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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (24441)	8/18/1998 10:29:00 PM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Michael, I would argue (and be warned, I can argue this at length) that the collapse of the Soviet empire had a lot more to do with its internal economic inefficiencies, political crudities, and inability to satisfy the aspirations of its citizenry than with anything Reagan or the United States did. The cluelessness I referred to lay in the assumption that rapacious feudal rulers left over from colonial days were useful allies simply because they opposed communism. Our support for these criminals actually promoted communist insurgencies in many countries, and was never effective at fighting them. These "leaders" had nothing to do with the promotion of democracy or a market economy - most suppressed all dissent ruthlessly and brought their economies under more complete government (meaning personal) control than many avowed socialists. The money that these "leaders" borrowed and stole - often with the full knowledge and consent of the US Gov't. - is still being paid back by the citizens of these countries, and forms an enormous drain on the accumulation of resources desperately needed for growth. In many cases, an entire generation of potentially progressive leaders was driven underground, into exile, or simply wiped out. The cost in human terms is incalculable. Steve