I totally get both NF’s analogy with the Soviet Union and its ultimate purpose, awakening western public opinion to the reality of Cold War II, which so many Americans would like to ignore. However, the more NF hangs on to a literal analogy, more it detracts from it’s real purpose.
Having lived and worked half of my life in a communist country, the obvious difference is that the Soviet system - in general, any communist system - lacked by design any natural correction mechanisms. Change was only possible by fiat from the top, which was either quickly abandoned or led to the ultimate implosion of the system. America reacts only when people start directly feeling the pinch, usually in their wallet or when it affects their children, but there is clearly a reaction and that will continue. Still, the road to defeating the woke ideology will be bumpy and nothing should be taken for granted.
The similar symptoms are there no doubt. Are the causes the same?
In the late Soviet Union, the ruling ideology was completely rotten. No one believed it anymore. Everyone knew that the TV was lying. With the coming of Gorbachev, truth flooded the cinema, the media, the theatre, the literature, the streets, the TV. Suddenly it was okay to speak up and call a spade a spade. The sense of freedom was real.
In the U.S. today, the crisis of power comes from a different but related source: the society has become too complex for the "good - evil" dichotomy. Americans are quick to take a moral stance on everything. Each political party declares the opposite party to be pure evil. Republicans are called racist and Democrats are called communist. The red states and the blue states are enemies. Tolerance, benefit of the doubt, willingness to entertain nuance - all have fallen out of the equation. "Good-evil" is the true ideology today, and it is common across the seemingly abysmal political divide. Clearly, the "good-evil" lever is too crude for how complex the problems are; and as such, it is a false ideology for either side. Hence, the entire nation is running on a clutch with just two gears. It is a worn-out ideology, just like the late Soviet era featured a worn-out ideology.
But Trump is not Gorbachev. He will not revive the nation presumably rotting under the CRT "nomenklatura" - he will in fact prolong the agony, just as Biden will. The truly transformational leader is not there yet. That leader must replace the worn-out clutch with one that has enough gears to handle the complex system - politically, socially, demographically, culturally, economically, institutionally - that this nation represents. The new leader will think dynamically, not one step at a time. The new leader will initiate an intelligent conversation, bring out the people from both sides who are equally being silenced today by the ideological propaganda. Never mind that the left have their own propaganda and the right their own - just like the late Soviet Union, we are all being fed lies today, and those of us who have something intelligent to say cannot speak and be heard.
So, yes, not only the symptoms but the sources are similar. This country is waiting for a real leader. There is a crisis of ideology in that it is too primitive.
As a former USSR citizen, I agree with everything you said, except for one. The country is waiting for a real leader, but every country has a leader it deserves - sadly. Unless the country realizes that being at each other's throat only leads us downhill, the real leader will not emerge. Leaders are not the cause, they are a symptom of a change. It pains me to watch American citizens hating their fellow Americans and loving foreign dictators and terrorist regimes. It pains me when some believe Putin is a hero while others chant "death to America" in Farsi and look to Hamas as freedom fighters. Unless we find a source of national unity, we will be forever defeated.
Jonah wins, but it's a modest win, because they seemed to agree about a lot of things but not about the "late Soviet" analogy, which could easily be dropped if Mr. Ferguson weren't married to it.
His accent is a lot more persuasive than his arguments. I found it disappointing.
Jonah wins the debate. We may be failing in many ways, but the comparison to the USSR is contrived. It is based on a very limited set of tangential statistics that illuminate some of the problems we face, and if left unsolved, could well topple our form of government. But not in the same manner as the USSR and for very different reasons.
There seems to be an implicit assumption made here and elsewhere that government is responsible for solving all of our problems. This is false. Government is responsible for things we cannot do for ourselves individually. Some of the things that government is responsible for include safe streets, smooth roads, clean water, sewage treatment, protection from foreign enemies, regulating food and medicine production...beyond this...not much else. Meaning that we are responsible in America for ourselves. We, by and large, want to be left alone to live our lives. When government takes over the day to day running of our lives many no longer feel personally responsible for what we do and don't do. Dependence on government for even the most mundane needs that traditionally belonged to the individual has gotten us to where we are now.
My father used to tell me that the blessing of being born in the USA meant that I was free to do literally anything I wanted to do...so long as it did not impact the tip of another person's nose. In other words, my freedom of action was stalled when someone else would suffer from my actions. I have tried, not always successfully, to live my life this way. Doing so eliminates the need for government intervention in that vast array of actions that I have taken in my life and would solve many of the ills that currently affect the republic...g.
