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From: larry@grkermit.UUCP (Larry Kolodney)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: RE(2): Nicaragua - (nf)
Message-ID: <638@grkermit.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Aug-83 09:37:57 EDT
Article-I.D.: grkermit.638
Posted: Wed Aug 31 09:37:57 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 1-Sep-83 02:55:56 EDT
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Organization: GenRad Inc., Concord, MA
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Dave Holt responds to ism780!jim's question about why the USSR is the
bad guys by listing all of the disadvantages to living in the USSR.  He
then says that "the USSR is not a great place to live.  It is not even
an ok place to live"

I think this missed the point entirely.  There are many countries in
the world that I would not consider OK places to live.  The rights
restrictions in the USSR are not much worse than those in many other
countries that we consider our allies.  Consider please the history of
the Soviet Union.  When the Communists took over in 1917, Russia was the
most backward country in Europe.  Its economy was mostly agrarian.
There was tremendous illiteracy, and a long tradition of despotic
rulers.

Since then, the USSR has made tremendous gains in modernization.
Granted that their military is the most modern of their industries, at
the expense of others, yet they are still comparitively much better off
than under the previous rule of the Romanovs.  Unfortunately, they have
yet to modernize their political system.


If our complaint against the Soviet Union were truly human rights, we
would not be supporting ANY dictators in the world, and that is
certainly not the case.  I think that the U.S. govt. uses the "soviet
threat" as a tool for mobilization.  What ever happened to the "Chinese
Threat?"



Consider this:  Where would you rather live: { The South Bronx, Roxbury,
or Watts}, or {Moscow, Leningrad, or Kiev?}

Or better yet, other than maybe the 10% of people who consider
themselves intellectuals, how many people in this country really
exercise their rights to free speech, protest etc.

How many would be able to defend such rights on a philisophic basis?

I'm sure we've all heard about opinion polls going against the BILL of
rights every time.  

My point is this:  Intellectuals dislike the USSR because it is a
terrible place to be an intellectual.  But is it a terrible place to be
an average non-intellectual?  Sure there are shortages and corruption.
But what are we condemning, their political system, or their poverty.
-- 
Larry Kolodney (The Devil's Advocate)
{linus decvax}!genrad!grkermit!larry (until Sept. 8)
(ARPA) lkk@mit-mc (after sept. 1)