What the hell does that have to do with anything? I propose a new rule. It will be just like the Adolf Hitler rule (whenever someone in a conversation makes an analogy to Hitler, the thread is over) and it will go like this: Whenever someone tries to explain the fall of communism, the thread is over.
My reasoning? Much like most/.ers have a I-think-I'm-a-lawyer complex, everyone here seems to feel they are the utmost authority on the world's economic system. Yeah right, c'mon guys let's stick to what we know.
-----------
"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
Wonderful ... what comes next?
by
RNG
·
· Score: 4
I really do sympathise with the Russians (along with the other former USSR republics) but the current (political & economic) climate in Russia is scary. In many (rural) areas government has retreated, wages & pensions are not being paid on time (if they're being payed at all), corruption is widespread and much of the former communist oligarchy has transformed itself into the owners of (hastily) privatized businesses and enjoy excellent ties to the organized crime syndicates. Rumors have it that corruption reaches up into the highest levels of government and it's a fact that many crimes along these lines are never investigated earnestly if at all.
Much of their nuclear fleet is rotting in the harbors because there is no money to either fix/maintain the fleet, much less so to properly dismantle it. Weapons from low to high caliber can be bought if you have the right amount of cash and know the right people. All of this is happening in a country which still is a nuclear power and has lots of other stuff that should be kept under tight control by a powerful/competent government. The safety of nuclear materials, be it in the civilan or military sector, can not be guaranteed anymore; factories and nuclear power plants run for years without proper servicing. Once of the major fears currently seems to be that countries like Irak, Iran, N. Korea and others will be able to use the current climate (ie: breakdown of authority) to appropriate materials and technology for their own nuclear programs; those are countries that I'd rather not see developing nuclear arms; yet this is a real danger.
Not a pretty place, and from what I have gathered Jetsin's replacement (Putin), who used to be head of the KGB, never really voiced clear political opinions which went farther than the default rethorics of law and order. Jeltsin was (at the time of the coup against Gorbachev) an icon of hope for the democratic forces. Unfortunateley nothing of that idealism remains and Russias future is in doubt. Yet we refinance their bankrupt government/economy (and thus help pay for the current operation in the Caucasus) because we can't really afford to have things get even worse than they are. In the meantime, things don't seem to be evolving towards a better (more stable) state of affairs. We're afraid of making Russia into an Enemy, yet at the current pace of development, there may not be a Russia (or a proper government which does what a government is expected to do) much longer...
Isn't the world a wonderful place as we close the books on the 20th century?:-)
1. GOOD THING: There is a prognosis this day that this day is a startline for pouring inflated money from USA into Russia (Marshall plan, you know). Else the USA economy (that almost overheated, the Internet stuff?) will blow your smart heads and your fat money pouches.
2. GOOD THING: Two or three days ago the most active internet community leaders meet with Putin and the Ministers talking about growth of the Internet. It's ok. But...
3. BAD THING: Before taking presidential rights Putin has some plans to 'regulate russian segment of the Internet'. You know almost nothing about the Duma Elections? Hah, the Internet was used widely as a black propoganda a lot. So, Putin has a plan to licenze domain registration and put under the control the persons, content and have a right to shutdown everything he (or his administration) may think is non-appropriate. You think about having russian servers at.com registeries? You are wrong - you are prohibited to do it. You must be a company with licenzed website (why? just because you could be fined a lot of $$ for not placing a firedistinguisher at the toilet!) and can't have the site registered nowhere else than at.RU domain. Total control.
Good luck!
Anyone who want to read (and can read on russian!) can visit respectable russian newssource LENTA.Ru and read the rest. Maybe it's a story for Slashdotting?
http://www.lenta.ru/internet/1999/12/31/ripn/
(That's the project I've mentioned) http://www.lenta.ru/internet/1999/12/28/domains/ proect.htm
Anyone care about 0.5% of the Internet (I'm talking about Russia?)
okay, now maybe I'm just being paranoid here, but let's look at the situation:
the russians are involved in armed conflict.
Boris makes a statement at a conference merely weeks ago that President Clinton has "forgotten Russia is a nuclear power"
Boris in his "farewell" speech APPOLOGIZES.
Boris hasn't been a bad leader. Not a great leader, but he's done some pretty good things in his term. Now, I suppose it's just the nice guy ethic to appologize for "dreams not coming true" and "mistakes" in his career. But this is from a man that has held fast to every decision he's made. Hell, that's part of why I've respected him.
