There were myriad reasons: a dysfunctional economy certainly tops the list. One other reason it collapsed - both in Eastern Europe and in the Soviet Union proper - was because Marxist-Leninist doctrine did not account for ethnicity. Various ethnic groups (especially the Baltic states but it included groups like Ukrainians) decided they no longer wanted to live under Moscow's Rule. Yeltsin, to his credit, mostly let them go. When he didn't in Chechnya, the results were awful.
Putin is not a Marxist-Leninist. He's a Blood and Soil nationalist. That ideology, too, does not allow for ethnic diversity within a broader Russian Federation. Apparently, today in Russia, Muslim Tajiks were berated by an officer who impugned Allah. Three of them opened fire, killing 29 soldiers. Given that the bulk of the newly mobilized Russian soldiers are from the ethnic periphery of Russia, this sort of thing could become common. Putin's army of "mobiks" could consume itself in ethnic conflict.
Correcting the historical understanding of America's racist past is important for any number of reasons. Those forces in America who think we can't handle that knowledge are exactly like these bigoted Russian soldiers who are going to be blindsided when they mass of people they are supposed to rule over decide that they have had quite enough bullshit.
No comments:
Post a Comment