Agree. Most depressing since Obama's bait and switch (still sick that I voted for him) is how the mainstream media is completely dismissive of the American elements that made it the world leader for 200 years — The Constitution, Bill of Rights, Rules of Law, careful policing, quality education,... i.e. citizen BEHAVIORS for respectful relationships, cooperation, collaboration in work and life situations,... Now it's all evil identity politics destroying everything that made America a shining light for the rest of the world. Now it's full time DEI has weakened America and all western countries to where they are easy prey for middle east cultures that operate according to religions and educations that demand "death to all non-Muslims".
The one element lacking from your list is another "c" word...compromise...which today is seen as a moral failing on both sides...but...is one of the strengths of the system that was created for us by the Founders...g.
Yes, I have been thinking also compromise when typing collaboration. That should always be the end point of successful collaborations. Need a way to put that at the beginning of such discussions.
For those who are quick to dismiss Ferguson's comparison to the USSR, let me ask this. I don't know the answer:
Do you have less speech restrictions today on an American campus (especially a private one) or a Russian one?
Yes, we all know that on a Russian campus, you can't organize against Putin and protest the war. We all know he is an authoritarian ruler who does not tolerate serious opposition.
But will you get in trouble at Lomonosov State University for saying that there are two genders? That only women can have vaginas, babies and menstrual cycles? For saying that there are inherent biological difference between the sexes? Will you get in trouble for saying that - perhaps - not all the problems of the black community are due to white supremacy and systemic racism? Are students setting up "Death to the Jews" encampments and beating up Jews?
And you will say that I am talking about an authoritarian Russia, not a totalitarian USSR. But it's still a question worth asking.
As someone who grew up in the USSR and still has contacts in Russia and follows the events there very closely, I can answer your questions.
I agree that situation in American universities and left-wing media is extremely dangerous.
You are correct, the gender insanity of the left is not freely dispensed at Lomonosov State University, however, anywhere in the country, any gay person who even privately disclosed his/her sexuality can be criminally charged because of the law criminalizing gay propaganda with no definition of what such propaganda means. Additionally, there are still universities in the US where alphabet people as Dave Chappelle calls them, do not reign, and US Supreme Court ruled that discrimination based on race, gender, religion and origin is illegal, which makes me hopeful that more of the lawsuits against discrimination will succeed. DEI is being slowly (agree, way too slowly!) but dismantled. In 2020, blue California rejected the proposition to reinstate affirmative actions, with 57% voting No (well, I wish it was 77%, not 57%, but I am grateful even for that). But Russian media started campaign which is similar to what Nazi Germany did when they started running out of soldiers, forcing women to have more children, and it is increasingly aggressive.
As for the "Death to the Jews" situation, let me remind you that it is not that great in Russia either. 8 months ago a violent mob attacked a plane from Israel, you can see the videos here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLp-_S1UiSM.
As a Jew, it does not bring me any comfort that Russian propaganda uses the same hateful rhetoric against Ukrainians on Russian state TV that anti-Semitic mob uses against Jews on US campuses. Articles calling for ethnic cleansing of Ukraine have appeared in Russian state-owned media since the war of 2022 began. Unlike the US, where I have alternatives, in Russia there are no alternative TV stations, or newspapers or radio since 2022. In addition, as of two days ago, Russia began blocking Youtube, the last media that has not been blocked. Even using VPN no longer helps - to the best of my understanding of the situation.
To summarize the above:
Yes, US has moved towards dismantling free speech and respectful civil discourse.
No, US has not achieved the level of totalitarianism that is accelerating in Russia, in both political, civil and economic freedoms. Moreover, economy of Russia is no longer a capitalist economy, it is more like government capitalism of Germany during Hitler times. Ruble is no longer a freely exchangeable currency, much like in 1980s. Number of political prisoners in today's Russia is nearing 1000, while the entire USSR, twice the population of modern Russia, had somewhere between 200 and 300. All numbers are very approximate, because it is difficult to collect information in today's Russia. Let me clarify the definition of political prisoner. There are people who are jailed in Russia because they were organizing political campaigns of registered candidates for offices - Navalny's supporters, there are people who are jailed in Russia because they held posters calling for peace in the world, not with Ukraine or any specific conflict, just for abstract peace. There are people jailed because their relatives criticized a repressive, ISIS-like regime in Chechnya. The list goes on and on. Please, criticize the left in the US as much as you want, but do not make Russia your role model just because it calls women women (they do call women women in Iran, too, and Iran is Russia's closest ally).
