Boris Yeltsin has died.

[Immortal1982]

From cnn.

Granted, his policies may not have been the best, but he led Russia after the fall of communism, for a thankless job. Godspeed, Tovarish.

[Space Tycoon]

I have mixed feelings about Mr. Yeltsin. He may have tried to turn Russia into a western-style economy, but all he accomplished was allow the very worst aspects of crony capitalism to dominate Russia.

I actually have more respect for Vladimir Putin's abilities than Yeltsin. And way more admiration for Mikhail Gorbachev.

This is how I'll always remember Boris Yeltsin...






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[bdd]

Originally Posted by Space Tycoon

I actually have more respect for Vladimir Putin's abilities than Yeltsin.

That is scary!!!

Putin is trying to destroy Russia and bring back the USSR.

[Space Tycoon]

I actually approve of some of the things Putin has accomplished. He has managed to fight corruption and economic chaos, which was epic under Yeltsin. As a result Russia'a economy has actually started growing and the country is taken seriously again.

And he's not trying to bring back the old Soviet Union. However, he has moved Russia very much towards an authoritarian system of government, and we should be very concerned about that.





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[Nostromo]

Ahem .... This is a famous Spacey pulling our collective leg moment right?
N

http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/...ster_state.htm

[Space Tycoon]

No, not at all.

Look, I learned a long time ago that no matter how much you may dislike a leader's ideology or the errors of their administration, you have to give credit where it is due. Even the worst dictators usually manage to leave something of value behind.

Hitler put the German people back to work and rebuilt the German economy.

Stalin introduced industrialization and technology to backward Russia.

Mao brought literacy and education to hundreds of millions of Chinese peasants.

Saddam accomplished much of the same in Iraq.

Pinochet defeated the Communists and anarchists who were infecting Chile, and introduced a booming free market economy.

Castro threw out the gangsters running Cuba and stood up to American imperialism.

Taliban wiped out the opium trade and ended the civil war.

Etc...


Now OBVIOUSLY, the methods of dictatorships were and are brutal, barbaric and undemocratic to the core. No matter how noble the cause, the ends never justify the means.

But again and again, the question must be asked: was it all for nothing? And often, we find the answer is no.

Honestly, how comfortable should we be sitting on our moral high horse? How did North America become the economic centre of the world? Through the sweat of millions of exploited immigrants; on the backs of thousands of Black Slaves; and over the dead bodies of countless, ethnically cleansed American Indians.

I'm well aware of Putin's misdeeds, but to say that his administration has produced nothing but one long list of crimes is simply inaccurate. Russia was falling apart under Yeltsin. You simply cannot take a totalitarian dictatorship and transform it overnight into a model of free-market liberalism. Especially when said dictatorship is dominated by Slavic people, who have no tradition whatsoever of individualism or democracy.

This was the hubristic, delusional policy of the neoliberals and the neocons following the collapse of the USSR, and we have this to thank for Russia's return to authoritarian rule.

We should of course stand up for democracy in Russia and China and elsewhere, but we also need to keep an eye on our own arrogance.

In my humble opinion...





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[Nostromo]

One thing I'll say, your arguments are always well crafted - although I'm having a wee bit of a problem with the Hitler thing. Otherwise, you've got me feeling downright fifth century Athenian. Me thinks it's time to re-read the Allegory of the Cave. N

[Space Tycoon]

I appreciate the compliment. Although it sometimes takes me so long to write my posts that I have to sign in once or twice.

Funny you should mention Athens: for who was it that saved Graeco-Roman civilization from the domination of the Persian Empire? Not the democratic Athenians, but the decidedly illiberal Spartans. Democracies often find dictatorships to be useful. :anismirk:

When it come to dictators, I choose to paraphrase Bishop's ancestor: I admire their purity. And their lack of hypocrisy.

What Mr. Yeltsin, Putin, Bush, Ariel Sharon and others have taught us is that democratically elected political leaders of free societies, can behave just as ruthlessly, illegally and immorally as those we choose to call "dictators."

How many thousands lie dead, maimed, tortured, dispossessed as a result of the wars started by the above individuals? Recall that the first Chechen War was started by Boris Yeltsin. And also recall that Yeltsin installed Putin in power, knowing full well the kind of man he was.

What's happening in Russia may well be an accellerated portent of our own future here in North America. More and more I am beginning to believe that democracy is just a passing trend, like alchemy or Zoot Suits.






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