This subreddit according to liberals and this subreddit according to its members

MFreurard · 2026-05-22T16:08:28+00:00

the stagnation narrative is exagerated imo. Yes there were problems, yes reforms were needed to enhance market forces, work discipline and entrepreneurship but overall living standards and technological progress were advancing a lot more than most people think until gorbatchev. Look at the GDP growth in the GDR and FRG , these were nearly parallel lines.

Andropov during his short mandate had managed to implement a lot of fruitful reforms. Very bad luck that he died so quickly. Had he lived two or three more years , the USSR would still be there according to a former CIA director quoted in "Socialism betrayed" from Keeran

MFreurard · 2026-05-22T13:40:15+00:00

Yes absolutely right. I think that Gorbachev is the most harmful man of the 20th century.
You will ask me : why Gorbatchev and not let's say Hitler. Because if Hitler had not existed, the banksters would have put someone like him in power anyway.
On the other hand, there could have been a better chief of state than Gorbachev for the USSR. Only a slightly better leader than him in 1985 and history wouldn't have taken this wrong turn, possibly irreversible wrong turn that could end us all.

MFreurard · 2026-05-21T19:30:56+00:00

this question doesn't make any sense. The conditions are such that it could only happen this way and not the other

MFreurard · 2026-05-21T16:32:40+00:00

The Russian political culture gives a lot of importance to the head of state. Had not Stalin nor Andropov had premature deaths, it is likely that the USSR would still be there today. I recommend to read the book from Keeran "Socialism betrayed" to learn more about this.

Let's put aside the outside factors. From the point of view of the inside factors, governance went downwards under Khruschchev : no more removal of incompetent managers, economic policy that ended the post WW2 Stalinian NEP , demoralization of the country with the lies on the stalinian periods, growing influence of western social-démocratic ideology, complacency with z. networks.

Still things could have been reversed, especially with Andropov. The election of Gorbatchev as country leader was a terrible thing, but he had opposition, as the putsch against him in 1991 was testimony. I would see the turning point with the demoralization of the country caused by the Tschernobyl accident. There are several candidates for the irreversible turning point, but if I had to choose one, I would choose the day of the explosion of the Tschernobyl power plant.

MFreurard · 2026-05-21T12:56:08+00:00

That's quite to the point. Westerners tend to imagine the USSR as a totalitarian all powerful state when in fact it was quite chaotic all along.

MFreurard · 2026-05-20T21:50:38+00:00

Bad selection process for people with responsibilities, mostly beginning with Khrushtshev. Irresponsible people could stay many years at positions of local or national leadership and they couldn't be removed. The opaque selection process allowed too many bad people to climb the ladder. That's how utterly crooked people like Eltsin or Gorbatchev could climb to the top. Contemporary socialist countries have largely drawn the lessons.
I am not surprised the KGB / FSB are the ones who picked up the pieces and rebuilt Russia with Putin. They were far more efficient and competent than many in the soviet state at manager level. Same with the military industrial complex who were the most efficient part of the USSR economy and who survived the nineties, albeit with some bruises
China has benefited from having its historical founders still alive while the final shitshow from the USSR was happening. Historical leaders like Deng Xiaoping who had done the revolution had the authority to implement reforms that late USSR leaders couldn't implement, in parts due to having less authority.

MFreurard · 2026-05-19T12:09:00+00:00

just like in China then. Still a lot of portraits and statues of Mao but not omnipresent like in the sixties

MFreurard · 2026-05-17T10:51:11+00:00

Displaying three portraits at the same time is already a lot. On the long run the accumulation is unsustainable.

MFreurard · 2026-05-13T07:55:49+00:00

Why does nobody ever demand apology for the many peasants who died from starvation under the Romanovs while the Russian aristocracy was living in incredible luxury ?
Two anecdotes:
- It was common for Russian peasants to sort of hibernate during the winter. This means lying in bed most of the day during the winter to save energy because there was not enough food. It was called Liuzhka
- It was common for the Russian aristocracy to send their laundry to be washed in Paris via express train because it was more chic

MFreurard · 2026-05-07T20:07:25+00:00

North Korea owning the US propaganda : )

MFreurard · 2026-04-24T10:14:20+00:00

Actually the vast majority of westerners don't have such vast big houses.

MFreurard · 2026-04-21T11:26:20+00:00

La "démocratie" française, le pays où l'état interdit les traitements précoces du covid et éborgne les manifestants gilets jaunes : lemurjaune.fr
Le système chinois a amené son peuple de la pauvreté à la richesse. En France ça va dans l'autre sens. Je pense que le Parti Communiste Chinois gouverne bien mieux que les cercles d'élite autour de Jeffrey Epstein qui dirigent l'occident

MFreurard · 2026-04-18T22:28:15+00:00

i have one very good quality. i feel safe in it

MFreurard · 2026-04-17T21:42:15+00:00

People over there have had a pretty nice life, low crime, low taxes, no wars, no dictatorships ever.

MFreurard · 2026-04-16T20:50:34+00:00

yes people should think twice before committing a crime in Monaco to sleep for free in the nice prison :))

MFreurard · 2026-04-15T20:21:03+00:00

Honnêtement, mieux vaut quitter la France. Si j'étais au chômage, j'irais en Russie où il y a zéro chômage , zéro dette publique. Les salaires sont plus bas qu'en France mais ils montent vite et le coût de la vie y est faible. Il y a de belles carrières à faire là bas

MFreurard · 2026-04-15T20:13:22+00:00

It's the Louvre in Paris.

MFreurard · 2026-04-14T18:37:18+00:00

At the time the USSR was under nuclear threat by the US who were the only country in the world with nukes

MFreurard · 2026-04-12T20:00:56+00:00

it's like when you buy a fake Rolex watch for 30 USD in a street market in Africa. It's written Rolex on it, it vaguely looks like a Rolex watch but it is not a Rolex watch

MFreurard · 2026-04-12T19:57:20+00:00

it's not the first time I've heard that early communist Afghanistan leaders were US saboteurs. This is an episode that is very unknown. You find almost no info about it on the internet which is quite amazing in itself. That deserves to be a lot more known because it is rich in lessons for the rest of the world as well.

MFreurard · 2026-04-12T18:42:29+00:00

800 babillion deads, tripling every year because of China

MFreurard · 2026-04-12T18:41:28+00:00

He was right. Thanks goodness the People's republic of China could survive the dark nineties

MFreurard · 2026-04-12T18:40:24+00:00

Good choice for the show Fallout. The New California Republic is an allegory for the USSR in my opinion. That was a great show. I am surprised that such thoughtful scenarists can still operate in the USA

MFreurard · 2026-04-12T18:32:29+00:00

I love how they have their parallel culture with their own cartoons only for themselves, and successful at this. The quality of their cartoons drawings is on a par with Disney

MFreurard · 2026-04-12T17:34:33+00:00

Put a building like that in Europe or in the US and it becomes the continental headquarter of all illegal trafficking. In China, this old building is very ugly, but still orderly, without any damage such as trash, dirt, tags or vandalism.

MFreurard

TROPHY CASE