By: mag Tadej Ian
In Slovenia today, a socialist mindset prevails, arguably even more so than during the era of state socialism between 1945 and 1990. As a result, what could be termed the forces of socialism are laying the groundwork for the emergence of entrenched poverty in Slovenia. The situation is deteriorating drastically, particularly under the current government, where the standard of living is already in sharp decline.
In 2024, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to three American economists whose main ideas, as Dr Andrej Umek noted in an article titled This Year’s Nobel Prizes in Economics Should Be a Lesson for Slovenia, published on the Demokracija online portal, were that “the state must create favourable conditions for economic growth and technological progress without interfering directly in the economy. At the same time, it must ensure freedom for its citizens, including economic freedom, to foster their creativity and innovation.”
The economic folly of Slovenia’s left
In the article, Dr Umek questions whether Slovenian policymakers have learned anything from the fact that such an economic perspective was awarded the Nobel Prize. The answer to Dr Umek’s question is straightforward: of course not, because the Slovenian left fundamentally fails to grasp the importance of the state fostering favourable conditions for economic growth and technological progress. This inability to learn stems from a lack of understanding. Moreover, the core operating principle of Slovenia’s left-leaning political sphere is interference in the economy by all possible means. This interference allows left-wing policymakers to access state budget funds, which they manage with great wastefulness. Due to nearly half a century of state-socialist tradition, the Slovenian left cannot ideologically afford – nor is it allowed – to be generous with freedom. Consequently, leftist authorities instinctively hinder – if not outright suppress (depending on the ruling coalition) – freedom, including economic freedom. This perspective explains, for instance, the overwhelming bureaucracy that obstructs Slovenian entrepreneurs in their operations. The underlying, often unconscious purpose of such bureaucracy is to stifle economic freedom. According to state-socialist traditions, freedom is seen as something dangerous, undesirable, and uncomfortable. The fact that Slovenia is a democracy with a market economy does not disrupt these state-socialist traditions because they are part of the broader social culture. This culture is not limited to the left-wing political sphere but extends to a significant portion of the Slovenian population and, consequently, the electorate. These voters passionately support their political favourites, who perpetuate the state-socialist tradition – this unscrupulous demon that drains the lifeblood from the nation’s potential and drives it toward poverty.
Creativity and innovation have no place here
In line with the tradition of state socialism, creativity and innovation cannot really thrive, as these were more exceptions than the rule under state socialism. In Western Europe, creativity and innovation are present among most of the population, at least on a personal level, whereas this is not the case in Slovenia. The reason lies in the tradition of the educational system. Under state socialism, the school system was a tool for creating politically (communist) correct individuals on one hand, and on the other hand, it aimed at mediocrity, because having most of the population be creative and innovative would have been dangerous to the communist totalitarian regime. Since the independence of Slovenia, creativity and innovation are no longer problematic for the left-wing political camp, as they have developed other levers of power through which they maintain firm control over the government. The problem, however, is that the state-socialist educational machinery continues to operate on “autopilot” through teachers who were educated before 1990, through teachers who were educated by those who were educated before 1990, and so on. State socialism in education thus continues to live on in the heritage and culture of the teachers. It is a behavioural-cognitive pattern that will be impossible to break as long as the media, politicians, and voters directly or indirectly honour or celebrate state-socialist practices. Only when this delusion ends will a spontaneous or unconscious reform of the education system be possible. Only then will the situation be established in which the Slovenian educational system can systematically develop creativity and innovation. Societal systems are complex, interconnected, and a lot happens at the unconscious level. In a society that honours and celebrates state socialism, it is inevitable that this society will produce similar or identical processes and results as those characteristic of the state socialist era. The left-wing political camp thus keeps Slovenia in the past, and as a result, Slovenia continues to decline.
The tragedy of Slovenian youth
To make matters worse, Slovenian youth, who are indoctrinated by the school system and media controlled by the left-wing political camp, are raised in the illusion that the system of state socialism is better than democracy and a market economy. Left-wing politicians know this is a lie, but they lie to stay in power. Voters from the left-wing camp who lived during state socialism also know it is a lie, but because of nostalgia for the “old” times, they deceive themselves and their youth. However, young people who did not grow up under state socialism cannot know that state socialism is a significantly worse system than democracy and a market economy, because they have no personal experience with this system and can only believe the older generation, who (whether intentionally or not) mislead them. This causes irreparable harm to these young people, as they are not in touch with reality and, consequently, will advocate for elements of state socialism in a democratic and market economy setting. In doing so, they will oppose the only system that can provide them with prosperity, destroy it, and perhaps even want to initiate a new socialist revolution. Whatever they may do, in their ignorance and blindness, for which they are not at fault (because the older generation lies to and indoctrinates them), they will lead themselves and their descendants into poverty. This is why the current trend in Slovenia – considering the extreme popularity of the left among those under 35 – is an increase in poverty.
Golob’s government: The most extreme left-wing
No government since Slovenia’s independence has been as radically left-wing as the government under Golob. The fact that such a government can function, that there are no public opinion levers in society to force early elections after such catastrophic governance, and that part of the public even applauds this damaging government, is a clear indication that Slovenia’s socio-political space is already extremely poisoned by left-wing ideologies and remnants of state socialism. The success of the economy and the prosperity of the population in the country is merely a consequence of socio-political processes. The economic results and the state of prosperity, which are the consequences of these socio-political processes, always occur with a delay. This means that Slovenia will economically reap what we are sowing now in about 15 to 20 years. At this moment, Slovenia is therefore reaping what politics and society produced in the first decade of this century. Considering that catastrophic processes and decisions orchestrated by the Slovenian left took place in the last 10 to 15 years in both politics and society, and that the situation is dramatically worsening, it seems that Slovenia will face the spread of poverty in the coming decades. It is crucial to reverse this trend as soon as possible and for Slovenia to finally begin the restoration of the state-socialist swamp, although this process is being delayed.