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Perestroika, by Mikhail Gorbachev
Growing up in the '80s, I heard a lot about Gorbachev and Perestroika but
never really took the time to learn about it. And, I don't think that a socialist
societal overhaul of our cold war opponent was really something I could understand at age 10!
Well, with the benefit of time, and given the current issues the US itself is facing, this
text was a lot more meaningful to read in 2021. The first half spends a lot of time discussing
the goals of Perestroika, and why it is so important in Gorbachev's opinion. This tends to get
a little repetitive and makes for slow reading, though at least he makes his points pretty well.
What I found to be quite interesting was the back half of the book, where he discusses the importance
of addressing climate change, growing national conflicts with emerging third world nations, and how
all people and countries should be allowed to develop according to their own society and beliefs
and what works for their people. Overall, he has so very many thoughtful comments to make
on the state of the world, and how we all need to work towards a better tomorrow, that it was
pretty inspiring to read. He also spends quite a while discussing the cold war, and the
absolute necessity to get rid of nuclear weapons before we destroy ourselves.
Now, since this is an historical text, I should fast forward a few years from 1987 and see
if he was true to his word and kept working towards those goals, but so far as I understand it, he was.
Unfortunately there is only so much you can accomplish on a nation-wide level, even with the
best of intentions. Now of course the current government under Putin is like night compared
to the day described by Gorbachev, which is sad to see. I'd recommend this book highly for any
interested in this period of time.
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