%0 Journal Article
%T The Greengrocer and Compassion in Time of War
%A James F. Pontuso
%J East European Politics and Societies
%@ 1533-8371
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/0888325417742489
%X This is a personal reflection on the effects of The Power of the Powerless on students living in post-tyrannical societies¡ªthe Czech Republic in 1993 and Iraq in 2010. Czech students read the essay as an indictment of Marxist ideology, one-party rule, bureaucratic stagnation, and their former educational system. Havel was a symbol of resistance, human rights, and courage. Iraqi students found a different lesson. The Power of the Powerless does not excuse tyranny, but it does explain the way people trying to live a normal life rationalize their compliance with repression. Havel¡¯s essay made Iraqi students comprehend how complicated choices are under difficult circumstances. Perhaps, as its author intended, the essay proved upon reflection to be a source of compassion
%K V¨¢clav Havel
%K compassion
%K Iraq
%K post-tyrannical students
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0888325417742489