Posted on 01/10/2006 3:54:52 PM PST by Pharmboy
"Liberty," he answered immediately, surprised that I did not know what an American was. Canada's national myths -- pluralism, bilingualism, multiculturalism and tolerance -- are admirable, but just not as sexy as liberty and the American frontier.)
I thought this was worth the post.
They are everywhere here in Kalifornia. They must be leaving in droves.
They need to have it first, before they say they have experienced it. IMHO.
Please freepmail me to get ON or get OFF this moderate volume ping list.
I'm glad that Kalifornia is so famous...help keep them out of Kolorado
Excellent point.
The Russians have never really had liberty. And they lack the basic necessities of a free market economy--rule of law, absence of stifling regulations, freedom from fear of criminal extortion.
The best economies are built on the rule of law, sacredness of contracts, lack of stifling regulation, and the freedom to do whatever you choose. Those conditions were never present under the Tsars, never present under the Communists, and not present now. The present Russian economy is run by the KGB and the Mob.
Unfortunately the Harvard economists gave people the idea that Russia tried privatization and it failed. It was never really tried.
Yep--I agree...and do not forget...PRIVATE PROPERTY!
Russia has never had a Republic, or democracy either, so can not actually comment on it. They are just as much a slave as they were under communism, it is still tyranny under a different name. Let them adopt our constitution and follow it to the letter and see how the people react in a year from now. Capitilism is what makes the difference, regardless of what lefties say.
Men had Liberty and States had Freedom, not the reverse.
Democracy, as an abstract, is what the twentieth century has sold these formerly subjugated peoples when the Republic structures of mixed governments were what put the West on the high ground.
Self-Government is more important than Democracy. Participatory Representation is more important the tally of the plebiscite.
They are all over houston. My buddy came back from Washington...all kinds of Russians, but it's not just Russians, it's Georgians, Ukrainians, etc. Lots of slavs are immigrating our way.
Democracy is not made by leaders, whatever their surnames and proclivities for the bottle or the paranoia, but by the mass of the population. When a population has over the centuries produced and reproduced a way of life best characterized by a Russian proverb "Ty nachal'nik - ya der'mo, ya nachal'nik -ty der'mo" [If you're the boss, then I'm a POS, but if I'm the boss then you're a POS] - pretty similar to a very bad western workplace with a petty boss whose authority has gone to his/her head, but writ large over all society - what democracy would be possible with such a population? They would need to be transculturated first.
As someone who spent half of 2004 and most of 2005 living in Russia...I would say that, if Putin wants to be known as really great and go down in history...he will try to be more like George Washington than Peter the Great.
But he has been acting like Peter the Great lately. I would really like to see what happens with Iran before I judge Putin more. Iran in 2006 - that is where we need to watch Russia.
Great comment...if only all the world leaders would be more like George Washington!
I'm losing faith in democracy as well. A large part of the problem is that we have a lot of people who don't believe in it at all, and don't want it.
"According to a recent poll by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the Russian people would choose a strong economy over a good democracy by a margin of nearly six-to-one. For them, prosperity is more important than liberty and the right to bear a megaphone."
This sure looks a lot like the Democrat's campaign Mantra: "Its the economy stupid."
Some 15 years after tossing aside the tyranny of communism, the Russians appear to have grown weary of democracy and the obstacles it presents to fast, efficient growth.To answer the author of the piece, What democratic obstacles to growth? All we've seen is Putin trying to reimplement the USSR, in all but name, cracking down on the most prosperous, and trying to reimpose state control of everything.
Russians haven't paid the price yet for Democracy. Gotta have some deaths and violent overturning of the old first, otherwise the old stay entrenched. So how can they be tired of it?
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