Are the nuveau riche of Eastern Europe the ex-communists living off other people's money?
442881
Maybe and maybe not. If the people that are "NEW MONEY" are there because they were creative and earned the money I dont see how they are "LIVING" off of other peoples' money.\n\nThey earn a living unless they are stealing it from others.
602797
100% they all are wealthy...most of them got that way off the tax payers dollar
547178
I assume you ment "poorest" COUNTRIES in EUROPE (stellar spelling you have...) they are...\n\nBulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Albania
1168750
From what I've heard, Eastern Europe is a great place to buy real estate right now. \n\n I'm English, but I have a Romanian friend, and she's always going on about how cool the Black Sea cost is. \n\n The only part of Eastern Europe I've been to is Hungary (although you could call it central Europe), and it was beautiful. It's a part of the world I'd love to visit more.
606372
I live in Spain. :D Well, there are a lot of Ukranian gypsys that beg on the streets for money. People from Turkey and the Check Republic also immigrate illegally. Spain isn't really doing anything to stop the problem.
208180
no!welcome to the real world,communism is just a theorie..the countries they had communism suffered from hunger and luck of opportunities..their goverments tried to manipulate the people and the ''big heads''were sharing all the wealth while the others had almost nothing.as long as money exists nothing can be shared equal in this world.
311153
I have been in Moscow and i saw that they were more powerful when they have a communist regime.They had an unity.I am looking at China and they are very powerful too.\n\nSo, i think communism is not bad.
983470
Yeah.  The government pretends to pay you and you pretend to work.  Russia's economy is so far down the toilet that sewer rats feel sorry for you.  You may have things like nukes and land and old space equipment, but that's because you were stupid enough to blow your country's resources during the Cold War, leaving only poverty, corruption, and no economy in its place.
1003419
Communism flourished in Russia after they got rid of the tzar...if you look at the Russian history, there have always been huge discrepancies between the dirt poor and the filthy rich, the country was in a chaos and industrially lacking behind the rest of the world. \n\nSocialism brought equality in social status, the poor were suddenly in charge, they confiscated the rich people's property and money, proclaimig it 'belonged to the state now', which made the state richer. Russia advanced and its industries developed and soon was at par with the rest of the developed world.\n\nAfter the 2nd world war when the Red Army liberated the countries surrounding Russia, to show gratitude to their liberators, they had to convert to socialism: they didn't see how it would change things, they saw that Russia prospered under socialist rule so they thought it would be good for them too. \n\nIn 1968 Czechoslovakia had enough of socialism and decided to get rid of it...within days in August 1968 the country was invaded by Russian tanks, roads were destroyed, people got killed and the goverment got scared - the prime minister had to go to exile and a new prime minister was elected, with a new government, loyal to the Soviet Union.\n\nAfter seeing what the Soviets were capable of, none of the surrounding countries dared to oppose socialism and carried on being socialist until the Velvet Revolution in 1989 brought socialism to an end.\n\nSo you see, it wasn't really an appeal of socialism that did it, the countries around the Soviet Union didn't have much choice in the matter...if you think about it, a 15 million country can't raise its head and oppose very well, because it could be flattened to the ground easily.\n\nTo be honest, there were a few good things about socialism, like free education and free healthcare and that everyone that was able bodied had to work: sitting at home on social security was not an option when you were medically fit to work. If you refused to work, you were declared a parasite and that was a crime for which you could end up in jail. Social security was for those that needed it, the sick, the disabled and if you had a baby, you could stay at home until the child was 3 years old (yes, you see correct, 3 years) you would get statutory maternity pay and your job would be there for you after you came back to work.
603553
If the Soviet Union were the only remaining superpower, the world would be a living hell.\n\nThe problem with the Communist system is that it perverts man's true nature.  The Communists said they had a noble ideal, that they were creating a selfless man, so that everything would be shared, everyone could live as equals, and poverty would be eliminated.\n\nHowever, Communism only creates poverty for everyone. People generally despised their jobs because they knew that putting forth more effort would give them and their families nothing in return.\n\nTwo common refrains were:\n\n1)  They pretend to pay me, and I pretend to work.\n2)  If you don't steal from the State, you are stealing from your family.\n\nCommunism was just another word for slavery.  You had the top Communist bosses who enjoyed luxuries forbidden to the masses.  The State told you where you could live, and what kind of job you could perform.  You had no voice.\n\nIf the old, Communist Soviet Union were in charge of the world, everyone would blame their problems on them, but not openly, or they'd have tanks running through their streets like 1968 Czechoslovakia.\n\nIf the old, Communist Soviet Union were in charge the world would be more backward, unstable, and poorer.\n\nIf you want to see the true evil face of Communism, rent this movie in the Foreign Films section of your local rental store:  "Dark Blue World" (Tvamomodry Svet).  You will see the absolutely vile nature of Communism.  The movie recounts how Czech pilots fled to England to join the fight against the Nazis.  After the war, the Communists occupiers sent these heroes to prison because they feared  these men had been to exposed to Western ideas about democracy and freedom.
