Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Look at the world. Those countries with seemingly unsolvable problems were under communist rule the longest.

This post is a bit different as I delve into some political science and recent world history. It appears that the countries on earth that accepted communism the longest are the biggest messes.

Russia is a mess. The West missed a great opportunity when the Iron Curtain fell. We could have used a new Marshall Plan to help the Russians build a country where rule of law was the case. Instead, we celebrated and turned our backs. The Russians fell into corruption. Steal and sell everything you could. Drink more vodka. Fall into a deeper hole of alcoholism, drugs, and corruption.

Look at Cuba. Talk to folks who have been there and still have relatives there. It is a corrupt place where people live by stealing and selling.

Look at North Korea. Well, we can’t look at North Korea because, well, we just can’t.

Look at China. Prison camps for those who were born on the wrong side of the tracks out west. We became trading partners with China for various reasons, but we didn’t use the opportunities we had for humane reforms.

And so here we are. Perhaps after the Ukraine-Russia war we will do what we should have done in Eastern Europe two generations ago. Perhaps.