Great post and great summary. It’s crazy that they wouldn’t try to acknowledge it. You would think it’s obvious that word will get out about this… This correlates well to the film we watched in class. I wonder how many people still live in the Chernobyl blast zone today. Weird how despite the dangers of the zone, the girl taking us through and the men checking on the homes didn’t have to wear any masks or anything. Perhaps it’s dangerous after a certain amount of time?
Month: April 2018
Comment on Gopnik’s Galore by bmester
Interesting topic and I particularly enjoyed the pictures illustrating the squatting. One question I had was surrounding the groupings of the Gopniks. You mention petty crime, but do you think they ever formed gangs or anything bigger than just the small crimes?
Comment on Chernobyl: Disaster at the worst of Times by kschnabel
Nice post! I like how you pointed out that the disaster caused Gorbachev to see the very real danger of nuclear war, and forced him to change his foreign policy strategy. It is also interesting how the disaster forced Glasnost to actually be enforced.
Comment on Chernobyl: Disaster at the worst of Times by kschnabel
Nice post! I like how you pointed out that the disaster caused Gorbachev to see the very real danger of nuclear war, and forced him to change his foreign policy strategy. It is also interesting how the disaster forced Glasnost to actually be enforced.
Comment on Explosion? What explosion? by bmester
I also wrote about the disaster at Chernobyl! I certainly agree with your analysis of the social implication. The lack of transparency led to a huge push for more openness. I also found the physical effects on the environment particularly interesting!
Comment on Say No to Alcohol by nhinguyen14
Maybe we should put you on the anti-alcohol campaign! “In 1979, the state derived approximately 25.4 billion rubles in indirect taxes from the sale of alcoholic beverage which was more than what was paid in income tax,” was the most surprising fact to me. This is wild. Any thoughts on levels of alcohol consumption in Russia today?
Comment on The Baltic Independence Movement by kschnabel
Nice post! I found it interesting how important the Nazi-Soviet pact still was to Baltic citizens in the 90’s. I also found the singing revolution very interesting. I really like the photo of the human chain you included!
Comment on Say No to Alcohol by kschnabel
Great post! It is interesting to see how much the anti-alcohol campaign backfired socially and economically. It really show how some problems, like alcoholism, are far too complex to solve on a mass level.
Comment on The lads of Liubertsy by ethanr1949
Really neat post, I enjoyed reading about the Liubers. It is very interesting to think that this was a reaction to young adult western culture, which in itself was a reaction to the adult establishment. When I think of 1980’s American rock, I think of that loud “stick it to the man” mentality. So it is very interesting how the Liubers are apart of a counter counter culture. I also think it is funny that they sell the clothes to make a profit, how western!
Comment on The Godfather: Russian Edition by rachelharriman10
I think if anything they thrived immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union because so much many were unsure, “what next”? I think once they rooted themselves in the government and started to reach out it just became harder to rid of the mafia and their organized crime tactics.
