The text of the interview, which I gave to the Czech Communist Party newspaper, is here. I was happy to give the interview because both editors are professional and nice. However, here is also an opportunity to explain what I have against the communists. Not something from the past, that’s for historians. I can condemn their actions in 1952 just as I condemn Catholic actions in 1632 or Liberal actions in 1847. The question is what is threatening from whom in the present. And it is obvious that Czech business is being liquidated by global capital rather than by local communist parties. And if anyone is prosecuting people for disagreeing with the government, it’s the liberals, not the communists.
However, I do have something substantial against the current communists. Namely, that they’re not really communists at all. And that what is missing from the public discussion is what should be heard right from communists. Who else should make it clear that if foreign banks continue to use their financial power to push political agendas, there might as well be expropriation? Who else should be proposing long prison sentences for board members whose subsidiaries funnel billions untaxed abroad? Who else should make it clear that if Honorace supports inclusion in education, let him implement it in his luxurious private schools and leave the normal schools where working-class children go alone?
I am not saying that it would be sensible to implement all those things, but it is too bad that they have become unthinkable. In short, that position is missing from the discussion and it’s hard to imagine anyone else replacing the communists in that.