Does it mean that we should stop being alarmed? Absolutely not. America today is not the same country I arrived to in 1991. You can look at my other comment to the same article. It reminds me more of Russia prior to 1917 revolution (of course, I did not live then, but I read enough personal memoirs and heard enough from my grandfather who was an adult them and my parents who were born during civil war).
Thank you for the information, as you are someone who has both first-hand experience and good contacts.
1) Yes, I am familiar with the Dahgestan incident (and I believe there was more Islamist violence there recently).
2) As for the Soviet Union having 200-300 political prisoners, can I assume that you mean near the end of the USSR under Gorbachev? Stalin's political prisoners numbered in the millions, and I venture even under Brezhnev there would have been tens of thousands.
3) I was not making Russia my role model. My comparison to Russia was not to make Russia look good, but to say that things are getting bad here.
This is off topic, but as we are talking about Russia - what do they hope to achieve in Ukraine? Total victory and taking over the country? Or holding on to what they have and leaving the rest of Ukraine "Finlandized" - neutral? Finally, do you think, given the weakened state of the United States and much of the West, will they attempt to take over the Baltic states?
2) As for the Soviet Union having 200-300 political prisoners, can I assume that you mean near the end of the USSR under Gorbachev? - Yes.
Stalin's political prisoners numbered in the millions - Yes, tens of millions.
I venture even under Brezhnev there would have been tens of thousands - no. Most people were too scared to protest, so most kept their mouths shut or whispered in the kitchen, listened to Voice of America at 2 am when jamming stopped, and only several hundred courageous souls dared to openly protest, for which they were promptly jailed. By then even Ukrainian and Baltic armed resistance was completely destroyed.
3) I was not making Russia my role model. My comparison to Russia was not to make Russia look good, but to say that things are getting bad here. Thank you, I am appalled when people jump on supporting Putin just because he is not a fan of transgender transition of teens. Hitler wasn't a fan of it either - just saying.
4) - This is off topic, but as we are talking about Russia - what do they hope to achieve in Ukraine? Total victory and taking over the country? Or holding on to what they have and leaving the rest of Ukraine "Finlandized" - neutral? Finally, do you think, given the weakened state of the United States and much of the West, will they attempt to take over the Baltic states?
This is way beyond a post here, I can write a long article about it. Anne Appelbaum could be a good source for you in terms of global strategic vision, another great source is Christo Grosev, Bulgarian investigative journalist who uncovered multiple Kremlin crimes mostly by using public sources and who had to flee Europe because security agencies told him that they can't guarantee his life. Putin's goals and hopes have changed over 2.5 years. Remember, his primary goal is to stay in power. Whatever adds to his idea of grandeur and admiration of the world is great, too. Remember, he is not a strategist, he is a tactician, kinda like a robber who broke into the department store and is trying to figure out how much more he can grab and get away with. Russian ruling class is really more like one giant El Salvadorian drug cartel, without any moral boundaries or restraints.
Judging by what is being said by him and his propaganda machine recently, they are bluffing to keep control of the occupied territories. They are constantly maneuvering between China, Iran and any terrorist organization in the world, regardless of their religious or political affiliation. Everything goes. If they could, they would restore USSR and subordinate regimes of Eastern Europe - just like in 1953 before Stalin's death.
If they feel weakness, they will attack. Did you hear about recently thwarted assassination attempts throughout Europe?
Why didn't the article include Mr. Ferguson's solutions for American disillusionment at the end? Did he not offer any, or did they just forget to post it? If this was supposed to be a debate, both participants should be heard from.
In some ways, it felt like Goldberg and Ferguson were talking past each other. Does 2024 America resemble Soviet Russia - in many respects yes: cf the gap between the elites and the rest of us, the destruction of the middle class, the appalling healthcare system, the deaths of despair, crumbling infrastructure, declining agriculture and real industrial production (Boeing anyone?) with Silicon Valley and the banking sector being notable outliers but for how much longer?, the controlled and compliant corporate media, government central planning and the insane over-regulation of everything stifling small business, entrepreneurship and innovation, the suppression and censorship of dissent, and the need for fanatical adherence to the elite’s preferred ideologies. Are the causes the same? Some are. You only have to read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to see how the US embracing ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need’ looks exactly like 2024 America. And she grew up in the Soviet Union and escaped to the US as an adult so knew exactly what she was talking about.
The USA IS unquestionably in a deep state of decline. Virtually every area of America’s past cultural way of life has become a culture of “meaningless” as the majority of people has no purpose in life; creatures who do nothing more than live and die, resulting in anything goes, and this people without moral standards can “do, say, behave, live, etc.” like the people they are, selfish and demanding. They have no tolerance or respect for the minority who do live with prescribed moral standards. THUS THE CLASH OF CULTURES.
