NYTIMES/
One day after his 73rd birthday, former president Vaclav Havel, who steered the Czechs and Slovaks out of communism, talked about the present “era of disgust” in Czech politics. He believes many current Czech politicians are prone to conspiratorial thinking and acts of petty deceit compounded by “some kind of existential crisis” caused by a global pursuit of materialism and by the specific Czech legacy of 40 years of Communist government.