Comments on: The Decline and Fall of Gorbachev and the Soviet State

By: Scott Fox

Scott Fox — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:16:05 +0000

Fantastic article. There is very little accurate information about the Soviet/Russian state in the western media. I would be interested to see many more articles like this one, and I will be purchasing a copy of the book.

By: Oil Shock

Oil Shock — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 08:46:05 +0000

Malayam happens to be my first language too. My native state in India was the first place on planet earth to elect communists to power through ballot. We have social democratic utopia back there. Unemployment has always been over 20%. But if you visit Kerala, you would think it is the most prosperous part of India, because of the petromoney that arrives from middle-east. Lack of opportunities in this state has driven a large portion of otherwise educated people of Kerala into places like the Middle east.

BTW, a near 100% literacy rate in Kerala, compared to just over 50% in rest of India is not to the credit of the communists. At the time of independence from Britain, Kerala’s literacy rate was close to 50%, compared to the overall Indian average of 8%.

By: Bruce Koerber

Bruce Koerber — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:17:00 +0000

Dear Yuri,

Thank you for revealing the details of the communist system and how it (doesn’t) works. It was fascinating (meant to pay honor to the millions of poor ones who suffered at the hands of these vile doctrinaires) to read about the historical figures and the corruption and the schemes.

How bizarre that Gorbachev was deemed “Man of the Year” by Time magazine! Proof – that the KGB has infiltrated many institutions, which partially explains the unConstitutional coup in the U.S.

By: Jimmy Don

Jimmy Don — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:18:05 +0000

Yuri,
That is outstanding work and a wonderful read. Thank you. As my Grandparents fled Minsk in 1917, this was truly enlightening and resonated with me personally.
If we can remember history such as this, there just may be hope for us this time.

By: Abhilash Nambiar

Abhilash Nambiar — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 06:52:06 +0000

The word malayalam caught my eye. It is the language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala which is still today a communist stronghold in India. Malayalam is also my native tongue. Maltsev if you are reading these comments perhaps you can get one of your old translator friends to translate ‘Human Action’ and other works by Mises into malayalam. That may go a long way in undoing the damage imposed by communism on the state of Kerala.

By: J Cortez

J Cortez — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 06:33:15 +0000

Wow. Great article.

Maltsev is a true gem. His arguments against socialism are all the more moving because he actually lived through it.

Awhile ago I enjoyed Yuri Maltsev’s mp3 talk on Cuba, and filed away his name for later study. It was a pleasant surprise to see his name on this. Outside of articles here, has he written any full length books?

By: Inquisitor

Inquisitor — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:46:48 +0000

Generally it’d be good to have more articles on actually existing so-called socialist systems (and so-called left-anarchist ones, like in Spain), as a lot of people cite these as “proof” socialism can work. Mr Maltsev is a real blessing to the LVMI.

By: freedom lover

freedom lover — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:39:14 +0000

Absolutely hilarious!!!!! I just love these insults:

“A huge part of Russian industrial stock is as productive as an industrial-history museum.”

“The main difference between Gorbachev and his predecessors was….a university education: a masters in law and a masters in agriculture. Given Soviet education, that is probably why the first thing he did was ruin the agricultural distribution system.”

“Gorbachev learned what previous regimes had understood: it is easier to govern people who are drunk because they withstand humiliation and abuse better…. So Gorbachev … ordered a massive increase in alcohol production.”

“Then Gorbachev began a campaign against ‘dishonest income’ …. The problem was not a single person in the Soviet Union was untainted by unofficial economic activity. The official economy did not produce enough of anything desirable, so if a person was untainted, he was probably already dead.”

I just love the one about how Karl Marx looks like “Father Frost”… Am I the only one who sees the irony in that???

By: newson

newson — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:30:28 +0000

excellent article. it’s a shame there’s not more published on mises.org about how bad the soviet experiment was from those who lived it. the personal anecdotes are compelling, and are a great complement to the pure theory or technical aspects.

as a foil to western environmentalism and its constant cry for state intervention, i’d like to see more written about how friendly the communist system was to gaia.

By: P.M.Lawrence

P.M.Lawrence — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:56:16 +0000

Curious. “Dedushka” is a diminutive, it means “little Dede”. But “Dede” is the Turkish for grandfather, so it’s a loan word from Turkish (it didn’t go the other way, because it is present in ancient Turkish oral tradition, e.g. “there is a man called Dede Korkut who is looking for his grave, and we are digging it”).

By: David

David — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:18:30 +0000

Now Gorbachev advertises luggage for the haute bourgeois fashion house Louis Vuitton.

It’s a funny old world.

Thanks for a very interesting article.

By: Anonymous Coward

Anonymous Coward — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:21:54 +0000

While reading the article I recalled a joke:

Q: Who is a communist?
A: A person who read the works of Marx and Lenin.
Q: Who is an anticommunist?
A: A person who understood them.