Excellent article. The very idea that the US is like Russia is ludicrous. The very fact that they can argue and debate openly about the country and not be at risk of the secret police knocking on their doors is proof in itself. The United States is a bastion of freedom and democracy. Russia is not.
Also, anyone who cares to look up the statistics (or if you don't, just check out Steven Pinker's presentations) can easily see that there has never been a better time to be alive in human history.
Has it never occurred to anyone that because the (Western democracies) US, Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, etc, etc, etc are so successful that maybe, just maybe, our enemies and rivals are planting the seeds of discontent from within? I can't remember the number of fake accounts that have been set up on social media by Russia, China and countires in the Middle East, but it was many. Why do people think our enemies are setting up fake accounts? It's certainly not to praise us. They are highlighting all the things that go wrong. We do have things that go wrong, every country does and the very fact that we don't hide it is another example of how we are different. How many times do you see the mainstream media broadcast all the good news and all the things we do right? We are far more right than we are wrong.
Also, it is common knowledge these days that countless amounts of 'donations' have been made to pretty much all of the prominent universities in the US from Middle Eastern countries that want us dead. Why would they do that? There is only one reason: they know that people who graduate from these universities go on to be leaders in industry and politics. It's a no-brainer.
It is a fact that authoritarian states like China and Russia are fewer and fewer in the world, and they're afraid.
I see one of the examples of our deterioration in the West was due to overdose deaths compared to people drinking themselves to death in Russia. How is this relatable? All countries in the world have people who drink too much, and all countries in the world have drug addicts. It's called human nature, and the last time I checked, Russia and the US were populated by humans.
There is no substitute for freedom, and if you watch people talking about living and escaping from an authoritarian regime (i.e. Communism), they all say the same thing: they want to be free.
This is why communism will eventually fail and die off. People instinctively want to be free. Unfortunately, it is also in human nature for some people to want to rule over, direct or control other people. Islam, in reality, has little to do with God (Allah). It is about having control over the population and men having control over their women. Communism has nothing to do with people living in a communal-like state; it is a farce. They still have rich and poor, only there if you want to live well, you better be (or pretend to be) a communist. Socialism also has nothing to do with the people sharing everything and all being equal. It is just a way for the lazy to rip off the industrious in our society. Generally, people who like socialism are losers who can't succeed, and they are jealous and blame the hard-working among us and want to steal from them and hide it under the guise of sharing.
Humans have been inventing systems to control others since the dawn of time: monarchy, religion, democracy, communism, fascism, authoritarianism etc, etc. All are designed for one purpose: to control the masses.
What I think is so amazing about Western Culture is that over time, we have learned from the mistakes of previous generations, were lucky to have followed Christianity, adopted democracy and had the wisdom to separate the two. No other culture in human history has done this. We are, in my opinion, the most successful culture that has ever existed in recorded history.
No other culture has made the advancements in science, medicine, engineering and human rights that we have. The other beautiful thing about our culture is that it has nothing to do with race, religion or sexual orientation; it is an idea. It is an idea that believes if we are free to decide who governs us, if we are free to choose who we love, where we live, if we are free to advance from hard work, if we stand for what is right, then we will prosper and we have. We have done amazingly well in the last 200 years.
Nations that are not free and who do not believe in these ideals have slowly stagnated, and their industrious citizens have continually, over hundreds of years, done their very best to get here. There is a reason for that: this culture is the best one we have come up with so far.
Why anyone who is blessed and privileged to live in a free Western country would believe the naysayers and outright lies perpetrated by our enemies is a mystery to me. Our enemies are afraid of our ideals, and they know if they don't fight for their very existence, they will be extinct. So, if we stand firm and proudly defend our culture, we just might live to see our enemies disintegrate into dust.
You write eloquently so I couldn’t bring myself to just “like” your comment. We ARE an extraordinary experiment that’s only 200 years old and it’s a privilege to live in this time as an American 🇺🇸
“speech flows without restraint in America. At the end of the day, Goldberg argued” What. A crock. Of shit.
Only halfway through but Excellent! More of this, please. Both very intelligent and good and enlightening perspectives. Thank you!
I do agree we need less federal laws and more local governance.
I totally get both NF’s analogy with the Soviet Union and its ultimate purpose, awakening western public opinion to the reality of Cold War II, which so many Americans would like to ignore. However, the more NF hangs on to a literal analogy, more it detracts from it’s real purpose.
