(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Gorbachev the Scapegoat [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-09-05
Putin accolytes like to blame Gorbachev for the demise of the Soviet Union, the expansion of NATO, etc. They are really seeking to discredit the notions of perestoika and glasnost in order to justify Putin's iron fisted, fascist rule.
His fascist accolytes pretty much blame Gorbachev and those ideas for every grievance Putin uses to rationalize his war in Ukraine, his Imperial foreign policy and his dismissal of liberal democracy. They accuse Gorbachev of being naive about, and duped by the West, and responsible for Russia's humiliation and loss of global stature.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Gorbachev was a remarkable leader with a realistic view of what was needed for both the Communist Party and the Soviet Union to survive and thrive. His only naivete concerned the Communist Party itself. He was betrayed by old guard communists who thought like Putin at the time.
In reality, Gorbachev wanted to preserve the both the Communist Party and Soviet Union. It was those in the old guard who attempted a coup to 'save' the the Soviet Union who were ultimately responsible for bringing about its demise.
They weakened Gorbachev and ushered in Yeltsin. Yeltsin's incompetence resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic suffering that ensued.
Yeltsin adopted wholesale market solutions proposed by the West with disastrous results. Russia lacked both the solid civil society and institutions to guard against corruption, and its populous was unaccustomed to fending for itself in that brave new world.
Oligarchs arose. Average citizens starved and froze. Existing criminal organizations made out like, well, bandits.
The Yeltsin era is also when NATO expanded. All in all, it was a period of utter humiliation for the Russian people.
Yeltsin's fecklessness is also responsible for the elevation of Putin, and Russia's slow spiral back into authoritarianism. This time, however, it was without any ideological guardrails for the ruling elite.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/5/2120933/-Gorbachev-the-Scapegoat
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
