Russia never really had freedom or tolerance. From the Tsars to now. Sorry, I'm not prejudiced. It's just true. But you also have to wonder if, like Emmanuel Goldstein in the book "1984", the US didn't chose them deliberately as our archenemy. The communist soviets. We could have ignored them, and then they would have faded into history. The only reason why they lasted for 70 years. We kept them in business. Actually, communism would never work. But democratic socialism sure does. Most modern democracies have it. And they are all prosperous and happy. It would never happen here, because the powers in charge and our separation of powers would always prevent it. So we have to work with what we have. Which is successful sometimes. But I think our relation with the present center of world communism, China, is much better. We claim to hate them, and they claim to hate us. But like Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman I think it will be eventually revealed we were always the best of friends.