Having lived and worked half of my life in a communist country, the obvious difference is that the Soviet system - in general, any communist system - lacked by design any natural correction mechanisms. Change was only possible by fiat from the top, which was either quickly abandoned or led to the ultimate implosion of the system. America reacts only when people start directly feeling the pinch, usually in their wallet or when it affects their children, but there is clearly a reaction and that will continue. Still, the road to defeating the woke ideology will be bumpy and nothing should be taken for granted.
The similar symptoms are there no doubt. Are the causes the same?
In the late Soviet Union, the ruling ideology was completely rotten. No one believed it anymore. Everyone knew that the TV was lying. With the coming of Gorbachev, truth flooded the cinema, the media, the theatre, the literature, the streets, the TV. Suddenly it was okay to speak up and call a spade a spade. The sense of freedom was real.
In the U.S. today, the crisis of power comes from a different but related source: the society has become too complex for the "good - evil" dichotomy. Americans are quick to take a moral stance on everything. Each political party declares the opposite party to be pure evil. Republicans are called racist and Democrats are called communist. The red states and the blue states are enemies. Tolerance, benefit of the doubt, willingness to entertain nuance - all have fallen out of the equation. "Good-evil" is the true ideology today, and it is common across the seemingly abysmal political divide. Clearly, the "good-evil" lever is too crude for how complex the problems are; and as such, it is a false ideology for either side. Hence, the entire nation is running on a clutch with just two gears. It is a worn-out ideology, just like the late Soviet era featured a worn-out ideology.
But Trump is not Gorbachev. He will not revive the nation presumably rotting under the CRT "nomenklatura" - he will in fact prolong the agony, just as Biden will. The truly transformational leader is not there yet. That leader must replace the worn-out clutch with one that has enough gears to handle the complex system - politically, socially, demographically, culturally, economically, institutionally - that this nation represents. The new leader will think dynamically, not one step at a time. The new leader will initiate an intelligent conversation, bring out the people from both sides who are equally being silenced today by the ideological propaganda. Never mind that the left have their own propaganda and the right their own - just like the late Soviet Union, we are all being fed lies today, and those of us who have something intelligent to say cannot speak and be heard.
So, yes, not only the symptoms but the sources are similar. This country is waiting for a real leader. There is a crisis of ideology in that it is too primitive.
As a former USSR citizen, I agree with everything you said, except for one. The country is waiting for a real leader, but every country has a leader it deserves - sadly. Unless the country realizes that being at each other's throat only leads us downhill, the real leader will not emerge. Leaders are not the cause, they are a symptom of a change. It pains me to watch American citizens hating their fellow Americans and loving foreign dictators and terrorist regimes. It pains me when some believe Putin is a hero while others chant "death to America" in Farsi and look to Hamas as freedom fighters. Unless we find a source of national unity, we will be forever defeated.
Jonah wins, but it's a modest win, because they seemed to agree about a lot of things but not about the "late Soviet" analogy, which could easily be dropped if Mr. Ferguson weren't married to it.
His accent is a lot more persuasive than his arguments. I found it disappointing.
Jonah wins the debate. We may be failing in many ways, but the comparison to the USSR is contrived. It is based on a very limited set of tangential statistics that illuminate some of the problems we face, and if left unsolved, could well topple our form of government. But not in the same manner as the USSR and for very different reasons.
Agree.
Ok...let me try this...
There seems to be an implicit assumption made here and elsewhere that government is responsible for solving all of our problems. This is false. Government is responsible for things we cannot do for ourselves individually. Some of the things that government is responsible for include safe streets, smooth roads, clean water, sewage treatment, protection from foreign enemies, regulating food and medicine production...beyond this...not much else. Meaning that we are responsible in America for ourselves. We, by and large, want to be left alone to live our lives. When government takes over the day to day running of our lives many no longer feel personally responsible for what we do and don't do. Dependence on government for even the most mundane needs that traditionally belonged to the individual has gotten us to where we are now.
My father used to tell me that the blessing of being born in the USA meant that I was free to do literally anything I wanted to do...so long as it did not impact the tip of another person's nose. In other words, my freedom of action was stalled when someone else would suffer from my actions. I have tried, not always successfully, to live my life this way. Doing so eliminates the need for government intervention in that vast array of actions that I have taken in my life and would solve many of the ills that currently affect the republic...g.
