Comments by "L.W. Paradis" (@l.w.paradis2108) on "Gravitas | Mikhail Gorbachev: Soviet Union's last leader dies" video.

  1. The economy of the USSR grew during the 1960s, to reach 60% of the US economy in 1970, a very rapid growth from the devastation of WWII. They created a model that other countries were interested in learning from. The old economics textbooks used to have a representation of trading off guns for butter; that is what essentially happened. A socialist economy cannot compete in capital formation with a behemoth like the US, and hence cannot match them in an arms race. Trying to maintain military strength against the US is what bankrupted them. You even see that in the more social democratic countries of Europe. To say they rely on the US for their defense, and can afford social programs for that reason, isn't a lie; that they have no choice but to create a world where it is necessary to rely on anyone's army to that extent raises more complex questions. Indians clearly see through that game, by the way.
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