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The American Soviet Mentality

40 points by andrenth 6y ago

avmich 6y ago
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- ncmncm 6y ago
  It wants to run Javascript code before it will show you text.
  - happymellon 6y ago
    And places a button at the bottom that floats over the text, yet throws you out of the article. This appears to be a very poor website.
  - type0 6y ago
    If JS is not enables we get this > You need to enable JavaScript to run this app. What does this application actually do? Does it only show the text or does it allow visitors to play games or something more. I'm just puzzled by how often such occurrences happen nowadays.
johnny22 6y ago
This really reads like it's overplaying its hand. Some of the concerns are valid, but it's so over the top that I can't take it seriously. The real American Soviet Mentality is the ossification of the bureaucracy at all levels such that unsolved fundamental problems are leading to collective action because other avenues have completely failed.
- euroderf 6y ago
  Indeed. The title suggested discussion of economic-bureaucratic ossification.
Mikhail_Edoshin 6y ago
I wouldn't quite agree here. The Soviet condemnation of Pasternak and others was an orchestrated campaign from the top. The Soviet masses of that time were largely indifferent and the common attitude toward the state propaganda was deep cynicism or apathy. Of course, there were some lay people who "haven't read Pasternak, but condemn him", but it was either naivety or posing. Nobody saw it then but in mere 30 years the USSR would collapse. I would compare what I see in USA nowadays to a different period in Russian history: the time before the Russian Revolution in 1917. It was a state of great turmoil, there were constant terrorist attacks against state officials and nobility (Lenin's elder brother was executed for attempting to kill the tzar), etc... yet somehow all this was massively supported by the "intelligentsia": the educated, well-off and sometimes very rich people. It was not a problem to give a shelter to "a revolutionary", to pass around leaflets, to help with money, to cover up robberies that were carried off by the radicals in search of funds, and so on. Almost all students were radical. Nobody paid any attention to a few dissenting conservative voices. "Russia, washed in blood", "The damned days", and "The ashen horse" are the titles of some of the books that described what followed.
- ncmncm 6y ago
  Are you forecasting collapse or other upheaval in short order?
- watwut 6y ago
  You are conflating different Russian political groups fighting each other into one. The issues with Russian feudalism were many which led to various groups opposing current goverment. Russian history deserves to be approach with same seriousness as American rather then being simplified to kindergarten level. Anyway, America now is not like russia back then at all.
blacklion 6y ago
I've tried once explain to American software engineers why people from east Europe and, especially, ex-USSR countries, reacts so hard against black/whitelist renaming in software: because it looks exactly as "back to USSR" for them (I'm from Russia myself but I try to reflect these knee-jerk reactions). Looks like no one in discussion understood what I want to say, and I was named non-tolerant and "bad" as result of this try. Please note, I didn't say anything against such changes, I've only try to explain, that people with ex-USSR/Warsaw block background could react against such changes, not because they are racists, but because it revive very painful memories in them. And, yes, as result I'm almost racist too.
- blacklion 6y ago
  BTW, post like this (but much longer, with namy examples, and, alas, in Russian, which is unfortunate, as target auddience must be English-speaking) was written by my friend in FaceBook. Post has been blocked in 6 hours for "hate speech", and I swear, it was all about ex-USSR traumas which are triggered by current trends from USA, and didn't contain any hate words or any judgement of these trends. It was like list: «USSR induce such trauma for many generations, this trauma is alive today, and it could triggered by this trend». It is very sad.
  - ncr100 6y ago
    Best luck recovering from trauma, it distracts and life won’t stop while you heal, unfortunate. Thx for sharing the opinions and experience...saves me time having to go through it too.
    - blacklion 6y ago
      Thanks for kind words! It is generational trauma, unfortunately. I could work with it personally, but it is passed from parents to children, and several generations should pass. Current situation in Russia doesn't help, either, as it again more and more like as back to USSR...
- allarm 6y ago
axilmar 6y ago
It seems the soviet condemnation of public figures has nothing to do with what happened in USA: in the case of the USSR, the condemnation started from the ruling party, i.e. from the top, whereas in the USA case presented in the article, the condemnation started from the bottom. And the tweet about "wokes who want to be safe over libertarian values" was indeed insulting.
7532yahoogmail 6y ago
op - thank you for posting. Cogent. Well argued. Timely.

