[thechat] US vs USSR etc.

[Martin]

Bill wrote on 23/9/01 2:33 am

> I wonder if it's
>possible that given the extreme tension and competition during the US/USSR
>cold war times, we may all be "Soviets" now had we not done many of the
>terrible things we did? 

I don't think so. I really don't see *any* of the bad things which the US 
did
actually helped the things which caused the USSR to implode (ie the
disaffection of its populace and its economic meltdown).

Actually, I think the thing which the US did which helped most was
MTV - showing a lifestyle which the East aspired to. As long as
the Warsaw Pact countries had the majority of their citizens
in a place of cognative dissonance over their lifestyle compared
to the perceived Western lifestyle, it was always on a shoogly
nail.

What exactly was the problem to the people of the US that
the people of Vietnam chose a different political system than
capitalism to live by?

If democracy and the pursuit of capital are such Good Things,
shouldn't the benefits be self-evident without having to beat
it into people?

If they're that easy to sell, isn't the domino effect just a big
old lie?

If the US is trading with China and Russia, isn't it a nonsense
to economically blockade Cuba?

>Understanding that we used the "pawns" to keep our
>position, what if we hadn't kept our position? 

Depends on what you'd done. Some of the good stuff you did
(rebuilding both Japan and Germany for example) won you
a *lot* of friends, and were easy demonstrations of what a
good citizen the US can be.

However, I think the US could do nothing but store up
problems as long as it preached democracy and human rights
by the front door, and did the exact opposite by the back door.
It allowed potential enemies to suspect *everything* it did.

Besides, when were human rights abuses in line with
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: Life,
Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness"? 
(quoting from memory here).

How can the US have let its administrations and the CIA
*do* such things in its name?

Cheers
Martin

_______________________________________________
email: martin at easyweb.co.uk             PGP ID: 0xA835CCCB
       martin at members.evolt.org      snailmail: 30 Shandon Place
  tel: +44 (0)774 063 9985                      Edinburgh,
  url: http://www.easyweb.co.uk                 Scotland