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Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

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Re: Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

#2
You wonder how the world can sink into war and then you start to understand how it works when you study today's political climate.

It seems like a slow motion inevitability.

People's opinions are just so strong.

To make matters worse, seems like the smartphone revolution has provided quick communication channels that magnify the rhetoric.

Forget more information at your finger tips, smartphones and the internet provide easier means of finding like-minded people to raise pitchforks with.

Re: Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

#4
As a former Soviet citizen, I fail to see why anyone would care what this clown has to say. No one in Russia cares, for example. He basically ran a superpower into the ground in 6 years flat, from space shuttle to hunger and abject poverty for most of the population. Not even a CIA puppet regime would be able to do a better job.

Re: Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

#5

As a former Soviet citizen, I fail to see why anyone would care what this clown has to say. No one in Russia cares, for example. He basically ran a superpower into the ground in 6 years flat, from space shuttle to hunger and abject poverty for most of the population. Not even a CIA puppet regime would be able to do a better job.

As I remember, the price of oil and the previous Soviet neglect of their oil field infrastructure figured in heavily, there.

Re: Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

#6

As a former Soviet citizen, I fail to see why anyone would care what this clown has to say. No one in Russia cares, for example. He basically ran a superpower into the ground in 6 years flat, from space shuttle to hunger and abject poverty for most of the population. Not even a CIA puppet regime would be able to do a better job.

As I remember, the price of oil and the previous Soviet neglect of their oil field infrastructure figured in heavily, there.

Not to mention the tremendous cost of handling the Chernobyl catastrophy...

Re: Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

#7

As a former Soviet citizen, I fail to see why anyone would care what this clown has to say. No one in Russia cares, for example. He basically ran a superpower into the ground in 6 years flat, from space shuttle to hunger and abject poverty for most of the population. Not even a CIA puppet regime would be able to do a better job.

As I remember, the price of oil and the previous Soviet neglect of their oil field infrastructure figured in heavily, there.

You "remember" wrong. I actually _was_ there. Neglect and price of oil weren't in any way fatal to a largely self-sufficient country. Complete collapse of all branches of the government was.

Re: Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

#9

You wonder how the world can sink into war and then you start to understand how it works when you study today's political climate. It seems like a slow motion inevitability. People's opinions are just so strong. To make matters worse, seems like the smartphone revolution has provided quick communication channels that magnify the rhetoric. Forget more information at your finger tips, smartphones and the internet provi…

It's not the speed that's the problem, it's that they aren't as well vetted, nor are they diverse. It's easy to avoid uncomfortable facts and opinions. It is necessary to get variety in order to triangulate and assess.

Re: Mikhail Gorbachev: 'It All Looks as If the World Is Preparing for War'

#10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I remember, the price of oil and the previous Soviet neglect of their oil field infrastructure figured in heavily, there.

You "remember" wrong. I actually _was_ there. Neglect and price of oil weren't in any way fatal to a largely self-sufficient country. Complete collapse of all branches of the government was.

I'd like to hear more. Can you be more specific about what you think led to the fall of the Soviet Union?
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