Agree. Most depressing since Obama's bait and switch (still sick that I voted for him) is how the mainstream media is completely dismissive of the American elements that made it the world leader for 200 years — The Constitution, Bill of Rights, Rules of Law, careful policing, quality education,... i.e. citizen BEHAVIORS for respectful relationships, cooperation, collaboration in work and life situations,... Now it's all evil identity politics destroying everything that made America a shining light for the rest of the world. Now it's full time DEI has weakened America and all western countries to where they are easy prey for middle east cultures that operate according to religions and educations that demand "death to all non-Muslims".
The one element lacking from your list is another "c" word...compromise...which today is seen as a moral failing on both sides...but...is one of the strengths of the system that was created for us by the Founders...g.
Yes, I have been thinking also compromise when typing collaboration. That should always be the end point of successful collaborations. Need a way to put that at the beginning of such discussions.
Jonah sounds like a petty princess.
For those who are quick to dismiss Ferguson's comparison to the USSR, let me ask this. I don't know the answer:
Do you have less speech restrictions today on an American campus (especially a private one) or a Russian one?
Yes, we all know that on a Russian campus, you can't organize against Putin and protest the war. We all know he is an authoritarian ruler who does not tolerate serious opposition.
But will you get in trouble at Lomonosov State University for saying that there are two genders? That only women can have vaginas, babies and menstrual cycles? For saying that there are inherent biological difference between the sexes? Will you get in trouble for saying that - perhaps - not all the problems of the black community are due to white supremacy and systemic racism? Are students setting up "Death to the Jews" encampments and beating up Jews?
And you will say that I am talking about an authoritarian Russia, not a totalitarian USSR. But it's still a question worth asking.
As someone who grew up in the USSR and still has contacts in Russia and follows the events there very closely, I can answer your questions.
I agree that situation in American universities and left-wing media is extremely dangerous.
You are correct, the gender insanity of the left is not freely dispensed at Lomonosov State University, however, anywhere in the country, any gay person who even privately disclosed his/her sexuality can be criminally charged because of the law criminalizing gay propaganda with no definition of what such propaganda means. Additionally, there are still universities in the US where alphabet people as Dave Chappelle calls them, do not reign, and US Supreme Court ruled that discrimination based on race, gender, religion and origin is illegal, which makes me hopeful that more of the lawsuits against discrimination will succeed. DEI is being slowly (agree, way too slowly!) but dismantled. In 2020, blue California rejected the proposition to reinstate affirmative actions, with 57% voting No (well, I wish it was 77%, not 57%, but I am grateful even for that). But Russian media started campaign which is similar to what Nazi Germany did when they started running out of soldiers, forcing women to have more children, and it is increasingly aggressive.
As for the "Death to the Jews" situation, let me remind you that it is not that great in Russia either. 8 months ago a violent mob attacked a plane from Israel, you can see the videos here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLp-_S1UiSM.
As a Jew, it does not bring me any comfort that Russian propaganda uses the same hateful rhetoric against Ukrainians on Russian state TV that anti-Semitic mob uses against Jews on US campuses. Articles calling for ethnic cleansing of Ukraine have appeared in Russian state-owned media since the war of 2022 began. Unlike the US, where I have alternatives, in Russia there are no alternative TV stations, or newspapers or radio since 2022. In addition, as of two days ago, Russia began blocking Youtube, the last media that has not been blocked. Even using VPN no longer helps - to the best of my understanding of the situation.
To summarize the above:
Yes, US has moved towards dismantling free speech and respectful civil discourse.
No, US has not achieved the level of totalitarianism that is accelerating in Russia, in both political, civil and economic freedoms. Moreover, economy of Russia is no longer a capitalist economy, it is more like government capitalism of Germany during Hitler times. Ruble is no longer a freely exchangeable currency, much like in 1980s. Number of political prisoners in today's Russia is nearing 1000, while the entire USSR, twice the population of modern Russia, had somewhere between 200 and 300. All numbers are very approximate, because it is difficult to collect information in today's Russia. Let me clarify the definition of political prisoner. There are people who are jailed in Russia because they were organizing political campaigns of registered candidates for offices - Navalny's supporters, there are people who are jailed in Russia because they held posters calling for peace in the world, not with Ukraine or any specific conflict, just for abstract peace. There are people jailed because their relatives criticized a repressive, ISIS-like regime in Chechnya. The list goes on and on. Please, criticize the left in the US as much as you want, but do not make Russia your role model just because it calls women women (they do call women women in Iran, too, and Iran is Russia's closest ally).
Does it mean that we should stop being alarmed? Absolutely not. America today is not the same country I arrived to in 1991. You can look at my other comment to the same article. It reminds me more of Russia prior to 1917 revolution (of course, I did not live then, but I read enough personal memoirs and heard enough from my grandfather who was an adult them and my parents who were born during civil war).
