r/interestingasfuck • u/Dismal-Display-370 • 18h ago

Everyone is too happy around this guy

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u/BBryant3rd 16h ago

I don't see how you can even tolerate something like that. Every single person always praising you and such. No honest/real interaction. Couldn't do it.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 16h ago

I am not young

I lived in Romania under Ceausescu.

I was one of the "happy people" in the crowd.  You had no choice. If you disobeyed you and your family were marginalized, job lost, house taken away. You better be happy.

Dictators love this.

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u/Lordquas187 15h ago

Romania is the first country I traveled to outside of the US and I had zero comprehension of its history until I got there. The whole revolution story fascinated me, particularly with how modern it felt, being that you can watch Youtube videos of battles where dudes in sick 1990s outfits were smoking cigarettes while shooting AKs. How did it feel when you found out he was killed? Was there some sort of electric energy running through the country or was it a feel more like being in shock and realizing that it was time to start trying to piece the country back together?

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 15h ago edited 14h ago

I did not live in Bucharest

In my city, it was quiet ( no shootings )

December 1989 the Berlin wall was already down, Poland started reforms, Hungary was in full change. I was lucky to see Hungarian TV since I lived near the border with Hungary and I speak Hungarian, too. They showed what was happening in Eastern Europe and we were praying for soemthing to happen.

December 16th came and in Timisoara started an uprising. Pastor Tokes was suposed to be evacuated ( or something like that ) and people garthered to protect him Police and army intervened, then more people came out. Nothing was said in the state news about this. We heard on the Hungarian TV and there was a radio station in Germany called "Free Europe" who broadcasted in Romanian, too and they were also talking about this.

On Dec 21, Ceausescu organized a meeting in the palace square to condemn the "fascists" elements who whated to destabilize the country.

I was grade 12. I remember like it was yesterday. I was on my knees in front of the tv because we all hoped that Timisoara was the spark. My parents were behind me and talking about change.

Than in the back pf the crowd some screams were heard. This was live tv. ( it is on the net ) They stopped the live transmission. After like 10 minutes, they resumed the transmission. But there was a BIG change.

All the "we love the communist and socialist Party and Ceausescu" panels were gone. In the crowd there were only few Romanian flags. Thise flags had the Socialist country ( sorry I do mot know the proper name of it in English ) emblem cut out from the yellow area of the flag.

It gave us BIG hopes. My mom was crying behind me.

Then it started, the secret service took Ceausescu from the balcony and then the revolution started.

In like 2 days the dicattors were gone.

....but their close politicians still stayed in the power... But they had no choice but to change the system, not because they wanted to, but because it already happened in the rest of the communist countries, because the Soviets approved it.

When I tell people here in North America that the food stores had norhimg in them... they do not understand it. They thing we had food but garbage. They do not understand that nothing in a food store was empty shelves. Only those understand this who came from similar countries.

Whenever I read about...this and that ( politicians in the Western world ) is fascist or communist ... I just lol.

Just in this thread, oh "Trump will be that"... No...he will not be that... He can not be because the system does not allow it. I do not like Trump, I am in Canada now, and we have issues with his policies and border economy.

To say trump is a dictator is disgenerous to those who eacaped dictatorships or live in such countries.

Or when I see that people in the Western world idolize communism or socialism... Like ...why?...stupidity? Plus anyone who disagrees is a fascist like Ceausescu said about the revolutionaries ( or communist if we look from the other extreme ) ( some confuse social democracy like in Western Europe with socialism...but many just love socialism, the economic system)

Ok..I wrote a lot..sorry All the best.

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u/_bones__ 14h ago

It's a fascinating read. Thank you for writing it.

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u/Squornhellish 14h ago

Thank you for sharing!

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u/Themos1980 14h ago

One of the best posts I've read here in a long time

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u/Both-Subject-3674 12h ago

"No...he will not be that..."

I couldn't disagree more. Dictators come in many flavors, and a silent coup is still a coup. Worse than an overnight coup, is one that is done gradually over 10-15 years so that people are worn down and do not notice it has happened until it is too late. Even today it was announced that Hegseth has removed even more military leadership. Why? Why now? The timing (right before midterm elections that could make Trump a lame duck) is too perfect to be coincidence. They are preparing something. And hand-waving it by saying "it couldn't happen here" is exactly what will allow it to happen here.

You told us that you were in 12th grade when Ceausescu was killed. This means you were probably too young to be paying attention when he tightened his grip on power and turned fully authoritarian, but you can't ignore the parallels.

_____ built a secret police force

_____ instituted/extended mass surveillance

_____ built a cult of personality

_____ destroyed foreign relations

_____ ballooned the national debt

_____ mismanaged the economy and blundered multiple oil deals

_____ controlled the media and fought to destroy the free press

Now -- who am I talking about here? Ceausescu or Trump?

They have done all the same things, but one happened in a small country where people had very little to lose at the end and finally revolted, the other in the richest country on earth, where people still struggle to pay their bills, but haven't hit rock bottom en mass yet, and where difficulty and cost of travel prevents most mass civil protest from reaching a sustained fever pitch like in other countries.

So it is 100% happening. And to deny it or dismiss it is just plain foolish in my view.

