Questions for How We Survived Communism 1. How did the Communist government in Yugoslavia keep track/spy on citizens? - Censorship; propaganda - Open mails, listen to phone calls - Microphone hidden in offices 2. What is the significance of the post office? How did the state use the post office? What was customer service like? - A yellow line indicating privacy. People can do their business w/o someone constantly peeking over their shoulders - A step towards the West - People’s mails, conversations and phone calls were spied on - A special room - Despite the symbolic yellow line, people are still be spied on behind the post office. - Slow, inefficient and expensive service 3. How did she feel about the United States? What did she like and what did she criticize? 4. What was her point about the muffin in the NYC subway station? 5. Why is it hard for people in the Third World to worry about the environment? - Hard to worry about the environment when all they want (consumerism) is what everyone has already had. 6. How did censorship affect people’s lives? - Reexamine one’s life, search for errors. Create “fear”? 7. What happened to Drakulic’s friend Tanja? - Suicide. Poisoned herself with the gas from the stove in her new apt when she was 36 - Her lover’s death. Abortion. Her being rejected as a journalist because of a “capitalistic” journal. 8. How was getting pizza or chocolate cake different in Eastern Europe than in the US? - They were considered fancy food in Eastern Europe. Very hard to get. 9. How did the lack of consumer goods impact people’s lives? - Not enough food - Loss of individualism lack of variety in goods - Bribery - Lack of basic necessities - sanitary pads, tampons, toilet paper (Golub) - The habit of saving 10. How did communism impact relationships between men and women? What impact did the results of communism have on families? - Lack of privacy due to overcrowding - Young people are stuck at the bottom of society - rely heavily on parents
