> 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.
Not so much the collapse, the scale of it as well as the swiftness was
shocking, but that a democratic process would take over. By everyone I don't
mean historical/political sources that I can cite, but the feeling amongst
my social group at the time. Student pub culture... ;o)
> 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
Yeah, bad times, but that all changed again in the 80's. (Well, prices rose
further, as did unemployment, but no-one thought capitalism would keel
over...).