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u/Motor_Ad_7103 10h ago

i 100% agree with you!

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 8h ago

Yes, I was not alive when the Communists took over.

A simple answer to your concern: True dictators outlaw all other political parties from day 1. This happened in Ro and in many other dictatorahips. A dictator ( or a totalitarian regime ) does not wait for the next year.

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u/Development-Alive 31m ago

Are you sure? Viktor Orban didn't outlaw competing political parties but rather defanged them. He took away their access to media. He clamped down on universities that could be breeding grounds for opposing ideas. Orban's first term in office was '98-'02. During that period he operated as a Democratically elected leader, thus was voted out in '02. He was then the leader of the opposition party. It wasn't until he regained power in '10 by a narrow margin that his Autocratic efforts started. It was in 2013, 3 years into his new term, that he changed the constitution to give himself more power, under the banner of the anti-immigrant issue. It allowed him to remove media entities with opposing views, reduced judicial independence and ultimately was a roadmap for Authoritarian rule, or democratic backsliding in academic terms.

In fact, Authoritarian rule rarely happens in a single year. Its typically a response to other issue. With Orban, us used the Anti-Immigrant issue as Syrians/Afghanis were escaping war as his pedestal to convince Hungarians that only HE could solve the problems so they had to give him greater power.

This isn't too different than the attempt by Trump to push the US in that direction. There is just more resistance. The economy isn't bad enough for enough voters to put their trust in him to grant him the power he craves.

Still, the point stands that citizens who embrace Autocracy rarely do so overnight. They are frogs in the pot of water that don't recognize the water is getter hotter and hotter and hotter until it's too late.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 24m ago

Yet, he lost Elections in 2026.

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u/Development-Alive 1m ago

He lost to someone from his own party that he had excised, purportedly used as a scapegoat. Ultimately, Orban's own corruption caught up with him. That doesn't erase all the anti-Democratic changes he put in place, something their new PM promised in route to winning.

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u/External-Carpet4215 6h ago edited 5h ago

Appreciate your experience but your views are at complete odds with every scholar of authoritarianism or totalitarianism I have ever read.

Gonna stick with the people who have spent their lives studying this topic.

PS. You would do well to study what occurred in the Philippines, as a start.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 6h ago

Sure I respect your opinion. Books are written by diverse people with diverse views. It is up to the people to value which author is a scholar or not. Even dictators wrote books.

You can enlighten me and post some of these books and scholars. I am open minded plus I have more time to read since I am older.

All the best.

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u/External-Carpet4215 5h ago

I would start with the works of Ruth Ben-Ghiat, even just her interviews.

Edit: if you want a specific book, try Strongmen.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 5h ago

Thank you I will look into this

All the best

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u/Awkward_Region5509 2h ago

I think homie came at you a little hard, but I don’t disagree.
Trump can’t become a dictator the same way others did 20,30,40 years ago because the landscape is different.

I think trump is capable and is trying, but if he just started locking people up day 1, there would’ve been a civil war.

I hate the guy, but he’s playing his cards right now

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 2h ago

Totally agree.

Thank you.

All the best.

→ More replies (0)

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u/mary_jays 19m ago

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder is an excellent read, and highlights the strategies that authoritarians use to consolidate power

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 14m ago

Thank you

I will look into this, too.

I wish you all the best.

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u/_bones__ 2h ago

There are examples to the contrary.

Hitler took several years to increase his power until he did that.

Russia still has other political parties, and Putin is a dictator.

The US is a nation that has many safeguards against a dictatorship, but those safeguards are under attack. You don't do that if you intend to keep them around.

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u/GapPrestigious6414 4h ago

Genuinely asking, because to me it's just absurd to liken what happened in Eastern Europe to where modern Socialism is today, do you actually think wanting more democratic processes, such as worker owned co-ops, decentralized governance, and universal healthcare, are synonymous with authoritarianism? People who lived under the communist regimes so often seem to be anti-left and defend the right when in the west, the roles are completely reversed. What you experienced under communism is what we in the west would call right wing.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 3h ago

What means left and what means right? Left as ideologically, to have socialist policies and universal healthcare? Then I am left.

Right to allow for private ownership? ... Then I am right... To technically I am centrist.

See... Because the term Socialism is confusing these days, people read it as they wish.

Socialist policies exist in Europe ( and Canada ), the fact that you note "modern Socialism is today" it does not make European countries Socialist. They do have Socialist policies, but they are capitalist economies.

If you mean Socialist economy, like in 1 worker 1 share and so on... Yes, that will be authoritarian state That type of company / micro ( company level ) economy can exist only in an economic system where private enterprise can exist. That is because people think differently and not all people agree to 1 worker 1 share system. I would like to have the freedom to open a coffee shop. Why would the state not let me if it was a free state...or?

A Socialist state, would not allow for private ownership, therefore authoritarian.

Just to make sure we talk abt thr same thing Socialist policies as universal healthcare and co-ops are not Socialism as in Socialist state. Those are Socialist policies in a countries that allow private entreprises.

About: " What you experienced under communism is what we in the west would call right wing."

