Month: May 2018

Comment on From War to Revolution by zaneg96

I think the Tsar might have been able to maintain control a bit longer if he had focused on leading the country rather than leading the war effort, but the overthrow was an inevitability in the end.

Comment on Lots of Problems with Alcohol by eclaybrook

I loved your use of images in supporting your writing, because it really illuminated how big the issue of alcoholism was. The cartoons really show the tone that the government was trying to set, that alcohol abuse was a serious matter and people should have self-discipline in use of it. Great post!

Comment on The Godfather: Russian Edition by eclaybrook

Rachel, this post is pretty cool. Loved the subject and the way you presented the Mafia. I know from the work I did on my post before this, that some of the roots of organized crime were bred with the spread of the black market economy. In fact, it even exploded in its reach and importance with the fall of the Soviet Union due to that big power vacuum that was just waiting to be exploited. Awesome post!

Comment on Excuse me while I have a quick meltdown by eclaybrook

Grace, this post is awesome! Lots of people have noted this, but your comparison to 9/11 provides a really good image for readers to catch on to. I feel this also could be compared to the Three Mile Island incident in the 80s which rocked the environment and produced a huge environmentalist movement. Great post!

Comment on Say No to Alcohol by pgiovannini

I believe criminal activity started to occur because of how important alcohol was in Russian society. If the campaign took a slower pace instead of trying to eradicate alcohol, than maybe people would not have been so inclined to make their own or steal it.

Comment on Say No to Alcohol by pgiovannini

According the the Minister of Health, Veronika Skvortsova, alcohol consumption in Russia has fallen 80% in the past five years. However, studies conducted by the World Health Organization shows a downward trend of alcohol consumption, but nothing near 80%.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42738511

Comment on Say No to Alcohol by pgiovannini

I couldn’t find anything on whether or not the campaign is still haunting Russia today, but alcohol is still a big issue there. Immediately after the campaign alcohol related deaths started to climb again. According to this article written in 2013, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/how-alcohol-conquered-russia/279965/, one-in-five men die to alcohol related causes.

Comment on Say No to Alcohol by pgiovannini

According to one of my sources, the majority of the crimes was that people were illegally producing alcohol in their basements; the main one being moonshine. Theft was also on the rise because people were stealing alcohol and sugar. Sugar was stolen because many people used it when producing moonshine.

Comment on Say No to Alcohol by pgiovannini

I believe if Gorbachev led a less intense campaign it would have been more successful. Trying to eradicate the production and sale of all alcohol caused a backlash from a lot of people, which led to them making alcohol illegally. Instead, Gorbachev should have moved at a slower pace starting by getting rid of alcohol in the work place and slowly increase the tax on alcohol.

Comment on I’m Not Drunk, You’re Drunk! by Nick Umana

The stereotype about Russians enjoying Vodka in the cold is interesting because I wonder how they typically stereotype Americans? “Gorbachev deciding that the party was over” was definitely a factor that caused alot of his popularity to be lost among the people of the Soviet Union.