Comments on: Is Communism Back?

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:42:43 +0000

Our politicians could only dream of a 81% approval rating.
If Russians like him, its none of our freaking business.

Power to him.

COMMUNISM FOR OUR FUTURE!!

By: David Truskoff

David Truskoff — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:11:52 +0000

eventually Russia will evolve into the kind of structure China has.
The entire world is moving in that direction. It is the kind of world FDR
hoped the UN would create after WWll. Gov, intervention when needed
\and controls to keep the oligarghy and the rober barons in check.
That is how Roosevelt tried to save the sole of America.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:49:48 +0000

Well – and I say this knowing little to squat about current Russian politics – given that all of the rest is true about suppression of dissent, if you believe that 81% support figure, I have this swell bridge I’d like to offer you.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:37:10 +0000

This seems to me like one of those times when you have to choose your battles carefully. We protested the election BS in the Ukraine because there was a chance to make a difference. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem like the case in Russia.

Let’s face it, their experiment in Democracy failed, that’s why Putin is popular. That country has undergone a collapse in living standards since the fall of communism. The people there are making a very rational choice for efficient dictatorship over corrupt kleptocracy.

By: bob in fl

bob in fl — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:05:14 +0000

As long as the people of Russian believe they are better off than ever before, Putin will get his way. No other government can stop it.

There is only one difference between right wing & left wing dictatorships: who controls the country’s productivity. Under Communism, the state, which has no clue how to operate efficiently, controls it. Under fascism, private corporations, who do know how to do it well, controls the country’s wealth.

US history shows that the government always supports capitalistic dictators, provided they do not perceive an immediate threat to our mainland. Meanwhile, they have always opposed those of a socialist leaning.

When it comes to the nuclear option, there is none between the US & Russia; MAD is still in effect, & probably always will be. Sounds like both sides are blowing hot air at each other. The dictatorship will remain a reality, & there is nothing we, or Europe, can do about it.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 19:02:07 +0000

In the near term, I concur that Putin’s Russia is looking more and more troublesome. It’s the longer term that’s a bigger question. Russia, by all accounts, is heading for a demographic collapse at least as great as the one threatening western Europe. How can even an authoritarian regime keep a nation afloat when its population becomes too small, and spread too thinly across such a vast land mass, to maintain the nation’s infrastructure – especially its military/industrial complex?

The worst-case scenario, it seems to me, is that someday an authoritarian Russia, out of desperation, will try to (re)conquer its way out of its crisis. It may not get very far, precisely because it lacks the quantity and quality of people in its armed forces and M/I complex needed to sustain a Russian war machine, but even that would be very bad news, as it would basically eviscerate Russia and relegate it to Third World status.

By: Justin Gardner

Justin Gardner — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 17:32:15 +0000

The thing I think we’re all forgetting here is that Russia is going towards a place where we will HAVE to answer them. Also, who has the most stray nukes in the world? You put those two things together, and what is our plan?

By: GN

GN — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:04:40 +0000

I am old enough to remember the the Air Raids, Bomb Shelters in shopping center parking lot demos, and “The Russians are coming; The Russians are coming”. It was a fine marketing scheme and had grand time for the reactive people in the US. Don’t forget that while we worry over what might happen, THINGS are happening elsewhere. Distraction is a great tool for those with a plan.

By: CJ Ward

CJ Ward — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 10:00:41 +0000

Communism has never gone away, or at least its mentality. Just as East Germany was a rebadged Nazi state in 1945, so Comrade Lt. Col. V.V. Putin of the KGB is now der fuhrer.

By: Jimmy the Dhimmi

Jimmy the Dhimmi — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 02:44:13 +0000

I seriously doubt that the relationship over Afghanistan will have anything to do with American the response (or lack therof) to this. There really is nothing we can do but issue a press release verbally condemning it, and even that is meaningless. Besides, I seem to recall Bush and Condi talking tough during the Ukrainian election affair a few years back.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 01:23:12 +0000

“We do nothing”

I hate to come off as overly cynical, but have you forgotten that the US already has her nose in enough problems in the middle east, we’ve lost enough troops as it is by occupying other countries with badly founded information.

We have enough problems as it is before we try to fix another.

By: Justin Gardner

Justin Gardner — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 00:14:23 +0000

I’m not saying that we’re responsible, I’m just saying that because they allowed us to stage some of our troops, now we’re just standing by while Russia is turning back into a one-party fascist state.

You know…warning, 1938 alert.

By: Jimmy the Dhimmi

Jimmy the Dhimmi — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:43:25 +0000

How is America responsible for this, and what actions can America undertake to avoid similar internal political situations around the world? Especially considering Putin has such a high approval rating. We must be concerned, of course, but to say that America has the authority or power to control domestic politics in Russia is overstating it a bit.

We somehow let it happen because they helped us in Afghanistan (how exactly?)…c’mon man. The world is crazy with or without America.