What Vaclav Havel Didn’t Bargain For: Central Europe’s Loss Of Interest In Ideas

“The artistic and literary scene that flourished paradoxically under censorship and repression has died off. … The people of Central Europe traded in ideas for groceries and for not being beaten to death by the police. No one could possibly blame them, but at the same time, Havel and the other leaders had no sense of the true cost of democracy.”