1113669
China isn't a shining example of communism any longer. In fact, they're about as capitalist and exploitative of their workers as any industrial age country has been. They're also been pretty crafty with their currency by tying it to the US currency, which has been key to their economic boon. Look at the rest of communism for your answers though. Cuba. Ukraine. Russia. Hardly triumphant. I would even say that a large part of India's woes right now are tied to the heavy socialist lein in government, not an excess of capitalist ambition.
907222
That's a very ideal argument.  Communism is responsible for many human rights violations.  I have a friend from Russia who tells me about the atrocities against people of her ancestry, mainly Ukrainians and Gypsies.  She is a descendant of the warrior class and her family lost all their wealth, land and titles.  They had no religious freedom.  Gypsies lost their traditions and couldn't move around and were forced to assimilate into a society created out of fascism and colonialism.\n\nIf you missed a day of work, you went to a concentration camp.  They killed off the aristocracy and enslaved farmers and the middle class. Artists, the homeless and the mentally ill were rounded up and institutionalized.  Take Kruschev, the supposed liberal, tolerant one.  He sent away artists who went against state-enforced policies of socialist realism in art.  You could not leave the country and come back freely, you had to defect if you were an athlete or in the ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov, for example.\n\nThere is no capitalism.  Now there is too much poverty in the West but that is because of our own doing and policies.  It can be eliminated.  You cannot produce growth and profit for reinvestment in a communist economy, which is a false economy and not a natural one.  The 'invisible hand' that aids the middle class doesn't exist.  There is no motivation for ambition and success.  Freedom is complicated, sophisticated and demanding.  I like an intellectual challenge.  Culture and intellectual discourse, along with religious freedom and freedom of speech, disappeared in Russia.\n\nThere are still some remnants of the old system.  You can be placed in prison or a work camp for being on the streets and suffering from the disease of alcoholism.  They still want to preserve their aging nuclear arsenal and cannot afford to purchase uranium for nuclear reactors.  They want to keep fighting against the Chechnyans in their civil war.
424383
Nah, because in a communist country, everybody has an equal amount of the weatlh.  It's not like the rich people are going to want to give that up.  And to the person above me, we don't have the freedom of speech on here.  They kick us off if we say something offensive.
129608
Well, this was done by most of the communist countries. As you know communisam crashed across the world!\n\nI feel Govt should encourage people to earn mony to safeguard themself. Providing homes will make them lazy!
760703
Communism had no middle class and capitalists because all are treated equal.  Only the leaders are enjoying and most of the people are simply workers and laborers receiving only basic items for a living.
968049
I can guess millions and millions of dollars. They were always trying to build nuclear weapons and improving their military. They were a superpower, after all. They had the money that was from the many taxpayers of the extensive Soviet Union. They were rich. They also  got money from supplying anti-Western insurgents with weapons. They got poorer after 91' however after the collapse of the Soviet Union.\n\n\nhttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/mo-budget.htm
403277
It's mostly a market-based economy. Young people with good education are quite well off. People who are retired or close to retirement are in the worst situation - the first don't have skills required now the latter were robbed during the period of hyperinflation in the nineties, when their savings and retirement benefits became worthless.\n\nI've noticed one thing - when you ask people about their income (in Russia it used to be OK to ask this delicate question) they tell you about their official salary (let's say about $ 500 - $ 1000 a month), but not about the income, which would include other part-time jobs, contract work etc., which can be twice their official income. Given the relatively cheap housing for those who were lucky enough to privatize their apartments, low taxes (13% flat rate for residents) and still existing social benefits like almost free education and health care, $1,000-$2,500 might be not as bad as it sounds. I am not talking about Moscow where the cost of living is probably higher than in New York.