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gilead
Senior Member

since 2008-03-10

Posts 1067
nevada, USA

0 posted 2009-02-21 02:17 PM

O Russia
why do you
give birth
to men
who desire
to suppress
your aspirations
for simple
freedoms
to break bread
to drink wine
to write poems
to express ideas
of state
without fear
of authority
knocking
on the door
in the depth
of night
when the people
should be
sweetly
dreaming

You say
nay nay
that was yesterday
but yesterday
is today!

gilead
Senior Member

since 2008-03-10

Posts 1067
nevada, USA

1 posted 2009-02-21 02:49 PM

I was born a descendant of slaves, less than a hundred years after the American Civil War. I can grant no quarter to men who use power to enslave the hearts, minds and souls of people who are born with the right to be free—to break bread, to drink wine, to make love and have children, without fear of authorities attempting to bend their minds to the will of the empowerment of the state, a “state” of which they so blatantly lie to be the power of the people.

art

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2 posted 2009-02-21 03:11 PM

Art,

Russia is, and most likely will always be, a lawless place.

Russia never was part of the Roman Empire, so they never learned anything about democratic principles, or the rule of law.

Our great common bond with the Russians is that we are both northern people, and that is inportant, and dangerous.

Bobby

gilead
Senior Member

since 2008-03-10

Posts 1067
nevada, USA

3 posted 2009-02-21 03:28 PM

You have a keen view of history in this matter, Bobby.

Thanks,

art

Huan Yi
Member Ascendant

since 2004-10-12

Posts 6688
Waukegan

4 posted 2009-02-21 03:50 PM

.

Recently, a Russian newspaper asked its readers
to name their three most admired leaders in Russian
history and were shocked to find them being,
(at least before an editorial appeal to reverse the trend),
Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and Stalin.

PS Your poem is very Russian in manner.

.

turtle
Senior Member

since 2009-01-23

Posts 548
Harbor

5 posted 2009-02-21 05:43 PM

Bobby, I'm amazed! That is a very deep and valid opinion.

Huan Yi, I had the exact reacthion.

The trouble with denigrating a social philosophy for its opinion is that it requires an opinion to do it.

turtle

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

6 posted 2009-02-21 07:53 PM

John,

I can understand the choices.

Ivan the Terrible established Russia as a true nation, Peter the Great brought Russia into contact with the rest of the world, and Stalin saved Russia from the Germans during the second world war.

Turtle,

Don't be amazed. Bones has been to school.

Bobby

Huan Yi
Member Ascendant

since 2004-10-12

Posts 6688
Waukegan

7 posted 2009-02-21 08:12 PM

.

All three killed their own people, (Ivan and Peter their own sons).  Stalin
in 1937-38 had one and a half million shot, ten million more died
during his collectivization, there were many many others, (Russian soldiers who had survived
being German prisoners of war were sent to the camps as criminals),until his own death;
the country lived in a state of terror, as did
the others behind the Iron Curtain.  One could
go on and on . . .

.

gilead
Senior Member

since 2008-03-10

Posts 1067
nevada, USA

8 posted 2009-02-21 08:13 PM

Thanks everyone, for your thoughtful and perceptive comments. My Philosophy is simple---freedom from oppression by men who hold the triggers of guns. I remember the dictum---"Power flows from the barrel of a gun." ---Chairman Mao. I own a copy of the "Red Book" 1969 Edition.

art

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

9 posted 2009-02-21 08:18 PM

John,

So hate my post. I stand by it.

Americans, Russians, and all northern people are a strange lot.

Do you work for the state department or what?

BTW I've read all of Soltzenitzen's books a couple of times, and I agree with Soltzenitzen. Stalin was a jerk.

Bobby

Huan Yi
Member Ascendant

since 2004-10-12

Posts 6688
Waukegan

10 posted 2009-02-21 08:50 PM

.

“Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
a Russian novelist, dramatist and historian; Solzhenitsyn was responsible for raising awareness of the Soviet Union's labor camp system (Gulag); (born in Kislovodsk, Russia, December 11, 1918; died August 3, 2008). ------------- Soviet writer and political dissident whose novels exposed the brutality of Soviet labor camps . . . “

http://www.123exp-biographies.com/t/00034052873/

Solzhenitsyn was arrested as an artillery captain during WWII for questioning Stalin’s generalship
in his personal letters and did eight years in the camps he wrote about. He was no fan.

.

Robert E. Jordan
Member Rara Avis

since 2008-01-25

Posts 8541
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

11 posted 2009-02-21 08:56 PM

John,

Yes, that's him. Have you ever read his books? If you haven't, you should.

BTW, my spelling is also correct.

Bobby

gilead
Senior Member

since 2008-03-10

Posts 1067
nevada, USA

12 posted 2009-02-21 09:48 PM

Thank you my friends for a lively exchange. My opinion of Putin is just that, my opinion, and I am not offended by anyone who may differ. I am a poet, sometimes right, sometimes wrong. I enjoy the art, and the privilege of being a man who's free to express himself.

Best wishes,

art

LindsayP
Member Elite

since 2007-07-28

Posts 3410
Australia, Victoria

13 posted 2009-02-22 10:28 PM

Art I would like to say that I'm right with Huan Yi with his ideas on this one.

Stalin has more deaths to his name than anyone in history. well done.

Lindsay

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