome...

http://www.shelterrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/krupps.jpg