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Thanks for the joke. I assume all the Soviet bloc countries were like this. Having lived in Romania during its communist years, it seemed that every single pers

by joesmo 11y ago

Thanks for the joke. I assume all the Soviet bloc countries were like this. Having lived in Romania during its communist years, it seemed that every single person who was not a communist wanted to leave or at least thought about it. After my parents managed to get out and get to the US, we met a lot of others from various Eastern European countries as well as Russia who all had pretty incredible stories of escape. I think for others who had not been there, it's incredibly difficult to imagine the conditions that would lead people, including people with families and small children, to literally risk their lives (or at least torture and jail) to get out, oftentimes without their children, not knowing if they would ever make it or see their family ever again. If there is a "hell," I doubt it's worse than communism.

jacquesm 11y ago
Another aspect rarely in the spotlight is the fate of the close family members of those that left successfully.
a3n 11y ago
Communist, totalitarian, fascist, they're all just variations of thugocracy. The US government operates a surveillance infrastructure beyond the wildest wet dreams of the Stasi and their ilk, beyond all practical oversight. It attracts people to work for it who think that's a good thing, including the lack of oversight. We're expected to trust them. We know that secrecy promotes laziness, and is used to hide ineptness, incomptence, greed and crime. Some are no doubt outright thugs. Some probably believe the infrastructure as it exists and is evolving is a good thing. Either way, they're burning the village to save it, and they're using the Constitution as tinder.
- kpommerenke 11y ago
  This is an invalid comparison: the US government, unlike the Stasi, doesn't pay your neighbors to spy on you, doesn't interrogate your wife and children about you, doesn't bug your home without a good reason, and doesn't even record your calls (only the meta data).
  - a3n 11y ago
    Neither would the Stasi if they had this. They would do exactly what the US is doing. Modern surveillance has eliminated the middleman. "Come work for the NSA and disrupt surveillance!"

by joesmo 11y ago

jacquesm 11y ago

Another aspect rarely in the spotlight is the fate of the close family members of those that left successfully.

a3n 11y ago

Communist, totalitarian, fascist, they're all just variations of thugocracy. The US government operates a surveillance infrastructure beyond the wildest wet dreams of the Stasi and their ilk, beyond all practical oversight. It attracts people to work for it who think that's a good thing, including the lack of oversight. We're expected to trust them. We know that secrecy promotes laziness, and is used to hide ineptness, incomptence, greed and crime. Some are no doubt outright thugs. Some probably believe the infrastructure as it exists and is evolving is a good thing. Either way, they're burning the village to save it, and they're using the Constitution as tinder.

kpommerenke 11y ago
This is an invalid comparison: the US government, unlike the Stasi, doesn't pay your neighbors to spy on you, doesn't interrogate your wife and children about you, doesn't bug your home without a good reason, and doesn't even record your calls (only the meta data).
- a3n 11y ago
  Neither would the Stasi if they had this. They would do exactly what the US is doing. Modern surveillance has eliminated the middleman. "Come work for the NSA and disrupt surveillance!"