Quote (Black XistenZ @ 30 Aug 2022 18:02)

RIP :hail:

He was a good man who allowed the Soviet empire to dissolve peacefully once it was on track to collapsing. Under a different Soviet leader, the end of the Cold War could have been a hot war, rather than (largely) peaceful revolutions. The world is a better place thanks to him.




Side note: when I went to school, we had a couple of "ethnic German repatriates" from Kazakhstan in my class for two years. Their grandparents were ethnic Germans who moved, or were forcibly resettled, to parts of Russia and Central Asia during the 1920s through 1940s. These kids were born and raised in the Soviet Union to Soviet-born parents; in terms of culture and socialization, they were functionally equivalent to ethnic Russians. When our history class touched upon the fall of the Iron Curtain and Gorbachev and all that, they were really angry and negative. These kids - functionally Russians if you will - absolutely hated HATED HATED Gorbachev for what he, in their eyes, had done to their home country. They considered him a traitor whose weakness and lack of patriotism had caused the collapse of the Soviet Union and single-handedly brought the misery of the 90s upon them.

Just wanted to share this episode since it's an interesting (albeit anecdotal) glimpse into the Russian soul with regard to Putin's revanchist and revisionist war in Ukraine, which is fueled by the exact same sentiment.

Quote (Crunkt @ 31 Aug 2022 00:07)

https://www.euronews.com/2022/01/13/mikhail-gorbachev-accused-of-war-crimes-by-six-lithuanian-citizens

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-11-05-8603230289-story.html

naw old fucker needs to die.

terrible human

Quote (thundercock @ Aug 31 2022 12:18am)

He is a piece of shit for not leading a revolt to kill Putin. There is a lot of blood on his hands due to his inaction.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ Aug 31 2022 12:02am)

RIP :hail:

He was a good man who allowed the Soviet empire to dissolve peacefully once it was on track to collapsing. Under a different Soviet leader, the end of the Cold War could have been a hot war, rather than (largely) peaceful revolutions. The world is a better place thanks to him.




Side note: when I went to school, we had a couple of "ethnic German repatriates" from Kazakhstan in my class for two years. Their grandparents were ethnic Germans who moved, or were forcibly resettled, to parts of Russia and Central Asia during the 1920s through 1940s. These kids were born and raised in the Soviet Union to Soviet-born parents; in terms of culture and socialization, they were functionally equivalent to ethnic Russians. When our history class touched upon the fall of the Iron Curtain and Gorbachev and all that, they were really angry and negative. These kids - functionally Russians if you will - absolutely hated HATED HATED Gorbachev for what he, in their eyes, had done to their home country. They considered him a traitor whose weakness and lack of patriotism had caused the collapse of the Soviet Union and single-handedly brought the misery of the 90s upon them.

Just wanted to share this episode since it's an interesting (albeit anecdotal) glimpse into the Russian soul with regard to Putin's revanchist and revisionist war in Ukraine, which is fueled by the exact same sentiment.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ 31 Aug 2022 00:02)

RIP :hail:

He was a good man who allowed the Soviet empire to dissolve peacefully once it was on track to collapsing. Under a different Soviet leader, the end of the Cold War could have been a hot war, rather than (largely) peaceful revolutions. The world is a better place thanks to him.




Side note: when I went to school, we had a couple of "ethnic German repatriates" from Kazakhstan in my class for two years. Their grandparents were ethnic Germans who moved, or were forcibly resettled, to parts of Russia and Central Asia during the 1920s through 1940s. These kids were born and raised in the Soviet Union to Soviet-born parents; in terms of culture and socialization, they were functionally equivalent to ethnic Russians. When our history class touched upon the fall of the Iron Curtain and Gorbachev and all that, they were really angry and negative. These kids - functionally Russians if you will - absolutely hated HATED HATED Gorbachev for what he, in their eyes, had done to their home country. They considered him a traitor whose weakness and lack of patriotism had caused the collapse of the Soviet Union and single-handedly brought the misery of the 90s upon them.

Just wanted to share this episode since it's an interesting (albeit anecdotal) glimpse into the Russian soul with regard to Putin's revanchist and revisionist war in Ukraine, which is fueled by the exact same sentiment.

Quote (Pari @ 31 Aug 2022 15:01)

A good man who allowed rich people to plunder a whole region of the world while millions are shot into poverty. The rest of the world is still trying to catch up with abolishing education, health care and housing.

Quote (Black XistenZ @ 31 Aug 2022 17:16)

Russia getting plundered in the 90s was a consequence of its collapse and the subsequent weakness. Also note that the biggest robber barons were all Russians - they are the oligarchs and the members of Putin's inner circle who are running the country today.