Reply #20: I think Russia is a classic example of this... [View All]

I mean, before the Czar was toppled, Russia was literally a Feudal system, not capitalist, not even mercantile, except in the large cities, but feudal in nature. In that case, in an extremely short period of time, Russia transitioned from a mostly unindustrialized feudal economy into a Communist economy that was heavily industrialized within a generation. So Russia, with associated republics, became the USSR, under a nominally Communist system which could have been considered, more or less, "anti-feudalism" more than anti-capitalist. In any case, the positive thing was that it lead to rapid industrialization, however, violence, in addition to Stalin's paranoia, lead to severe oppression and the killing of millions.

Such a system was unsustainable, obviously, and under Gorbachev, the system was reformed, but ultimately, couldn't sustain itself, and collapsed. Ever since then, Russia has been introduced to Capitalism on a grand scale, a country open for plundering, so old Communist party insiders, not able to break the habit of centralized control, latched onto centralized, and undemocratic, corporate system, busily using foriegn investment and corruption that is inherent in the system to make themselves rich. You could call this "Communism Inc."

The Government of Russia underwent Democratic reforms, but because of the lack of political development for almost a century before that, and the entrenched bureaucracy that already existed, the system was and is just as corrupt as during the Communist Regime. One of the big reasons for Russia's problems today is that an extensive middle class nor the intellectuals that lived there were either killed or driven from the country in its early years. As we know now, political and economic reforms cannot be done from outside a nation, but from within, with having a large educated middle class, along with those encouraging free thought which then allows for a sustainable democracy to be put in place.