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Politics : About that Cuban boy, Elian -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Barracuda™ who wrote (5509)	5/17/2000 12:12:00 AM
From: chalu2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9127

>>Also, Uncle Tom is going to determine my rights??<< No, Uncle Tom is going to determine Uncle Tom's rights; and those of Tom, Jr. as well so long as he's a minor. I don't think anyone liked Pol Pot after they got to know him a little. Tons of people looooooved Hitler--bad example. Lenin was incapacited almost from the get go. Uncle Joe Stalin came in, and some liked him too (some still do!). It's the way it goes. I didn't paint this picture--I'm just describing it.

To: The Barracuda™ who wrote (5509)	5/17/2000 12:31:00 AM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9127

"What ever happened to "the violation of the rights of one, is a violation of the rights of all?" Hmmm- and so WHY do we violate Juan's parental rights?

To: The Barracuda™ who wrote (5509)	5/17/2000 12:49:00 AM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 9127

They try to live a human life, but you understand it is totally inhuman. I've recently had a number of long conversations with a Russian woman in her late 40s, married to a consultant who was stationed for several years, and is now working here. Her accounts of life under the Soviet regime, and of the degree of change since that regime fell, would probably surprise you. She says - and this is not the first time I've heard this - that for the average apolitical citizen, there was no visible oppression or lack of freedom during the Soviet years. People simply went about their business and lived their lives. The idea of the omnipresent State breathing down every back and listening to every conversation is simply not realistic. She is also quite convinced that the eventual rebellion against the Soviet regime was motivated less by a desire for freedom or democracy than by frustration at the government's inability to supply basic commodities. One of her comments was that if the Communists had been able to make the economy work, the average Russian wouldn't have given a damn what happened to the dissidents. I've heard much the same from a number of Chinese emigrants: that the average villager barely noticed the switch from warlord-feudalism to Communism, except to the extent that the Communists brought an end to 50 years of near-constant war. The notion that day-to-day life for the average citizen in these countries is "inhuman" is, I suspect, largely a figment of the political imagination. Of course, it could be argued that life in third-world countries across the board is by our definition inhuman, but that would be another matter.