The famous Art Nouveau hotel Rónai, later Royal, later Slovan, is now a preserved ruin in the center of Slovak Piešťany. During socialism it was completely “washed out”, like many other buildings that were either nationalized by socialism or built by socialism itself.
Who wouldn’t want to be rich and who wouldn’t want us all to be rich equally? These are the old, well-known demands of left-wing political parties. It’s like a marvelous music for many ears. However, the forced realization of wellbeing and equality never turn out well. Why?
There are two camps of the former Soviets: one of the happy people because they are now free, and the second one of the unhappy, who still think everything back then was basically okay. I belong to the former and I am proud that I also took part in all possible types of anti-Soviet/communist activities.
The tragedy of the commons describes the opposite situation – the property belongs to everyone, but at thesame time to nobody, although they all think that a) the property belongs to nobody, and b) they have full rights to the benefits from the property.
Many of the projects and ideas presented by the Georgian government are good examples of wishful thinking. However, when the ruling party is called Georgian Dream, a pursuit of wishes and dreams should not surprise anyone.
The “you-know-what” brings out the worst in governments. It is one of the rare occasions that the military is used domestically. In some countries, it oversees the operation of strategic institutions and businesses.
One of the problems with the economic progress in the transition countries from socialism to market economy is the state of property rights. You can improve business environment, trade, or monetary systems but never progress if the property (rights) is not protected well.
The Visio institute has just published the second issue of The Visio Journal, which offers several papers analyzing the degree to which the public policies and political institutions of former socialist economies have been supportive of economic freedom following the collapse of communism.
In 2017, the looming threat of communism has not vanished completely. According to a poll conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, 44% of American youth would prefer living under socialism, 7% under communism, and only 42% chose capitalism.
