Communist “Normal” Life: The Criticism of Daily Life under a Totalitarian Regime

Abstract

The communist regime in Eastern Europe came after the end of Second World War by promoting the equality of people. The difference between West and East with two regimes obviously classified the living of people; the Western bloc emphasized on rights and freedom fostering the expansion of consumerist ideology. Consequently, the economic in the West developed, followed by the prosperity and well-being of people. In contrast to the Eastern bloc, it was controlled by the state and the evidences showed that the communist leaders could not serve the people’s wants and needs. While the communist state created their enormous and extravagant buildings, people had to live in the crowded apartments. There were the shortage of food and necessities, as well as the corruption, black market, and bribery grew. Slavenka Drakulić, the famous Croatian journalist and writer who experienced the life under the oppressive totalitarian regime, wrote the book namely ‘How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed’ and ‘Café Europa’ talking about the everyday life under communism and its ‘scar’ on people after democratization. These self-writings told me that the regime had much impact to the individual’s life. And the regime which could not serve the people’s wants and needs, would not survive as the evident from the demise of communism in Eastern bloc in the late 1980s.