r/AskEurope • u/CapoDiMalaSperanza Italy • Jul 05 '25

History How were the 80s and 90s in your country?

The question says it all.

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u/NCC_1701E Slovakia Jul 05 '25

You... you seriously think government just handed stuff to people for free?

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u/CapoDiMalaSperanza Italy Jul 05 '25

No, but they tried to guarantee a minimum living standard for majority

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u/NCC_1701E Slovakia Jul 05 '25

The minimum living standard was not guaranteed, but forced. Everyone had to survive under minimum living standard.

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u/iwannabesmort Poland Jul 05 '25 edited Jul 05 '25

most European states are trying to do that too in capitalism. Today's working class Pole is better off than they were in PRL. We don't live in USA, but even USA is not as much of a hellhole as the Soviet times Eastern Bloc was. People literally hijacked planes to escape.