| | Greetings.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story, and, being a survivor of a communist regime myself, can empathize with some of the details therein. The writing is clear, unambiguous, and straightforward, and depicts with great accuracy the evils faced by an honest and life-loving individual under a Communist regime.
In the Soviet Union, there was, too, a high degree of pressure for membership in "youth organizations," which pervaded every level of childhood and adolescence. Elementary schoolers were forced into the ranks of the "Octoberists," who performed certain compulsory duties within the limits of the schools and cities. Older kids (10-15 years old) were drafted into the "Pioneers," who spent their summers in strictly regulated camps, and thus had virtually no free or leisure time for their own intellectual development. Students in the upper grades, if they were to have any chance of advancement in their careers or a sustainable income, would need to join the "Young Communists," a preparatory program for membership in the Communist Party. Getting in was not a mere matter of will, either. My grandfather, a research scientist during the heyday of the Soviet Union, experienced firsthand the discriminatory policy of admitting "one intellectual for every ten workers."
Fortunately for me, my schooling occurred at precisely the time when the old system of youth organizations had already fallen apart beyond repair, and prior to the time when the Belarussian neo-Communist dictator Lukashenko began to resurrect it (I used to return to visit my hometown periodically until recently, when Lukashenko's stranglehold became unbearable). I recall being able to (as a first-grader) look at the old editions of Soviet grammar books and reading manuals, which contained ridiculous pictures of discipline in youth organizations and the slogans accompanying them ("We, the children, the proletarian builders of tomorrow, dedicate our work to the spirit and memory of Grandfather Lenin!"-- Keep in mind that this was commonly thought to be a positive portrayal of the youth organizations!). I could never restrain a laugh, to the great displeasure of my teachers.
Though spared the worst of Communism, I, too, could observe the immense character-breaking effects of the regime on the older residents of the Soviet Union; many of them had become hopeless cynics, who considered oppressive government as a natural given, and futile to resist or dispute (and who considered any extraordinary aspirations or social nonconformity as similarly futile). Many of these people were otherwise intelligent and could have been extremely productive and successful financially, after the regime's collapse. Yet, the state of continual externally-imposed stagnation, inherent to a Communist regime, left them psychologically wanting to seek, not elevation, but mere maintenance of the status quo. They could no longer conceive that anything better was possible. Perhaps this same problem afflicted Antonio.
I am
G. Stolyarov II
Editor-in-Chief, The Rational Argumentator
Proprietor, The Rational Argumentator Online Store
Author, Eden against the Colossus
 
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