Friday, February 13, 2009

You want a better Expert?

In the most stark and telling role-reversal, Vladimir Putin understands what America is hurtling toward with the "Stimulus":

Putin Warns US About Socialism

"Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin has said the US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise “excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence”.

“In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute,” Putin said… “In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.”
How do you dismiss it as "Fear Mongering" when the former Head of the KGB recognizes this as a giant government over-reach toward Socialism?

What could possibly carry more weight, at this moment, than the current Prime Minister of Russia saying:

"Don't do this - We've been where you are - Don't Do This."

I got nuthin'.

- MuscleDaddy

Posted by MuscleDaddy at 7:10 PM

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6 comments:

  1. Someday, I want to be a real boy...

    Of course, you will, Barry. But even when you forget about them, these strings will still be pulling you...
    ReplyDelete
  2. Tyrone SlothropFeb 13, 2009 04:22 PM
    If you wade through the comments at the bottom of the article, you'll find this from a fella named Bill:

    This article is leaving out that when Putin stated this at the economic convention, Bill Clinton stated “he has never seen Russia talk about embracing capitalism, but he hopes that they start” after Clinton said that the whole room burst into laughter. All knowing that Russia is full of shit.

    Interesting addendum! :)

    BTW MD, I found a link to a PDF a while back entitled America's Defense Meltdown: Pentagon Reform for President Obama and the New Congress. It's authored by twelve former military officers and pentagon personnel, and clocks in at 271 informative pages. If you haven't already gone through it, it comes highly recommended.

    Happy Reading!
    ReplyDelete
  3. Tyrone,
    Russia has alway been full of shit, but maybe Putin was acknowledging, for once, that they have always relied on the engine that is America to keep the world turning.
    It's one thing to spout communist rhetoric to keep the proles happy, knowing that you had a backstop. It's an entirely other thing when that backstop starts to mouth your own words.
    ReplyDelete
  4. I firmly believe that, if you give someone big enough doses of reality, over a long-enough period of time - he can eventually come to see the light.

    Communism cannot exist, surrounded by free-enterprise systems. Who knows that better than Putin?

    Russia has been making money hand-over-fist since their economy opened up, but they still have a lot of ground to make up - they're not nearly the self-sustaining powerhouse that they either want to be - or even close enough to delude themselves into believing they are.

    Russia - at least for the time-being - still needs America to be America.

    Give them another 20years with access to strong, viable markets and I'm sure they'll delight in our self-destruction, but right now they need us to go on being what we were meant to be.

    Bill Clinton has always been better at turning a glib-phrase for a laugh than at fully grasping a situation in depth - indeed, being able to fiddle entertainingly while the room burns has always been one of his strongest talents...

    While occasionally grasping farther than they can reach, Russia has been proving themselves rather more adept at their version of Capitalism than we have at ours - a fact that becomes more evident every day.

    Brushing Up On My Russian,

    - MD
    ReplyDelete
  5. Tyrone SlothropFeb 16, 2009 02:48 PM
    MD, daddyquatro, I'm in agreement about Russia needing the US to continue being the US - in fact, you can substitute almost any country for Russia and the feeling will be the same. There is absolutely no doubt that, as far as global hegemonic powers go, the United States is as good as it gets. Those who would take delight in her misfortunes would be amongst the first to be appalled at what arose in their wake. In especial, countries like China and Russia - our old communist enemies - desperately need the stability and inspiration the US brings as they continue the re-shaping of their command economies into their current unique capitalist hybrids.

    Nevertheless, Putin's warnings about excessive involvement seem a tad blasé when you consider why the stimulus bill was put forward. The Democratic administration believes that it has learned from the previous great slumps what and what not to do to descend into full-bore depression. This is not a radical re-thinking of American government, it is a measured response to a scenario the stuff of economic nightmares - a scenario in which the opposite of excessive involvement allowed some US banks to be leveraged more than 50:1.

    Adios.
    ReplyDelete
  6. "The Democratic administration believes that it has learned from the previous great slumps what and what not to do to descend into full-bore depression. This is not a radical re-thinking of American government,..."

    No, a great many things it may be - but a radical re-thinking is most assuredly is not.

    ...and so here we are, staring down the barrel of another New-Deal/Great-Society, 'V.3' - because, when pinned down on the topic, Obama admits to his opinion that FDR didn't spend enough.

    - MD
    ReplyDelete

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