Re: The thoughts of an old man, me, please read and comment if you can Archived Message Posted by Ken Waldron on July 18, 2023, 3:37 am, in reply to "The thoughts of an old man, me, please read and comment if you can " Political pluralism in Europe was tolerated until it reached its end with the dissolution of the Soviet Union which, in theory proffered an alternative to western capitalism. After that point with the external opposition to Western capitalism finally vanquished, toleration of internal dissent need no longer be required. Those were the conditions that created the world you were living in perhaps unbeknownst to yourself between the war and when the wind down reached its conclusion in 1988. It was why George Galloway could say with some truth for us all: " I think the disappearance of the Soviet Union is the biggest catastrophe of my life. If there was a Soviet Union today, we would not be having this conversation about plunging into a new war in the Middle East, and the US would not be rampaging around the globe." George was of course a Soviet fan-boy as I never was but from the perspective of everyone who ever needed a doctor, a hospital, public transport, an education, social security: for anyone who benefited from any kind of a "common-wealth" he put his finger on the crux of the matter and he said that over twenty years ago: It was the actual existence of the Soviet Union that had made capitalism tolerant and the lives of those who lived under it tolerable. Like the author above, the US/ West believed they had won a war which left them as a unipolar power and as such they should be able to dictate to the world. Western capitalism... Now sharpened to Neo-liberalism was the only ideology in town and its spouse "Neoconservativism" was the only foreign policy. Russia was finished with only China left to destroy. But the actual losers of the ideological war have been not just the Russians under Yelsin but the ordinary people in the West. The disparity in wealth in the UK for example increased in magnitude from that point on: the wealthy becoming even wealthier whilst the poor were left with little more than they had in the seventies beforehand. All social services likewise could be dismantled or privatised. Profit was the byword. The US/West assimilated Russia into its ideology but never actually conquered Russia( thus the frustrated pique of the writer above) The idea was that one would become the other seamlessly as Western corporations with vast heaps of paper dollars gained control of Russia's raw resources often through intermediaries: the "oligarchs" that London loved so much and then job done. Putin would meekly manage the assimilation at home as a "sober Yelsin"... but unfortunately for them Russia had not yet been balkanised and no one had explained to Putin what his role actually was. When he then set about restoring Russian resources to Russia jailing the more blatantly crooked oligachs and restoring Russian autonomy the "Borg" suddenly "had a problem". No longer about ideology but blatant raw power and resources...as the author above fantasizes, the unfinished business is to utterly destroy Russia. -This is the unfortunate world we live in now. Message Thread: "Putin Finished" yet again. - Ken Waldron July 17, 2023, 4:59 pm The asylums are empty and the lunatics are here - t July 17, 2023, 6:49 pm Re: The asylums are empty and the lunatics are here - Dovetail Joint July 17, 2023, 7:11 pm I think these people outline the dangers of wishful thinking. - Ken Waldron July 17, 2023, 8:13 pm That's more than just coke talking. Proper Burroughs Acid Land 5th Bardot experience. - dan July 17, 2023, 7:15 pm I keep coming back to that charismatic Russian soldier at the end of Simplicius last post - dan July 17, 2023, 7:19 pm The thoughts of an old man, me, please read and comment if you can - John Monro July 18, 2023, 12:16 am Re: The thoughts of an old man, me, please read and comment if you can - Ken Waldron July 18, 2023, 3:37 am Re: The thoughts of an old man, me, please read and comment if you can - johnlilburne July 18, 2023, 1:09 pm   Searching