2.7 Inability to Communicate Properly
Communism does not encourage open, sincere communication between people. In fact, in order to survive, people very early learn the art of dissimulation: thinking one thing and saying something else. Because of the heavy ideological control exercised by the system, people living in communist societies do not learn how to discover and evaluate different options, to form their own convictions and to argue for them, nor do they understand the importance of fully understanding and respecting the positions of those holding opposing views. The communist authorities never encouraged this type of attitude, because all they needed were obedient citizens, not mature, independently minded and responsible personalities.
Also, from a Marxist perspective, there was a complete overlap between a person and that person’s opinions. This is why if the communists thought that someone’s ideas were not correct their natural reaction was to eliminate the person altogether, as a way of dealing with the ideas that opposed their ideology.
These kinds of attitudes are evidently not conducive to sincere dialogue and open communication, especially when disagreements arise. This becomes particularly obvious during the transition from communism to democracy, when even highly-educated people appear to be utterly incapable of respect for someone whose ideas they reject. The negative impact of this state of affairs on social cohesion and the ability of people to negotiate and solve conflicts is perfectly obvious.
Again, we are dealing here with an area where deeply-rooted behavioural patterns need to undergo progressive change, and this will not happen overnight or by simply letting things take their natural course. Our societies need to be consciously involved in a process of transformation that includes a number of contributing factors: a new approach to education, the renewal of the media, different structures, etc.
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