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Quote from: Europan Ocean on 17/06/2022 18:30:01I don't want to hurt communists, although adversaries like North Korean communists, I hope they topple, like Russia did.So you want someone else to hurt them, and you approve of the current Russian regime?
I don't want to hurt communists, although adversaries like North Korean communists, I hope they topple, like Russia did.
Quote from: Europan OceanIs there an example on your mind of one such?I was thinking of James Cook, the British explorer, who explored the east coast of Australia, around 1770.- His statue in Sydney has been graffitied multiple times, accusing him of crimes against the aboriginal population- There are suggestion that his statue in another location be removed- But I don't think he committed any crimes against the aboriginal population - all he did was to describe the country to a population who didn't know about it- This is unlike later settlers who certainly displaced the native population (often violently), and smallpox and other European disease had a devastating impact on the native population.A better-known example is Abraham Lincoln, who (I have heard) is accused of keeping slaves when he was young.- I did a quick search, and found that to be unlikely, so I didn't mention it.- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_and_slaveryPerhaps a more dramatic example is John Newton, who was an active participant in the slave trade, but later realized that it was evil.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_NewtonFor many of us today, we have our clothes made in near-slavery conditions, but out of sight, in other nations. How will history view us?
Is there an example on your mind of one such?
No, Gorbachev ended the regime, and at first at least, it was okay.
Quote from: Europan Ocean on 18/06/2022 10:39:59No, Gorbachev ended the regime, and at first at least, it was okay. That was 30 years ago. Do you approve of what has replaced it?
So do you approve of the state of modern Russia? In what ways is it preferable to the communist state that preceded it? Which side should compromise to reunify Korea? What did we learn from Vietnam?
Communism provided public services and public ownership of basic industry.
Under communism there was no parliamentary opposition. Nowadays,the leader of the opposition gets poisoned and imprisoned.Communism provided public services and public ownership of basic industry. Privatisation resulted in a few crooks making huge profits through a bent tendering process and increasing the prices of fuel and food. The government is planning to reduce its healthcare budget. The employment rate has not changed significantly.
Quote from: alancalverd on 18/06/2022 23:50:30Communism provided public services and public ownership of basic industry. Communism was well known for providing top notch healthcare to all citizens, something that the west is incapable of.
Communism was well known for providing top notch healthcare to all citizens, something that the west is incapable of.
Quote from: Petrochemicals on 19/06/2022 00:00:36Communism was well known for providing top notch healthcare to all citizens, something that the west is incapable of.Yes and no, I think. Just two anecdotes:Back in the 1970s a friend wanted soft contact lenses - still something of a novelty at the time. Her rabidly anti-communist father said he would pay for them if she wrote him an essay explaining why they weren't available in the USSR. Her diligent research revealed that they were invented in Czechoslovakia and were generally provided free of charge behind the Iron Curtain.By sheer coincidence my son suffered acute appendicitis in the UK at the same time as a classmate who was visiting Russia. His diagnosis and treatment were delayed and disorganised and days later he ended up with a scar that looks like a shark bite, having missed death by a few hours. She was hospitalised in an hour, diagnosed and in surgery with no delay, and returned home with two tiny incisions from very neat keyhole surgery. But her mum (who happened to be leading the school party) said that the food was awful and the nurses unpleasant.