#this is strange. it doesn't even take up the whole post to its borders

[front-facing-pokemon]

[thesinglesjukebox]

MANDY, INDIANA - "PINKING SHEARS"

Ian brings us some British-French post-punk with no Indiana involvement...

[7.40]

Ian Mathers: I don't remember what the song was, but I still remember the feeling the first time I encountered music that didn't immediately make sense to me. This isn't quite the same thing as music I find disappointing or lacklustre at first but grow to love -- a category that contains an awful lot of my favourite music, and is an endlessly renewable resource. But up until that point everything I had run into was something I immediately either liked or disliked (yr boy was a big fan of "Never Gonna Give You Up" when it was originally a hit, if that helps date me), and to hear something that was somehow neither was profoundly disturbing. As I got older and more into music, finding something that truly doesn't make sense at first has become rarer and rarer. More things get adopted into your repertoire, you have more context, and often you realize that stuff that bent your brain in your own history had plenty of antecedents that make them less singular. And that feeling... that little shock of non-recognition when you're used to recognizing so much, that little moment of "why or how did someone come up with this?" that sparks across your brain... it's like hearing about a new country when you thought you knew all of them. It's a reminder that life never settles into a comfortable box. None of the elements that Mandy, Indiana use to make their music are particularly confusing to me (hell, I even took French all through high school). But the first time I played i've seen a way, I had that feeling. These didn't feel like songs. They had elements of songs. Some like "Pinking Shears" even had choruses, relatable sentiments (who isn't tired?). They had sounds and structures I was broadly familiar with. But something about the way each track, and the album as a whole, was put together made me feel like my brain was degaussed. I spent maybe my first four listens in a rapturous quasi-panic, for the first time in years not being able to respond to a piece of music in the ways I was used to responding. I'm sure when that happens to anyone, it's not 100% inherent to the music itself. There may have been other bands who could have done this to me if the phase of the moon or my choice of lunch that day had been just right. But it felt rare and precious when I got that experience from Mandy, Indiana. And then, a second miracle: as I kept listening, "Pinking Shears" and the rest of i've seen a way resolved in my ears into just songs, the way these things always do (since it's hard to repeatedly experience the shock of the new from the same thing). And it turned out those songs were really really great. [10]

Vikram Joseph: This is so strange and addictive - a righteous French diatribe about racist border policies over a rhythmic racket and stomach-churning synths that sound like a cow in distress. From Brooklyn Vegan's English translation: "Those we bombard are told to fuck off / and then we elect bankers / and posh assholes and rentiers / and we are surprised to get fucked." I mean, yeah. Imagine how fatigué we are. Imagine how fatigué we are of it. [8]

Tim de Reuse: What's it take to go industrial in an age of digital purity? Chase the feeling of a grimy, misanthropic without actually getting any dirt under your fingernails. Meticulously ugly, to distract you from how it's actually neat and tidy. Check out the perfect knife's edge of that snare drum; check out the huge, reflective metallic object that passes for a bassline; check out the clean, papery reverb. I'd criticize it for being inauthentic if it wasn't so much more fun than the things it's ripping off. [8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Nestling its way into a sound between Filth-era Swans and the EBM of the same decade (Severed Heads, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb), "Pinking Shears" aims for a raw, cavernous sound that's more hollow than all-consuming. The playful French vocals provide an amusing contrast to all the whirring, but that's sort of it. Big synth bass, big crunch, big yawn. [5]

Micha Cavaseno: Vaguely answering a question nobody asked, which is "What if Liars were signed to Amphetamine Reptile or Skin Graft?". It's got one point, and it delivers it in perhaps the most cast-off gag and splutter of a way, before hurrying along with its day and avoiding trying to remember what color and texture of its release it was, but never quite getting rid of the taste for the next couple days. Love the clutter of the percussion sounding like a rude joke at a dance's expense, pushed aside by a belch of bullying rock. How rude. [7]

Taylor Alatorre: I always sorta felt that the world needed a Kidz Bop version of Einstürzende Neubauten. [7]

Hannah Jocelyn: I'm sorry, that percussion riff sounds like "Crack a Bottle," the vocals sound like The Google Translate Song, I can't take this seriously. That said, [6]