No, that is incorrect.  Before communism, Romania was fascist under Antonescu. Your point would make those 2 regimes the same... Your point would make an equal sign between hitler amd ceausescu

All the best.

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u/GapPrestigious6414 1h ago

So this is where you're confused.

>A Socialist state, would not allow for private ownership, therefore authoritarian.

You're confusing private ownership with personal ownership. To go to your coffee shop example, you could absolutely own a coffee shop. But the moment you hire other people, a socialist system would say you can't take advantage of other people, and that they should get the value of their labor.

If you owned the coffee shop privately, as exists in a capitalist system, you could take advantage of others and pay them next to nothing. You could say you're going to pay them a fair wage or a living wage or whatever, but that's still unethical because of the way wages work. That is, you take 100% of the profit. Wages are an expense, and Revenue - Expenses = Profit. There is no ethical way to pay a worker in a capitalist system the actual value of their labor because you, the owner, would not receive a Profit. That's one of the major problems that Socialists identify in Capitalism.

I totally get the confusion because yes, a lot of people misuse the term socialism, but that cuts both ways. USSR was as Socialist as the National Socialists, and just as a Republic as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea). But we get the term "privatization" from the Nazi's because they were a decidedly Capitalist party with Capitalist policies.

I'll admit, I know very little about Romanian politics, but a cursory read through what Ceausescu did reveals that he employed Austerity, a Capitalist economic theory. According to Wikipedia, he apparently was an enforcer to Gheorghiu-Dej in prison, where Gheorghiu-Dej was building his cult of personality and making the people there say they didn't understand Communist writers, and could only accept Gheorghiu-Dej's interpretation. That's about as damning as evidence as one should need to be at the very least skeptical that these "Communists" were any closer to Communism than the Nazis.

Lastly, I want to address your point about not everyone agreeing to the system and that therefor it's authoritarian.

"That is because people think differently and not all people agree to 1 worker 1 share system."

Your thinking is very flawed here. Not everyone agrees to democratic governments, does that make the very idea of democracy problematic? No, it gives power even to those people who want to make less decisions in their own lives to not participate. There's some exceptions to this like Australia, but by and large the freedom to vote comes with the freedom to not vote as well.

Anyways, I think I've said my peace, and I'm enjoying a mid-day snack. I hope you have a wonderful day as well.

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u/Important_Capital875 6h ago

It isn’t happening just because you don’t like him. Get out of your feelings.

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u/Important_Capital875 6h ago

You realize ice has been around for decades? And you realize you can put Joe Biden’s name for all those statements and it would be correct?

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u/SourceEast44 7h ago

You are so right. This is not to be ignored

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u/RAYvenko55 10h ago edited 10h ago

- ICE is hardly secret and non-issue for citizens

  • mass surveillance exist since the dawn of internet and cell phones. Check UK and Germany if you wanna be fearmongering.
  • every election winner you don't like = he must have cult following
  • fuck foreign relations if the countries were "friends" only for as long they could exploit US economy or power
  • check the dept growth during Biden, i guess he was dictator too?
  • US economy grows ~2% every year, for decades, trump, biden, obama, whoever.
  • you can write whatever you want about Trump on all US-owned social media, anybody can. Go try to do that in China or DPRK. But he kicked CNN from the White House, right?! I would kicked them from my house too if they came just to ragebait first, write news second.

I live in EU by the way and some countries here are so fucked beyond recovery due to illegal immigration i wish we had Trump or somebody with balls to clean up the mess. Instead our politicians protect and hide all the crimes illegals commit in fear of riots, feeding the power to the real ultra right-wingers for free. It's like 1930s all over, just waiting for the painter to show up.

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u/ApocalyptoSoldier2 10h ago

ICE is a non issue for citizens other than the citizens they kidnap or murder

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u/Mr_Voided 3h ago

Idk if I’m crazy for saying this but a lot of those points can be summed up by the fact that this guy is an idiotic narcissist who just so happened to be the president. Even he knows his time is up soon and a majority of those points have either been done by other governments officials or presidents in the past. When he implemented ice it was because he knew his party was majority racist white people who believed that foreigners were taking their jobs on home soil. Seems like he doesn’t actually care and decides to do whatever he thinks will make him look good and when he realises it doesn’t he either backpedals or silently separates himself from it. He thought messing with the reflective pool was a good idea and look at how that turned out. Mass surveillance is not his idea and can be tracked back to when he was in his con artist days or even before that (ik you said extended this is just for the dummies that believe he was the first). Likely someone in his administration sold him on the idea. When it comes to the cult personality that is a mixed bag of him being a charismatic asshole and his followers feeling like they’ve been ostracised and end up going to one extreme. Again this guy is an idiot, destroying foreign relationships is not a power move, it’s him being unable to think about what is required to boost foreign relations. The us has been in debt forever I’m sure you already know that. The part where he does show signs of being a dictator is the media part. He currently has a ban on cnn and other media news networks preventing them from attending any of his public junk. This didn’t work out either because he didn’t prepare for what came after. He had no microphone or any setup prepared for public appearances. This idiot just does things on a whim and suffers the consequences later or not at all because they don’t affect him. He’s all theatrics no brain.
(My phone is going incredibly slow and has been frustrating me since I started typing. Sorry about the numerous grammatical and punctuation errors I can’t bring myself to retype anything on this piece of junk phone I have.)

