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7 Reasons That Russia Is Not The Soviet Union
Forbes ^ | 12/31/2013 | Mark Adomanis

Posted on 01/21/2014 1:48:31 AM PST by cunning_fish

National Review published a rather overheated piece the other day that contained an entertaining line: “Russia has become the Soviet Union with a better suit”. The idea that Russia is fundamentally the same as the Soviet Union is a popular one, particularly on the political right where “Soviet” has for decades served as a synonym for “bad.” Barely a day goes by without someone bemoaning Putin’s “Soviet” character or the “neo-Soviet” policies that Russia pursues in its part of the world.

However this idea is deeply mistaken and extremely misleading, and can only be held by deliberately ignoring a huge amount of contradictory information. Indeed, by focusing on the minor and superficial similarities between present-day Russia and the USSR we ignore a great deal of what actually makes Russia unique.

I’m under no illusion that I will conclusively end peoples’ habit of substituting “the Soviet Union” for “the Russian Federation,” but I thought I would draw attention to some of the most glaring differences between the two. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are seven important reasons why the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union are not the same:

(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: coldwar2; coldwarii; communismkills; cronycapitalism; cronyfascism; frkgbputinfanclub; kgbputin; putinfanclub; russia; sovietreunion; sovietunion; usefulidiots
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To: Freelance Warrior
In Russia there's one [statue of Stalin] - on his grave.

List of statues of Stalin in Russia:

Many at Fallen Monument Park, Moscow, Russia[16]

Bust at his tomb in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow, Russia[17]

Statue of Stalin along with Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill at the All-Russia Exhibition Center, Moscow, Russia[18]

A large Stalin statue stood at the All-Russia Exhibition Center until 1948.[19]

A bust stands at the Memorial of Glory in Vladikavkaz.[20]

A bust stands at School No. 2 in Ardon, North Ossetia.[21]

In Bryansk, there is a bust of Stalin in the Communist Party’s regional headquarters.[22]

A bust of Stalin is in Kizel.

A statue is in Nogir, North Ossetia–Alania.[23]

A statue of Stalin is in the yard of School No.2, Ardon, North Ossetia–Alania.[24]

A bust of Stalin in the village of Chokh, Dagestan

A bust of Stalin at a square in Derbent, Dagestan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_statues_of_Stalin#Russia

41 posted on 01/21/2014 3:48:54 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: cunning_fish
I’ve already seen all the spam you are posting above. Bring some fresh air into discussion if you want to really back your point.

It's only "spam" to you because it provides the PROOF of who and what your boy KGB Putin is. And what Russia is REALLY up to.

42 posted on 01/21/2014 3:52:22 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: ETL

Ha, I never knew abouth the others. Still, most of them aren’t in provincial centres.


43 posted on 01/21/2014 3:56:16 AM PST by Freelance Warrior (A Russian.)
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To: SeminoleCounty

I think the Russians generally (Putin specifically) are appalled how their once formidable rival, the USA, is going culturally gay. I think this is scary to them for two reasons. First it is humiliating to lose the cold war to what has turned out to be a faggot oriented society and secondly they do not want the same thing to happen to them.


44 posted on 01/21/2014 3:58:24 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: cunning_fish
"Russia is planning to open a museum of USSR in the city of Ulyanovsk in 2022 – the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Soviet Union."

http://voiceofrussia.com/uk/news/2013_11_07/Russia-to-open-USSR-museum-4442/

45 posted on 01/21/2014 4:02:24 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: central_va
I think the Russians generally (Putin specifically) are appalled how their once formidable rival, the USA, is going culturally gay.

So the guy's has a few honorable positions. Does that excuse everything else??

46 posted on 01/21/2014 4:06:58 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: ETL
So the guy's has a few honorable positions. Does that excuse everything else??

Well no it doesn't but I can see how he(Putin) and Russians in general are appalled at the USA from a cultural point of view. We are not setting a good example for the world, is this what democracy and freedom begets? Homos a feminist running(ruining) everything? That is how they think.

47 posted on 01/21/2014 4:10:57 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: cunning_fish
April 25, 2005

Russia’s Putin: Soviet Collapse a Tragedy
By ALEX NICHOLSON
Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin lamented the demise of the Soviet Union in some of his strongest language to date, saying in a nationally televised speech before parliament Monday that it was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."