Something's up. I mean, no way to tell until it happens, and I'm not about to go running for the bomb shelter, but this is quite definitely not a good sign. Time to read up on the man with the briefcase I suppose.
--
Bad things often happen to good people,
It is up to them to see that they remain good.
Of all world leaders this century, he had probably one of the greatest, most challenging tasks imaginable. He had to, from *nothing* create a stable nation-state and a government. At the same time, he had to create a successful economic system! Can you even imagine the intense pressure and stress.
Of course he made mistakes. If you had to create *everything* with very little support from neither the people nor fellow statesmen, while at the same time trying to sustain a *shred* of national dignity... well... mistakes are bound to be made.
This isn't like the task the American founding fathers undertook -- they had to build everything that Yeltsin is building; however, they only had a few colonies/states to deal with at the time. Yeltsin has the weight of hundreds of millions of Russian people on his shoulders.
Not an easy job.
Thank you Mr. Yeltsin. You had every opportunity to become a dictator. You had every reason to slip backwards into communism. You could have been emperor of one of the largest nations on the planet. But you chose the honorable thing... the good thing. So few people would have done the same. You have earned my respect.
David
STOP THE PRESSES !! THIS IS A MISTAKE
by
martin-k
·
· Score: 3
Stop the presses! This is a mistake.
The taped Yeltsin statement was slated for release December 31, 2099.
Due to lack of Y2K preparations in Russia, it has been released prematurely.
soon after that announcement, stocks on Moscow Stock Exchange went about 20% up and the trading was halted (due to the Exchange trading rules)
See http://www.polit.ru/documents/159424.html (in russian, sorry:-))
What Russian people REALLY want
by
sluncho
·
· Score: 4
Most of the American public seems surprisingly uneducated about Russia and the current political sutiation there. For most of you, Russia is still the enemy that is going to launch its nuclear missiles any moment. Wake up!
Russia is a democratic country now, even though it's plagued by dirty politics, the Russian mafia and corruption. These things are inevitable in every society that is expiriencing such a major change in its structure and ideology. Almost everybody in Russia accepts the Western values of democracy and freedom. The young people wear jeans, watch mostly American movies and chat on EFnet. There are some exceptions, but doesn't America have its Neonazis and KKK guys too?
Almost 90% of the movies sold in Russia are Western movies. Obviously, if all the Russians just hated the West, they wouldn't like these movies. I'm pretty much sure that most of the Russian soldiers will not fight in a war with the West - they will simply see no reason for it. Communism in Russia is dead. The ideology does not matter any more. All that matters is the economy.
This is were the problem lies. Russia used to be one of the worlds's major economic powers, competing only with the US. This is no longer true. The economic system had to be changed completely. Almost every part of the system broke. Rebuilding the economy will be hard and it will take at least a couple of decades. Till then life for most of the Russians will be miserable and poor.
Think about this: You are a Russian guy. You never paid much attention to ideology, never really believed in all of this communism/capitalis junk. All that you want is to have a nice house, car, enough money for your chidlren and so on. It's basicly the same stuff that drives most of the people on earth. 10 years ago you had a job, free health care, free education for your childer. You were not rich, but none of your peers was rich, so you didn't feel bad. Than, after 1990 everything changed. Your country, which used to be a super power in the world affairs, is no longer any special. You are poor. You look at all the mafia guys around you, who driver BMWs and live in palaces. You don't like it. Then you look at the USA, and see how good your life can be. Not everybody drives a BMW there, but buying a car is not a problem. You probably need to spend your yearly income just to byu some crappy car from the 80s. The people who clean shit and vomit at McDonalds earn more than you. You might be smart, but it does not matter. You feel that you have less chance of success, just because you are born here and not on the other side of the Atlantic. What about the equal opportunity? This is not fun. You don't like this.
It's true that pretty much everybody in the developing world. Most of the world population (especially the young people feel really angry about this) - it's not envy, it's just the feeling that thigs are not fair. Things are not right. The difference between Russia/Eastern Europe and the rest of the world is that the people thare USED TO be relatively rich. Poverty didn't exist, at least not to the extent it exist now. Although you had to sacrifice your freedom for it, your economical situation wouldn't be bad at all. You would get free health care, you would send your children to college - for free.
The ideology is no longer an issue, but being poor is still not fun. Especially when you REMEMBER having a better life.
I hope this will help some of you to understand Russia better. They are just people - like you and me - who want to enjoy their life. That's all.