Oliver Maier: This is my "just say you hate fun". [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Genuinely a bad and unpleasant time in the way that most latter-generation "post punk" can only feint at. Feels much longer than 2.5 minutes, but not tediously so -- each moment of this drags you down into itself, each metallic hi-hat snap and guitar scratch a barb into exposed skin. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: Simon Catling's humming bassline shows up halfway through the song over Isaac Jones' drums, with jagged shards of guitar by Scott Fair slunk in at each interval at the end of Valentina Caulfield's chorus, punctuating them with a phlegmy shriek. Caulfield's vocals at first feel like a representation of politesse but gain an edge of menace over the crashing of the percussion. The bass presses the guitar into the margins allowing Caulfield to fill up the middle of the mix, repeating the refrain. [6]

Michael Hong: I like when that beefy fart of a bassline arrives, a really nice rejoinder for the rattling voices in your head. [6]

Brad Shoup: I love when post-punkers stomp, when they strip it down to a megalithic groove. All kinds of stuff on the ground can stick to it. The first half feels like a (bear with me) minimal, metallic go-go take on Cop Shoot Cop's "$10 Bill". To reach the more trad second half, they catapult in some streaks of noise. (This transitional part, and I take far more pleasure in hearing than saying this, sounds like "Come With Me" from the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack.) But that recedes, and Valentine Caulfield reveals the song's final form: protest rap. A [7] for the journey. [7]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: You don't need to be francophone in order to understand Mandy, Indiana's vitriol and rage. But the lyrics are worth dissecting: "Nothing makes me want to continue in the filth of our society/I don't have have any desire to wake up when we let humans die in the Mediterranean." This is a tirade about how we treat refugees, and the existential exhaustion that comes from living in a world where this feels normal. [7]

Katherine St Asaph: For months I assumed based on the name that Mandy, Indiana was an emo band. If I had known they would instead be spoken-word French over a harsh but oddly unchaotic post-punk dervish, I might have listened to the album earlier than Q4. Assumptions foil me again! [9]

Aaron Bergstrom: I did not expect the revolution to be this much fun. Embrace the chaos. Build a new world from the ashes of the old. Dance on the barricades. [9]

Claire Biddles: My face is just gasping_pikachu.jpeg the whole way through this -- yes!!! [9]

Michelle Myers: Mandy, Indiana's music makes me feel like I'm wearing a perfectly worn-in leather jacket and red lipstick that never smears, waiting in line to get into a club that I already know I'm not cool enough to get into. [6]

Kat Stevens: I'm glad there'll always be people making music that sitcom teenagers can slam their bedroom doors and stick on at high volume, to the despair of their parents. "Where did we go wrong, Adam?" "I don't know Helen, our sweet girl... it's like I don't even know her anymore. Were we too indulgent? Too strict?" "Well Adam, in retrospect maybe constantly playing The Downward Spiral to get her off to sleep while she was a baby wasn't the best idea." [7]

Alfred Soto: To play loudly and indiscriminately when holiday twaddle begins to choke you. [7]

Anna Katrina Lockwood: I am so tired, yet I cannot sleep. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[cheekygreenty]

I Know You part 2 - The Darkling x Reader

I knowwwww I took my time writing this but I think it deserves another part? Let me know 🥰

Read part 1 here.

You missed the warmth of the Little Palace and you hated that you missed Aleksander's warm embraces even more. As the tracker led you further up north, Alina and Mal reminisced on old memories and ultimately you stopped listening and kept to yourself, leaving you at the mercy of your own thoughts which were solely devoted to your intense betrayal. How could I of been so blind? You loved this man with your whole being and up until a week ago you would've gone to the ends of the earth for him and he had the audacity to lie to you. My Aleksander never existed, he was a figment of my imagination.

'Let's set up camp here.' Mal said putting his pack down with a wince. His shoulder was still badly wounded, your poor patching up did little to soften the pain. You pulled out your provisions and shared them with the others, thinking back as to whether selling the horse was a wise decision for mere hardtack.

'What do you think the General will do once he finds you with me?'' Alina never mentioned Aleksander's name and you guessed it was to avoid being questioned by Mal.

'Probably brand me a traitor and kill me.' You faced the truth head-on 'He was about to lock me away before I escaped and I'm guessing he's even angrier now.' You blurted as you chewed on the flavorless biscuit.

'Why are you here then? You can get away from Ravka, go to Ketterdam and never look back.'

'He'll find me, Alina. I might as well do something meaningful before I die.'

'What if he won't kill you?' Mal spoke up.