Tldr: in my unprofessional and not researched opinion a majority of his “dictator like” showings have come from a lack of knowledge or the idea that people will like him more if he does something.

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u/JesseTheNorris 14h ago

I enjoyed reading your first hand account. Thank you for sharing.

Abot Trump. He isn't a dictator... Yet. He has many teams trying to break down the institutions that prevent him from being one. Evil only requires that good people do nothing.

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u/Preeng 13h ago

>To say trump is a dictator is disgenerous to those who eacaped dictatorships or live in such countries.

He is slowly becoming a dictator. It's not a contest. His actions go against democratic norms.

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u/noradosmith 13h ago

He's a wannabe dictator. And sadly a lot of people also want him to be. He definitely isn't one.

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u/MeanHurry8664 12h ago

Yes, Trump wants to be a dictator, and he would be as bad as any of them. I don't think the comparison is "disgenerous" (sic) - or disingenuous.

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u/ruckustata 10h ago

Agreed. I feel like the commenter is drawing from a terrible past but does not truly understand how a country gets there. It's in steps, not leaps and bounds. The acceleration of the diminishing of personal rights is alarming in the US. The prices are rising and the shelves are starting to empty for all but the most financially stable. Empty shelves can mean unobtainable as well. You might as well tell me there are no cars for sale if the only thing available was a Lamborghini, Rolls Royce or a Honda Civic at Porsche prices.

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u/El_Scruffo 12h ago

Socialism is not just Soviet Marxism-Leninism. Socialist ideologies existed way before Marx. Social Democracy (which I support and feel the US DESPERATELY needs to adopt) is another of the several branches of Socialism.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 5h ago

Current Social Democracy is working in capitalist countries. All Social Democracies that you look up to in EU are capitalist economies.

People confuse Social protections in Social Democracies ( yes Socialist policies ) with Socialism, the economic system ( companies owned by the workers and all that )

If US adopts Social Democracy, social protections like in EU or even here in Canada, US will not be Socialist country. It will still be capitalist, just like Canada and EU countries.

All the best Good luck to you

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u/El_Scruffo 4h ago

Yes, you are 100% correct. Social Democratic countries are still capitalist economies. I'm just saying that even though SD is not full Socialism, it is still considered a "branch" of Socialism. By the way, I'm so jealous because I wish I was living in Canada right now like you, instead of this shitshow of a circus called United States. Best to you.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 3h ago

Glad that we agreed.

I wish more people would understand that Socialist policies are totally something else than Socialism lime in res star and stuff

I wish you all the best and I hope soon you'll have a better leader.

Take care 👍

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u/Wet_Viking 12h ago

This is a really good and interesting perspective. Thanks

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u/reality72 12h ago

Trump absolutely wants to be Ceaucescu. And he is doing everything he can to slowly undermine the integrity of the system that prevents him from being Ceaucescu. Even if he is unsuccessful, he has set the precedent that it’s okay to undermine our democracy and the next guy who comes along might be successful in doing it.

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u/ForensicPathology 12h ago

radio station in Germany called "Free Europe" who broadcasted in Romanian, too and they were also talking about this. 

Back when the States understood the strength of soft power to push their interests.  No surprise they cut its funding last year.

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u/LawdHappenstance 12h ago

Radu ❤️

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u/NatureMarryMe 12h ago

Well, that was a trip, well written my friend!

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 5h ago

Thank you, my friend

All the best to you and your family

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u/khorenF 11h ago

Thanks for sharing this, it is so fascinating to read it from someone who lived it first hand

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u/Nefilim777 11h ago

What an amazing post. Thank you.

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u/Imaginary-Goal-9443 11h ago

Thank you for a very interesting description .

I was 16/17 at the time. I VIVIDLY remember seeing the long lines in front of empty shelves in stores (on tv) Lived in the Netherlands at the time. But the images were very daunting and always stayed with me , as the people always looked so miserable .

People here and now wishing for communism are naieve braindead morons and are just envious of richer people, all while wanting to destroy hope for everyone forever.

Also Scorpions 'Winds of Change'.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 6h ago

My brother / my sister

You noted Wind of Change and gave me shivers of joy and happiness.

OMG what a song in what times

Thank you so much.

I will play it now on the capitalist Spotify  🙂

All the best and good luck.

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u/Fluffy_pink_Willy 10h ago

Wow powerful read, thanks for sharing, I can’t imagine typing this was easy

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u/Iceicebaby21 10h ago

Thank you for giving me just a gaze into history.

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u/Guzzlebutt 10h ago

This was probably the only thing of substance I will read today. Thank you for that!

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 6h ago

Goid luck, and good health, my friend.

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u/WerewolfOfNewMexico 6h ago

Amazing insight, thank you.

Looking forward to the replies from people without your experience to chime in on why the politicians they don’t like actually are fascists and socialism actually is great.

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u/DeathAgent01 1h ago

Coming from another socialist dictatorship I appreciate very much your story, it makes me fantasize one day my country will be free too

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 18m ago

I hope so, I truly understand your feelings.

I wish you all the best and hope the Wind Of Change will blow towards you, soon.

