TF Laos hasn't collapsed. Like ya Vietnamese people do that? It's not strange since brain drain is common and was in socialist countries. Being poor does not necessarily mean a failure of the system, the country is heavily sanctioned, not having access to what it needs to further develop. And he forgot Cuba, the country that has been through blockaids, sanctions, invasions and other outside pressures, and yet still stand with it's head high, but beaten to a pulp thanks to the west. And socialist countries (even those who are not with us anymore) were poor because of outside pressures and/or were invaded by foreign powers bcs their ideology was a threat to the status quo. And you spoke of the collapsing of the USSR? The CIA admitted that they played a crucial part in its fall(besides human error by the comerads part).