Thank you for the information, as you are someone who has both first-hand experience and good contacts.
1) Yes, I am familiar with the Dahgestan incident (and I believe there was more Islamist violence there recently).
2) As for the Soviet Union having 200-300 political prisoners, can I assume that you mean near the end of the USSR under Gorbachev? Stalin's political prisoners numbered in the millions, and I venture even under Brezhnev there would have been tens of thousands.
3) I was not making Russia my role model. My comparison to Russia was not to make Russia look good, but to say that things are getting bad here.
This is off topic, but as we are talking about Russia - what do they hope to achieve in Ukraine? Total victory and taking over the country? Or holding on to what they have and leaving the rest of Ukraine "Finlandized" - neutral? Finally, do you think, given the weakened state of the United States and much of the West, will they attempt to take over the Baltic states?
2) As for the Soviet Union having 200-300 political prisoners, can I assume that you mean near the end of the USSR under Gorbachev? - Yes.
Stalin's political prisoners numbered in the millions - Yes, tens of millions.
I venture even under Brezhnev there would have been tens of thousands - no. Most people were too scared to protest, so most kept their mouths shut or whispered in the kitchen, listened to Voice of America at 2 am when jamming stopped, and only several hundred courageous souls dared to openly protest, for which they were promptly jailed. By then even Ukrainian and Baltic armed resistance was completely destroyed.
3) I was not making Russia my role model. My comparison to Russia was not to make Russia look good, but to say that things are getting bad here. Thank you, I am appalled when people jump on supporting Putin just because he is not a fan of transgender transition of teens. Hitler wasn't a fan of it either - just saying.
4) - This is off topic, but as we are talking about Russia - what do they hope to achieve in Ukraine? Total victory and taking over the country? Or holding on to what they have and leaving the rest of Ukraine "Finlandized" - neutral? Finally, do you think, given the weakened state of the United States and much of the West, will they attempt to take over the Baltic states?
This is way beyond a post here, I can write a long article about it. Anne Appelbaum could be a good source for you in terms of global strategic vision, another great source is Christo Grosev, Bulgarian investigative journalist who uncovered multiple Kremlin crimes mostly by using public sources and who had to flee Europe because security agencies told him that they can't guarantee his life. Putin's goals and hopes have changed over 2.5 years. Remember, his primary goal is to stay in power. Whatever adds to his idea of grandeur and admiration of the world is great, too. Remember, he is not a strategist, he is a tactician, kinda like a robber who broke into the department store and is trying to figure out how much more he can grab and get away with. Russian ruling class is really more like one giant El Salvadorian drug cartel, without any moral boundaries or restraints.
Judging by what is being said by him and his propaganda machine recently, they are bluffing to keep control of the occupied territories. They are constantly maneuvering between China, Iran and any terrorist organization in the world, regardless of their religious or political affiliation. Everything goes. If they could, they would restore USSR and subordinate regimes of Eastern Europe - just like in 1953 before Stalin's death.
If they feel weakness, they will attack. Did you hear about recently thwarted assassination attempts throughout Europe?
Why didn't the article include Mr. Ferguson's solutions for American disillusionment at the end? Did he not offer any, or did they just forget to post it? If this was supposed to be a debate, both participants should be heard from.
In the mid-Aughts, I read Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism" and thought it an important work.
Then Jonah suffered TDS and basically surrendered 12-15 years later to those same liberal fascists.
Both of these men are actually very well spoken and smart. Agree or disagree with either, but listening to smart people disagree is truly refreshing.
In some ways, it felt like Goldberg and Ferguson were talking past each other. Does 2024 America resemble Soviet Russia - in many respects yes: cf the gap between the elites and the rest of us, the destruction of the middle class, the appalling healthcare system, the deaths of despair, crumbling infrastructure, declining agriculture and real industrial production (Boeing anyone?) with Silicon Valley and the banking sector being notable outliers but for how much longer?, the controlled and compliant corporate media, government central planning and the insane over-regulation of everything stifling small business, entrepreneurship and innovation, the suppression and censorship of dissent, and the need for fanatical adherence to the elite’s preferred ideologies. Are the causes the same? Some are. You only have to read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to see how the US embracing ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his need’ looks exactly like 2024 America. And she grew up in the Soviet Union and escaped to the US as an adult so knew exactly what she was talking about.
