R.I.P Mikhail Gorbachev
 

https://www.reuters.com/world/mikhai...es-2022-08-30/

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last dictator of the Soviet Union passes away at age 91. He opened Soviet Russia with his polices of openness Glasnost and Preistroika. There is no specific cause of death other than declining health.


He wrote an intriguing memoir in 1999 for anyone interested in his way of thinking that helped end the Cold War.
http://cup.columbia.edu/book/on-my-c.../9780231194891

:o
Wow. He has been out of the limelight for so long I hadn't considered whether he was still alive or not.

To anyone from the 80's "Me Generation", this guy and Regan were a big deal the likes of which millennial generations absolutely could not understand. I'll never forget the Gorbachev parody in The Naked Gun with Leslie Nielson. The bit with the birthmark was hysterical and reflected what I think everyone had sort of secretly thought at the time...

Either way, Gorbachev was sort of an anti-hero to kids of that era. He was "the bad guy" yet there was this lingering feeling that he didn't necessarily want bad things for the world - in stark contrast to someone like Putin who just seethes that he wants to watch the world burn.

I miss those crazy days so much, when the Soviet Union and early Russian Federation almost joined the democratic West. But then came the Kosovo War of 1999, eight years after Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, and we all know what happened on 1 January 2000...

Mikhail Gorbachev is a part of the curriculum that I teach in AP Euro. I bring in the piece of the Berlin Wall that I own and play Cult of Personality when discussing the two policies of Gorbachev or as I like to call him, 'Gorby'.

He popped up in the news commenting on world affairs and sending regards when world leaders pass through still believed in a Communism Economy to the end, albeit not at the expense of oppressing the people.

I thought he died a long time ago, when I saw this thread I thought "Oh great, another 20 year old thread getting necroposted...".

Zangief will be crushed. Poor guy.

At least they got to dance together.

I miss Mr. Gorbachev, President Reagan, and just the mood of the 80's-90's in general. Peace and prosperity for all actually seemed possible before social media and wokeness came about.