Read the article about the Shifting priorities of the Eastern Europeans (this is the article you need to read to answer the 4 questions below) and think about how different life in Eastern Europe used to be, and what changes people faced during the last decade or so. While you’re reading, think about your American lifestyle: what part of your life resemble Eastern Europe “under communism”? What are the similarities with modern Eastern European societies? What are the differences between your lifestyle and youth in Eastern Europe?

After you’ve read the article answer the following questions:

1) This article says there is a “generation gap” between young Eastern Europeans and their parents. Where does this generation gap come from? Do you think that it’s normal for young adults and their parents to have widely different views of the world, or is this something particular to Eastern Europe? If it is particular to Eastern Europe, what do you think is the cause of it? Do you think your parent’s lives at age 20 were as different from your life now as Eastern European parents’ lives are different from their children’s?

2) The fact that Graziela’s boots would cost the equivalent of 2 ½ months’ wages for the café waitress is an indicator of the massive differences in income that have arisen in Eastern Europe since 1989. Under Communism, people were roughly economically equal (that is, equally poor). Now, Eastern European societies are polarized into the very wealthy and the very poor. Some people say this is good for the economy, since it motivates people to work hard and take risks. Other people say that this is unjust. What do you think? Why do you think that “80 % of the people (in Romania) would give up democracy to have the secure life they had before”? Is economic inequality good or bad for Eastern Europe? Should there be limits on inequality, and if so, how should those limits be created?

3) Svetoslav Velkov, (SVET-o-slav VEL-kov) a Bulgarian, says he’s “bored with politics.” Do you think this is a reaction to the hyper-political era of Communism, or normal for somebody his age? How does young Eastern Europeans’ political apathy compare with political involvement among young Americans? Do you think that the political attitudes of 20 year old Americans and Eastern Europeans stem from a common source, or do they have their roots in very different historical circumstances?

4) Alin Teodorescu (AL-in Tay-oh-dor-ESS-coo) and Nikolai Milev (NEE-kol-eye MEE-lev) have both “made it” in the post-Communist world. Both of them are wealthy and successful, and they buy expensive things for their children that they could never have dreamt of having as young people. Yet both of them wonder if their kids appreciate what they’re being given, and if all this material wealth is destroying the fabric of the family. Reading this article, what do you think? Do young Eastern Europeans appreciate how incredibly wealthy they are, compared to young people 30 years ago? Do you think the same thing happens in America, and that wealthy young people can’t or don’t appreciate how much they have? Does our culture of material abundance threaten family structures or reinforce them?