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Perspective Of A Russian Immigrant (No. 3)
Investors.com ^ | November 17, 2009 | SVETLANA KUNIN

Posted on 11/17/2009 6:14:42 PM PST by Kaslin

This is the third article to appear on these pages from an IBD subscriber who lived in the Soviet Union until 1980. Click here to read the previous two articles

Whenever I speak about my experiences living in the USSR, my American friends respond that such things can never happen in a democracy like the United States.

They don't understand why I am repulsed when I hear the president talk about "sacrificing for the collective good," which sounds so compassionate, as opposed to greedy capitalism.

"Sacrifice for the collective good" is one of the founding principles of socialism, where the collective, not the individual, is the basis of society.

Revolutionaries in Russia did not go around boasting about destruction; they made inspiring speeches about fairness, equality, justice and the greater good. After securing power and their own access to material goods, government officials decided what to give and take from the masses, according to their definition of what is good.

When party leaders talk about the "collective good," what they are really talking about is their right to determine what is good for the collective. Government bureaucrats decide what level of sacrifice is needed and who needs to sacrifice. They replace voluntary charity with the forceful redistribution of other people's private property.

(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: bolsheviks; commissars; communism; communists; comrades; immigration; obama; redistribution; russia; soviets; sovietunion; svetlana; ussr

1 posted on 11/17/2009 6:14:43 PM PST by Kaslin
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To: alrea; bareford101; BerniesFriend; blaveda; Bookwoman; Celeste732; dsc; fanfan; Faux_Pas; ...

2 posted on 11/17/2009 6:16:23 PM PST by Kaslin (Acronym for 0bama: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin

So many of us are frightened but how must it feel for someone who grew up under what we are heading into - and escaped only to now be staring it in the face again?


3 posted on 11/17/2009 6:26:45 PM PST by maine-iac7 ("He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help" Lincoln)
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To: maine-iac7
Her words remind me of similar ones spoken by another Russian immigrant over 50 years ago:


4 posted on 11/17/2009 6:28:55 PM PST by Clemenza (Remember our Korean War Veterans)
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To: Kaslin

The “sacrifice for the common good” reminds me of the quote about those sacrificing liberty for security.


5 posted on 11/17/2009 6:50:34 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: Kaslin
onering

The sad part is you see it coming, you try and tell others about it, and they see you as the problem! I actually had this image censored when I responded to some pro Obama bumper stickers on a Linux site. (April 2008). The bumper stickers stayed.

6 posted on 11/17/2009 7:06:29 PM PST by Nateman (If liberals aren't screaming you're doing it wrong.)
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To: Clemenza

In her personal life, Ayn was real terror - completely cuckolded her husband for years with a variety of lovers.


7 posted on 11/17/2009 7:12:00 PM PST by blackminorca
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To: Clemenza
Oh yes

and in her years in Hollywood as a script writer, she became acquainted with a certain President of the Screen Guild - who learned the abc's of Communism and the steps that lead to it.

He learned well - and he postponed our countries slide in Communism for a couple decades.

Just maybe, his political heirs will pull us back from the brink...

In the meantime, I'm looking for Galt's Gulch

8 posted on 11/17/2009 7:33:01 PM PST by maine-iac7 ("He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help" Lincoln)
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To: blackminorca
In her personal life, Ayn was real terror - completely cuckolded her husband for years with a variety of lovers.

In a nutshell.

For such a brilliant mind, brilliant writer - she was a nasty person.

I've always suspicioned that she considered herself a Dagney Taggart - unfortunately trapped in a short, stout, dark haired body - and never came to terms with that.

9 posted on 11/17/2009 7:37:58 PM PST by maine-iac7 ("He has the right to criticize who has the heart to help" Lincoln)
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To: Kaslin

I contend that Svetlana Kunin’s three articles should be displayed on all national TV channels — every hour — until her message finally reaches the minds of the sheeple...


10 posted on 11/17/2009 7:47:22 PM PST by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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To: TXnMA
My car mechanic is an ex-soviet.

I as a student of history, I love to hear him rail against the old days. He is smart, and was an engineer in the old country. Now he is a Honda mechanic in downtown Houston.

To hear him speak is to gain an insight into that system, with all it's quirks, hypocrises and dehumanization. He was/is a half jew and was discriminated against by his peers there, (but that's against Party doctrine!" I said in mock surprise) but he himself is anti-semitic and anti-Zionist. weird.

11 posted on 11/18/2009 8:58:16 AM PST by I Buried My Guns (Buy Lots Of Ammo Today)
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To: Kaslin
Critics say that greed is the driving force of capitalism. My answer is that envy is the driving force of socialism.

A good one - gotta remember it.

12 posted on 11/18/2009 11:01:41 AM PST by Oatka ("A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves." –Bertrand de Jouvenel)
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To: Kaslin

“Whenever I speak about my experiences living in the USSR, my American friends respond that such things can never happen in a democracy like the United States.”

Too many people believe that. As Glenn Beck says, “Think the unthinkable”


13 posted on 11/18/2009 11:09:41 AM PST by AuntB (If Al Qaeda grew drugs & burned our forests instead of armed Mexican Cartels would anyone notice?)
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