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As someone born in ussr ans still living in Vilnius I can tell you there was no much happyness back then. Obviously there are happy moments in life, no matter h

As someone born in ussr ans still living in Vilnius I can tell you there was no much happyness back then. Obviously there are happy moments in life, no matter how poor you are, but we know it is a bit better when you have something to eat. I am not a fan of consumerism, but I take western culture for having a choice what you do. The soviet erra didn't do that. Orwell's Animal Farm describes well the reality in soviet time...

vkazanov 5y ago
As someone born in a smaller place in Lt I can totally relate to your words! But somehow my little part of lithuania (very north east) feels like an empty shell these days, compared to what it was 20-30-40 years ago.. No people, no economic activity, just empty. I know this is not how it feels in Vilnius - the place gets better by the day, but deeper Lithuania feels deserted. Is this happiness?
- dainiusse 5y ago
  This is time and structure of society, not soviet times or not. I have been to deep Russia places where they had gulags, etc. 10 years ago. Inta, Vorkuta, Irkutsk and plenty small towns around and I can tell a few things which are very clearly seen - when the train passes 200kilometers from Moscow - it is deserted with nothing new. You could even experience that by going to Moscow by bus and back. You will be surprised how clean and amazing everything looks when you pass russian/latvian border on your way back. Yes - living in suburbs can be harder, but the difference in cleanliness and life quality (while can be worse than in city) is day and night in Russia and in the Baltics with Baltics being superior.
  - vkazanov 5y ago
    Maybe you are right, I've only been to, say, 5-7 major cities in Russia. What I am saying is that for people like my parents, grandparents and myself it's really hard to compare life in Lithuania these days and the older times as there's nothing left to compare, really. 27 of 30 of my classmates are spread throughout Europe, including myself. I have more lithuanian friends in uk than I do back in Lt. Good for them, I suppose, not so good for places I care about. And this is how many ppl from remote Lt places feel like.
    - pedrosorio 5y ago
      Speaking from a country that was never part of Soviet Union, this is just https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization It has been happening for decades, all over the world.
      - vkazanov 5y ago
        Sure, a well-known process. I think in the Baltic states this is magnified by population decrease and internal EU migration. Population: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/lithuania-population/ https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/lithuania-pop... I think the population decrease numbers can be multiplied by 2 if you take EU emigration into account. I see it as the biggest long-term problem Lithuania is facing. The country is not that big and crowded to begin with, and in 20-30 years it's projected to be even smaller. And the society is just not ready for the obvious solution - immigrants.

vkazanov 5y ago

As someone born in a smaller place in Lt I can totally relate to your words! But somehow my little part of lithuania (very north east) feels like an empty shell these days, compared to what it was 20-30-40 years ago.. No people, no economic activity, just empty. I know this is not how it feels in Vilnius - the place gets better by the day, but deeper Lithuania feels deserted. Is this happiness?

dainiusse 5y ago
This is time and structure of society, not soviet times or not. I have been to deep Russia places where they had gulags, etc. 10 years ago. Inta, Vorkuta, Irkutsk and plenty small towns around and I can tell a few things which are very clearly seen - when the train passes 200kilometers from Moscow - it is deserted with nothing new. You could even experience that by going to Moscow by bus and back. You will be surprised how clean and amazing everything looks when you pass russian/latvian border on your way back. Yes - living in suburbs can be harder, but the difference in cleanliness and life quality (while can be worse than in city) is day and night in Russia and in the Baltics with Baltics being superior.
- vkazanov 5y ago
  Maybe you are right, I've only been to, say, 5-7 major cities in Russia. What I am saying is that for people like my parents, grandparents and myself it's really hard to compare life in Lithuania these days and the older times as there's nothing left to compare, really. 27 of 30 of my classmates are spread throughout Europe, including myself. I have more lithuanian friends in uk than I do back in Lt. Good for them, I suppose, not so good for places I care about. And this is how many ppl from remote Lt places feel like.
  - pedrosorio 5y ago
    Speaking from a country that was never part of Soviet Union, this is just https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization It has been happening for decades, all over the world.
    - vkazanov 5y ago
      Sure, a well-known process. I think in the Baltic states this is magnified by population decrease and internal EU migration. Population: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/lithuania-population/ https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/lithuania-pop... I think the population decrease numbers can be multiplied by 2 if you take EU emigration into account. I see it as the biggest long-term problem Lithuania is facing. The country is not that big and crowded to begin with, and in 20-30 years it's projected to be even smaller. And the society is just not ready for the obvious solution - immigrants.