Hey. The U.S. ruined the economy and society of Mozambique, Angola, Nicaragua, (for a time) Chile. The U.S. inflicted enormous devastation on Vietnam. But we got to see non-orthodox approaches to property over 40% of the world's population for between one and three generations. We still get to see non-orthodox approaches to property in Cuba and North Korea. (And there still is the disaster of the FSU.)
------------- Well, see, I really don't buy the point you're making here, which is apparently that such economic experiments were unmitigated disasters (well, North Korea certainly is, but it's in a class by itself). This seems to presuppose that there is A style of life which appeals to everybody, across cultures. Whether you prefer Brezhnev-style socialism or US-style capitalism is going to depend to a great extent on which you find preferable, a stable, cradle-to-grave social security net or lots of quality consumer goods. By no means 100% of the population will opt for the latter a priori, though this does seem to be an unspoked presupposition of much of neo-liberal economics. As a matter of fact, I meet people all the time who prefered the former (and I don't just mean poor people; I mean middle-class Muscovites).
Chris Doss The Russia Journal