Final Word from Friday, June 17, 2011
By stressing that yesterday's strike was the biggest since Nov. 1989, the unions andtheir supporters hope to evoke a subconscious comparison of the behavior of theCommunist regime and the capitalist practices of Petr Nečas and Miroslav Kalousek.Despite the many obvious differences, late-phase capitalism does indeed take upwhere Communism left off in one key respect. Communism destroyed value systemsand turned those who opposed the new morality into silent collaborators or dissidents.Instead of reversing this, the capitalism and democracy practiced at the turn ofthe 20th century have accelerated this moral deterioration and further marginalizedthose who oppose it. Many people from all walks of life and political persuasions arenot happy about this, but only the unions and the radicals are willing or have theplatform to speak up. Because of this, the voice of reason often goes unheard.
Glossary of difficult words
to drown out something or someone - to make something or someone inaudible;
to evoke - to bring or call to mind;
to take up where something leaves off - to begin an activity or action where another activity or action ends;
to marginalize - to treat a person, group or concept as insignificant or peripheral;
walk of life - the part of society to which one belongs because of one’s job or social status;
persuasion - a belief or set of beliefs.