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> During the economic transformation in the former Soviet Bloc, entire industries disappeared, and pitchforks weren't grabbed Wouldn't it be easy to argue that

> During the economic transformation in the former Soviet Bloc, entire industries disappeared, and pitchforks weren't grabbed Wouldn't it be easy to argue that this is because there was more a social safety net to prevent said starvation and by that point people were extremely cynical about revolutionary ideas in a way that is not at all comparable?

inglor_cz 1mo ago
The social safety net of a relatively poor country is not really better than the current social safety net in the US, because of the overall lower economic level that limits the amount of taxes collected. Looking at the "hollers" in the Appalachia, the situation is quite comparable to that of the rust belts of the 1990s in Central and Eastern Europe. You can buy groceries from welfare money, so you don't starve. Young people escape, old people sit and drink (or worse), but don't form a violent mob. This is how economic decline usually looks like, including in the US. Reminds you of the poem about how the world does not end with a bang, but with a whimper.
pjc50 1mo ago
The social safety net was precisely the thing which had collapsed! There were basically two options: scrabble around trying to find work in the newly evolving private sector to stay alive, or give in to despair. There was a huge drop in the life expectancy of Russian men after the end of the USSR, which took a while to climb back up again. Pitchforking really requires a clearly identifiable villain. You can't fight a "system". In fact it usually requires the "system" to have turned on its leader. See the death of Ceaucescu for an example. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of Amerimaidan in the coming years if the country doesn't reverse course, but it won't be over primarily economic issues. it will be against paramilitary policing. You can regard the Minnesota ICE protests as a precursor. Or, for that matter, Jan 6th.

inglor_cz 1mo ago

The social safety net of a relatively poor country is not really better than the current social safety net in the US, because of the overall lower economic level that limits the amount of taxes collected. Looking at the "hollers" in the Appalachia, the situation is quite comparable to that of the rust belts of the 1990s in Central and Eastern Europe. You can buy groceries from welfare money, so you don't starve. Young people escape, old people sit and drink (or worse), but don't form a violent mob. This is how economic decline usually looks like, including in the US. Reminds you of the poem about how the world does not end with a bang, but with a whimper.

pjc50 1mo ago

The social safety net was precisely the thing which had collapsed! There were basically two options: scrabble around trying to find work in the newly evolving private sector to stay alive, or give in to despair. There was a huge drop in the life expectancy of Russian men after the end of the USSR, which took a while to climb back up again. Pitchforking really requires a clearly identifiable villain. You can't fight a "system". In fact it usually requires the "system" to have turned on its leader. See the death of Ceaucescu for an example. I wouldn't rule out the possibility of Amerimaidan in the coming years if the country doesn't reverse course, but it won't be over primarily economic issues. it will be against paramilitary policing. You can regard the Minnesota ICE protests as a precursor. Or, for that matter, Jan 6th.