[ExI] 1984 and Orwell's Warnings

[Amara Graps]

Rafal:
>### Wouldn't it be better to leave the enemy's words still defacing
>the buildings, an occasion to mention the dark times, a reminder of
>past weakness?

>Evil must be remembered.

If you walk through the suburbs of Riga or Tallinn or any of the Baltic
towns today, it's easy to be reminded. The Soviet apartment buildings,
the decaying phone booths, Russian-written signs, old statues. Villas
that they occupied, then left trashing the buildings, breaking the
windows, taking even the toilets with them. They left their mark
*everywhere*. The millions of reminders won't be erased that easily.
Let the Baltic people have at least their road names back. It was an
important symbolism to support their courage those last months in
1990/1991 before they could declare their independence.

Remember it is a bit different to be Latvija , Estonia, etc. *S.S.R.*
than to be Poland or Hungary or Czechoslovakia etc. -- *satellite* of
the U.S.S.R.

Amara

-- 

Amara Graps, PhD      www.amara.com
Research Scientist, Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado