The Flame That Was Snuffed Out By Freedom

The flame that was snuffed out by freedom | Roger Scruton - Times Online

The EU has facilitated the transition away from communism. It has filled the legal vacuum — indeed, filled it to bursting. It has offered easy routes to cross-border trade and incoming investment. It has led to an exchange of expertise and — in Poland’s case — to a mass escape of the working population.

But those countries today bear no resemblance to the liberated nations that were dreamt of in the catacombs. For when the stones were lifted, and the air of freedom blew across the underground altars, the flame that had been kept alive on them was instantly blown out.