Saturday, September 16, 2017

Branko Milanovic — How I lost my past

Yet it is very difficult to tell these other stories. History is written, we are told, by the victors and stories that do not fit the pattern narrative are rejected. This is especially the case, I have come to believe, in the United States that has created during the Cold War a formidable machinery of open and concealed propaganda. That machinery cannot be easily turned off. It cannot produce narratives that do not agree with the dominant one because no one would believe them or buy such books. There is an almost daily and active rewriting of history to which many people from Eastern Europe participate: some because they do have such memories, others because they force themselves (often successfully) to believe that they have such memories. Others can remain with their individual memories which, at their passing, will be lost. The victory shall be complete.…
Global Inequality
How I lost my past
Branko Milanovic | Visiting Presidential Professor at City University of New York Graduate Center and senior scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), and formerly lead economist in the World Bank's research department and senior associate at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

1 comment:

Matt Franko said...

Are there people who could write the same thing from outside of Yugoslavia?

I remember back in the 80's there was a small car you could buy called the "Yugo" it was actually made in Yugoslavia...

http://www.librarypoint.org/yugo_vuic

It might have been a bad car but it was somewhat successful never the less... at least they got some sold...