P.S. Disclaimer: I am not Russian. But I still know what I'm talking about.
Slashdot Mirror
*NEWSFLASH*
There are nerds in Russia.
*Stay tuned for more updates; every hour, on the hour*
My reasoning? Much like most /.ers have a I-think-I'm-a-lawyer complex, everyone here seems to feel they are the utmost authority on the world's economic system. Yeah right, c'mon guys let's stick to what we know.
-----------
"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."
I really do sympathise with the Russians (along with the other former USSR republics) but the current (political & economic) climate in Russia is scary. In many (rural) areas government has retreated, wages & pensions are not being paid on time (if they're being payed at all), corruption is widespread and much of the former communist oligarchy has transformed itself into the owners of (hastily) privatized businesses and enjoy excellent ties to the organized crime syndicates. Rumors have it that corruption reaches up into the highest levels of government and it's a fact that many crimes along these lines are never investigated earnestly if at all.
...
:-)
Much of their nuclear fleet is rotting in the harbors because there is no money to either fix/maintain the fleet, much less so to properly dismantle it. Weapons from low to high caliber can be bought if you have the right amount of cash and know the right people. All of this is happening in a country which still is a nuclear power and has lots of other stuff that should be kept under tight control by a powerful/competent government. The safety of nuclear materials, be it in the civilan or military sector, can not be guaranteed anymore; factories and nuclear power plants run for years without proper servicing. Once of the major fears currently seems to be that countries like Irak, Iran, N. Korea and others will be able to use the current climate (ie: breakdown of authority) to appropriate materials and technology for their own nuclear programs; those are countries that I'd rather not see developing nuclear arms; yet this is a real danger.
Not a pretty place, and from what I have gathered Jetsin's replacement (Putin), who used to be head of the KGB, never really voiced clear political opinions which went farther than the default rethorics of law and order. Jeltsin was (at the time of the coup against Gorbachev) an icon of hope for the democratic forces. Unfortunateley nothing of that idealism remains and Russias future is in doubt. Yet we refinance their bankrupt government/economy (and thus help pay for the current operation in the Caucasus) because we can't really afford to have things get even worse than they are. In the meantime, things don't seem to be evolving towards a better (more stable) state of affairs. We're afraid of making Russia into an Enemy, yet at the current pace of development, there may not be a Russia (or a proper government which does what a government is expected to do) much longer
Isn't the world a wonderful place as we close the books on the 20th century?
1. GOOD THING: There is a prognosis this day that this day is a startline for pouring inflated money from USA into Russia (Marshall plan, you know). Else the USA economy (that almost overheated, the Internet stuff?) will blow your smart heads and your fat money pouches.
.com registeries? You are wrong - you are prohibited to do it. You must be a company with licenzed website (why? just because you could be fined a lot of $$ for not placing a firedistinguisher at the toilet!) and can't have the site registered nowhere else than at .RU domain. Total control.
/ proect.htm
2. GOOD THING: Two or three days ago the most active internet community leaders meet with Putin and the Ministers talking about growth of the Internet. It's ok. But...
3. BAD THING: Before taking presidential rights Putin has some plans to 'regulate russian segment of the Internet'. You know almost nothing about the Duma Elections? Hah, the Internet was used widely as a black propoganda a lot. So, Putin has a plan to licenze domain registration and put under the control the persons, content and have a right to shutdown everything he (or his administration) may think is non-appropriate. You think about having russian servers at
Good luck!
Anyone who want to read (and can read on russian!) can visit respectable russian newssource LENTA.Ru and read the rest. Maybe it's a story for Slashdotting?
http://www.lenta.ru/internet/1999/12/31/ripn/
(That's the project I've mentioned)
http://www.lenta.ru/internet/1999/12/28/domains
Anyone care about 0.5% of the Internet (I'm talking about Russia?)
-/augur
- the russians are involved in armed conflict.
- Boris makes a statement at a conference merely weeks ago that President Clinton has "forgotten Russia is a nuclear power"
- Boris in his "farewell" speech APPOLOGIZES.
Boris hasn't been a bad leader. Not a great leader, but he's done some pretty good things in his term. Now, I suppose it's just the nice guy ethic to appologize for "dreams not coming true" and "mistakes" in his career. But this is from a man that has held fast to every decision he's made. Hell, that's part of why I've respected him.Something's up. I mean, no way to tell until it happens, and I'm not about to go running for the bomb shelter, but this is quite definitely not a good sign. Time to read up on the man with the briefcase I suppose.
