In 1933, the Soviet Union under Stalin inflicted a famine upon its people - mostly Ukrainians - that killed many millions. Each village got a "quota" of agricultural products they had to deliver to the communist state, the only problem being that the quota was higher than the total production. Then, Soviet soldiers were sent to confiscate all food from the villages. The goal was to enforce the communist plan of taking the land from the farmers and putting it into collectives.
"Holodomor" was 75 years ago, and I've lived half of that time without ever hearing of this particular atrocity. It is quite depressing that there are more crimes against humanity being committed than even an interested person is able to keep up with.
Also depressing is the current propaganda war going on between Russia and Kiev regarding the famine. Kiev is seeking international recognition for the famine as a genocide against the Ukrainian people, which would distance the country from Russia. Moscow responded to the commemoration with rhetoric rather than declarations of sympathy.
For my part, I am just reminded of why I deplore extreme ideologies in general and communism specifically.
Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communism. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Helping people by doing business
Hot off the press is Business Stripped Bare, where Richard Branson gives a passionate description of how doing business is a good thing. I particularly liked this quote from his friend Job Butcher:
"Entrepreneurs have literally destroyed poverty in the Western world as the rest of the world knows it, and as history knows it. No other social system can compete with the entrepreneurial free market system in terms of productivity, raising standards of living and creating permanent prosperity. Asia has exploded out of poverty in my lifetime thanks to entrepreneurs. Huge chunks of poverty should be taken out of Africa in the next ten years thanks to up-and-coming entrepreneurs. So capitalism actually works. Communism and true socialism are no longer taken seriously because they simply don't work. They actually hurt people. They've kept entire generations in poverty. They are disastrous though well-meaning systems that have ruined hundreds of millions of lives. Yet somehow there are elements of our culture that still associate profit-making with vice."
A perspective well worth keeping in the current times of financial crisis.
"Entrepreneurs have literally destroyed poverty in the Western world as the rest of the world knows it, and as history knows it. No other social system can compete with the entrepreneurial free market system in terms of productivity, raising standards of living and creating permanent prosperity. Asia has exploded out of poverty in my lifetime thanks to entrepreneurs. Huge chunks of poverty should be taken out of Africa in the next ten years thanks to up-and-coming entrepreneurs. So capitalism actually works. Communism and true socialism are no longer taken seriously because they simply don't work. They actually hurt people. They've kept entire generations in poverty. They are disastrous though well-meaning systems that have ruined hundreds of millions of lives. Yet somehow there are elements of our culture that still associate profit-making with vice."
A perspective well worth keeping in the current times of financial crisis.
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