Fall of USSR

Back before the fall of the USSR, before the end of the Cold War, Russia was known as one of the most powerful countries in the world, but why and how? Nuclear power and lots and lots of radioactive weaponry gave Russia this honorable title. Still, despite the power that Russia held in its place in the world, the people of the country knew that they had hit rock bottom the moment Lenin had passed and Stalin took power. But why would the people feel like that if they stood at practically the top of the world? The answer is militarism. Stalin and the following leaders of Russia were so focused upon using the military as a source of replenishment to Russia’s economy and social status among the world instead of focusing among the needs of the citizens, thus, leading to the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Why and how exactly did the USSR fall? Why did all its countries slowly split away? Who was the mastermind to this decision? The Soviet Union was one of the most powerful countries in the world because of its nuclear power as said above. From 1985 to 1991, the USSR’s downfall began. Unfortunately, a few major wars were happening at that time. One of them being, the war in Afghanistan, usually called the Soviet’s Vietnam War, which caused more people to hate the Communist form of government. Another being, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, which made Soviet Leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, to enforce glasnost and perestroika. Glasnost was made in hopes of improving the country by making reforms that were quickly needed. It included the freedoms of speech, expression, and press. Those who choose to abide these rules were punished. Glasnost worked with Lenin’s ideas but with Gorbachev’s added twist to it. Unfortunately, it failed. This method may have a small part of leading to the fall of the USSR considering people questioned Lenin’s ideas and the media just kept track of everything. Perestroika was part of glasnost. While glasnost meant openness perestroika meant restructuring. Perestroika was made to try to get Russia back to the top like it used to be. Its policies included a system of checks and balances, debate, and a rule of law mostly derived from Lenin and Marx’s ideas and beliefs. Like Gorbachev’s glasnost, his perestroika failed too resulting in over inflation although it set a higher bar to a new Russian way of lifestyle.

To revive the Soviet State, Gorbachev tried to enforce laws and reforms to solve the USSR’s serious economic problems. However, his programs of perestroika and glasnost produced more harm than good. Not all agreed to his ideas especially nationalists and populists. His plan to remake a new system for the USSR was stopped by them. Though some movements were meant to change the Soviet system totally to a liberal democratic one, others wanted independence for the national republics. A few insisted still on the restoration of the old Soviet ways. Finally, Gorbachev couldn’t formulate an agreement among opposing parties that the problem got out of hand, thus, leading to the collapse of the USSR, from one gigantic country to fifteen independent smaller republics.

Even after all these, should Gorbachev still be considered a great leader or just a failure? Well, since he tried to use the midway path to phase out communism and introduce democracy, it was impossible to please both the conservative communists and the pro democracy group of the USSR. He tried his best to do whatever he can to satisfy both parties to avoid fights, arguments, misunderstandings, and most of all the accelerating downfall of the USSR. Unfortunately, the country’s problem was already at its worst that the people of the USSR were expecting a miracle from Gorbachev. Although he started out well by giving more power to the Soviet presidency, shifting control from the Communist party to the elected officials of the union republic, and retreating Soviet soldiers that were fighting in Afghanistan with the purpose of improving the country’s economical and financial situation, the people seem not ready for these changes. The Communist party was angered due to the fact that they were losing face and was also losing more power. On the other hand, the Democratic party was also mad because Gorbachev’s changes were happening too slow and they demanded immediate results. He has good intentions as a leader but trying to introduce democracy and independence to this country that has been under communism for almost a century proved to be fatal causing the collapse of the once great USSR. The fact that Gorbachev was brave enough to start the idea of democracy and independence to the greatest communist country in the world at that time, he deserves to still be considered a great leader proven by his Nobel Peace Prize Award.

Word Count: 808

US Neutralization in WWII

What if history was altered and every single event changed? What if Trotsky was ruler instead of Stalin? What if Hitler was never meant to be dictator? What if the Holocaust never happened? Let’s say our world was a war free world – no violence, no crimes… How would that affect us today? What if the attack in Pearl Harbor never occurred? Could have the US just stayed neutral for the whole World War II?

WWII… our second world war where the Allies fought against the Axis. Countries fought day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. For three years (1939-1941), the US stayed neutral. They were out of the war although some people called the interventionists wanted to take part in the war and help the Allies. Because of this, the US turned away from neutrality to preparedness. They prepared a great army in case of surprise attacks from other countries.


