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Hey, if Stalin could do it: “The scientists and engineers at a sharashka were prisoners picked from various camps and prisons and assigned to work on scientifi
by trevyn 8y ago
Hey, if Stalin could do it:
“The scientists and engineers at a sharashka were prisoners picked from various camps and prisons and assigned to work on scientific and technological problems for the state.” - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharashka https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharashka
“Well-fed and well-clothed but supervised by Party and police functionaries with little knowledge of aviation, Tupolev and his team of 150 specialists worked under the threat of harsh reprisal for the least setback.” - https://www.amazon.com/Stalins-Aviation-Gulag-Memoir-Tupolev/dp/1560986409 https://www.amazon.com/Stalins-Aviation-Gulag-Memoir-Tupolev...
- k9s9 8y agoQuite out of touch. No Russian I have ever worked with in the US has ever wanted to return to Russia. Russia has truly squandered their deep talent and potential over the decades. While more than half the Chinese friends I made during grad school in the US after completing their PhD's or after getting work experience have returned home. The results speak for themselves in the kind of companies the two countries have produced. There is no comparison between how Russia and China have treated their talent.
- gaius 8y agoYes, the Soviets lagged in consumer and commercial computing but for supersonic aircraft, radar, SAMs and ICBMs , space, etc, they held their own.
- pessimizer 8y agoWeird to judge contemporary China by the behavior of a Soviet dictator who's been dead for 65 years.
- james_s_tayler 8y agoWell (a) he's making a joke and (b) it's not that weird to compare two communist, authoritarian regimes.