'I'd rather he did.' The thought of being Aleksander's prisoner struck a somber note in you and not for the reason they assumed. You didn't trust yourself enough to keep up your broken heart in Aleksander's presence for too long, that kind of love doesn't fade and around him, you were a slave to that emotion.

'We'll find the Stag and I can defeat him Y/N.' Alina sounded hopeful but at her words, you recoiled. Firstly, you knew she would fail, possibly killing Mal in the process but secondly, her statement ignited a brief spark of anger in you, a feeling of protectiveness for the man that was willing to take your life away from you. Stop being foolish. The man has killed countless times and will continue to commit atrocities in the name of power. You're better than that.

The rest of the night carried on as usual, Alina applying a salve to Mal's wound and you sitting against a tree, contemplating your life. Perhaps you should go to Ketterdam. You have connections there that would hopefully prevent you from becoming an indenture, but those connections could be used against you, a way for Aleksander to find you. Perhaps Novyi Zem would work for you. Alina and Mal had spoken about escaping there if she failed to defeat the Darkling, but you knew it was pointless. You had been by his side long enough to know there was truly no way you could hide and survive.

You know the parts of me that I showed you. His words echoed in your head as you tried to settle to sleep. Although you had uncovered his true face, you clung to his words like a lifeline. He showed you his loving side, he told you his name and his complicated relationship with Baghra, his mother. He trusted you with those things and he loved you, so he said. I do love you.

The tears came once again like they did every night. You had quickly come to understand that Alina and Mal were blind to your waterworks and were under the impression you hated Aleksander and wanted him dead as much as they did. If only they knew you fell asleep dreaming of his arms around you, whispering sweet nothings like he always did.

The snow was a thick blanket now as you approached the Fjerdan border. Mal was certain the Stag would be found any day now and with each passing moment spent dredging through the snow, you cursed your decision of coming with them. You haven't been of much use to the pair on the journey anyway, except letting the wind carry the smoke away when the fire was burning or blowing snow out from the trees when you settled for camp, but Alina insisted you were necessary. From Mal's behavior, you gathered he felt uneasy around two Grisha, so maybe Alina wanted you here to know she wasn't alone and her powers weren't strange.

You listening half-heartedly as she explained to Mal she was the one who needed to kill the animal but stopped when you heard a rustling in the distance.

'That way' Mal noticed too

'Hang on'

'What are you doing'

'I need to get closer to it' You blocked them out, your senses wholely devoted to watching the magnificent Stag. Saints, it's even more beautiful than I imagined it.

You saw her reach out and touch its snout, a light dome so bright erupting from their contact you shielded your eyes away. In doing so, you noticed the faint outline of a blue kefta in the trees, quickly heading for you.

'NO' you tried to block the shot but it was too late, the dome fell apart.

'The animal is not meant for you' Zoya bellowed as she fought to secure the stag.

You fought her in return, desperately attempting to knock her and the others off their feet but two strong hands caught you, restricting your movement.

'Take her' You heard his voice before you saw the contrast of his black attire against the snow. You fought against the soldier keeping you trapped, thrashing and kicking with all you could muster, completely ignoring the screams and shouts erupting from Mal and Alina.

He came to face you, eyeing you up and down, as if searching for any injuries. Even in the dark, you noticed the tiredness evident in his eyes with a hint of desperation. But no relief or love directed to you.

'Ivan, subdue her' was the last thing you registered before your eyes closed shut and deep sleep came over you.

***

You woke with a start, having felt no time pass in your dream-lacking slumber. The snow from earlier was replaced by lavish silks and drapes in a warm tent, his tent. You would recognize the eclipse sign from a mile away, especially on the embroidered cushion beneath your head or on the buttons of the coat you were donning. His kefta. He must’ve put it in you while you were passed out.

There were no cuffs around your wrists or restraints around your ankles as you lay in his comfortable cot surrounded by the sound of a crackling fire in the stove that always brought some level of comfort to you.

There was nobody in the tent with you, but you suspected a guard was posted by the entrance flap to ensure you didn't try anything stupid. You hesitated to get up. Will he be waiting for me? You didn't want to face him or fight him. The thoughts of a civil conversation with him withered away the more you reflected on your throbbing feeling of betrayal, but there was still that small voice in the back of your head, or rather your heart, that wanted to forget about everything and just lay with him like you did every night. The conflict caused you to cry yet again that night for exactly the same reasons as before.