40 points by andrenth 6y ago

Something went wrong An error occurred while loading this page. Try refreshing this page or navigate back to the front page.

ncmncm 6y ago
It wants to run Javascript code before it will show you text.
- happymellon 6y ago
  And places a button at the bottom that floats over the text, yet throws you out of the article. This appears to be a very poor website.
- type0 6y ago
  If JS is not enables we get this > You need to enable JavaScript to run this app. What does this application actually do? Does it only show the text or does it allow visitors to play games or something more. I'm just puzzled by how often such occurrences happen nowadays.

johnny22 6y ago

This really reads like it's overplaying its hand. Some of the concerns are valid, but it's so over the top that I can't take it seriously. The real American Soviet Mentality is the ossification of the bureaucracy at all levels such that unsolved fundamental problems are leading to collective action because other avenues have completely failed.

euroderf 6y ago
Indeed. The title suggested discussion of economic-bureaucratic ossification.

Mikhail_Edoshin 6y ago

I wouldn't quite agree here. The Soviet condemnation of Pasternak and others was an orchestrated campaign from the top. The Soviet masses of that time were largely indifferent and the common attitude toward the state propaganda was deep cynicism or apathy. Of course, there were some lay people who "haven't read Pasternak, but condemn him", but it was either naivety or posing. Nobody saw it then but in mere 30 years the USSR would collapse. I would compare what I see in USA nowadays to a different period in Russian history: the time before the Russian Revolution in 1917. It was a state of great turmoil, there were constant terrorist attacks against state officials and nobility (Lenin's elder brother was executed for attempting to kill the tzar), etc... yet somehow all this was massively supported by the "intelligentsia": the educated, well-off and sometimes very rich people. It was not a problem to give a shelter to "a revolutionary", to pass around leaflets, to help with money, to cover up robberies that were carried off by the radicals in search of funds, and so on. Almost all students were radical. Nobody paid any attention to a few dissenting conservative voices. "Russia, washed in blood", "The damned days", and "The ashen horse" are the titles of some of the books that described what followed.

ncmncm 6y ago
Are you forecasting collapse or other upheaval in short order?
watwut 6y ago
You are conflating different Russian political groups fighting each other into one. The issues with Russian feudalism were many which led to various groups opposing current goverment. Russian history deserves to be approach with same seriousness as American rather then being simplified to kindergarten level. Anyway, America now is not like russia back then at all.

blacklion 6y ago

I've tried once explain to American software engineers why people from east Europe and, especially, ex-USSR countries, reacts so hard against black/whitelist renaming in software: because it looks exactly as "back to USSR" for them (I'm from Russia myself but I try to reflect these knee-jerk reactions). Looks like no one in discussion understood what I want to say, and I was named non-tolerant and "bad" as result of this try. Please note, I didn't say anything against such changes, I've only try to explain, that people with ex-USSR/Warsaw block background could react against such changes, not because they are racists, but because it revive very painful memories in them. And, yes, as result I'm almost racist too.

blacklion 6y ago
BTW, post like this (but much longer, with namy examples, and, alas, in Russian, which is unfortunate, as target auddience must be English-speaking) was written by my friend in FaceBook. Post has been blocked in 6 hours for "hate speech", and I swear, it was all about ex-USSR traumas which are triggered by current trends from USA, and didn't contain any hate words or any judgement of these trends. It was like list: «USSR induce such trauma for many generations, this trauma is alive today, and it could triggered by this trend». It is very sad.
- ncr100 6y ago
  Best luck recovering from trauma, it distracts and life won’t stop while you heal, unfortunate. Thx for sharing the opinions and experience...saves me time having to go through it too.
  - blacklion 6y ago
    Thanks for kind words! It is generational trauma, unfortunately. I could work with it personally, but it is passed from parents to children, and several generations should pass. Current situation in Russia doesn't help, either, as it again more and more like as back to USSR...
allarm 6y ago

axilmar 6y ago

It seems the soviet condemnation of public figures has nothing to do with what happened in USA: in the case of the USSR, the condemnation started from the ruling party, i.e. from the top, whereas in the USA case presented in the article, the condemnation started from the bottom. And the tweet about "wokes who want to be safe over libertarian values" was indeed insulting.

7532yahoogmail 6y ago

op - thank you for posting. Cogent. Well argued. Timely.