Life and culture in the Soviet Union, North Korea, China etc was/is heavily controlled by the state, so their reputations around the world may be askew compared to actual life. I'm asking anybody with any experience of living in these countries to tell me what it was like, the positives and negatives.
I have been able to talk to a lot of Russians which lived under the USSR, and almost none of them have anything good to say. My uncle's wife is Russian, from St. Petersburg, and her family suffered heavily at the hands of the Soviets. This includes parts of her family being killed, and her family's wealth being confiscated a number of times. From father earned his masters in Russian, and his interest in the language took him to the Soviet Union a couple of times, and from what he's told me (he lived with families there), life in the Soviet Union was horrible. On the other hand, none of it really matches what the West depicts life in the Soviet Union to be, which is interesting. Another interesting thing I've found in my talks with former citizens of the Soviet Union is that many Ukrainians prefer to have lived under Soviet authority. Most of these are in the military or were prior-military, and so apparently they were accomodated much better under Soviet rule. On the other hand, many non-military Ukrainian citizens I've talked to generally agree that the secession from the USSR was a very good move on the part of Ukraine.
Unfortunately, I've only been able to talk to one Chinese man. He lived with me as an exchange professor. He said that the Communist regime in China was superior to the Democratic system in the United States. He also went on on how he was going to buy a BMW and all of that. I think that either he was thoroughly brainwashed, or he had some sort of agenda. IIRC, he was also a member of the Party, which goes a long way in explaining his sympathies. But, again, I haven't been able to gather any more first hand information from any other Chinese person. I met a Chinese girl at Cato University 2009, but she lived in Singapore and was from Hong Kong (I believe). I didn't talk to her about Communist China (she supported welfare, though, if that matters at all).
Jake McCloskey:a good government
Dont make me die.
Another interesting thing I've found in my talks with former citizens of the Soviet Union is that many Ukrainians prefer to have lived under Soviet authority. Most of these are in the military or were prior-military, and so apparently they were accomodated much better under Soviet rule.
February 17 - 1600 - Giordano Bruno is burnt alive by the catholic church. Aquinas : "much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death."
Juan:Go figure. The commies, murderous thugs, and the military, murderous thugs, get along well.
Enough with this silly generalising. Both of my my grandfathers were in the Soviet Army. They hated the government but viewed Nazis as a worse threat. Anyone who calls them "murderous thugs" would NOT be welcome in my home
If I hear not allowed much oftener; said Sam, I'm going to get angry.
J.R.R.Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
What facts? What I see is bashing people you didn't even know.
Juan:uh oh. I'm so sorry if you can't face facts, but it is not my fault.
People are opening up and posting about their personal experiences and family. It's really in poor taste to attack their family members. No one was glorifying the military. Sometimes you could lay off a little. This is a lot different than when you are challenging a poster for his or her views.
And what's the point of this comment? It simply dismisses the issue without trying to understand the complexities of human reactions and behavior. Not to mention insulting since it implies that absolutely all soldiers enjoy killing or join the military to kill innocent civillians. I can just as well say that we're all murderers because we pay taxes to support the war machine.
Natalie:And what's the point of this comment ?
It simply dismisses the issue without trying to understand the complexities of human reactions and behavior. Not to mention insulting since it implies that absolutely all soldiers enjoy killing or join the military to kill innocent civillians.
I can just as well say that we're all murderers because we pay taxes to support the war machine.
Natalie:They hated the government but viewed Nazis as a worse threat.
I bet it must be hard for you to accept it but Red Army was murderous organization. They fought not only with real Nazis but whoever soviet propaganda depicted as Nazi - including tens of thousands of polish resistance army soldiers (Armia Krajowa) that fought against Nazi from the very first day of the war. They not only executed all officers of polish army in Katyn but also they have been negating the fact (blaming Nazis for this crime) for almost 50 years after the war (you could have been arrested for speaking truth about Katyn). During the Warsaw Uprising the Red Army that was marching West just stopped few miles before Warsaw, they waited for a month to let the Nazis quell the uprising and slaughter polish resistance soldiers, and only after that they "liberated" Poland's capital city. But I believe that the fact of signing Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and attacking Poland two weeks after the attack of Germany proves that Red Army was not counterweight for Nazis - in fact it cooperated with Nazis for many years and shared the same values although named differently.
Please understand that I dont blame you or your family, I am not expecting any apologies,all I am asking from you is to acknowledge these facts.
Jakub Staniak
jstaniak:I bet it must be hard for you to accept it but Red Army was murderous organization.
Who's saying it wasn't? I was talking about individuals' situation.
jstaniak:Please understand that I dont blame you or your family, I am not expecting any apologies,all I am asking from you is to acknowledge these facts.
Nazis and Commies were the two worst regimes that happened in Europe since the Romans with their mass murders, there's no mistake about it. However, you have to remember that the Poles were no saints either. They annexed parts of Ukraine and Checkoslovakia and tried to annex some other regions. And Pilsudski was an authoritarian dictator with all the typical methods like imprisoning political opponents. Better than Hitler or Stalin for sure, but no limited government libertarian either.
You don't know Natalie, so please don't post stuff like this. She's a pretty consistent libertarian, and you shouldn't be attributing motives to her you cannot possibly understand. Almost universally, all veteran members of this community oppose war and violence. Until you know otherwise, it would be safe to run with that assumption.
My entire family is Polish and some of them have traveled to the USSR when it still existed. My grandma and grandpa traveled to Ukraine when it was a part of the USSR under Brezhnev, and both have said that the USSR was a horrible place to live. The USSR was a total police state where many were afraid of any kind of dissent and it also had some of the lowest living standards in the Soviet bloc (at least when compared to Poland, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia).
Political Atheists Blog
Juan:As I said elsewhere, I think that's true. People who join the military enjoy killing. Fact.
Opinion is not fact.
Juan:There are people who are happy to pay in order to 'support' the military. But taxes are usually paid under compulsion, you know.
Everyone during 1940s was either drafted or under compulsion to work for the "war effort".
Juan:Anyway, you can take it personally if you want. I don't care.
Yes, let's alienate the whole segment of population that can potentially help us fight for our freedom (unless you're naive enough to think that government will do it without a fight). Not mention that it distracts from the fact that the main culprit - and murderer - is the government (or any other government-like entity who uses organized force to gain power). Remove monopoly of force, and you'll end up with militias and private security & defense organizations (like Blackwater, but serving the private sector).
Juan:I'm not going to change my views because you think that some members of your family, who belonged to the most brutal institution (the army) of a brutal state, are beyond criticism.
Calling someone "murderous thug" without checking all the circumstances is not a "criticism". It's stupid labeling that our media is so fond of, where gun owners are called dangerous vigilantes, militia is full of white supremacists and veterans are crazy maniacs who did nothing but killed babies.
By the by, the most brutal organization in the USSR was not the actual fighting army (especially during the war) but NKVD/KGB. They were primarily responsible to mass murders and incarcerations. The military, especially the officers, was tightly controlled by their comissars since Stalin was always afraid that a popular military commander would overthrow him. There were some big purges in the military ranks right before WWII which was one of the reasons Soviets did so poorly in the first months of the war. In addition to that, the party goons used some interesting tactics to ensure the loyalty of the troops like holding their family members as hostages and shooting their own retreating troops. Oh, and Stalin refused to acknowledged or trade for the Soviet POWs, even for his own son. Millions of them were considered traitors and many were actually imprisoned after the war. So in addition of risking death, disability and imprisonment at the hands of the enemy you'd also had a good chance of being killed by your own government. Believe it or not, but the Red Army was far from a kind of the safe haven for criminals.