Maybe. But any life outside of the local galactic group is irrelevant, because they’d never be able to reach us due to the expansion of the universe pulling galaxies away from us and FTL travel being impossible. And I doubt any interstellar species would feel the need to “hide” from us.
December 21, 2024 at 2:10 PM
Maybe. But any life outside of the local galactic group is irrelevant, because they’d never be able to reach us due to the expansion of the universe pulling galaxies away from us and FTL travel being impossible. And I doubt any interstellar species would feel the need to “hide” from us.
And that’s the entire gulag population over their entire existence, not at one time. At any given time, the US prison population is higher than the Soviet Gulag population at its peak. It is entirely disingenuous to compare the US prisoners at one time to all the gulag prisoners ever.
December 12, 2024 at 4:34 AM
And that’s the entire gulag population over their entire existence, not at one time. At any given time, the US prison population is higher than the Soviet Gulag population at its peak. It is entirely disingenuous to compare the US prisoners at one time to all the gulag prisoners ever.
The Soviet gulags were prisons. Many normal criminals went there—political prisoners certainly did exist, but the majority were not. A CIA study of a sample camp showed that 95% of prisoners were actual criminals.
December 12, 2024 at 4:31 AM
The Soviet gulags were prisons. Many normal criminals went there—political prisoners certainly did exist, but the majority were not. A CIA study of a sample camp showed that 95% of prisoners were actual criminals.
I didn’t say Stalin was infallible. Government incompetence under Stalin certainly resulted in excess mortality (though natural famine was the root cause, and sabotage by anti-communist elements like the kulaks and the US gold blockade exacerbated it).
December 11, 2024 at 3:01 PM
I didn’t say Stalin was infallible. Government incompetence under Stalin certainly resulted in excess mortality (though natural famine was the root cause, and sabotage by anti-communist elements like the kulaks and the US gold blockade exacerbated it).
Communism drastically increased quality of life in pretty much every instance of a successful revolution. Took feudal, agrarian backwaters and banana republics and made them into modern industrial countries with massively better living conditions for everyone.
December 7, 2024 at 1:28 PM
Communism drastically increased quality of life in pretty much every instance of a successful revolution. Took feudal, agrarian backwaters and banana republics and made them into modern industrial countries with massively better living conditions for everyone.