Comment by tomaskafka
11 days ago
Oh no, they did not. USSR collapse was precipitated by decades of economic war, where trying to keep up with US advancements depleted more and more of russian budget, finally plunging the country into collapse deep enough for elites to accept formal change of regime (of course while ensuring they stay on top).
The actual soviet people were bystanders.
Unfortunately, that makes a great deal of sense to me.
This explanation kind of implies the whole planet winds up sunk into the banana republic attractor?
(might Fahd have had more to do with the final collapse than Reagan? By opening his spigots to keep the nomenklatura from earning much hard currency with their principal export, could he have pulled a classic "the market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent" trillionaires' poker move?)
> sunk into the banana republic attractor?
κῦδος to all currently trying nonviolently* to de-banana-ice the republic for which it stands! It gives me hope, Jo'anna.
May the Force be with you!
* a parody paper reports that Greenland is already being strongly defended — with strewn Lego blocks: https://www.der-postillon.com/2026/01/legosteine-groenland.h... (It's good they're hand, not remote, laid; I trust all feasible precautions were taken to protect civilians from their effects?)