[Marxism] Very revealing take on Ukraine in the Guardian

["Charlie Parks" <jcparks5550@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Comment

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The price of People Power

The Ukraine street protests have followed a pattern of western orchestration
set in the 80s. I know - I was a cold war bagman

Mark Almond
Tuesday December 7, 2004
The Guardian

People Power is on track to score another triumph for western values in
Ukraine. Over the last 15 years, the old Soviet bloc has witnessed recurrent
fairy tale political upheavals. These modern morality tales always begin
with a happy ending. But what happens to the people once People Power has
won?
The upheaval in Ukraine is presented as a battle between the people and
Soviet-era power structures. The role of western cold war-era agencies is
taboo. Poke your nose into the funding of the lavish carnival in Kiev, and
the shrieks of rage show that you have touched a neuralgic point of the New
World Order.

All politics costs money, and the crowd scenes broadcast daily from Kiev
cost big bucks. Market economics may have triumphed, but if Milton Friedman
were to remind the recipients of free food and drink in Independence Square
that "there is no such thing as a free lunch", he would doubtless be branded
a Stalinist. Few seem to ask what the people paying for People Power want in
return for sponsoring all those rock concerts.

As an old cold war swagman, who carried tens of thousands of dollars to
Soviet-bloc dissidents alongside much better respected academics, perhaps I
can cast some light on what a Romanian friend called "our clandestine
period". Too many higher up the food chain of People Power seem reticent
about making full disclosure.

full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1367965,00.html



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