baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
I'm not sure I get you - surely the USSR had far more influence, financial or otherwise, on (say) Poland in 1960 that the USA did?
And again, at that time, were there people trying to get from Britain and France and West Germany to Poland and Hungary, or the other way around?
On the first point, obviously most immigrants to poor countries don't land a cushy job, and many get massively exploited, but I think you're doing them a disfavour by suggesting they've all been brainwashed by propaganda, especially given that many communist countries have extremely stringent controls on what information is allowed into the country, as well as ubiquitous negative propaganda about the USA on state media channels. If most of them found life was actually worse than where they'd left, they'd tell their folks back home (or simply return) and eventually they'd stop coming at all.
On the second, sure, many of them send money home, but then we're back to the question of why that would be necessary in socialist countries where apparently one's every need is met by the state.
The US was tying to bring the USSR down by economic means, so obviously it had a massive influence also upon east European countries.
Not sure of your point there - the overwhelming reason people ever try to get to Britain and France is because those countries have stolen and appropriated more wealth from the rest of the world. Do you think that if salaries were equivalent, that would be happening?
No-one said brainwashed - you try this misquoting again and again. Or to put it a different way - only as brainwashed by capitalist propaganda as you or I, if we want to use 'brainwashed' in a less pejorative way. Of course people are affected by propaganda and it's almost impossible to escape - to pretend otherwise is beyond the realms of the absurd.
"If most of them found life was actually worse than where they'd left, they'd tell their folks back home (or simply return) and eventually they'd stop coming at all." - No, obviously not, because they need the money.
As to the rest - there is an interconnected world economic system, so not sure what the 'one's every need is met by the state' line has to do with anything. It's like saying that poor countries are poor solely because they're really badly run. Jesus.
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