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u/RagingThrawn 49m ago

Thank you. Do not apologize for speaking at length. This story has to be told over and over as many do not understand the realities that you all went through. The history of us all has to be told otherwise we will return to the same mistakes and villainy of the past. It scares me deeply to see WW2, the Cold War, the killing fields, Stalin and so many horribly violent periods be seen as nothing more than a distant story or a concept alone.

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u/noradosmith 13h ago

Agreed. People who aren't from Europe don't seem to grasp exactly what totalitarianism really looks and feels like.

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u/faku35624 9h ago

Laughs in latinoamerican spanish

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u/Journey_of_EL 13h ago

Your family must have been rich to afford a tv.
My wife’s family were already poor although both parents worked as engineers
All their savings disappeared overnight due to devaluation of currency

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u/Cautious-Oil-7466 13h ago

Considering Ceausescu was a dictator, his life style was not that extravagant compared to other dictators. I saw his house and it was pretty basic for a leader of a country that is to show power.

What are your thoughts on Romania now?

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 5h ago

Hi

I do not know what house you saw, but if you consider Palatul Primaverii ( Spring's Palace ) with more than 50 rooms, indoor pool, golden bathroom, bomb shelter, not extravagant... when everyone else was starving .... You live a good life 🙂

Regarding what are my thoughts on Romania now, I think it improved a lot. But still lots of corruption, not like 20-30 years ago, but still corruption. Lots of uneducated people who cry back those times because they did not have to work and still got a salary, with a cabbage and a chicken in the rural area, they survived. Now they have to work....

But I think it is way better than in tha past. I consider moving back, too.

All the best to you and your family.

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u/Unrigg3D 6h ago

Before jumping to disagreements. How much of trumps past do you know before he became president? He was raised in similar ways and thoughts as king Jong un and other dictators. His father ousted his sick older brother and just let him die. Trump himself did nothing for his older brother even though he talks about their great relationship.

I have a hard time understanding how you cant see that this man thinks the country is his toy if you knew his family history, his past and his history of doing business BEFORE he became president.

What system are you talking about? If the system worked he wouldnt still be president.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 6h ago

If you think I like Trump, you are mistaken. As I notes above, I am in Canada, and we feel his policies.

He may have dictatorial tendencies, but he is not a dictator ( at least not yet ) because your ( if you are American ) system does not allow him to be. He can not abolish the rest of the parties just because he wants to be a supreme leader. And because other parties exist, people can still vote to whoever they want. I did mot see the secret police standing beside the ballot to make sure you "vote correctly"

Good luck All the best.

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u/GettingMad2025 5h ago

You see people praying to Putin this days. What do you think? I think Russians,like on those years you lived in Romania are more or less in the same situation, few information,brain washed,fear of the state police. Ukrainians who lived those Soviet years don't want to live on the same way. I guess that's why they keep fighting so hard.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 5h ago

It is fuckung unbelievable.

I di not understand how in a former dictatorship wr still have people ( even younger than me ) who love putin.

Like why the fuck?

But I kind of know why... Because companies are sold to foreign companies, they fire people who do mot work, and these people love to not work and be paid.

It is heartbreaking seeing people back home loving putin. Totally imbeciles.

Good luck and all the best to you.

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u/Development-Alive 45m ago

To be clear, I think many believe that Trump is a wannabe Dictator, not that he actually is one. As 1/6/2020 and subsequent lack of accountability showed us, the US system is not as foolproof as everyone believed prior to that date. This is the essence of #NoKings. It's a resistance to Trump and his followers Autocratic tendencies.

No, it's nothing compared to Cold War Eastern European countries but it's a significant shift toward autocracy from the country that boasts being the "leader of the free world". When combined with the gains of right-wing elements in European democracies, we'd all do well to heed the concerns that Autocracy is on the rise. Heck, read up on Curtis Yarvin. He has a lot of influence in the Tech Bro community who backed Trump and had direct influence over JD Vance becoming VP. Yarvin espouses that Democracy needs to be replaced by Autocracy. He believes that the end of Democracy is that the poor people who have all the voting power will only support politicians that give them "free" stuff, taking from the earners, the wealthy. Yarvin believes that the solution to stopping that is Autocracy.

Democracy is not guaranteed anywhere. No systems of government has withstood time. All eventually meet their demise. It's important for Americans to fight for the ideals of our founders, the equality, resist systems like Autocracy and Kleptocracy.

On another note, I love Romania. After visiting their for work multiple times in 2018, I can understand what y'all went through. That transition from Communism, where the government supplied everything to Democracy/Capitalism was a very tough journey. Many came out better but I'm certain many others came out worse. I was in Hungary last year and my tour guide, who lived through their revolution, seemed to long for some elements of Communism. She outright stated that life is hard in an economy that left many behind. It's hard to put food on the table, roof over their heads though she also fully recognized the lack of freedom under Communist rule.

What are your thoughts, living in Canada? Do you or your family have to work harder to feed/house yourselves? Is retirement harder for your parents?

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 27m ago

Canada is OK, can't complain, can't brag

No, I do not have to work harder to feed ourselves. We ( as a family ) strive to be good at what we do, tgere are companies who appreciate it, orhers don't... Like in every aspect of life.