You finally got up once the last tears dropped, your light footsteps carrying you over to the small fruit bowl sitting by the lamps. It was rewarding to taste the sweetness of a grape after so much time spent eating hardtack and hard cheese, all Saints willing, you'd never have to look at those things again. You heard the tent flap open and slowly, you turned to face Aleksander.

'You've been crying.' He observed and took off his heavy cape, laying it carelessly on the cot you had just slept in and standing away from you, keeping his distance although his own heart dropped to see you in such a state.

'Do you blame me?' Your voice was strong despite your appearance,

'I hope you are well-rested. The journey here mustn't've been very kind to you.'

'It was better than being your prisoner and rotting away in a cell in the Little Palace.'

'Do you really think so lowly of me Y/N?'

'I don't know what to think Aleksander.' You hugged his huge kefta closer to your body, enjoying being enveloped by his scent. Another thing that brought you comfort.

'I never lied when I said I love you.' His voice grew softer but you willed yourself to ignore it. The small voice told you to run up to him, kiss him, hold him and tell him you loved him too, but the logical part kept you firmly planted in your place.

'If I recall correctly, you said 'I love you but'...'

'You never stuck around to what I wanted to say next.'

'I doubt it would have fixed this.' You gestured to the lengthy space between your bodies and he took it as an opportunity to walk closer to you.

'Is there anything we can do to fix this?' He asked desperately and your heart leaped in your chest but it didn't last long as his hand caught your attention, The Stag.

The realization flooded over you with a jolt of pain for the second time in two weeks. Unable to hold it back, a bone-shattering sob erupted from you at the impending doom he was about to unleash on Ravka.

His eyes followed your own with anguish so obvious it hurt him, but he had to avert them fearing if he watched your pained expression any longer, he would rip out the amplifier himself without a second thought just to stop the heart-breaking sobs shaking your body. He reached out for you but stopped himself, the last thing she needed was his comfort of all people, he thought.

But you yearned for him despite the situation, so when he stepped closer once again, you rested your head on his chest still uncontrollably crying.

‘Why are you doing this’ your hands now held a deathly grip on his shirt, but all he could think about was the fact that you sought his touch out first, maybe there is some hope left.

‘For Ravka, for all Grisha.’ The answer felt automated and scripted but it was all that remained of his goal. There was nothing else, no one else, that would benefit from this except him and her.

He wrapped one arm around you and when you didn’t pull away, his other arm went to your waist, pulling you close and pressing his lips to the top of your head in an attempt to soothe you. Ironically, it had the exact opposite effect as you cried even harder because despite everything he’d done and everything he was about to do, you didn’t want to leave his side.

The conflict was rampant in your head and part of the shed tears were in an effort to calm your mind.

‘I’m going on a skiff journey across to Novokribirsk in a couple days. I wish for you to go back to the Little Palace.’ He spoke but didn’t loosen his comforting hold on you.

‘Why?’ You managed to croak out.

‘You want to come with me?’

‘I don’t know’

‘Let’s sleep. You’ve had a long day.’ He only briefly let you go to take off the kefta he placed on you earlier, but he was right back at your side as you settled against his chest on the cot. Although you had only just woken up from Ivan's induced sleep, your mind was tired from the self-hate your logical side spewed at you.

‘This is wrong. They’ll hate me for this.’ I hate myself for this.

‘If it is so wrong then tell me to go away. I’ll listen.’ You knew he would but you wanted him here with you.

‘Were you ever going to tell me?’

‘Yes. But I stopped myself after seeing how happy you were. I couldn’t bring myself to stop that.’

‘And look where it brought us. Look at me now.’ You raised your head from his chest and looked him in his onyx eyes. They radiated affection and forgiveness, both of which you were ready to give him. I’m a fool for this.

‘And I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy Y/N.’ The determination in his voice pulled at your heart, for the next thing you knew your lips were on his, kissing him as if there was no tomorrow.

-----

Taglist (tell me if you want to be added !!)

@aleksanderwh0r3 @theonelittleone @searching-for-gallifrey @lostysworld @0-artemis @exo-1204 @staradorned @bookfrog242 @simp-for-ben-barners @keepdaydreamingbb @acciorudolphx @pansysgirlfriend @pansysgirlfriend @justmesadgirl @theriveroftruth

[servopedes]

Tool's Fear Inoculum

This is quintessential Tool, it feels like like nothing yet everything we have heard from them. You can tell these guys have matured as artists, and that reflects in the composition.

