No, we were not a revolutionary movement, we had a revolution. We did not aspire to export it. Nor have we. That is a bogus statement. We deal with the regimes on the ground, and then get in trouble for aiding authoritarian governments. It is only lately that we have considered being more "pro- active" in supporting democratic trends as a matter of government policy, about since the Reagan Administration, and even that was modest, and based upon the growing conviction that we had to reform the Third World to stabilize it.
You did not specifically mention the sniper, I did. But even in such dire circumstances, local businesses reported no more than a 40% loss of revenue, many lost less. This means that the majority of people were going about their business throughout the period. My wife lost not one day of work, my son lost not one day of school, I went out to the bank or otherwise as need arose. So we had a tense 3 weeks? Big deal.
Tell me who is freer. Tell me about the wonderful civil liberties in the Soviet Union! I like fairy tales.
No one said anything about disregarding things we might need to fix. I made a true comment, that most people are taken care of in this country. The Soviet Union was far poorer, and its social services were not as good. Comparing us to Western Europe is a complex affair, but the average standard of living in the United States is superior to that of countries like France and Britain. But leave it aside, we were comparing the United States and the Soviet Union..... |