What exactly happened in Pearl Harbor? Why did the Japanese attack the US? In October 1940, the Americans have gotten a hold of Japan’s plan to attack Southeast Asia. They were to conquer European colonies which could also damage the Philippine Islands and Guam who are both American controlled. Since Roosevelt cancelled oil shipments to Japan, their next plan was to attack European powers and the US by surprise. Admiral Yamamoto, one of Japan’s greatest strategists, wanted an attack to take place on the US fleet of Hawaii. On the morning of December 7, 1941, the battle started. 183 Japanese war planes destroyed the US fleet docked at Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately, about 2300 died and 188 planes were damaged. Four days passed after the attack and the Americans luck just kept getting worse and worse. Hitler, the great chancellor of Germany, the fierce dictator, made war on the US. This event pushed President Franklin D. Roosevelt to force the Congress for a massive and quick army as soon as possible.


But why, why did Roosevelt have to wait for a devastating attack in order to enter World War II? Well, lots of American politicians wanted to be involved in the war but Roosevelt said that the only way they will go to war is if he gets re-elected. General Hugh Johnson once said that once he is re-elected into office he will drag the US into war. But still, Roosevelt had opportunities to be involved in the war. Japan and China were fighting and same with Germany and Great Britain. Also, Roosevelt couldn’t bring America in war because of its economy at that time. He prioritized the country’s economy first over war involvement. Trading with different countries like Russia, France, Germany, and Japan was enough to put the country in the same ranks as Germany and its allies. The only concern of America then was commercial rivalry against Germany and Japan in the European and Asian market.

Now, if the US stayed neutral for the whole war, which means none of Pearl Harbor happened, what would this country be? For sure, America will still be one of the richest countries in the world given its vast amounts of natural resources and advanced industrial knowledge. However, the US would not be as powerful and influential as it is in the today. This country would be the likes of the current impartial countries of Switzerland and Sweden, rich and economically prosperous but politically neutral. It could have been a peaceful America today only if this country avoided to get involved in World War II. There won’t be any terrorists interested to attack the US, no deployment of military personnel, and less casualties.

Word Count: 602

The world against Einstein and his theory of relativity

E=mc ². The formula made known by Einstein; his theory of relativity.
It talks about time and space, where the theory claims to say that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant. In the equation, E is units of energy, m is mass and c is the speed of light; which is squared. The value of the speed of light is calculated to be exactly 299, 792, 458 meters per second (mps), which is approximated to be 300,000 km per second or 186,000 miles per second. To put it into other words, the speed of light is the speed of electromagnetic radiation (i.e gamma rays, visible light, etc.) in a vacuum. There are two parts to Einstein’s theory; the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity. In a nutshell, The Special Theory of Relativity talks about time, space, and more physics. It also says that as time slows down you move faster. Special relativity was showed in Einstein’s Paper, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.” The other part of the theory; the General Theory of relativity talks about gravity, Sir Isaac Newton's law and the geometric property of spacetime.

During the time Einstein figured out his theory, lots of people thought he was a genius; a smart person who knew how to think beyond normal. He knew how to think outside the box. He figured out the equation without even going to space and finding it out that way! Some even said that he didn't use any mathematical and or scientific reasoning at all! But how exactly did Einstein figure out E=mc 2? No one exactly knows….but based on Mort Orman, M.D.’s research, all Einstein did was guess. One day, he just woke up and said “This must be it! This is the formula!” According to him, in Einstein’s time, many scientists were completely happy with theories that were already made and proven. Knowing this, Einstein, I guess, wanted to challenge himself and challenge mainly, Galileo’s relativity principle. In the end, he succeeded and made people believe that his theory was right even if there is not much evidence that shows that.

Most people agree with Einstein and believed his theory but certain people like Ruggero Santilli, an Italian physicist wrote Il Grande Grido: Ethical Probe on Einstein's Followers in the U.S.A.; a book about his views on his theories to prove that Einstein’s theory of relativity was a fraud. Santilli is known for his hysterical attacks on mainstream science. In addition, a number of Germans hated Einstein’s socialist views and was jealous of his fame. They called his theory “scientific dadaism” and accused him of copying a German schoolmaster’s formula. Dadaism states nothing really. You can have two contradicting ideas but is there at the same time. There are no facts and it made us to believe that the idea of this philosophy is that nothing has meaning. It is basically pointless. Herbert Ives, a respected engineer for Bell Telephone Laboratories, considered that Einstein believed he had the right answers by using the wrong methods.

Word Count: 523