This album requires a bit of patience from listeners, since each composition is filled with intricacies and complexities, and lengths that borders on self-indulgence but doesn't quite go there. I say this because while other progressive rock bands would completely indulge themselves in a plethora of key and time signature changes that can sound rather jarring (I'm looking at you, Dream Theater), Tool seem to practice a rather complentative reservation in that regard.

With that being said, you will not hear a 4/4 timing anywhere near this album, let alone a I-IV-V-iv chord progression. (One song has a time signature of 21/16, by the way.)

Each song is unique, with Invincible and Descending being the most alike (and that's a bit of a stretch), and I find myself loving each track for very different reasons.

For example, I keep listening to Culling Voices because it is very reminiscent of A Perfect Circle's gorgeously melodic, melancholic haunting tone and vocals, before moving into Tool's own territory. It is beautiful, and slowly becoming one of my favorite tracks on the album.

The bonus tracks/interludes are alright, interesting at best but with no true replay value in my opinion, unless I'm listening to the whole album from start to finish again.

Chocolate Chip Trip is an exception. It is not a bonus track, but rather an opportunity to let drummer Danny Carey shine in all of his cephalopodian gloriousness. (The man is to this generation what John Bonham and Neil Peart was to theirs, and I don't care what anyone says.)

The album itself evolves naturally towards its gargantuan and jaw-dropping finale, 7empest, one of the tooliest Tool songs they have ever made. It feels like it encompasses every phase and aspect of their discography and sound from Opiate to 10,000 Days, all crammed up into one hell of a banger track.

It is heavy, it is insane, and every member let's loose in the best way imaginable. Adam Jones brings riffs and solos and triplets for days, MJ Keenan actually sounds angry, with Danny "I'm an octopus" Carey and Justin Chancellor keeping everything grounded while still rocking it out and going ballistic.

It will easily be a lot of people's favorite track in the album by a long shot.

I am already seeing a few people expressing deep dissapointment with this album. Before I write anything else, let me just say it is okay not to like something, even if it is by your favorite band. However, it is my opinion that the more I read these reviews and post, the more it seems that it has a lot to do with their own expectations of it rather than the album itself. Instead of taking it for what it is, most seem to criticize it for what it is not. I find that strangely bizarre, considering that each album is so different in tone and themes.

I remember when 10,000 Days was released and some fans were expressing similar dissatisfaction, same with Lateralus.

This is not Opiate, Undertow, Ænima, Lateralus, nor 10,000 Days. Each album stands on its own, and in time Fear Inoculum will too.

[the-firebird69]

Ukraine-Russia Crisis: Live News Updates

The troops cleared out a portion of eastern Ukraine possibly half of the East the northern half so they have the middle of the half the northern East today it'll drive them to push for the rest of the East and that's what they need as a whole and that's what I'm going to use are you going to come out here I'm going to fight whatever resistance they find and Tommy f is fighting over possession of all of it and has a whole bunch of ships out there and they're going to go at it pretty hard too because he wants to remove the priceless people that are inside the Titanic.

It is going on now and we see Mac mobilizing in Russia huge forces are going towards the ships and spaceships are building gigantic sections are moving they go about 100 miles an hour even though they're huge and they're only about two three hundred miles from the border so at 12:00 noon there's going to be quite a ruckus around here Mac and his son fighting and people probably be able to do things pay bills get the post office stuff straight away real good groceries

Thor Freya

Thank God something's happening this is terrible right when he needs everything to happen the big huge locked up thing but pretty soon I'll be there huge battle we're ready to this huge numbers lost in combat but not that many in the UK that was weird everybody looked and said your information is completely wrong it's hardly any fighting there Tom is trying to take over and back is but not like we were describing I thought it was strange too there's nothing there yeah it does going to be an impress the world for a massive war and there's a huge there's a huge losses at the wall look that was true and it's going to be huge losses today and this will trigger all sorts of stuff to happen it doesn't appear then it goes up it goes up later when they try and knock it down over the UK it goes into the wing

Hera Zues

This is true too it's very hard on these two they need a break and then these people giving one they really can't it's just a two ordering them around and passing them around inside Tommy f outside and Mac is inside saying no no. Her son says you people s*** heads now I mean you're like s******** and the max sent the letter it's real tons of people are verifying it came from me about his office

Thor Freya

I did not send a letter but it's on the way anyways

Mac

Not me it wasn't me I'm being stupid idea you have money so you can get a place after I kick him out which is what I'm doing still

