August1991

xul, you don't get it. ===== America has won on two fronts: 1. The market system works and makes people better off: (Khruschev was wrong, Deng Xiao-Ping was correct). 2. An individual should be free to be what the person is. (The 1700s writers of America's constitution were correct; Lee Quan Yew was wrong.) My OP: Why and how did this American victory happen?

I reckon that the written US Constitution will last longer than any culture or oral language. Hey, look at Islam.

It happens to be 9 Jan 2021 as I write this. Will this Covid continue? - And people like me suffer lock down - to 9 Jan 2022? Dunno. In hindsight, people like MacMillan will no doubt have an explanation.

The Origin of WWI is one thing. Why it lasted so long is another? IMHO, these are two distinct questions that historians (eg. Margaret MacMillan) largely ignore. In hindsight, we see that these European wars, economic collapse, lasted from 1914 to 1945. But for a person on, say, 9 Jan 1926 - it's not clear what will happen in the future.

The Americas have been largely peaceful continents - except a violent war in the 1860s. Europe? The Europeans fought around 1630, then the 1790s., then around 1940s or so. Europeans are a violent people. I reckon that they start a war every third generation. Han Chinese? 5000 years of "civilized" peace - until the Europeans arrived. Of course, the Chinese have no Mozart nor Leibnitz. Only Confucious and Buddha, tradition. ==== I prefer America: creative but peaceful.

Here's the point of my OP: The Soviet Union won some battles/places: Cuba, Vietnam, places in Africa, Laos, maybe Afghanistan, etc. Everyone knows about how the Americans lost the "Vietnam War". ====== But the Soviets did not eventually win. They lost. So, how did the Americans defeat the Soviets?

The United States is not an "Empire". It is a creation of a Constitution, written on paper. "China" is based on a language, or maybe a habit of eating. And "Russia" is based on a language, or maybe a religion. ===== Let's see what happens in the future.

Let me make this clear. The US is sustainable The CCCP is not sustainable.

My comparison is the CPSU and the US federal Democratic Party. Biden is like Chernenko: A name to maintain the status quo. ===== Obama was no Gorbachev. Unlike Trudeau Snr, Obama did not question/change the Democratic Party.

The Soviet Union was not sustainable. === Russia is sustainable.

WTF? Sun? Earth? ==== Standard Western/Progressive Thought: The Soviets/Russians defeated the Germans in Stalingrad. In January 1943, there was a kettle. (Russians in particular believe this.) In fact, each Western soldier - whatever the origin - won the war. They defeated Hitler, and they eventually defeated Stalin.

In case there's confusion, the США defeated the CCCP. Like it or not, since the 1800s, as individuals, we all live in defined States - often with initials. Some States are sustainable; others are not.

I've been wondering about this. (It apparently bugs Putin too. But I've never considered Russia and Soviet as synonyms.) After Brest-Litovsk, what was Russia? After 1945, what was the Soviet Union? -East Prussia, "Poland", etc. ===== Truman was resolute - he started the Korean War. Eisenhower accepted a peace treaty, DMZ, separation of Korea. Stalin died. Khruschev took power. Kennedy was resolute - he started the Vietnam War. Brezhnev took power. Nixon made deals. Reagan refused any contact with the Soviets. Gorbachev took power. Th

Betsy, I know that you're a Christian. I'm not. Nevertheless, I wish you a good New Year.

Curious question: Why did Somerset Maugham never win the Nobel Prize for Literature? Google it! ===== I fear that in this 21st Century world, Atwood may win.