Bad things often happen to good people,
It is up to them to see that they remain good.
I have always respected Yeltsin.
Of all world leaders this century, he had probably one of the greatest, most challenging tasks imaginable. He had to, from *nothing* create a stable nation-state and a government. At the same time, he had to create a successful economic system! Can you even imagine the intense pressure and stress.
Of course he made mistakes. If you had to create *everything* with very little support from neither the people nor fellow statesmen, while at the same time trying to sustain a *shred* of national dignity... well... mistakes are bound to be made.
This isn't like the task the American founding fathers undertook -- they had to build everything that Yeltsin is building; however, they only had a few colonies/states to deal with at the time. Yeltsin has the weight of hundreds of millions of Russian people on his shoulders.
Not an easy job.
Thank you Mr. Yeltsin. You had every opportunity to become a dictator. You had every reason to slip backwards into communism. You could have been emperor of one of the largest nations on the planet. But you chose the honorable thing... the good thing. So few people would have done the same. You have earned my respect.
David
The taped Yeltsin statement was slated for release December 31, 2099.
Due to lack of Y2K preparations in Russia, it has been released prematurely.
SCNR...
SoftMaker Office for Windows|Linux|Android
soon after that announcement,
:-))
stocks on Moscow Stock Exchange went
about 20% up and the trading was halted
(due to the Exchange trading rules)
See http://www.polit.ru/documents/159424.html
(in russian, sorry
Most of the American public seems surprisingly uneducated about Russia and the current political sutiation there. For most of you, Russia is still the enemy that is going to launch its nuclear missiles any moment. Wake up!
Russia is a democratic country now, even though it's plagued by dirty politics, the Russian mafia and corruption. These things are inevitable in every society that is expiriencing such a major change in its structure and ideology. Almost everybody in Russia accepts the Western values of democracy and freedom. The young people wear jeans, watch mostly American movies and chat on EFnet. There are some exceptions, but doesn't America have its Neonazis and KKK guys too?
After being exposed to the Western culture for more than a decade, now it's part of the Russian life. Take a look at some of these links:
Russian Babylon5 fan club
Russian X-Files fan site
Russian DVD online store
Almost 90% of the movies sold in Russia are Western movies. Obviously, if all the Russians just hated the West, they wouldn't like these movies. I'm pretty much sure that most of the Russian soldiers will not fight in a war with the West - they will simply see no reason for it. Communism in Russia is dead. The ideology does not matter any more. All that matters is the economy.
This is were the problem lies. Russia used to be one of the worlds's major economic powers, competing only with the US. This is no longer true. The economic system had to be changed completely. Almost every part of the system broke. Rebuilding the economy will be hard and it will take at least a couple of decades. Till then life for most of the Russians will be miserable and poor.
Think about this: You are a Russian guy. You never paid much attention to ideology, never really believed in all of this communism/capitalis junk. All that you want is to have a nice house, car, enough money for your chidlren and so on. It's basicly the same stuff that drives most of the people on earth. 10 years ago you had a job, free health care, free education for your childer. You were not rich, but none of your peers was rich, so you didn't feel bad. Than, after 1990 everything changed. Your country, which used to be a super power in the world affairs, is no longer any special. You are poor. You look at all the mafia guys around you, who driver BMWs and live in palaces. You don't like it. Then you look at the USA, and see how good your life can be. Not everybody drives a BMW there, but buying a car is not a problem. You probably need to spend your yearly income just to byu some crappy car from the 80s. The people who clean shit and vomit at McDonalds earn more than you. You might be smart, but it does not matter. You feel that you have less chance of success, just because you are born here and not on the other side of the Atlantic. What about the equal opportunity? This is not fun. You don't like this.
It's true that pretty much everybody in the developing world. Most of the world population (especially the young people feel really angry about this) - it's not envy, it's just the feeling that thigs are not fair. Things are not right. The difference between Russia/Eastern Europe and the rest of the world is that the people thare USED TO be relatively rich. Poverty didn't exist, at least not to the extent it exist now. Although you had to sacrifice your freedom for it, your economical situation wouldn't be bad at all. You would get free health care, you would send your children to college - for free.
The ideology is no longer an issue, but being poor is still not fun. Especially when you REMEMBER having a better life.
I hope this will help some of you to understand Russia better. They are just people - like you and me - who want to enjoy their life. That's all.
P.S. Disclaimer: I am not Russian. But I still know what I'm talking about.