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Pay08 t1_j6muti1 wrote

Reply to comment by zebulonworkshops in TIL that between 1895 and 1908 the population of the Belgian Congo declined by between 2 and 13 million due to colonial brutality and diseases caused by colonialism. by hetkleinezusje

The cold war was both countries trying to get ahead of each other and be ready for a possible war. This didn't have an impact on the general population and there's no evidence (that I know of) of a large and successful destabilisation campaign within the USSR.

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zebulonworkshops t1_j6mw2k3 wrote

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB107787406695041047

>The USSR destroyed itself, it had nothing to do with any other country.

The capitalist western world certainly stifled any vestige of communism. It's not like, up for debate, it's historical fact. The USSR had tons of their own problems and very well might have failed on its own, but I was responding to the quoted statement.

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Pay08 t1_j6mwt08 wrote

The Soviet economy was failing pretty much immediately after WW2. Sure, it was somewhat accelerated by outside powers, but the USSR would have collapsed anyways. Especially seeing as the main reason for its collapse was them conquering every Eastern European and Central Asian country.

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zebulonworkshops t1_j6mxz59 wrote

Holy shit you people in this sub love your downvotes. And sure, whatever. That wasn't my statement. I'm no tankie or Stalinist or whatever. But it's frustrating seeing someone claim that only faulty ideology caused that downfall. Life isn't nearly that black and white, and capitalism in history has very notably sought to snuff out socialism and communism whenever possible and by whatever means was feasible. It makes sense, it's a threat to their system of governance. It's why FDR was literally called a class traitor for implementing the New Deal. And why the far left at the time were against it because it was a band aid and not a cultural shift. The USSR sucked. Agreed.

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