Peter G

@666 @Sprocketfree no, it’s because, unlike NK or China, in US these numbers come from variety of sources which makes them verifiable. In contrast China an NK numbers come from the government only and no actual verification is possible.

@rowanthorpe @yogthos Yogthos is a doomscrolling troll I wouldn’t engage in conversation with. The points that Yogthos makes are based on some idealistic viewpoint while also arguing with anyone that responds that it is they, in fact, who are idealizing.

I will not respond to anything Yogthos writes back.

@yogthos my doctor is from Romania. Grew up under Ceausescu. His father had to go on a hunger strike to get his travel passport back from authorities so he can escape that hell hole. I’ll show him your post and we’ll laugh about it. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion but does not represent the actual memories or the way things were. Good luck to you in your delusions.

@yogthos I can’t believe the naivety of what I’m reading. USSR was a single party state. Do you seriously believe that the whole of society shared the goals and direction of the Communist party? If yes, then why did the county ultimately fail, why didn’t they succeed in creating the ultimate expression of Communist society?

@yogthos If you don’t know by USSR’s ruling class, then I question your claim of having grown up there, or at least think you were too young to understand the societal structure before it collapsed/you moved from there. While churches technically existed, worship was in the grey area and only tolerated if we’re talking about Orthodox Christians. If we talk about other religions, Islam or Judaism, then all bets are off.

@yogthos @ngn If you say that having grown up in USSR you did not feel oppressed, that only means to me that you or your family were part of the ruling class. I also grew up in USSR and while I did enjoy free education and healthcare, there was a fair bit of oppression as well. As examples: freedom of religion, freedom to travel, freedom of ownership, among others. I am not saying that it was impossible to live there, but certain activities were severely “frowned upon”.

@yogthos @Sabre363 I’ve also grown up in the USSR but the image you posted is an absolute false equivalency. While it can be argued that the idea of a communist state is quite liberal, Stalin does not represent that idea. He was an autocratic tyrant and a murderer. To equate the US Liberal movement to Stalin is a grave disservice to the liberal cause.