In the Philipines... those who are old enough to remember the 10th president Ferdinand Marcos wish he was back in power... even though he ran the country under martial law. Even given the rampant corruption that took place later in his regime - many people I've had contact with (including active duty colonels in the PNP) remember the years under Marcos as far better than the present situation. Oddly enough many of the people on the street that I've spoken with (in the areas of Tondo, Malabon and Queson City) primarily civilians - are also of the same opinion.
Yet in the west we are only ever taught how bad the Marcos regime was. Sometimes it reminds me of the west and another attempt to save everyone from themselves. Of course our little brown brothers need our help to live the way we do... even if they don't know it or ask for it. That sort of condescending attitude I often find is applied from west to east (as in the Soviet east) as well.
At any rate - this discourse on your memories of the Soviet Union and others opinions of the Soviet Union reminds of the parrallels with the Phillipines under Marcos.
The difference is we always had freedom of speech so that counterpropaganda was actually allowed to be heard, and people could make up their own minds.
Not really bit you are of course entitled to your opinion.
How I would feel about a hypothetical situation is irrelevant, plus the hypothetical is unlikely too come pass anyway, which makes the question not only irrelevant but also absurd
Establishing a worthwhile democracy takes time. None of the Western democracies that exist today were anywhere near as "free" as they now are in the early days of their growth... and there has often been bloodshed in between.
The end result is a society where those who decide policy are answerable for their actions to the population as a whole and even very whacky ideas for change are allowed, for the most part, to be expressed freely.
Issues of corruption and violence, such as in the Philippines, can't be stamped out by totalitarianism, they can only be postponed until the next revolution. The only effective long term answers are freedom and prosperity, which are both often only attainable a bit at a time.
The problem here is that after the americans leave, the bad guys come to said town and cut the heads off of anyone they suspect of helping the americans. Big choice, get raped, shot and burned by the american soldiers or beheaded by the 'bad guys'.
I lived in Baku. Those things I stated were not conjecture or guessing. They were things I, as a little kid, and my family experienced. Hell, I remember the long lines I stood in with my mother behind the store waiting for the truck carrying bologna and bread to pull up so we could get it off the truck. Because we knew they would all be bought up before they even hit the store. And this was before the collapse.
medi, the schools as far as quality goes were decent. I was learning algebra from a 3rd grade textbook after we left. But the brainwashing was intense. I remember I always got 3s and 2s because I couldn't remember the rhymes and poems about Lenin. I should probably be proud of that.
Yeah I can agree with that. Only that to me it seems that the super democracy, the US, pretty much imposes it's intentions on every fledgling democracy it can... hmm come to think of it... that's not very democratic.
I'm not really sure if they're really actually all that keen on democracy or whether they just need outposts in regions where they line their pockets.
Yes and no. Given the state of America today under the present administration I sometimes wonder just how true that is. Not that I think there are other systems that are remarkably better.... but I am not going to fall all over myself singing the praises of democracy given America's (for all intents and purposes the most powerful democratic country) track record in world affairs.
I can agree again with much of that... however my point was to illustrate the similarities in perceptions of two essentially totalitarian states. Both of which in 'the west' are often looked down upon. Many years ago when I first spent serious amounts of time in the Philipines I was surpised to find that many many Filipinos actually still held Marcos in high regard and many felt that the Philipines was better off under Marcos than the successive democratic blunders that they've had. It really struck me as much the same as Inthespirit's view having lived in Soviet Union and others (who'm from the sounds of it... haven't).
edit: ah ok it turns out that others have lived in places mentioned... again I find it interesting that two people having lived in the same place can have two very different memories of the place and times.
I'm not sure having soldiers like you in the field is necessarily a good thing. I would want soldiers who we can be proud of, not who will kill at any cost.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DCombatives
As an American who's sworn an oath to defend this country and it's people it's kinda my lawful obligation to do that. What really bothers me is that you don't value American lives and would be willing to sell them out.
Swearing an oath doesn't relieve you of your obligation to have a moral compass and kill whoever you want, oh wait, that IS what a lot of our soldiers are doing in Iraq.
And regarding the communists in Russia, the communist party (for right or wrong) is making a huge comeback in many former eastern block nations. The reasons given seem to be that old people and the uneducated are starving under the 'democratic' system. I'm not sure we're the right example to follow right now for the ideal political system. If another country wants communism, let them.