re: #269 Romantic Heretic

Even before Reagan came to power I knew the Soviet Union was doomed.

Brezhnev got to be head of the Politburo with the backing of the armed forces. As a reward he started jacking up arms spending. By the time Reagan became President something like 30% of the Soviet GDP, which was rather smaller than the States, was going to manufacturing armaments.

This is unsustainable as armaments are, economically, the most extravagant of luxury goods. Politically they are very important but from an economic point of view they are a money pit.

So, I never worried about the Soviet Union.

The West did not win the Cold War. The Soviets lost.

There was also the money pit that was the Afghanistan War, something that we like to say we helped the Afghans win, but in reality had more to do with the Soviets just throwing in the towel.