Why are the Eastern European countries (formerly Warsaw Pact) now so pro-West, esp pro-American?
I love the naivete of the responses so far, but they did nail it on the head in theory. What Americans don’t understand is that Communism was a “corruption to the core” of society, not just at the top. Everyone did what they could to get along, meaning lying, cheating, and stealing under the regimes. The people here are not necessarily “pro-American”, but more “pro-sucker”…as in, “Come bring your dollars to us so we can take them and cheese you guys off until you leave.” Some countries (like Bulgaria and Poland) have managed to reverse this mentality and thrive. Others, like Romania, Moldavia, and Ukraine, have never had a significant “middle-class” in their history, and hence, have no idea what capitalism really means. Materialism and corruption of values is substituted for any semblance of fair business and working ethic to a horrible effect on general society. To answer in a nutshell though, the common folks here believe that America = Money. Money is the only thing that matters a
