Gulag

Explaining the 21st century crisis behind US naïve liberal beliefs, in which those unable to face reality become the products of a gullible belief system, based on feelings, emotions and empathy. The 21st century - a Land of Make-Believe As America prepares to bid Obama the God a not overly fond adieu, let’s step back and view the consequences of, "fundamentally transforming the United States of America." Not forgetting those that voted for it, "[…] but above all, I will never forget who this…

Throughout history, music has repeatedly reflected specific events and emotions of people from that time period. Although music is intangible, it is possible to infer exactly how the composer felt while writing a specific piece of music. This is especially relevant with Russian composers in the 20th century. Due to their oppressed and depressing lifestyle, these composers wrote music reflecting their emotions, creating a connection with listeners who experience the same emotions. This is…

The limitations of discussion, personal autonomy, and political criticism were opened up like they had never been before in the USSR. Those who were wrongly imprisoned in the Soviet Gulag labour camps were rehabilitated and reintegrated into Soviet society. The Criminal Code of 1958 helped establish people’s courts and limited the powers of the KGB. The people’s courts protected the people from being unfairly judged by the KGB. They…

During severe conflict, what is the effect when societies experience misery? You can either suffer or take advantage of the challenge. Some answer the call, whereas the others step up, dressing in national colors and chanting patriotic slogans. Some see violence as the right path to power instead of civilizing disagreements in a peaceful manner. The first step to identify someone who sees violence as the best option, is coming to realization that the person is mean-spirited, aggressive, and…

Joseph Stalin died on March 6th, 1953. He suffered from a hemorrhage to his brain at age 73. When the announcement was made involving his death, some cheered and some wept for they had lost their leader once again. Even though concluding the wars, Gulags, prison camps, and the many irrationalized deaths totaled up to be twenty million people. After his death, the country of Russia announced a new policy called ‘de-Stalinization’ to end the devastating ways of his ruling (Service,…

The Piteşti Experiment The word “Gulag” immediately conjures images of primitive concentration camps, buried deep in Siberia; yet, there were camps in other communist countries that rivalled, and even exceeded, Russian camps in intensity, like the Jilava prison and Piteşti prison in Romania. These names may mean nothing to many in the Western world, but to Eastern Europeans represent one of the darkest pages in their history. According to Sorin Iliesiu (2005), the Piteşti prison was a…

the first image we look at when reading the informative article of the Caging of America. Mr. Gopnik the writer of the article presents us with the “six million people under correctional supervision in the United States - more than were in Stalin’s gulags” (1). He gives us a comparison between the Soviet prison and American prison. At first I did not know who Ivan Denisovich was until I did some research and read that it was a character from a novel written by Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn…

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are the two most notorious mass murderers in history, however, Mao Zedong murdered over twice as many people as Stalin. Zedong attempted to reform the Chinese government into a communist state. In order to accomplish this, he imprisoned, tortured, and starved tens of millions of people. Mao Zedong murdered over 50 million innocent people through these three stages: The Great Leap Forward, the Chinese Laogai, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.…

His paranoia was demonstrated through his actions as a leader as well. Stal describes paranoia as a “pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others.” Perhaps one of Stalin’s most infamous time periods during his reign was the Great Purge/Terror. After Stalin had gained power within the Communist Party, his desire to maintain control grew to an extreme. Between 1936-1938, the Great Purge took place, marked by three significant show trials targeting high-ranking Soviet officials: the 1936 trial…

Today in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea, many citizens face a difficult challenge of staying alive due to their living conditions. They are constantly in a fight against starvation and some are unable to continue. The Korean government, however, neglects its duties by making nuclear weapons instead of feeding its people. The country is currently in a downward spiral, with a collapsed economy and economic isolation from the rest of the world but just manages to stay…