Comments by "Nightingale" (@nightingale7090) on "Second Thought"
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@thetaomegatheta Communism in Russia also caused reductions in the standards of living in the first 2 decades: Civil war, largest famine in the Russian History that took 5 million lives (thanks to American humanitarian aid, that mitigated the consequences of this disaster), hungry peasant riots that were suppressed with chemical weapons, restoration of capitalism (new economic policy) then another attempt to build communism, that resulted in even larger famine that took 7 million lives, preparations for the war, war itself, post war destruction and famine (thanks to American lend-lease it didn't took 7 millions lives this time). The quality of life started improving only in 50s but it didn't last long: so called 'job security' and 'workers rights' led to degradation of working discipline and numerous ineffective factories that didn't close. In the 70-s soviet economy was saved by the oil crisis in the West (bc USSR was an oil exporter), but in the 80s oil prices dropped and, as a result, Soviet Union got a huge budget deficit (20% of GDP), exhausted reserves and B- credit rating by 1990. Reduction in the quality of life was inevitable. Capitalism had nothing to do about it. As a living example of this words, we have countries like Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, GDR, Lithuania, Estonia, China where transition to capitalism went very smooth and resulted in high economic growth.
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@thetaomegatheta Lol, 90% literacy, universal healthcare, guaranteed housing, job security by 1930 despite bloody wars is the best example of capitalism supremacy. 1921-1929 is a period of NEP (New Economic Policy). And it would probably even have solved the problem of hunger if Stalin had not carried out collectivization, which claimed more lives than the Belgalian, Irish and Russian Empire's 1891-1892 famines combined. And that was in the peacetime.
P.S. I hope you won't gonna argue that this is not a result of the Military Communism, which led to economic disaster, devastating famine and anti-bolsheviks riots (Tambov, West Siberia, Kronshtadt rebellions).
In capitalist countries 9 million people die from starvation every year, but socialism won't solve it. Soviet Union was a grain importer itself, whereas capitalist Russia and Ukraine are the largest exporters of grain, rapeseed, sunflower oil in the world. And forgot to mention that capitalism is feeding 8 billion people. And that this 'denied in housing and healthcare' people somehow have higher average life expectancy than the most developed socialist country (USSR) ever had.
You seem to share the ideas of Marxism-Leninism and dialectical materialism, which have always belittled the role of the individual and tried to get to the bottom of the processes taking place in the world. But when it comes to the reasons for the collapse of the Socialist bloc, you say: "It's all Gorbachev" :DD. Why don't you ask yourself why Gorbachev needed to carry out reforms in the first place and how such an idiot was able to come to power in a such progressive country?
You think that providing cheap labor to western capitalists to get money for building your own capitalism and become an economic superpower is bad, whereas hunting sparrows and waging wars with Vietnam, Tibet, India and USSR for a bowl of rice is good?
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