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tittypete's review against another edition
4.0
Dense and textbook-like. A slog. Still it left me slack-jawed. I have a general personal theory that nations develop in a nurture based path rather than the nature of their people. A country that has had numerous traumatic experiences will turn out stunted and anti-social. For example, the who form the nation of Israel have been through some abuse, that's why they don't trust anybody and are ready to throw down at any second. With this in mind, Russia has had a tough go of it. The unrest under the Tsar, civil war, revolution, WWII catastrophe, the Holodomor, Stalin and the purges, gulags and so on. They've never had a break from bleak misery. That's why today they're the menacing kid in detention that's ready to kick anybody's ass. This book was about one of the largest abuses of the Russian people. In order to survive they lived in fear of their government and their neighbors. On top of that they starved and lost their children in wars they weren't ready for.
That aside, what I learned is that communism/marxism is an interesting and palatable theory on paper. Utopian and unassailable from a moral and optimistic point of view. But thats it. It DOES NOT WORK IN PRACTICE. To hold it's ideals in place against the forces of human nature requires dictatorship in the most extreme way. The the most talented and intelligent people must be eliminated because they alone have the critical thinking skills to point out the holes in the system. So then you're left with only sheep. Fail everytime. Only oppression can keep it going. Used to be open minded to those ideals as one point now they seem like nothing but a poisonous con.
That aside, what I learned is that communism/marxism is an interesting and palatable theory on paper. Utopian and unassailable from a moral and optimistic point of view. But thats it. It DOES NOT WORK IN PRACTICE. To hold it's ideals in place against the forces of human nature requires dictatorship in the most extreme way. The the most talented and intelligent people must be eliminated because they alone have the critical thinking skills to point out the holes in the system. So then you're left with only sheep. Fail everytime. Only oppression can keep it going. Used to be open minded to those ideals as one point now they seem like nothing but a poisonous con.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, but how baller is the name "George Robert Ackworth Conquest"?
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