When I first came to the Czech Republic, things felt exciting. I imagined that the
conversion from communism to capitalism was like turning over one of those glass balls so
that it looks like snow is falling on a village. Everything was overturned, things were
changing very fast, and everyone seemed to be filled with hope. Even those who came from
abroad and who felt hope in developing a successful business here. It was often compared
to Paris after the second world war, when the inflow of American money helped create a
robust and joyful atmosphere. But over time,
many foreigners realised that the bureaucratic headache of accomplishing anything was not worth the
effort. Many left, mostly around November to escape another painful winter, but some
remained and succeeded, or just loved it there and continued teaching English or some
other profession. The early years we called the magic years. There were not many bars for
the expats to hang out at, and the people traveling through tended to be the more
adventurous and interesting type, so it was easy to meet people and have fun. But this all
subsided, Prague lost a lot of its magic for me, people were settling down in their
success or lives, and things just didn’t seem so exciting anymore.
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When I first came, I must have been the only one to walk up
or down the escalators in the metro. It’s as if Czechs grew so accustomed to standing in
a line the length of one or two blocks and waiting for their monthly ration of toilet
paper that they were in no rush at all. After all, they would say "The Russians can
pretend to pay us and we will pretend to work." But this too slowly changed over
time. Very slowly, successful Czech entrepreneurs and professionals were finding less time
to stand idly on the escalator, and by the time I left, I’d say half the people were
walking and half standing. The rat race finally arrived to the eastern block. Another thing I noticed in the beginning was a great sense of camaraderie. Under
communism, mostly everyone was on the same level and they would all get together in the
pub to complain about the government. On the weekends they would go out to the country and
sing around the fire. In the city it wasn’t difficult at all to find a group singing
Czech songs in the pub. But this too also slowly changed. I clearly remember one time I
was on the metro, and two couples who obviously knew each other ran into each other
unexpectedly. One couple was very well dressed, while the other was wearing the typically
drabby and colourless clothes very common at that time. They gave me the impression that
they were close friends at one point, but now they both felt uncomfortable in each
others’ presence, considering the new difference in their stature. So the classes were
diverging, and so were the people within them, now more concerned with image, material
gain, and themselves. |
The typical generation gap found under capitalism also formed. Under communism,
youngsters had to revere their elders, and if they failed to do that, they spent an
appropriate time in the army learning due respect. Retired people often had a higher
pension from the state than working university-educated people. Everyone had to serve in
the army, and discipline was instilled on every level. But as capitalism replaced the old
system, youngsters started to puncture their face with the typical metallic objects, wear
protest black, and exercise a general aloofness and disrespect towards the authorities
which the previous generation would never dream of.
One common occurrence was to hear on every street corner
and every bus or tram stop a collection of grannies who would go on and on about the
rising price of milk and other basic commodities. How it was absolutely horrible and
unheard of, and how so and so shop on such and such street would dare to break the barrier
even further and charge so and so much. Of course, under capitalism and in the beginning,
it was normal for a state to let inflation run rampant while claiming they lacked the
funds to force a proportional increase in the pension handouts, so the elderly population
watched defenselessly as their hard worked-for incomes were being eroded before their very
eyes. They would often look accusingly and bitterly at me, the well dressed
"foreigner", as if I was somehow to blame for this new injustice.
I must admit that their constant referrals to the incredible price of milk was annoying,
and the subject of pub jokes in the evening, but I would never dare to confront them about
it, because I sensed their feeling of injustice, and it really made little sense to try
and enlighten them regarding the advantages of capitalism over extreme socialism. Trust
me, I failed miserably several times with my own grandmother. But I do remember one point
when a Czech youngster finally had enough, walked up to one of these groups of grannies
like a child stomps towards a flock of pigeons in the middle of a town square, and
hollered at the top of his lungs, "ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT, THE PRICE OF MILK IS
HORRIBLE. DO WE HAVE TO KEEP HEARING ABOUT IT?!?" I must admit that, not only was it
very satisfying to witness this, but I rarely heard the discussion mentioned after that,
and Czech society continued to change altogether. |
Prague Photographer
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With open borders also came increased trade, and with the Czech Republic located on the
crossroads of trade and history, it became a conduit for all sorts of traffic. In the news
I would read of a Czech person caught trying to sell a Russian nuclear weapon out of the
back of his car trunk. Trains were stopped at midnight and big black suspicious plastic
bags were pulled out from underneath. Drug traffic flourished, and the Bohemian lasse fair
nature of Czechs allowed for everything. In the beginning, I would smoke dope freely in
any pub or fancy restaurant, and no one had a clue what was happening. Towards the end
though, the fancy restaurants would respectfully ask me to go further down the street to a
special pub where "that sort of thing" was more appreciated.
In the beginning, many Czechs, especially the older generation, were rather hostile to
foreigners, feeling as if their homeland was being invaded by those who benefited from a
wealthier upbringing and who could afford to invest into a new business here, or buy
property or existing companies. A privatisation scheme was invented whereby all investment
certificates covering all national corporations were distributed to the population, but
banks and fund companies offered cash in hand for these certificates. Since the average
Czech was used to forecasts of a dismal future, they tended to be short sighted and sold
their shares for quick gain. Or perhaps some held onto their shares, but with most people
selling their certificates, they would get conglomerated by some concern to gain a
majority share, after which they could control the company, perhaps go public, and the
share price would often not yield any substantial gain for those who actually did hang on
to them. So, ironically, the control of Czech companies went from state controlled banks,
to the population, and rather quickly back to the same banks, who by this time were
privatised and sold into foreign hands.
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And generally, the Czechs being possibly the most atheistic
of all nations (at 85%), they seemed to lack any grain of shame and, as a foreigner, it
was next to impossible to buy even a small bun without some surcharge added to it by
profiteering clerks. Special charges not found on the menu seemed to surface, or prices
were set blatantly higher for English speaking menus as opposed to Czech ones. The level
of cheekiness was appalling, but as Czechs were catching up to the west, I guess they
started feeling that this sort of behaviour was beneath themselves, and no longer really
necessary, as they soon found themselves better off than the perpetual supply of tourists
desperate to stay in the beautiful city by competing against the million other freelance
English teachers, or to play their music on the street corners. So this practice generally
subsided by the time I had left, but not so difficult to find when one ventured to the
country and out of the city, where the traffic of foreigners was still a novelty. However,
on a business ethics sense, I'd still say the Czechs have a long way to go, and I hope
that the slow enlightenment towards spiritual matters will help in this regard. |
In conclusion, Czechs are hard working and industrious. It would not take extremely
long before grandparents would be pulling mobile phones out of their pockets to send an
sms to their beloved children. And with this increased affluence came a greater tolerance
to the foreign element, and more polite manners in general. Under communism, it was the
intention of the government to nurture mistrust among the people. Those informing on the
suspicious behaviour of their neighbours were rewarded, so many people were rather
mistrustful and bitter against one another. By the time I left though, the general
behaviour among people seemed much more civilised.
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