here's Eric Hobsbawm (who remained a communist most of his life, though a heterodox one) in Age of Extremes on the question
here's Stalin biographer Stephen Kotkin (a centrist but a serious historian). in addition to causing the famine, collectivization was a *net drag* on Soviet industrialization. it was a horrific failure that killed millions
you can give the USSR credits for many things (basically winning WWII, for instance). but at bottom it was an empire itself, and during Stalin's rule an exceptionally brutal one
so Democrats whiffed the governor's race in a state Biden won by 10 points and probably lost the House of Delegates. remember, the key thing at this point is to panic and deflect blame
this seems about right to me? but as far as lesson for the midterms, who knows. it's a chaotic environment
I would say the key lesson regardless of why they lost is not to flip out and despair. exact same thing happened to the GOP in 2017. take the lumps and move on
the amount of time wasted on pretend objections and senators peacocking before the Playbook set is beyond belief. a functioning political party could have hammered out an agreement in a week, month tops
key thing to remember about drug price reform is it would SAVE the government a ton of money, what moderates say they want. they are lying, because they want pharma to continue pillaging the American people
absolutely incredible sub-plot in the VA gov race. lady in the latest Youngkin ad *told WaPo* that her son was so triggered by a Toni Morrison book that he had night terrors and she tried to get the school to ban it
"yes Mr. National Reporter, my son can't handle Beloved. it was his first book since Goodnight Moon. yes this is on the record"
reminder that despite conservatives' recent posturing and #rebrand nobody is more easily triggered, nobody demands more safe spaces, and nobody is more hostile to free speech and free inquiry
"Dan was sentenced to three and a half years for online posts opposing another January 6 incident. But for actual participants from January 6, we’re seeing charges and sentences far below that." theintercept.com/2021/10/16/dan…
you know who else got a light sentence after an attempted putsch because the judge agreed with his far right views?
the Dem child care bill would *deliberately* aim an economic cruise missile at middle and upper-middle class parents for the next two consecutive elections peoplespolicyproject.org/2021/10/20/dem…
good news though. I recently commissioned a poll on whether it's good for families making 100.01% of median income should see their child care bill increase by 13 grand next year, and 57 percent of Americans said "what? can you repeat the question"