I wish you all the best.

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u/Interesting_You6852 39m ago

Look I come from communist Romania and let me tell you, capitalism is just communism in disguise. There is corruption where people at the top steal all the wealth just like communism. The laws only work for ordinary people, just like communism. If they don't like you they will come get you and you disappear this is what ice is doing now, just like communism.

But to say socialism is the same as communism is stupid and comes from someone who is uneducated.

Denmark and Norway are democratic socialist country's where people are some of the happiest in the world.

Unlike capitalism and communism socialism says we don't mind people being rich but we also will not people be so poor they cant survive. See the difference?

The rich made their riches off the back of poor people and should pay their fair share to live in that society that allowed them to be so rich.

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u/anteatersaredope 12h ago

To be fair when polled more Russians say they were better off under communism than they are now and China is socialist and they have plenty of food and the quality of life has been getting substantially better there for the last 30 years while it's been declining in the US and Britain.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 8h ago

China is socialist? Today? It was... But today they are not. They are ruled with iron fist by one party that call themselves socialist/communist so they take the benefits of being in power.

But they are not socialist.

You think Ma from Alibaba or Wang from Dji have the same net worth and fortune as their employees? You think the above companies are owned by the workers?

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u/anteatersaredope 4h ago

They're socialist not communist.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 3h ago

I did not claim that they are communist. But they are not socialist, either.

They are capitalists ruled by an authoritarian party. Jack Ma would mot be a billionaire if they were real socialists.

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u/Just_Nobody9551 10h ago

Please tell them again! Socialism and Communism have never worked—successfully. Anywhere. But they are fantastic ideas. However, human greed inevitably takes root.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 6h ago

I say it again Communism and Socialism ( the economy, not social ) never worked and will never work.

It is a utopia.

Yes, I agree, human greed takes root. It is valid for politics, for business. That is why we need good rules and parties that implement these good rules.

To whoever disagrees about communism and Socialism being bad...have you ever had a tooth extraction without anesthesia because the anesthetic was inexistent... Just like the food? Think about it.

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u/kemb0 10h ago

That’s a great read but I would like to add that many dictators edge their way in to power, slowly crumbling the systems that keep them in check. Under communism, many dictators were installed by the soviets but in many other cases a dictator rises slowly in to power.

People aren’t saying Trump is an outright dictator so much as highlighting the very real things he’s doing to edge America towards a dictatorship. It’s how Hitler rose to power. They slowly infiltrated the hearts and minds of the people, pulled down the systems keeping them in check and then, only when the groundwork was done, did Hitler become the dictator.

This route is very different to what happened in Romania so it can’t really be compared to your experience of what is and isn’t a dictator or a dictator-in-waiting.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 6h ago

Hitler changed Germany to a 1 party dictatorship in like 6 months. There were no other parties to challenge him nor people to vote for....in 6 months.

Same play was done by communists. Fast changes.

Romania went from Fascism under Antonescu to Communism under Gheorghiu-Dej in a blink of the eye. We jumped over the center..lol

But it's true, other countries had their fingers in.

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u/Current_Ranger_7954 10h ago

Thank you for sharing! I was attracted to the whole communist BS when I was a kid, and it's this kind of first person account that made me think further, including from an old lady who spent years in prison because of Ceausescu.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 6h ago

Good luck

You do not have to own a company to live well in the western world.

Just be good at what you do. Be the best or among the best in your field. You will never ever have a problem finding a job or be paid well. Companies will call you to offer you jobs. People move from one company to another and when they are asked... Hey do you know someone who should we hire, they will say, call Current-Ramger-7954. And they will call you, and you will have the advantage in negotiating. But then you have to show that you are not just a story, but the real deal.

And from there ...the possibilities are yours to explore.

Good luck and success to you and your family. All the best

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u/Current_Ranger_7954 6h ago

Same to you! Thank you for the kind words. I do strive to be as good as I can at what I do, and have never felt hunger thanks to this.

All the best to you and your family and loved ones

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u/One-Recognition-1660 9h ago

Whenever I read about...this and that ( politicians in the Western world ) is fascist or communist ... I just lol. Just in this thread, oh "Trump will be that"... No...he will not be that... He can not be because the system does not allow it.

Jesus Christ man. I grew up in Europe, now live in the US. I'm old, at least a dozen years older than you.

I can see one hundred percent how actual fascism is happening right here, right now. It's bizarre to me that you have lived through what you've lived through and still can't recognize the obvious warning signs.

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u/Inevitable-Level-687 9h ago

I think you're operating under the assumption that political ideology and economic ideology cannot be separated. That a capitalist country MUST be democratic, that a socialist one MUST be a dictatorship. No, you could easily have a capitalist dictatorship and a socialist democracy. Every socialist I know is a democratic one and is very much against autocracy. Socialist dictators were autocrats, and while they implemented socialist policies they did so under an autocratic system. There is no reason why socialist policies cannot be done in a democracy, in fact I live in a country that's much more socialist than the United States and we have a much more democratic system than they do, not less.

