6 ms·

how were those countries economies before communism?

WalterBright 6y ago
Better in every case. And better after communism ended, in every case. Look at it another way. Which countries have walls to keep people out? And which have walls to keep people in?
- nickpp 6y ago
  Walls and bullets too, don't forget that. Communists were not shy to kill their own people looking to escape the "wonders" of their system. Barbed wire on the borders, bullets shot without warning at swimmers trying to cross freezing rivers, then families held hostage and tortured to punish and warn escapees - oh Communism was such an awesome experience, I can only wish it from the bottom of my heart to all its apologists.
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    Some years back a socialist told me that the Berlin Wall was to keep westerners out of East Berlin. I told him that I'd visited the Wall in 1969, passed through it and had a tour of East Berlin, seen the Wall museum, been on the platforms overlooking the wall, had East German guards wave at me, etc. In a sense it is both good and bad that the Wall has been erased, people forget what it was like. Nobody should forget.
- AshWolfy 6y ago
  Nice propaganda there, most post soviet countries still havent recovered. Hell i aint a communist but most of these countries did better under communism if only because the US wasnt there to leech off them
  - Const-me 6y ago
    > most of these countries did better under communism Communists killed local population by millions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Baltic_states#Soviet_terror https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Baltic_state...
    - AshWolfy 6y ago
      Outside of events like these countries that adopted communism had higher standards of living while they didnt
      - Const-me 6y ago
        > Outside of events like these Crimes against humanity ain’t a minor issue you can ignore. Directly related to communism. Democratic states don’t do that, communist regimes did that a lot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity_under_communist_regimes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity_under_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes#States_where_mass_killings_have_occurred https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_... > had higher standards of living while they didn’t That’s debatable. Might be true in 1910-1920, but by the end of the last century all communist states with planned economy have failed their economies, catastrophically so, with direct consequences on standards of living. China’s the only exception, were lucky to have smart enough people in power to pivot towards market economy, and execute it relatively well.

Better in every case. And better after communism ended, in every case. Look at it another way. Which countries have walls to keep people out? And which have walls to keep people in?

nickpp 6y ago
Walls and bullets too, don't forget that. Communists were not shy to kill their own people looking to escape the "wonders" of their system. Barbed wire on the borders, bullets shot without warning at swimmers trying to cross freezing rivers, then families held hostage and tortured to punish and warn escapees - oh Communism was such an awesome experience, I can only wish it from the bottom of my heart to all its apologists.
- WalterBright 6y ago
  Some years back a socialist told me that the Berlin Wall was to keep westerners out of East Berlin. I told him that I'd visited the Wall in 1969, passed through it and had a tour of East Berlin, seen the Wall museum, been on the platforms overlooking the wall, had East German guards wave at me, etc. In a sense it is both good and bad that the Wall has been erased, people forget what it was like. Nobody should forget.
AshWolfy 6y ago
Nice propaganda there, most post soviet countries still havent recovered. Hell i aint a communist but most of these countries did better under communism if only because the US wasnt there to leech off them
- Const-me 6y ago
  > most of these countries did better under communism Communists killed local population by millions: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Baltic_states#Soviet_terror https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Baltic_state...
  - AshWolfy 6y ago
    Outside of events like these countries that adopted communism had higher standards of living while they didnt
    - Const-me 6y ago
      > Outside of events like these Crimes against humanity ain’t a minor issue you can ignore. Directly related to communism. Democratic states don’t do that, communist regimes did that a lot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity_under_communist_regimes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimes_against_humanity_under_... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes#States_where_mass_killings_have_occurred https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_... > had higher standards of living while they didn’t That’s debatable. Might be true in 1910-1920, but by the end of the last century all communist states with planned economy have failed their economies, catastrophically so, with direct consequences on standards of living. China’s the only exception, were lucky to have smart enough people in power to pivot towards market economy, and execute it relatively well.