Is Lief actually pro-Soviet or did he just post that article in response to Politico's query? I thought the later.
I really wonder if this Politico guy came out of a 1991 time warp. The ironic thing is that the Cold War arguably helped capitalism be extra careful and avoid a major depression because if one had happened, it could have been exploited by the communists. Once that spectre was gone, capitalism went crazy.
Lief is on record as pro-dictatorship in general and also in favour of killing innocent civilians if they're on the wrong side. If one thinks Cuba and Venezuela are awesome it seems like the step to the Soviet Union would hardly be that big.
I was merely noting the bizarre claim that the good movies produced in the Soviet Union could not have been made in the West. I wasn't implying I know Lief is pro-Soviet, just that I don't feel safe making my original post without letting him post first. I suspect he might prove me wrong and argue that Russians, like Chinese, aren't cut out for democracy, freedom of enterprise and other such oppressive mechanisms of the capitalist society.
You're very good at reading things into my posts that I never said. Not in favor of killing innocent civilians, nor am I "pro-dictatorship in general." In fact I don't know that I've come out in favor of any dictatorships? Unless you think Chavez is a dictator, which is false. I don't know that I've ever said that Venezuela or Cuba are awesome either, just better than their right-wing detractors make them out to be. Obviously I'd love those countries to have Sweden's political economy, but we can't all be lucky enough to live in one of the best countries on earth, can we?
Regarding your second paragraph, my point was that in the communist film "market", because it was not focused on profits and ticket sales (and in fact the film authorities didn't care at all if films were successful), film-makers could focus more on the art of the films. They didn't have to water down their works for mass consumption or to gain the funding of profit-focused producers, as they were funded by the government instead of ticket sales and merchandising. And indeed Eastern European film
has suffered since the fall of communism:
Now obviously this doesn't excuse the Holodomor or gulags or anything. But the idea that innovation is only possible in capitalism is wrong, and the idea that creative production can only happen when there is the incentive of a great financial reward is wrong. And indeed sometimes free market capitalism stands in the way of both of these things.
And lastly I've never said that any people aren't cut out for democracy and actually find that view pretty repellent and racist, and remember arguing against it during the Egyptian and Libyan protests earlier in the year. You should take Joe's advice and stop reading the most terrible possible things into my posts. Being so outraged about nothing constantly must be exhausting.
Also this is all very off-topic (I think, I don't really know what this thread is about), so I apologize.
