Talk:Perestroika
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[edit] Neutrality of Article?
I read this article through and afterward felt that I had received a very negative overall review of Gorbachev's policies and their effects. Not being an expert on the subject of politics during the Soviet years, I can't be a neutral judge myself -plus I was 14 years old in '85. However, it does seem to me like Gorbachev's government, and his initiative strategy toward modernizing the economy and opening up to dissent and freedom of information, was considered quite revolutionary and was a major precursor to the ultimate fall of the communist government. This article alludes to that, but it seems very negative toward the whole process and highly critical of Gorbachev at some points. I only base my opinions as such on the fact that he was, in the west at least, regarded very highly for his efforts and portrayed as a "new hope" for the end of the Cold War as it was.
Regardless of whether or not his policies caused economic turmoil, they DID somehow contribute to a new thinking, both within the Soviet Union at that time, and outside, at least in the US, which led to a revolution and total upheaval of the communist world in the early 90s.
In short, I just assume that this article was written by someone who wasn't fond of Mikhael Gorbachev's Perestroika programs, and therefore it reads as less than neutral. AT least to little ol' me...... Dmodlin71 (talk) 06:21, 28 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Alexander Zinovyev Quote
Could it be that the quote at the end of this article was translated by babelfish? It barely makes sense.
[edit] First sentence
The first sentence of this article doesn't make any sense to me. Can someone who knows more about this than I fix it? — Timwi 11:58, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)
[edit] The Law on Cooperatives - when?
Could it be stated once forever when The Law on Cooperatives was enacted? In 1987 or 1988? Quick googling shown both dates (though 1987 more often). Pavel Vozenilek 01:51, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
[edit] What is the "Right wing"?
Right wing is such an ambiguous term, it's meaning changes with current government. But the clause it mentioned is not tied to some particualr time. I guess here it means Communist conservatives or something, but I thouth today it means free-market liberalism, see Union of Right ForcesGnomz007(?) 22:38, 17 July 2005 (UTC)
- It is very specific term related to communist parties that should have explaining article. Pavel Vozenilek 23:49, 17 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] the card system
How about mention of the card system - not sure what is the English for it - but during Perestroika the most notable thing were limits on all food. You had to get some fixed number of "cards" every month (карточки) and could buy only the amount of meat/fruit/vodka how many card-tokens you had left. Gnomz007(?) 00:21, 18 July 2005 (UTC)
- "Rations" is the English word —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nik42 (talk • contribs) 04:12, 19 July 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "eviscerate"?
Somehow, I don't think the author meant "eviscerate". What could he really have meant?
[edit] Conspiracy theories
I have no doubt that conspiracy theories exist over the Gorbachev reforms, and while it is nice that a Soviet emigre claims "with 94% accuracy" to have predicted the fall of the Soviet Union, I don't really think it has a place in this article. Golitsyn also claimed that this was a long-term plan for the Soviet Union to pretend to disintegrate in order to defeat the USA, and there does not seem to be much evidence for it to date. Also, if he is such a major factor in perestroika, I find it interesting that the Russian-language article has not bothered with a conspiracy theory (but maybe is is because of a conspriacy)! I have removed this section.
Could it be replaced by a summary of perestroika and its effects? I would be interested to see an historical comparison between perestroika and the Deng Xiaoping economic reforms in China: why the latter worked (without democratic reforms) while the former failed (with democratic reforms).
Konchevnik81 11:46, 20 December 2006 (UTC)Konchevnik81
OK, I took the liberty of adding those sections myself. Everyone, please feel free to add and edit them to bring them up to standard. Konchevnik81 13:47, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] "Unforeseen results of reform"
This section is weak... Citations MUST be added since it sounds far too much like conjecture or "original research". Also, importantly, it does not distinguish clearly between the Gorbachev period and post-Gorbachev. This is critical since many more far-reaching reforms took place in 1991 and post-1991, whilst this article seems to imply that Perestroika has been the only reform and is therefore the only source of the economic failures in the current states of the former USSR. 82.22.74.68 09:48, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Soviet GDP had declined by 17 percent
Since when. Since 1985? Someone who knows please tell it
--194.251.240.116 (talk) 14:02, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
- This figure seems to come from an unreferenced report on www.globalsecurity.org. Published analyses (such as those of Marshall Goldman) indicate that Soviet GDP fell 10-15 percent in 1991 on what it had been a year earlier; that is, 1991 GDP was 10-15 percent less than 1990 GDP. Official Soviet statistics reported a fall of 2 percent in GDP in 1990. 1990 was the first recorded fall in Soviet GDP since 1945. Of course, it is open to debate just what any of this means, as any valuations of Soviet GDP are largely academic and speculative endeavours. Konchevnik81 (talk)
[edit] Were vodka sales of that importance?
The article mentions declined tax revenues from alcohol sales, but doesn't refer to more important factors such as world oil prices. I find this misleading. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.212.29.171 (talk) 10:16, 21 January 2008 (UTC)
- Arguably vodka sales played an important role in perestroika. Vodka tax revenue accounted for some 100 billion rubles in annual tax receipts to the Soviet government, and calculations of the crackdown in vodka sales estimate that it cost the government 100-200 billion rubles in revenue. This helped to increase the government budget deficit and worsen inflation. The crackdown on alcohol also embittered much of the population to Gorbachev's reforms, and caused some of the first scarcities in consumer goods as sugar disappeared from shelves, much of it going to illegal alcohol distilling. Oil prices were also important to the general state of government budget deficits, but both oil prices and vodka sales should be treated with equal importance. Konchevnik81 (talk) 02:46, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
