[danielodievich]

Living through the end years of USSR and beginnings of centrifugal coming apart of everything was pretty crazy. As a child seeing necrologies for Brezhnev, then Andropov, then Chernenko on TV with somber music and black ribbons, I remember thinking - woah, why are they dying. Gorbachev was a breath of fresh air, and he did as soft of a landing for that disastrous country as anyone could have wished for. The aftermath was still a disaster, especially considering what is happening now. The worst kinds of people came to power, the grabbiest, least compassionate, just general scum. They completely destroyed what Russia could have been, stole everything they could and set the country back on the terrible cycle of poverty, war and bloodshed.

[amanaplanacanal]

That seems a pretty standard aftermath to any revolution, with few exceptions. No matter how well intentioned the revolutionaries are, it is the most ruthless who end up seizing power.

[_DeadFred_]

I think the US pushed 'Voucher privatization' creating a system (in my mind intended to empower US investment takeovers) co-opted by horrible people turning them into Oligarchs is very specific and not standard at all.