211–220 of 324 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One guy did use a plane to land in Red Square. Remember him?
Not to live there though, just as a "symbol of peace".
It is interesting how dictatorships for resourceless countries needed to keep the people in like east germany or czechoslovakia. But current dictatorships with natural resources like Venezuela or Iran let dissent go. It makes them more stable sadly.
As a Venezuelan, I think the difference is not the Natural Resources, or at least is not the main difference. In 2017, the shortages and economic crisis generated by 15 years of communist policies has pushed around 4 million people out, and then, the regime "elected" a Constitutional Assembly which has the power to create a new Constitution and to overrid any previously elected organism (as it was at the time the opo…
I agree though that it is more complex, but for some reason, Czechoslovakia wanted to keep all the people and exploit their work, while Venezuela and Iran seems to let the people go in exchange for the regime stability.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One guy did use a plane to land in Red Square. Remember him?
He was mentally disturbed, which kinda proves the point. After returning to Germany, he stabbed a woman for rejecting his advances. Later, he was convicted of shoplifting, and a few years after that he was convicted again of selling stolen goods. Definitely a "character", even if medically sound enough to stand trial.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That wall is to keep people out from another state, not in.
After all, they kept Paul Robeson in by simply pulling his passport, no wall needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Robeson#:~:text=A%20month...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The GDR seems to be forgotten/misunderstood by many people. Which is a pity because it serves a warning about mass public surveillance plans that keep rearing their ugly head, even in Germany.
People go on about surveillance but it's not really the problem compared to murderous dictatorships.
I first read about this in Reader's Digest back in the eighties.
I'm not the only one then! :-)
I think I saw the film in the late eighties/early nineties round about the time the Eastern Bloc was falling apart so it had less impact.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do we? I’d say it’s pretty close, especially if you include every time that someone shrieks ‘that’s socialism,’ or ‘that’s communism’ every time any social programme is proposed. Eg: Shall we improve public healthcare?
> especially if you include every time that someone shrieks ‘that’s socialism,’ or ‘that’s communism’ But... why would you include that? They're certainly not discussions of the DDR.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The greatest trick authoritarianism ever pulled [0] was convincing people it was competent, rational, or efficient. Putting young men into fresh uniforms to march in synchrony looks impressive, but in the background sycophancy rules while expertise is wasted, and people who could be improving harvests and preventing floods are slaving away in the "Office of Subversive Objects" trying to figure out the source of the g…
Meanwhile we put experts to work optimizing conversion and engagement metrics. A truly enlightened way of life we've built for ourselves.
I grew up in communist Czechoslovakia, and claims like this really bother me. As if it is somehow comparable to being forced to serve in the army of a dictatorship. What is wrong with working on optimizing conversion and engagement metrics? It can be interesting and useful. People are not forced to do it. It is just one of many jobs that one can do in a free society.
I believe that one of the reasons why authoritarianism seems to be on the rise in the US and around the world in general is that it has somehow become fashionable to belittle and disparage what we have in the West... and how good it is, despite its imperfections. I fear that we will only realize this once we have lost it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes he was so cool. The plane is still in a museum. PS: He was dumb as hell too of course, and it was only due to incredible laxness of the air force that he was never shot down.
I'm not sure any countries really shoot down light aircraft unless it's an active war zone. They are not much of a threat and it's also hard to tell if they are there legally or not. You're more likely to get hassled when you land like the Ethan Guo guy ( https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04rql923kdo )
This true story moves us because it resembles much of human history, in which clever but powerless people struggle against morons -- morons who somehow gain control over a modern industrial state, then use that power to punish innocents who dare to assert simple human rights. People in Moscow, in Gaza, in Tehran, in Minneapolis, are all saying, "How can I rise above this? -- where's my balloon?" Too many morons. Too…
> Moscow, in Gaza, in Tehran, in Minneapolis Man, you really went ahead and tried to compare Minneapolis with Teharan. This is got me laughing out loud.