But fundamentally, the Soviet Union became an oligarchy where the rich plundered from the rest of the population. And the US is also an oligarchy as a study by Princeton University found in 2014. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/04/16/The-US-is-not-a-democracy-but-an-oligarchy-study-concludes/2761397680051/ Did we get there the same way? Not exactly but the result looks similar if not the same.
The USA IS unquestionably in a deep state of decline. Virtually every area of America’s past cultural way of life has become a culture of “meaningless” as the majority of people has no purpose in life; creatures who do nothing more than live and die, resulting in anything goes, and this people without moral standards can “do, say, behave, live, etc.” like the people they are, selfish and demanding. They have no tolerance or respect for the minority who do live with prescribed moral standards. THUS THE CLASH OF CULTURES.
Excellent article. The very idea that the US is like Russia is ludicrous. The very fact that they can argue and debate openly about the country and not be at risk of the secret police knocking on their doors is proof in itself. The United States is a bastion of freedom and democracy. Russia is not.
Also, anyone who cares to look up the statistics (or if you don't, just check out Steven Pinker's presentations) can easily see that there has never been a better time to be alive in human history.
Has it never occurred to anyone that because the (Western democracies) US, Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, etc, etc, etc are so successful that maybe, just maybe, our enemies and rivals are planting the seeds of discontent from within? I can't remember the number of fake accounts that have been set up on social media by Russia, China and countires in the Middle East, but it was many. Why do people think our enemies are setting up fake accounts? It's certainly not to praise us. They are highlighting all the things that go wrong. We do have things that go wrong, every country does and the very fact that we don't hide it is another example of how we are different. How many times do you see the mainstream media broadcast all the good news and all the things we do right? We are far more right than we are wrong.
Also, it is common knowledge these days that countless amounts of 'donations' have been made to pretty much all of the prominent universities in the US from Middle Eastern countries that want us dead. Why would they do that? There is only one reason: they know that people who graduate from these universities go on to be leaders in industry and politics. It's a no-brainer.
It is a fact that authoritarian states like China and Russia are fewer and fewer in the world, and they're afraid.
I see one of the examples of our deterioration in the West was due to overdose deaths compared to people drinking themselves to death in Russia. How is this relatable? All countries in the world have people who drink too much, and all countries in the world have drug addicts. It's called human nature, and the last time I checked, Russia and the US were populated by humans.
There is no substitute for freedom, and if you watch people talking about living and escaping from an authoritarian regime (i.e. Communism), they all say the same thing: they want to be free.
This is why communism will eventually fail and die off. People instinctively want to be free. Unfortunately, it is also in human nature for some people to want to rule over, direct or control other people. Islam, in reality, has little to do with God (Allah). It is about having control over the population and men having control over their women. Communism has nothing to do with people living in a communal-like state; it is a farce. They still have rich and poor, only there if you want to live well, you better be (or pretend to be) a communist. Socialism also has nothing to do with the people sharing everything and all being equal. It is just a way for the lazy to rip off the industrious in our society. Generally, people who like socialism are losers who can't succeed, and they are jealous and blame the hard-working among us and want to steal from them and hide it under the guise of sharing.
Humans have been inventing systems to control others since the dawn of time: monarchy, religion, democracy, communism, fascism, authoritarianism etc, etc. All are designed for one purpose: to control the masses.
What I think is so amazing about Western Culture is that over time, we have learned from the mistakes of previous generations, were lucky to have followed Christianity, adopted democracy and had the wisdom to separate the two. No other culture in human history has done this. We are, in my opinion, the most successful culture that has ever existed in recorded history.
No other culture has made the advancements in science, medicine, engineering and human rights that we have. The other beautiful thing about our culture is that it has nothing to do with race, religion or sexual orientation; it is an idea. It is an idea that believes if we are free to decide who governs us, if we are free to choose who we love, where we live, if we are free to advance from hard work, if we stand for what is right, then we will prosper and we have. We have done amazingly well in the last 200 years.
Nations that are not free and who do not believe in these ideals have slowly stagnated, and their industrious citizens have continually, over hundreds of years, done their very best to get here. There is a reason for that: this culture is the best one we have come up with so far.
Why anyone who is blessed and privileged to live in a free Western country would believe the naysayers and outright lies perpetrated by our enemies is a mystery to me. Our enemies are afraid of our ideals, and they know if they don't fight for their very existence, they will be extinct. So, if we stand firm and proudly defend our culture, we just might live to see our enemies disintegrate into dust.
You write eloquently so I couldn’t bring myself to just “like” your comment. We ARE an extraordinary experiment that’s only 200 years old and it’s a privilege to live in this time as an American 🇺🇸