berman@ihopb.UUCP (Rational Chutzpah) (03/14/85)
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Although it may come as a shock to some folks on the net, but
we have it on very high authority that the sun indeed does
shine in the Soviet Union:
"The government of the USSR is very solid [and] firmly in place.
We would like to think that everyone there would like to revolt
but that is simply not the fact. Most of the Soviet people are
happy."
-Thomas J. Watson, Jr
Chairman Emeritus of IBM
NY Times, March 12, 1985
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"My life is so complicated, it's a good thing I'm such
a simple person that I can understand it"
-Ed Balchowskigjk@talcott.UUCP (Greg Kuperberg) (03/15/85)
Mr. Berman <678@ihopb.UUCP> writes: > Although it may come as a shock to some folks on the net, but > we have it on very high authority that the sun indeed does > shine in the Soviet Union: > > "The government of the USSR is very solid [and] firmly in place. > We would like to think that everyone there would like to revolt > but that is simply not the fact. Most of the Soviet people are > happy." > -Thomas J. Watson, Jr These three statements are all true, but in an odd sort of way. Although we would like to think that everyone there wants to revolt, "we" (or rather many of us) realize that this is not so. Although the Soviet people are more or less happy, they are not happy about their government. They have grown accustomed to having no control over their government. They think of it as they think of the weather. The weather may be horrible, but it's not something one can change. --- Greg Kuperberg harvard!talcott!gjk "No Marxist can deny that the interests of socialism are higher than the interests of the right of nations to self-determination." -Lenin, 1918
tonyw@ubvax.UUCP (Tony Wuersch) (03/18/85)
> Mr. Berman <678@ihopb.UUCP> writes: > > Although it may come as a shock to some folks on the net, but > > we have it on very high authority that the sun indeed does > > shine in the Soviet Union: > > > > "The government of the USSR is very solid [and] firmly in place. > > We would like to think that everyone there would like to revolt > > but that is simply not the fact. Most of the Soviet people are > > happy." > > -Thomas J. Watson, Jr > > These three statements are all true, but in an odd sort of way. Although > we would like to think that everyone there wants to revolt, "we" (or rather > many of us) realize that this is not so. Although the Soviet people are > more or less happy, they are not happy about their government. They have > grown accustomed to having no control over their government. They think of > it as they think of the weather. The weather may be horrible, but it's not > something one can change. > --- > Greg Kuperberg > harvard!talcott!gjk Then what should the Soviet people be happy about? Their economy? Tony Wuersch
mike@erix.UUCP (Mike Williams) (03/18/85)
In article <357@talcott.UUCP> gjk@talcott.UUCP (Greg Kuperberg) writes: > Although the Soviet people are >more or less happy, they are not happy about their government. They have >grown accustomed to having no control over their government. They think of >it as they think of the weather. The weather may be horrible, but it's not >something one can change. Quite right! This behaviour is characteristic of all opressed peoples in the world. This is why so few people vote in most so called democracies. (Yes, I know there is a high voter turn out in the USSR, but the elections there are a farce and I don't suppose it's very healthy not to vote). In nations where voting is not mandatory, I think the voting statistics are a fair measure of the nation's political health. For example, if the unemployed and low payed in Britain had voted against Thatcher and Co. in the last election, then she might not be there today. But they didn't vote, they stayed at home. They probably realised that their lot would not be significantly better under a different government and that the electoral system is so perverted that their individual votes in many cases make no difference. This situation is common in many countries to which Britain exported it's electorial system, USA, Canada etc etc. The only way to do anything about it is to introduce proper proportional representation. This means that the number of candidates elected from a particular political party is in direct proportion to the nuber of votes cast for that perty. There are a large number of countries in Western Europe (and other parts of the world) where this is the case. --Mike Williams