20 Years On...

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the communist occupation of the former Czechoslovakia which folowed on the heels of the fall of the Berlin Wall a few days earlier.  There are mixed reactions from a nation that is reflecting on where it is and where it should be by now.  Many lament that the ties to the communist past have been hard to sever.  There is a new young generation who has no memory of this ignoble past.  There has been a lot of good changes in the life of the Czech Republic (and Slovakia and all the former Eastern Eurpopean block countries).  Yet, progress is slower than people would like and others who would prefer things the way they were (mostly the older generation).  We arrived here 12 short years after the revolution.  In the time we have been here we have seen enormous change... an interesting thing that Vaclav Havel (first president and current former president of the new era) said recently that he would have pushed more for reform based on values and morals rather than such a focus on ecomonic change and striving.  To some degree you can see the driving force of the nation has been to make money and to grow on the EU stage.  What were the sacrifices?  A nation that has left behind any religious or moral compass and instead follows the dictates of financial success.  I pray that maybe the compass can be refocused somewhat...  maybe in the next 20 years...