Trump isn't a dictator like yours was, but it's not black and white. He doesn't flip a switch and suddenly dictatorship. He has democratic institutions to get rid of first. And he's been doing it. What the Americans have isn't a dictatorship like Romania was a dictatorship, but they are well on their way. Google the signs of fascism - you'll see many od those signs were around decades before Trump showed up. Trump did not bring fascism, he's a symptom of decades of American decline, and that decline has sped up under his influence.

But thank you for sharing your story and your experiences. What the Americans are dealing with isn't as bad as what you did, but please don't think that it can be safely ignored because of that. It cannot. Evil things happen when good people stand by and do nothing.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 8h ago

" under the assumption that political ideology and economic ideology cannot be separated. That a capitalist country MUST be democratic, that a socialist one MUST be a dictatorship"

Since many people consider Europe as Socialist, we have to clarify if you mean Socialist as in social protection ot Socialist as in Socialist economy?

If socialist economy... sorry, that will never be democratic. Why? Because Socialism does not allow private ownership, individual ownership. Because if I have a skill or if I have an idea that could benefit my family by working more, creating new products, why wouldn't I choose that? Why would I share my struggles' benefits with others who did not invest or worked with me years to develop my service/product? Socialism ( the economic one ) works as a coop ... in a capitalist country.

People want choices. I want to have the choice to create something and benefit from it. For that, theree must be a party that promises that posibility. That party will be voted democratically ( since you sait it is a democracy ) by more people like me. Therefore that country will become a social democracy ( yes, capitalist ) and stop being socialist. If that is not allowed, it is not a democracy.

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u/nonkeywayzee 8h ago

This was a great read, as a Venezuelan the last paragraph resonated with me so much, you have no idea.

I really wish all of these first world socialists ignorance and never having to live the consequences of their so desired revolution.

It is no coincidence the people in socialist states always have to flee those countries by the millions.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 8h ago

Preach, brother

I wish you all the best

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u/ComradeGibbon 8h ago

Worked for a company one of the board members sold large industrial valves to the oil industry. He sold stuff to the Soviets. My boss and his wife went to Moscow with him on a business trip. Wife was free one day and went walking around and poked her nose into a butchers shop and the only thing they had was a slab of pork fat.

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u/Dred_Capt 8h ago

Viewpoints like yours - 1st person experiences with totalitarianism - are desperately important.

Do not be sorry for telling your story.

The world needs to hear it.  Speak up, Speak more.

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u/redditgolddigg3r 53m ago

Appreciate your perspective, but the foundation of these dictatorships were rooted in things Trump is doing today. Reforming the judiciary and commanding his own paramilitary force is a blatant move towards a dictatorship.

The truth of all this... if Trump could focus on one thing for more than a second, he'd have truly cemented himself in power, but he's his own worst enemy. The guy can't help himself with self-inflicted wounds that continue to push away moderates that were openminded to his world-view.

Without the backing of the majority, he's quickly crumbles.

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u/United_Branch_5736 11h ago

Sorry man, what you had in Romania? Has nothing to do with the fact Trump is not a bad human being and it certainly doesn't mean he wouldn't do exactly the same if he was given the chance.

Sure Romania had it bad, but the system had absolutely nothing in common with what Marx and Engels called either socializem or communisem. It was an agrarian poor society in 1945 and by definition communism needs "abundance of means" to exist. Romania was "socilistic" by name only.

It's like I'd put Benz logo on Dacia and insisted that Benzes are bad cars.

I am older than you, fortunately from the part of the Europe that saw your part as the gravest enemy, we ware all glad for you, but still, let's be real, shall we?

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 8h ago edited 6h ago

My friend Communism is a utopia. If you lived during that period, were you part of the system in another "not real" communist country?

"Let's be real" how?...that you lived in Wester Europe and enjoyed your freedom and food and now you say that we actually misunderstood the whole thing and Marx and Engels were actually right? I do want my kids to open a sweet shop because we have some family recipes that we think people will like. Should I be in jail because I want this? Certainly commies and socialists ( the economic term ) would want that

"It's like I'd put Benz logo on Dacia and insisted that Benzes are bad cars." Dacia ( the car design ) was actually given to us by Renault. Dacia 1100 was Renault 8 and Dacia 1300 was Renault 12. Dacia was not a Socialist or communist invention. It was a license. Dacia was sh1t and barely evolved. Renault bought Dacia in '99

No need to answer

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u/United_Branch_5736 5h ago

My point, dear friend, is that no country in ex. USSR block ware either socialist or communist. They just labelled themselves as one.

Communisem is statless, classless, moneyless society, and as far I am aware there was no such state in existence - ever.

So saying communisem is utopia becose it didn't work in soviet block? It's like saying boat is useless because one can't use it in desert. Yet nobody tried to use it the ocean.

Prerequisite for communism is abundance, and as you stated that shops in Romania ware empty. So no abundance there.

I am sorry you had to live there, during those times, and I am sure your trauma is very real, but that doesn't mean anything in context of system that will eventually need to replace capitalism.

Why? Because capitalism demends, by definition, infinite growth, yet we, as human race are limited by one earth. So either half of us die, or we need to explore other options.

Glad you found better place to live, though, genuinely.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 3h ago

It is a utopia because there is no abundance without work, there is no work without money. States always existed and always will exist as long as humans exist. Therefore a utopia.

