Former Lithuanian dissident on American capitalism

["Chris Doss" <itschris13@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thought people might be interested in this.  The writer, or so he claims, is
a former Lithanian anti-Communist dissident (hence my subject heading) now
living in the U.S. and not very happy about it, judging by his work.

This is only about 10% of the full document.

by Valdas Anelauskas


                   The Land of Misery and Plutocracy


                       "America is a mistake, a giant mistake!"
                                               - Sigmund Freud



A foreigner who visits the United States fails to be asked by at least one
American: "So, how do you like America?" And, as a rule, they always ask in
such a tone that only an affirmative answer is considered possible.
Personally, I have heard this question at least a hundred times. At first, I
tried to be polite. My answers usually were quite diplomatic, such as,
"Well, it is interesting here, and different from my country," or something
of that sort. But today perhaps the most diplomatic answer I could give
would be: "To put it mildly, I do not like it at all."

Much water has flowed under many bridges since that day when I first stepped
on this continent. My world outlook has changed a good deal and now I
understand a lot of such things that I wasn't able to comprehend earlier.
Today, reflecting on the time when we
first arrived here, I realize how naive I was. Or perhaps ignorant. I really
believed that the United States of America was a democratic and free
country. Moreover, I imagined it to be a highly advanced and progressive
nation, maybe even the most civilized country on
earth in history. How foolish of me!

          Just before starting to write this I flipped through the pages of
an old booklet that I had found in a stack of papers. It was the program for
the 1990 U.S. Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.
To my shame and chagrin, I must admit now
that I was not only a participant, but one of the featured speakers at this
conference, side-by-side with Newt Gingrich, Jesse Helms, Phil Gramm and
others... what should I call them? It's hard to pick a name strong enough
for such ... individuals.

          Being in political exile from the former Soviet Union, I was duped
by the U.S. Government and lured into this country. Now, as I understand how
it happened, I am embarrassed that I allowed myself to be fooled. Today I
blame myself for some of the direct consequences that have followed. Since
my wife was pregnant at the time we came
here, our daughter was doomed to be born and suffer in this extremely
unpleasant social environment. Now, she can?t even attend school here,
because of the constant danger of being infested with head lice from her
American classmates...

          Without getting too deep into the particulars of my personal
story, I just want to make my premise clear before proceeding with what I
have learned while living here in America. First, I have to make it
understood that I had absolutely no animosity or bias
with respect to the United States before coming here. If I did, I wouldn't
have
participated along with Gingrich and his ilk in gatherings of right-wing
American
politicians. If I had any prejudices, they were for -- not against -- the
USA. It may sound bizarre, but there was a time when I had a portrait of
U.S. President Ronald Reagan on my writing-desk in Lithuania.

          The truth is I simply wasn't informed enough to have a fully
formed opinion about the United States at that time. In fact, I knew very
little about this country and this society. But I was always curious about
America and I wanted to find out more. Beyond the grim
reality of life in the Soviet Union came glimpses of a shining place, a good
place. I wanted to understand this system, and how this society functioned.
I really had no idea what true capitalism was like. This is why I came. I
simply wanted to learn more about it.

          All the information concerning the United States that we had while
living in the Soviet Union came mainly through propaganda sources: Soviet
official propaganda -- naturally anti-American -- on one side, and American
propaganda such as Voice of America and
Free Europe radio programs from another side. It goes without saying we
tended to believe American sources more. After all, the American propaganda
always was much more sophisticated than the clumsy Soviet "agitprop."

          That being so, all my limited "knowledge" about America at that
time was derived entirely from those propaganda sources. I had an eclectic
mix of both very positive and very negative impressions in my head.
Unfortunately, such information wasn't sufficient enough to form a solid
opinion. One couldn't have a clear picture of American reality
based only on such unreliable accounts. Therefore, when I was offered an
option to come and live here, I was foolish enough to swallow the bait.

          Well, there are still thousands, perhaps even millions of naive
people around the world who still dream about coming and living here.
America remains the destination of choice for those who wish to emigrate
from their own countries. It is still like a mysterious
enchantress to many. Actually, this is the main reason why I'm writing this
now. I want to tell the truth to the people who are either ill-informed and
know next to nothing about this country, or whose knowledge is distorted by
propaganda.

          In Lithuania, my native country, which was occupied by Russia at
that time, I actively opposed Soviet communism and fought against it at
every opportunity. As a result, I was expelled from the Soviet Union. One
cannot say that I came here with a communist mindset.

          I always hated that Soviet version of their mock-socialism and my
opinion on the whole remains unchanged. The Soviet system made claims to be
"real socialism," but it wasn't socialism at all. At least, it wasn't
characterized by the democratic egalitarianism that I
define as socialism, and that I would like to see in the world. As a matter
of fact, the Soviets distorted and defiled the very concept of socialism.

