I still can: sing along to the old Yugoslav anthem, that is. I could even do some partisan songs, if asked (the lyrics, not the singing).
I find it fascinating that Hej Slovani had so much to do with Slovakia and bad bad people could make jokes about Serbs actually singing Hej Slovenci…

     by alcessa on March 2, 2007 at 10:36 am

Michael! A really good choice with “Slovenia is not Scandinavia”… For a moment there I even took it seriously I’m sure it’s author will evolve into a staunch supporter of planned economy as he grows older

     by pengovsky on March 2, 2007 at 10:52 am

Didn’t you just post another link to the “I’m so ashamed -socialism- to be Slovene -socialism- and I want -socialism- to be an -socialism- American but they -socialism- won’t have -socialism- me” economist’s blog a few weeks ago? That guy’s obsession with supposed omnipresent remnants of socialism/communism in Slovenia and his despising attitude towards the country where he was born gets old real quick…

re: Hey Slavs. I only found out recently that Hey Slavs was actually a pan-slavistic anthem. And it’s interesting to see how the Slovene translation is by far the most poetic - where all other languages say “death to traitors”, the Slovene translation alone is metaphorical and poetic and not in the least as direct. It still calls for death to traitors, but it’s not nearly as blunt about it as the other translations

     by Cornelius on March 2, 2007 at 10:59 am

You know… the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence…

     by pengovsky on March 2, 2007 at 11:16 am

Cornelius: That was a different guy, but also part of the local libertarian community. I feel obligated to throw some inflammatory links in now and again.

     by Michael M. on March 2, 2007 at 11:25 am

some wikipedia excerpts:
Its first lyrics was written in 1834 under the title Hey, Slovaks
and as mentioned above
in 1977 Hey, Slavs became the official national anthem of Yugoslavia.
wait a minute - doesn’t that mean, that a former Slovak song somehow was the official anthem for Slovenia?

     by dietmarf on March 2, 2007 at 11:31 am

Actually, the official anthem of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia was Naprej, zastave slave, whereas “Hej Slovani” was the anthem of Yugoslavia

     by pengovsky on March 2, 2007 at 11:40 am

O my god! There’s more of ‘em? Do they breed them? Or are they carefully constructed in a factory somewhere? I’m partial to the latter explanation - it would certanly explain why they all chant exactly the same slogans.
I remember a long time ago (back in the days of Yugoslavia) there was a spoof program for the Commodore 64, one that wrote political speeches. Basically, it just picked up communist catch phrases at random from its database and fitted them into the structure of sentences. These guys are probably using an upgraded version of that same program

     by Cornelius on March 2, 2007 at 12:17 pm

I would consider myself part of the “libertarian community” or however you want to compartmentalize people who think that way. I might even agree with you on some points about the rhetoric, but the fact remains that Slovenia is fucked up by socialism. That’s why I left.

     by crni on March 2, 2007 at 3:11 pm

^^Above to Cornelius

     by crni on March 2, 2007 at 3:20 pm

@crni: Not meaning any disrespect or trying to compartamentalise, but the blog(ger) Michael quoted does more of a disservice to liberalism that anything else.

Slovenia might have been seriously dissadvantaged by socialism market-wise, but the social fibre is much stronger (yes, sometimes even too strong for its own good).

I would, however, contend, that Slovenia as it stands now is a well established market economy with a decent social divide that most western market economies are trying to close. And Slovenia was on the verge of creating a huge divide where there needn’t be one.

Just because five Slovenian Economic Idols wanted their name carved in marble, it doesn’t make them right. And in all honesty, you can’t force reforms upon a population - socialism did that and look where it ended.

     by pengovsky on March 2, 2007 at 3:22 pm

I hope the social fibre keeps your bowel movement regular. Good luck with that

     by crni on March 2, 2007 at 3:33 pm

Acutally, it is its dissolution that keeps my trips to the bathroom regural (I’m overdramatazing a bit - just to keep the joke going)

     by pengovsky on March 2, 2007 at 3:37 pm

Cornelius, re poeticism:

You know to whom the “damned be the traitor of his/her country” refers?

(just kidding, just kidding!)

     by Dejan on March 2, 2007 at 4:57 pm

crni: I know your persuasions, I read the posts on your blog occasionaly. And I enjoy reading them, because you express your viewpoints in an intelligent, convincing way and without ever stooping to slogan chanting or holier-than-thou rhetoric. Another reason why I like your blog is that your reports of everyday Americana are not the awed sighs of indiscriminate wonder of a hick who’s just moved into a big city. Anyway, this whole debate is a bit out of my league - I have my convictions, but lack the rhetorical skills and in-depth knowledge of the subject matter at hand, so I don’t intend to drive the point further. Doing so would make me no better than the bloggers who sparked this debate.
I have just one more thing to add: I realize that my political compass makes me negative towards views expressed by neo-libertarians, and that they might have some smart things to say that I’m reluctant to hear. But the two bloggers Michael linked to feel to me like the type of people who, in the frequently used phrase of a friend of mine, would grow tails if monkeys came to power.

     by Cornelius on March 2, 2007 at 8:08 pm

Cornelius:
actually the Slovene translation just keeps the same phrase as Slovak and other Western Slavic versions, it’s actually the Balkan Slavs (and Rusyns; English and Italian is probably translated from Serbian) who decided to damn the traitors, while Russians explicitly call for their death in disgrace. Now make your own conclusions

     by igor on March 4, 2007 at 2:20 am

Well, being from scandinavia, living in Slovenia I just want to say that the most mythbuilding about scandinavia and sweden in particular can be found among the free-market liberals. They usually refer to sweden as the last communist country… And to be honest, without the swedish system i could never afford to come here and spend my swedish cash in the slovene economy:)

     by gandalf on March 4, 2007 at 6:36 pm