In his annual address to lawmakers, top government officials and political leaders, Putin also sought to reassure skittish investors about Russia’s investment climate - just two days before a ruling in the tax evasion and fraud trial of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

His statements on the collapse of the Soviet Union and its effects on Russians, at home and abroad, come as the country is awash in nostalgia just two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe - a conflict Russians call the "Great Patriotic War."

Putin, who served as a colonel in the KGB, has resurrected some communist symbols during his presidency, bringing back the music of the old Soviet anthem and the Soviet-style red banner as the military’s flag.

In the 50-minute address at the Kremlin, Putin avoided mentioning the need to work more closely with other former Soviet republics - in contrast to previous addresses ..."

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-42328.html

48 posted on 01/21/2014 4:14:55 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: cunning_fish
Ping!

Oh, and, by the way, thanks for the ping. It gave me yet another opportunity to show you and your Putin butt licker group up for the phonies that you are.

49 posted on 01/21/2014 4:18:21 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: central_va
Re: So the guy has a few honorable positions. Does that excuse everything else??

Well no it doesn't but I can see how he(Putin) and Russians in general are appalled at the USA from a cultural point of view.

But that can easily apply to many of the worst characters in human history. Everyone, even the worst of the worst, has SOME good qualities.

50 posted on 01/21/2014 4:22:42 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: ETL
But that can easily apply to many of the worst characters in human history. Everyone, even the worst of the worst, has SOME good qualities.

I agree and we are provoking it with our current cultural milieu. I think Putin is not exploiting this situation; it is genuine disgust.

51 posted on 01/21/2014 4:25:40 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Freelance Warrior
Ha, I never knew about the others. Still, most of them aren’t in provincial centres.

Keep in mind, they fully realize the negative impacts on world opinion if they display too much open support for Stalin.

52 posted on 01/21/2014 4:29:03 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: ETL
Keep in mind, they fully realize the negative impacts on world opinion if they display too much open support for Stalin.

Well, this issue isn't important for the Russian government, it's not about any practical matters. But sympathy to Stalin is widespead within the Russian public, especially in latest years, so by showing some signs of respect to Stalin the leadership may gain some popular support.

53 posted on 01/21/2014 4:51:19 AM PST by Freelance Warrior (A Russian.)
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To: Freelance Warrior
Well, this issue isn't important for the Russian government, it's not about any practical matters. But sympathy to Stalin is widespread within the Russian public

I think it is important for the Putin regime. Putin has been on a huge propaganda campaign to win over the hearts and minds of people in the US.

54 posted on 01/21/2014 4:55:15 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: ETL
I think it is important for the Putin regime. Putin has been on a huge propaganda campaign to win over the hearts and minds of people in the US.

Probably this is not about Putin campaigning for the public support in the U.S., but about fit-for-nothing Obama. Putin, no matter what one may say about him, is a strong-spirited person. Once the USA have an own strong-willed president, the Putin's charm will fade away.

55 posted on 01/21/2014 5:01:12 AM PST by Freelance Warrior (A Russian.)
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To: cunning_fish
Wouldn’t you approve if Obama was about to praise US operatives stealing Soviet secrets?

First of all, I would be SHOCKED if Obama would ever had approved such a thing as stealing vital secrets from the Soviets, who he openly supported as a college student during the 80s. Who his mentor, possible Soviet agent, communist Frank Marshall Davis, loved so much and was loyal to that he actually wrote poems glorifying the Red Army. Second, you are comparing apples to oranges. You don't seem to realize that the Soviet Union WAS the "evil empire", being responsible for the murder of some 20 million or more people living under their rule.

56 posted on 01/21/2014 5:05:32 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: ETL

Our appreciation of Putin is just a reflection of how abjectly horrible Obama is. If we had a real American president, we most likely wouldn’t care much about Putin one way or another. It is the stark contrast that draws us to him, IMHO.


57 posted on 01/21/2014 5:07:55 AM PST by ilovesarah2012
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To: Freelance Warrior
Putin, no matter what one may say about him, is a strong-spirited person.

So was Stalin, Hitler, Saddam Hussein,...

Once the USA have an own strong-willed president, the Putin's charm will fade away.

Sorry, but I see nothing "charming" about this KGB POS.

58 posted on 01/21/2014 5:08:03 AM PST by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: varmintman

Lotta folks thought the USSR was Russia


59 posted on 01/21/2014 5:09:06 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... History is a process, not an event)
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To: ETL

Putin is doing a lot of what America should be doing. If you refuse to see that, you aren’t really paying attention.


60 posted on 01/21/2014 5:10:43 AM PST by ilovesarah2012
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