5 ms·

What makes you think that USSR was a paper tiger?

• oblio 9y ago
  The fact that there were shortage of basic necessities in its last years of its existence. The fact that the majority of its exports were oil and gas based, like those of a petro state. This comic describes it very well: https://goo.gl/GAn5fi https://goo.gl/GAn5fi
  • thephyber 9y ago
    > The fact that the majority of its exports were oil and gas based, like those of a petro state. What has changed?[1] I would argue that this neither confirms nor refutes your defense of the "paper tiger" assertion. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia#/media/File:2014_Russia_Products_Exports_Treemap.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Russia#/media/File:...
    • oblio 9y ago
      Russia is still a paper tiger. Its economy is smaller than Spain's. There are two factors keeping it in "the game": - that huge stack of nukes - the ruthlessness of its mostly autocratic leader(s) Neither of those bode well for their future... ("it's the economy, stupid", and all that).
  • m0llusk 9y ago
    No toilet paper anywhere. Imagine that. Eleven time zones of no toilet paper. International Hotels in the center of Moscow had little stacks of 2 inch square wax paper if you were lucky. This was a completely dysfunctional and failed state.