All the best. I wish you good health and all the best.

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u/United_Branch_5736 3h ago

Sure there is abundance, AI and automation are opening exactly that possibility for human race.

The only problem is greed, ego and need to controle fellow humans.

Why does GPT api token costs 20x more than Chinese AI api token? Is there a technical explanation for it? Nope. Is American AI somehow 20x more expensive to run? Or is it just that some people need 5 yachts instead of one? ;) When we learn that all we actually need is warm vad to sleep in, good food and a bit of fun? Then we are ready for the next step. Or we die. That's all there is to it. ;)

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 3h ago

Sorry, I can not say anything about the Tokens because I do not know

But I know that in China there are 1 Billion people, many of them would work for almost nothing while in the Western world the expenses are different.

I could also ask, why Jack Ma is worth 35 billions ( or whatever his worth is ) in "Socialist" China and why isn't he split his wealth with his workers?

Because humans Humans are like this anywhere in the world. It is regulations, laws and freedom of choice that is different between countries.

Wishing you all the best 👍

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u/United_Branch_5736 2h ago

Unfortunately you fell for western propaganda.

I read South China Morning post alongside The Times, and many other European news papers. The truth is somewhere in between.

Middle class in China is 2x the size of all American population, about 700 million people. The theory "there are billion of people who will work for next to nothing in China" is 10 years out of date. The low wage jobs? Outsourced to Vietnam, Laos, Africa, and so on.

If you mean Ali Baba founder? He was put in line fearly quickly. No Elon Musk story there.

So, no China is not 80s Romania, not by any stretch of imagination. People live good lifes there, many better than we do in the west. Medicine, public transport, job security, worker rights? All good. Far far from what eastern block had.

Full disclosure: I am married to Asian, for close to 40 years, but she hates China. ;) We have exactly this discussions almost daily. You know, "where do we go from here"? For us? Doesn't matter much, both retired, good EU pensions, no kids. We will live through next 10 years, one way or the other.

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u/Motor_Ad_7103 10h ago edited 10h ago

Hi, i’m italian. I must say i never lived directly in my country’s dictatorship, but i live traces of it everyday. While i understand where you are coming from i must say i have to disagree with what you stated in the last few paragraphs. You must understand that not every political ideology leads or has to degenerate in a regime. My country is an example of that. Fascism was born in Italy and is widely known for it’s violent ways and for getting together with the Nationalist Germany, but many old people like my grandpa (who himself states he’s always been against war) always remember times before 1940 like good times. My great parents were fascists. My grandpa was forced to be a balilla (the kids who were trained so that they could be in the army) but he has such a good memory of it. Mussolini brought things like Tv, Radio, schools, pacts with the vatican and many other things that still function untouched to this days. I do not, in any way agree with any of this ideology, i want to specify this is not my personal opinion.
My granpa, who was a fascist back in 1940, 5 years later found himself cheering with the communists who wanted to free our country. Partisans were leftists. We never had a communism that was Stalinism. In the 70’s a few accidents happened because of a degenerate part of the wing.
Dictatorships and ruthless violence always happens when you take an ideology and you extremize it. It is a gradual process.
My parents come from a time of great revolt in italy, they lived the killings and terroristic acts of the extremist parties, still my dad, who is a sociologist, considers himsef a communist, always condamning the russian/extremists did. I used to ask him why would he say this, as i didn’t understand. He said that these things no longer exist, nobody today really has a clear mind on what they want, everybody wants power and what started as a clear ideology (left or right) just degenerates in the absolute need for a being to be powerful.
This is also applicable to Trump. Today we are “more protected” in a way that countries are not acting bythemselves anymore but are constricted under global laws. I say more protected but it’s not the correct term. These people are always breaking laws and abusing power, as global laws exist this is going to not only affect the United States, but now all the world will be involved.
Little by little he’s taking everything he can and manipulating everyone even in europe.
Wars were never fought in the United states, only in our countries. This is what’s happening now.
Everything is global. We did not move at all from the past. We have Russia killing civilians in our borders and Middle east wars being fought and controlled by the west.
As somebody said. Dictators come in differents shapes and forms, just because they won’t directly terrorize a country that screams democracy, doesn’t mean they are not.
Also if you could get an opinion from an american, everything they get is filtered. I saw this video where this american lady who moved to germany said that they are lead to believe that really, there is not greater country than ‘merica, they have no laws that protect them, no free healthcare, have to pau thousands of dollars to just get into school, they are making sure they stay dumb, ignorant and poor to create a land where only the millionaires can live. This is dystopian to me.
It doesn’t sound like it’s far more different than north korea. The american dream was created by americans from americans to make them believe that they do live it the best place ever and they shouldn’t leave it.

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u/Sea-Cap-1540 8h ago

Thank you.

Romania was also fascist during the war, under Antonescu. But then the great power divided the continent. Italy got under US influence, therefore prosperity and choice, Romania, under Soviet influence therefore starvation and whips.

Good luck, and good health, to you, my brother.

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u/Motor_Ad_7103 8h ago

Thank you.
Same goes to you! I wish you the best for you and your country!