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As a fellow Eastern European of similar age, I suddenly feel quite nostalgic. I really wonder how my life would be different if someone told be that the US, wh

As a fellow Eastern European of similar age, I suddenly feel quite nostalgic. I really wonder how my life would be different if someone told be that the US, which for me was as close to a paradise as it gets, will go down the same road in the future - I think it would shatter quite a lot of my dreams of a better life. US is nowhere near as bad as it was on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain, but it's on a fast track to it for sure.

palmotea 9mo ago
> I really wonder how my life would be different if someone told be that the US, which for me was as close to a paradise as it gets, will go down the same road in the future - I think it would shatter quite a lot of my dreams of a better life. That reminds me of one of the things that stuck with me from The Man in the High Castle (the book). The main story is an alternate timeline where the Nazis/Japanese won WWII and conquered America. Then there's an alternate-timeline-within-the-alternate-timeline where America/Britain won WWII, but it's not our timeline (and it's hinted there that the liberal US was eventually defeated by a British Empire gone full authoritarian). Everything passes away. The good guys sometimes win, but eventually they lose too.
- sam1r 9mo ago
  Wow, thank you for the effort in typing out that this synopsis! Seems like quite the compelling read. I have already retrieved the book & will start it tonight.
  - Gud 9mo ago
    It's a great book. Phillip K Dick, there is no author like him.
  - TheAlchemist 9mo ago
    It's a fantastic book, highly recommend to read. There is also a TV series based on it (on Amazon Prime I think), but as usually, it's not as good as the book.
  - 30minAdayHN 9mo ago
    I also enjoyed the TV series equally.
    - pndy 8mo ago
      It diverges much from the book but it's enjoyable and terrifying at some points. I just really don't like ending - it felt rushed and way too open like they'd still had hopes for another series. Personally I'd kept Dick's basis of this series and incorporate Robert Harris "Fatherland" novel that would set action for a longer while in Europe. It easily could provide action for at least 2 more seasons.
- anthk 9mo ago
  Heh, I was watching the series two days ago. That reminds me that I have to buy both Ubik and The Man in the High Castle, preferabily cheap but commented (with footnotes) ones in Spanish. PKD it's very tedious to readin English for non natives. And sometimes in Spanish too.
  - shermantanktop 9mo ago
    Ubik is a mindbender inside a mindbender. Try to read it consistently. If you put it down for a couple of days you will be lost and rereading the last page will not help much.
- MattGrommes 9mo ago
  There's a similar feeling story in a later League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book* where it's a history of England in that universe. The part that really stuck with me was the description of the government from 1984 as just another strange period in history. Eventually, Big Brother just falls and the next government takes over. Compared with how the system in 1984 feels hopeless and eternal it gives me a strange kind of hope. * The Black Dossier
  - mootothemax 9mo ago
    Funnily enough I got the same type of hope from Julia, the 1984-from-Julia’s perspective tome that hints at… well, you’ll have to find out :)
  - ahartmetz 8mo ago
    There is a somewhat plausible in-universe explanation for Big Brother feeling eternal while not being eternal: the constant rewriting of history
- xerox13ster 9mo ago
  That alternate alternate timeline sounds like what leads to V for Vendetta.
elbci 9mo ago
maybe it's not too late to find out that US was always like this and the fairy tale our parents listened on CIA's RadioFreeEurope was just - a fairy tale for gullible grown-ups ;)
- TheAlchemist 9mo ago
  I'm contemplating it, but I'm not that old yet ! Of course there was always a bit, sometimes a lot, of propaganda everywhere. But at least it was (mostly) for the right causes and ideals. Right now, US is being governed by what I see as the worst possible people, with 0 morals.
  - I-M-S 9mo ago
    [flagged]
    - TheAlchemist 9mo ago
      One may genuinly debate the genocide, racism, imperialism etc. But I can guarantee you that the 'opressed working class' in the US had it 100 times better than the non opressed Eastern European one.
      - I-M-S 9mo ago
        Unfortunately it is true that the working class does seem to always get the short end of the bargain.
      - dns_snek 8mo ago
        It's so lazy to resort to the false dichotomy of US vs USSR, it doesn't say anything except "It's not as bad as it could've been". Every country in the world can point a finger at someone who had it worse. And besides, "One may genuinly debate the genocide, racism, imperialism etc" is an essential part of why the working class had a good quality of life in the decades following WW2, particularly white people. It's easy to build up a good lifestyle when you exploit foreign countries for resources and outsource your labor to poor people across the world because you're not the one paying the bill. But how do you sustain that when those people start demanding the same quality of life that you have? You don't, as we're seeing now.
nxobject 9mo ago
As someone who's lived in a SEA military dictatorship and has been through the same shenanigans - including protestors who've given their lives - I think the best way to honor their memory would be to heed those lessons in the spirit of prevention. Once we say "well, now we can compare this to Eastern Europe/the (former) third world", it's far too late.

