So did I, but Eastern Europe is a wide term. Living conditions in Yugoslavia were actually quite nice until the 80s. But I'm not saying it was a good system (it wasn't, I'm not fond of communism at all), just that majority of people were content with it for a long time. It's a statistical fact, and not just in Yugoslavia, but you can hear from many people even in Russia or Romania that they used to feel happier and safer than they do now, while their conditions in absolute terms were really bad even from my Yugoslavian perspective. People value safety the most, and than next it seems that they value their social position in the group. If they get the both, they can feel accomplished and that's the primary factor for us to feel good about our lives.