          Now I have spent almost nine years observing American society. Not
only observing, but studying, analyzing, and comparing it to other
societies. When I lived in the Soviet Union I thought that the Soviet
communist system was the worst possible social order.
Evidently, I was wrong. The more I scrutinize the American reality, the
deeper I am shocked by all the evil that I see here.

          Ironically, after I contrast actually-existing American extreme
capitalism with defunct Soviet Communism, I judge this system as no better
than the other. Moreover, after living here, I realize that the American
system is perhaps worse. Actually, from my point
of view, they are both like two ends of the same stick. It makes no
difference with which end to strike. Both cause the same pain...

          There can be no doubt that only a very few people in the former
Soviet countries would claim that the communist system was perfect or even
good, but perhaps even fewer would say that what they have now is better.
Everyone would agree that the Soviet
system had very serious flaws, but in some ways -- actually many -- yes, it
was considerably better than what they have here in America. I'm of the
opinion that for the vast majority of working people, the Soviet system,
though bad enough as it was, would have been definitely more acceptable than
this American version of extreme capitalism, if
they had a choice.

          Well, we can see now how "happy" the majority of the people in
those former Soviet countries are today, after they have tried out the
reality of "free markets" on their own backs. Most people that I personally
know, my close friends, relatives, and acquaintances
who live in post-Soviet countries including my native Lithuania, acknowledge
today that even the bad Soviet system wasn't so terrible when compared to
American-style laissez-faire capitalism.

          According to a recent report published in the British medical
journal Lancet, the average life expectancy at birth for Russians plunged
dramatically since the collapse of the Soviet
Union. The study reports that the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent
restoration of capitalism has created an unprecedented demographic
catastrophe: "The magnitude and steepness of the fluctuations in mortality
rates and life expectancy in Russia are withoutparallel in the modern era."

          A wild and free market fury has led to a massive drop in the
standard of living and to cultural decline in former Soviet countries.
Health care and education have sharply deteriorated. Almost all of the
social gains won through the hard work and sacrifice of generations of
people have been destroyed.

          On the other hand, the power of the old Communist Party
nomenklatura (cadre) has not only remained intact, it has grown. Former
party and KGB functionaries enriched themselves enormously. They have become
the ardent champions of private property. They dream now of not only
matching the wealth and luxury of the American capitalists, but to exceed
it.

          The Russian economy today is in severe crisis. The level of
production continues to sink. Social differentiation has reached a very
sharp level in Russia, as well as in all other post-Soviet countries, and
brings about quite different moods within the various layers of society.
Those few who have accumulated enormous wealth are, of course, happy with
the changes. They want to preserve the status quo so they can hang onto what
they haveplundered.

          At the other pole of society is the overwhelming majority. These
people have been thrown into an existence marred by poverty, spiritual
devastation and exhaustion.Viewing events through their personal
perspective, they regard the present state of affairs
as a complete social disintegration tantamount to the end of civilization
and culture.

          Now after living here and seeing the capitalist reality by myself
for long enough, I have no doubt about it either. All those horrible things
in Russia are coming from here, from America. These are the very things that
I see here every day. That is why I no longer
have illusions about this country, this system, and this society. What I
have seen here isfundamental injustice, brutal exploitation, ruthless
competition, vulgar materialism,rampant consumerism, morbid individualism,
obscene greed, odious hypocrisy, ad nauseum...

          To be honest, when I had to study the works of Karl Marx in
school, I wasn't attracted by his ideas very much. It was required work
assigned with little inspiration. But my experiences elevated me to where I
can see more clearly. I am beginning to understand
that the "old fellow" perhaps was right about more than he was wrong. It
took me eight years of living in the citadel of capitalism to comprehend
things and to become a staunch supporter of a democratic socialism. The
sickening reality of America transformed me from a sort of pro-capitalist
libertarian into a socialist to the core. My ideal now is a socialist
society built upon justice, rule by the people, and solidarity.

          It would not be an overstatement to say I came here to America
with a very open mind. But I had my eyes open wide as well, and it didn't
take long to see reality clearly. If after all that I had learned I could
turn back time and be able to return to the year 1989, I wouldn't make such
a stupid decision as to move here, of course. Well, I don't think that I
will stay in the United States for the rest of my life. Could I wish it on
my family?

          With this essay I will try to shine a light on what should be all
too evident human rights violations that the United States of America
refuses to discuss. After years of observation, I have concluded that this
system is fundamentally unjust and inhumane.
America claims to be "The Land of Liberty and Democracy," but after living
here I realize by now that this is not true. In reality, the United States
of America is a land ofmisery and plutocracy.

          Now, I shall proceed with a detailed explanation of why this is
so. I also must emphasize that what I say about the United States is based
not only on my personal, subjective experiences but also on objective
observation, study, and analysis.
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