General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Remember the old Soviet Union? [View all]The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)At the YMCA and in tournaments. Damned good players btw.
We didn't often talk about the politics of the Soviet Union but it did come up here and there over games at the club.
They were afraid of their own government. Spied on by them. No justice. The few owned the most and many suffered. I was just a teen and didn't really get it all - I got the cold war, understood they were afraid, etc - and in my own way was proud of my country that they would come here of all places. I respected the players greatly, there was a whole soviet school of chess (which is one reason the 72 world championship was so big to the US).
It wasn't until I read up more over the years that it all sank in - and now I am seeing similar problems here. Massive defense spending, the few ruling the many, spying on our citizens and seeing them as the problem, secret police and detaining people without charges (gitmo ring a bell?).
Would that I knew more back then and could have spoken to them about it all instead of just listening for the most part. While many hated and feared the Russians I respected them and saw them as just like us. People just wanting a simple life with simple dreams. I feared their government but not the people and often wondered why it was we were enemies (which brings to song the old elton john song Nikita). I, and others, were sold on fear and so we kept spending more and more of our money on defense. Now it is terrorism that drives us with fear, spending, and letting our own government spy on us.
We were not so different then, and less so now....