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Ricky Moore
https://www.goodreads.com/rjmooreii
“Why is it that we who have enjoyed the human freedoms which our forefathers fought so hard to win and to bequeath to us, do not, with the example of Russia before us, realize the horrors of life without freedom? Why is it that we cannot understand that there is no such thing as embracing Communism as an experiment? It is a one-way street, ending in a cul de sac of secret police terror, firing squads for the intellectuals and leaders and concentration camps and slave labor for the masses. There is no turning back; there is no escape.”
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“Wherever autocratic power vanished at an early date—as in the Netherlands and later in England—and the protective interest receded into the background, they swiftly discovered that trade must be free—“free to the nethermost recesses of hell.”
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“Nothing should be more obvious than that the business organism cannot function according to design when its most important “parameters of action”—wages, prices, interest—are transferred to the political sphere and there dealt with according to the requirements of the political game or, which sometimes is more serious still, according to the ideas of some planners.”
― Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
― Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
“As a matter of practical necessity, socialist democracy may eventually turn out to be more of a sham than capitalist democracy ever was. In any case, that democracy will not mean increased personal freedom.”
― Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
― Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
“What had been a region of model farming became almost a desert, for more than half the population was exiled or sent to concentration camps. The young people left the villages, the boys to go to the factories if they could get jobs, or to become vagabonds if they couldn’t.
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An echo of the tragic fate of Russia’s German Protestant population reached the world when the Mennonites flocked to Moscow and sought permission to leave the country. Some of these Germans had tried to obey the government and had formed collective farms, only to have them liquidated as Kulak collectives. Being first-class farmers, they had committed the crime of making even a Kolkhoz productive and prosperous.
Others had quite simply been expropriated from their individual holdings. All were in despair. Few were allowed to leave Russia. They were sent to Siberia to die, or herded into slave labor concentration camps. The crime of being good farmers was unforgivable, and they must suffer for this sin.
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Cheat or be cheated, bully or be bullied, was the law of life. Only the German minority with their strong religious and moral sense—the individual morality of the Protestant as opposed to the mass subservience demanded by the Greek Orthodox Church and the Soviet Government—retained their culture and even some courage under Stalin’s Terror.”
― Lost Illusion
***
An echo of the tragic fate of Russia’s German Protestant population reached the world when the Mennonites flocked to Moscow and sought permission to leave the country. Some of these Germans had tried to obey the government and had formed collective farms, only to have them liquidated as Kulak collectives. Being first-class farmers, they had committed the crime of making even a Kolkhoz productive and prosperous.
Others had quite simply been expropriated from their individual holdings. All were in despair. Few were allowed to leave Russia. They were sent to Siberia to die, or herded into slave labor concentration camps. The crime of being good farmers was unforgivable, and they must suffer for this sin.
***
Cheat or be cheated, bully or be bullied, was the law of life. Only the German minority with their strong religious and moral sense—the individual morality of the Protestant as opposed to the mass subservience demanded by the Greek Orthodox Church and the Soviet Government—retained their culture and even some courage under Stalin’s Terror.”
― Lost Illusion
Great War (1914-1918): The Society and Culture of the First World War
— 482 members
— last activity Dec 06, 2021 05:06AM
A place to discuss the cultural milieu of the Great War (also referred to as the First World War, World War I, WWI, World War One). The intent of this ...more
THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP
— 2666 members
— last activity 9 hours, 53 min ago
A chance to discuss books covering the Second World War, the battles, campaigns, leaders and weapons. Tantum librorum, tam brevi tempore (So many ...more
Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction
— 6117 members
— last activity Dec 03, 2025 04:17PM
The focus of this group is historical fiction set in Ancient and Medieval eras(with some post Medieval), in any geographical location. Preference is g ...more
Classical (Laissez-Faire) Liberalism
— 808 members
— last activity Aug 24, 2025 10:15AM
Including within it neo-liberalism, libertarianism, objectivism, anarcho-capitalism, minarchism, and American conservatism, this classical or "market" ...more
Anti-State Capitalists
— 6 members
— last activity Sep 10, 2016 07:40AM
For radical libertarian literature that doesn't give a shit about your Constitution and calls the army a socialist murder machine. This is a place for ...more
Ricky’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Ricky’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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