Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin will host a community event Wednesday evening featuring Lithuanian-born speaker Rimantas Jurevicius, who lived under Soviet socialism and now warns that the same ideas are being sold again in America under a softer name.
The gathering is Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 6 p.m. at Shotzy’s Pub in Oconomowoc. Complimentary food will be provided, and a cash bar will be available. The program runs through 8 p.m. and will include time for questions.
“The promises of socialism sound appealing: fairness, equality, and more government help…but Rimantas Jurevicius already lived under that pretense. Rimantas will explain why the soft-sounding promises of democratic socialism carry the same dangerous seeds he saw destroy opportunity and dignity in his homeland, Lithuania. And at Americans for Prosperity – Wisconsin, we’ll connect you with opportunities to work toward a future of fiscal responsibility and true prosperity for all.”
Jurevicius, 61, was born July 23, 1964, in Radviliškis, Lithuania, then part of the Soviet Union. Recruited into a sports boarding school as a young teenager, he became a standout 400-meter hurdler. He won the Lithuanian championship in 1982 and the Russian championship in 1984, set the Lithuanian national record of 50.61 seconds in 1984 (a mark that stood for decades) and was part of a Soviet 4×400-meter relay championship team that same year.
He has said roughly half his life was spent under a Lithuanian and Soviet regime, including army service and four years in Russia afterward. In 1992, he immigrated to the United States with $130 and no English. He started as a general laborer in Wisconsin’s custom powder-coating industry and spent 32 years at Ultracoat in Elkhorn, rising to vice president before retiring. After a short break, he returned part-time as Operations and Development Advisor at Kettle Moraine Coatings in Jackson.
He is the author of the memoir My Story – 60 Years Of My Life With Hurdles From Lithuania To USA and delivered the TEDxOconomowoc talk “Escaping Communism: A Rewarding Journey to Freedom.” In interviews and on the Prosperity 101 podcast, he has described himself as a legal immigrant who learned the language, adapted to American culture, and built a career without expecting handouts — and who now worries that Americans who never lived under collectivism are underestimating how quickly “help” from the state can crowd out opportunity and dignity.
AFP-Wisconsin, the state chapter of the national limited-government group, is using the evening to pair Jurevicius’s firsthand account with opportunities to ensure socialism does not gain hold in Wisconsin.