Tommy f

What a lovely pair why don't you get the f*** out of my face and have a fight in both die

Zues Hera

Well I sort of get this we're in the way we only have anything nobody can even freeze here

Mac

People have heard this from you Mac for thousands of years

[gefiltefishwhereareweonthis]

Hi! I read your analysis of the political situation in Poland and I wanted to ask you: since Poland has lived under communism, could you maybe paint a picture of pros and cons of that for our Bernie-bros "friends"?! Because I don't think they ever read a description of an actual socialist or communist regime (not the manifesto, but an actual historical, real life representation). Thank you so much in advance and please take your time with the answer, doesn't have to be today, no rush

Pros… well they weren’t many, but cons were! this is gonna be a very long post. 

Pos…

1. Everybody had a job. Everybody. If you were an adult wandering down the streets during the work hours, the police had the right to stop you and ask why you aren’t at work. The fact that there was basically no unemployment, gave people the financial security they needed. The fact that due to the shortage of products people were unable to spend their money in a way they wanted is another story. 

2. Everything was state owned, (that actually also classifies as a con, but I’ll get to that later), so institutions like universities too. That implied that you didn’t have to pay to go to uni and actually that allowed to even out the chances for people from the rural areas to climb the social ladder. The motion that universities should be free of tuition fees prevailed to this day. Some time ago, the government was thinking about introducing tuition fees for the most popular and prestigious faculties, like law or medicine but the idea received so much backslash that the government retracted from introducing them, which is I think fair in a way, since I pay taxes that go to sustain roads and prisons, I don’t mind that some of the amount goes to unis. In fact, I’d pay even more if I knew that more of my tax money were allocated to unis. 

3. Things like universal health care were a given. Everybody had the access to a hospital or a doctor and that notion is very deeply rooted in the society to this day. The outcome is that today in Poland, nobody dies because they can’t afford health care or medicine. Some of the meds are even refunded by the state now. 

Cons. 

1. Everybody had a job. That means, that people were forcefully employed even if their job position was not necessarily lucrative or contributing to the finances of the company. So it resulted in people going to work and doing nothing for 8 hours, standing around the whole day, or drinking on the job. Yes. You didn’t have to have any qualifications to get a job, so when the system changed those unqualified people who were not able to land a job, because suddenly the state owned companies where they worked collapsed and they didn’t even have any real skills needed in a new economic system.

2. Everything was state owned. So, everything was either over-funded and they were wasting money or underfunded and they were not developing the branches that should be developed in order for the country to thrive. This brings us to the third point of the…

3. …centrally planned economy. And that implied a few things: First, the lack of the financial discipline within the companies - that negligence actually left us with huge debts. At some point, to give the economy a kick, we had to borrow money from the Western countries, which we didn’t pay off until 2012 (SIC!). What is more, people running the companies were thinking along the lines of “the state will give me money anyway, so why should I care about optimizing the production to save some, right?”. Then, a centrally planned economy makes the economic system not flexible and adaptable to the changing factors, but still we mostly exported to USSR, which was also a centrally planned economy back then, so those guys could work things out between themselves if the production levels needed to be adjusted. Another effect of this, was the fading away of entrepreneurship as people were actually unable to set up their own companies with their own capital, that’s why when we transitioned in 1989, some “businessmen” even when they set up their own companies, actually did a very poor job of managing their companies, because they were not used to functioning in an open market economy with the state that actually requires you to pay taxes. 

4. The lack of a sense of responsibility for a country as a shared good or value in its own right. It was always someone else’s responsibility, so I could vandalize the bus stop, because it didn’t belong to me. It was state owned. I didn’t  have to care about not throwing litter to the ground because why should I care about a space that I share with other citizens? For example, facilities like sewage plant didn’t even existed, the whole country was just dumping their waste into the rivers, because who would think about the environment??  This country was not ours anyway, so… That approach actually transposed to this day, and while there are more and more people who feel that shared responsibility, and we definitely have more sewage plants now, there are still many ,many people who think that they don’t have to care, because for many many years it was like that, and that left them with the sense of powerlessness that does not necessarily motivate them to do something for the community they live in and change their lives for the better. or idk, manifest their need for change by going to the polls for example? 

