Dialogue with Hair on Fire members

[Hekate]

76. I remember reading Solzhenitsyn's books as they came out in translation way back when

Scary stuff, from a guy who was right there until they exiled him and his family to the US, in lieu of sending them to Siberia to die. And some ass here had the nerve to criticize him for not being a leftist, but being motivated by religion (in their opinion, a Bad Thing). The man was very unhappy in Vermont, felt his exile keenly, and returned home when he was finally allowed to do so.

He comes from a really long line of mordant Russian authors, though: "Lower Depths" certainly doesn't bear reading on a dark night.

I think cultural characteristics don't change that much over time -- not for the Chinese, not for the Russians. Neither of those vast territories has ever experienced "democracy" and in my opinion never will. Opening them to unfettered capitalism certainly isn't the same thing, and they know it. They fall back into old cultural patterns of autocratic rulership by other names....

Yes, it certainly has been interesting seeing how little Americans who believe themselves to be so very informed (i.e. DUers) know about the other countries and cultures we share the planet with. The number of people who have put me on Ignore has increased, too.