Little-Acorn
Gold Member
20 years ago today, on June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan, in a speech before the Berlin Wall in Germany, demanded of the Soviet premier, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
A few years later, the wall came down, and shortly afterward the Soviet Union collapsed, freeing more people from oppression than ever in the history of the world.
Some say that the arms buildup Reagan initiated, hastened the demise of the Soviet Union by compelling them to start developing arms they couldn't afford. Others maintain that the USSR was on its way to collapse anyway due to its inefficient economy and unproductive workforce, which was not strong enough to recover from recent droughts and crop failures.
Whichever is true, it was a stunning demonstration of the inadequacy of the socialist system in place there, to feed its own people and produce prosperity.
A few years later, the wall came down, and shortly afterward the Soviet Union collapsed, freeing more people from oppression than ever in the history of the world.
Some say that the arms buildup Reagan initiated, hastened the demise of the Soviet Union by compelling them to start developing arms they couldn't afford. Others maintain that the USSR was on its way to collapse anyway due to its inefficient economy and unproductive workforce, which was not strong enough to recover from recent droughts and crop failures.
Whichever is true, it was a stunning demonstration of the inadequacy of the socialist system in place there, to feed its own people and produce prosperity.
