At 11:30 AM 5/26/01 +0300 Charlie Bell wrote:
>However, everyone did expect it. In another 5-10-15 years, possibly, if
>things went well. Everyone thought the slow change would continue. It was
>the astounding speed of the whole event that was most remarkable at the
>time.
I think that you will have a hard time citing sources that suggested the
Soviet Union would inevitably collapse by 1995-2005.
Indeed, in the 1970's, I can make a reasonable case that the consensus is
that it was *capitalism* that was doomed to failure. As Khruschev said,
"We Will Bury You" - citing what he felt was the inevitability of
communism's triumph. Meanwhile, in the Western World, faced by the
economic crisis of stagflation, with rising prices and rising unemployment
- likewise were forced to consider that communism's day might soon come.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"The point of living in a Republic after all, is that we do not live by
majority rule. We live by laws and a variety of institutions designed
to check each other." -Andrew Sullivan 01/29/01