5. When we were under the communist rule, we were under the wings of USSR and while we did not succumb fully to them, still their presence in Poland was palpable. For example, most of the produced goods were exported to Russia so at some point the shops looked like that: 

and people were living off the food stamps, like these: 

These are the food stamps for meat. In the middle, you have the space to fill in your name and address, but that didn’t really mean that you’d get the meat if you went to the shop. Because it simply wasn’t delivered to the shop or if it was you had to queue for long hours with no guarantee that  they had enough and when you finally make it to the counter, you’d get your portion: 

This is actually a pic of a queue to the shop with alcoholic beverages, but it’s just to get you an idea of how long the queues were. Fun fact: people queued for days, for example my mum was taking shifts with her mum and her sister while my grandpa was at work. Sometimes people queued because the rumor had it that they would deliver “something” to the shop. Oftentimes, people didn’t know what that “something” was, but there was such a huge shortage of goods that they queued anyway because they could later sell it or exchange it for something else. 

Another mechanism of the same vain functioned:

Now, people working in the companies that were producing goods at some point started to create the second “black market” meaning that they would “bring” some of the goods produced in their companies home, to either exchange it for something else or sell it on the black market. A lot of luxury goods like meat for example or a tv set, were sold under the counter illegally. If you had an aunt who had her own farm in the countryside, you were able to make a lot of money on selling meat and eggs alone, as such basic products were on shortage. Same when you owned a shop. For example if you owned a shop, and let’s say 4 tv sets were delivered from the production line, you put 2 on the counter and 2 under the counter to sell it on the black market, for example to your aunt or a friend of a friend who “ordered” it from you.  These were very strange times, there was apparently a huge shortage of all the goods, and yet people had all the stuff they needed at home. Pretty neat, yeah? Well, apart from the toilet paper, but that was sometimes just not being produced. AT ALL. 

Everybody was doing it and everybody knew that everyone else were doing it. Tell me, how a system that allows stealing the state owned goods is good for a society as a whole and useful in building the sense of respect towards the state institutions? People back then were thinking “well, the government is screwing us over, so why should we feel bad about us screwing the government over, too?”. It is visible to this day, when you still hear people of the oldest generation whining about paying taxes and generally contributing to the society as a whole. They think that the government is crap, and nothing’s gonna change anyway, so why should they care, why should they go vote… They still have their heads in the 80ties. 

6. Lack of personal freedom, freedom of speech and well, being basically fed with propaganda from all places. We had Russian spies of KGB working in Poland, some people, in exchange of some goods or connections, colluded with the communist government and were spying on their neighbors and ratting on them to the government, if they thought that there was a chance that somebody could be a oppositionist.  That really helps to build social trusts, doesn’t it? You could be thrown in jail and beaten to death for thinking differently. Well, Orwell really did a great job at explaining the communist mechanisms in his book ‘1984′. Sure, he paints an exaggerated picture, but the whole notion of The Party being always right and being very vehement about people who dared to say no, while oppressing people in the name of a mission to fulfill, which was constantly fulled by propaganda, and painting the reality in bright colors though the reality was so much different, is right on point. To this day, people are really distrusting towards each other, especially people who grew up in the communist times. Sayings like “You can count? Count on yourself” are still prevalent in the public discourse. What is more, you could not leave a country without the government knowing about it. Your passport was closed in a drawer in the governmental office, so if you wanted to go abroad you’d have to ask to have it, and still you could only travel within the borders of the Eastern Block.Things like vacations in Paris? It was very hard to get a permission to leave just like that, so many people just stayed in their own country - that created the xenophobia - in order to discourage people from fleeing or going away (because they didn’t really want to see people realize how screwed they are), they fed people with propaganda saying that the other countries are bad and that communism is superior, but people knew how bad they have it and that everywhere else, especially in the western countries, people’s lives are better, so the government, in order to retain people  did everything possible to make people stay, ergo they made it extra hard for people to move around. At some point, they allowed people to go to Bulgaria on vacations and this was for many, the only chance to go abroad. (Bulgaria was a communist country, too back then). 

7. They were elections held, but the candidates were elected by the Party so, it didn’t matter on who you voted, things would not change anyway. Some people think it’s the same under democracy, so that’s why the turnout for the elections in Poland is so low. 

Pretty crazy, isn’t it? And it is just my common knowledge I acquired by talking to my parents and grandparents, and I’m pretty sure, it’s actually the tip of an iceberg and, have I investigated the matter further, I’d be able to give you even more crazy, inconceivable now for a citizen of a democratic country, details. Actually, I’ve recently bought a book entitled “Women, Communism and Industrialization in the post-war Poland” and once I’ve read it, I’ll probably add more to this post.