#782 Strange People- Bohumil Hrabal
We are in a cold war factory, industrial, metallic, gray, bleak. The workers are told they have new higher quotas and they refuse to work until they see their shop steward. All quotas are supposed to be negotiated with the workers, but they aren’t. A theory of communism in practice is played out and workers rights as always are put to the test.
“If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn the other…Good advice for a saint, but a worker? If he doesn’t go straight for the solar plexus, he’s doomed.”
The problem with communism, especially in cold war eastern Europe was that few of the theories of worker-led production ever materialized. The hierarchies still existed and the workers were in poorer conditions than ever, but the slogans made it sound good. In practice the pride and patriotism was a murky thing at best and literally a propaganda film at times.
Notable Passage: “We can make a living here boys, but we can’t make a life.”
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