palmotea 9mo ago

> I really wonder how my life would be different if someone told be that the US, which for me was as close to a paradise as it gets, will go down the same road in the future - I think it would shatter quite a lot of my dreams of a better life. That reminds me of one of the things that stuck with me from The Man in the High Castle (the book). The main story is an alternate timeline where the Nazis/Japanese won WWII and conquered America. Then there's an alternate-timeline-within-the-alternate-timeline where America/Britain won WWII, but it's not our timeline (and it's hinted there that the liberal US was eventually defeated by a British Empire gone full authoritarian). Everything passes away. The good guys sometimes win, but eventually they lose too.

sam1r 9mo ago
Wow, thank you for the effort in typing out that this synopsis! Seems like quite the compelling read. I have already retrieved the book & will start it tonight.
- Gud 9mo ago
  It's a great book. Phillip K Dick, there is no author like him.
- TheAlchemist 9mo ago
  It's a fantastic book, highly recommend to read. There is also a TV series based on it (on Amazon Prime I think), but as usually, it's not as good as the book.
- 30minAdayHN 9mo ago
  I also enjoyed the TV series equally.
  - pndy 8mo ago
    It diverges much from the book but it's enjoyable and terrifying at some points. I just really don't like ending - it felt rushed and way too open like they'd still had hopes for another series. Personally I'd kept Dick's basis of this series and incorporate Robert Harris "Fatherland" novel that would set action for a longer while in Europe. It easily could provide action for at least 2 more seasons.
anthk 9mo ago
Heh, I was watching the series two days ago. That reminds me that I have to buy both Ubik and The Man in the High Castle, preferabily cheap but commented (with footnotes) ones in Spanish. PKD it's very tedious to readin English for non natives. And sometimes in Spanish too.
- shermantanktop 9mo ago
  Ubik is a mindbender inside a mindbender. Try to read it consistently. If you put it down for a couple of days you will be lost and rereading the last page will not help much.
MattGrommes 9mo ago
There's a similar feeling story in a later League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book* where it's a history of England in that universe. The part that really stuck with me was the description of the government from 1984 as just another strange period in history. Eventually, Big Brother just falls and the next government takes over. Compared with how the system in 1984 feels hopeless and eternal it gives me a strange kind of hope. * The Black Dossier
- mootothemax 9mo ago
  Funnily enough I got the same type of hope from Julia, the 1984-from-Julia’s perspective tome that hints at… well, you’ll have to find out :)
- ahartmetz 8mo ago
  There is a somewhat plausible in-universe explanation for Big Brother feeling eternal while not being eternal: the constant rewriting of history
xerox13ster 9mo ago
That alternate alternate timeline sounds like what leads to V for Vendetta.

elbci 9mo ago

maybe it's not too late to find out that US was always like this and the fairy tale our parents listened on CIA's RadioFreeEurope was just - a fairy tale for gullible grown-ups ;)

TheAlchemist 9mo ago
I'm contemplating it, but I'm not that old yet ! Of course there was always a bit, sometimes a lot, of propaganda everywhere. But at least it was (mostly) for the right causes and ideals. Right now, US is being governed by what I see as the worst possible people, with 0 morals.
- I-M-S 9mo ago
  [flagged]
  - TheAlchemist 9mo ago
    One may genuinly debate the genocide, racism, imperialism etc. But I can guarantee you that the 'opressed working class' in the US had it 100 times better than the non opressed Eastern European one.
    - I-M-S 9mo ago
      Unfortunately it is true that the working class does seem to always get the short end of the bargain.
    - dns_snek 8mo ago
      It's so lazy to resort to the false dichotomy of US vs USSR, it doesn't say anything except "It's not as bad as it could've been". Every country in the world can point a finger at someone who had it worse. And besides, "One may genuinly debate the genocide, racism, imperialism etc" is an essential part of why the working class had a good quality of life in the decades following WW2, particularly white people. It's easy to build up a good lifestyle when you exploit foreign countries for resources and outsource your labor to poor people across the world because you're not the one paying the bill. But how do you sustain that when those people start demanding the same quality of life that you have? You don't, as we're seeing now.

nxobject 9mo ago

As someone who's lived in a SEA military dictatorship and has been through the same shenanigans - including protestors who've given their lives - I think the best way to honor their memory would be to heed those lessons in the spirit of prevention. Once we say "well, now we can compare this to Eastern Europe/the (former) third world", it's far too late.