KurtFF8 wrote:
Now you're just engaging in a strange alternate history. The US literally had troops on the ground to prevent the Bolsheviks from coming to power. With the exception of WWII alone, the US and the USSR had an antagonistic relationship and the USA always wanted the USSR and socialism to go away.
The USA wanted Russia to become capitalist and integrate their markets to the West. That was the interest. The idea that this specific version of the "rule of law" was the focus of the US ruling class is absurd.
What excuses do you think I'm making exactly? It seems you're really interested in what some rich American lawyers think counts as the "rule of law" here. And you're rewriting history here to try to fit that narrative.
Russians are paranoid. I was pointing out that we could have destroyed Russia, and didn't. NATO is set up for defensive operations, and severely underfunded if we were planning on attacking. At least we thought NATO was underfunded.
The Modern World is a package deal. You need markets, clean courts, and more for it to work.
Russia doesn't have Rule of Law. But I haven't seen anyone try to defend Russia by turning reality on it's head. So it's been interesting.
I suppose I need to talk about what it all means. The ruble was non-convertible. That means you couldn't use rubles to buy foreign goods, or even exchange them for some other currency.
The courts did what the Politburo wanted. And the Politburo wanted monkey trials. One KGB tactic was to force a person to be awake for days. Once they started to go insane, they would agree to say anything.
Travel was controlled. This changed over time, but if you were travelling, you would be stopped and questioned. If they had any doubt about you, you would be arrested and investigated.
If the KGB didn't like you, and there was nothing to gain by having a monkey trial, they would put a bullet in the back of your head.
If they didn't see you as a threat, then they would send you to prison in Siberia, where many died anyway.
There's lots more.
One of the weird things is that Russia did barter with the rest of the world. They would send planes filled with gold, caviar and diamonds. In return they got cars, computers, Western appliances, and more. But only if you were part of the state...