For what it is worth. I have followed the no-where near defunct Communist powers, both here and abroad for a few years now. When the dots are connected, we are in serious trouble.

To quote Gen. Douglas MacArthur, "We fought on the wrong side".

A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL Dangerous tendencies in Russia

Like spikes on a fever chart, overt displays of anti-Semitism in Russia may presage a society's relapse into an old sickness. Recurrent Russian anti-Semitism is accompanied by an inventory of old resentments that nourish reactionary and chauvinistic impulses.

Demagogues blame Russia's bankruptcy and humiliation not only on the Jews but also on the West. Western attempts to offer advice about the management of free markets, the role of the media in an open society, the formation of political parties, or the legal structures needed to institute a true rule of law - all efforts to help Russia construct a stable democratic order - are denounced by nationalists and Communists as evidence of a conspiracy to shackle or corrupt Russia.

One need only scan the symptoms of Russia's current condition to comprehend the dangers lurking in the shadows. The country is broke, impoverished by the so-called party of power that allowed a select group of well-connected oligarchs to buy up at ridiculous prices the most valuable assets owned by the state. Officials are negotiating the terms of a debt rollover with private Western banks and with the International Monetary Fund, arguing that Russia is too important to be allowed to go under and too enfeebled to survive without special consideration from its creditors.

President Yeltsin is hospitalized again; the legislators in the Duma are still trying to impeach him; a Russian general warns that disagreement with the West over Serbia and Iraq may make it more likely that a Y2K computer problem could lead to Russia launching its nuclear missiles.

Against this backdrop of impoverishment, irrationality, and disintegration, the overt anti-Semitism of politicians becomes a sign that Russia may be tumbling backward toward authoritarianism. Ominous anti-Semitic threats issued by Communist parliamentarians suggest that the Bolsheviks' system has been replaced by a Potemkin village version of democracy. Without a true rule of law, genuine democratic institutions, and the ultimate Enlightenment value of tolerance, Russia will not be a safe place for Jews or anybody else.

This story ran on page A14 of the Boston Globe on 03/06/99. ) Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.

-- Mike (bomb@shelter.com), March 08, 1999

Answers

Mike; I suggest a minor amendment to your caption. "Deadly" might be more applicable than "dangerous". Systemic corruption, moral decadence, bankruptcy and potential Y2K paralysis are screaming: "get out or die!" Thanks for your good post,

-- Watchful (seethesea@msn.com), March 09, 1999.

Are the Jews getting kicked out of ANOTHER country?

AGAIN?

Judaism's spiritual roots seem quite nice, but the secular conservative/reform Jews really seem quite unpopular throughout history!

-- Q (Q@Q.com), March 09, 1999.