No one forced Ukraine to join the Union, and neither did many other republics. There were undeniable drawbacks to this "communal living," but we were a united state that was respected. The collapse of the Union primarily benefits those who prefer to be "independent" rulers and don't want to share their wealth. It's easier to survive as a large family, and now, instead of the Union, we have a bunch of weak states with a ruined economy. I am more than sure that cultured people, who treat each other with tolerance, can find compromises for cooperation. The collapse of the USSR shows that before the Union, we simply "weren't ready" for it. And the right of republics to secede from the USSR was enshrined in the constitution.
Alex, are you Ukrainian? If so, I'm shocked at the kind of teachers you had. Because, to your knowledge, Ukraine was indeed "forced" to join. We were beginning to form a state, we were embarking on a long journey upwards, and if a certain party hadn't rushed to our neighbors, there wouldn't be a weak economy and chaos in power now... probably. And there wouldn't be Kruty, and there wouldn't be hundreds of thousands of repressed people, and there wouldn't be hundreds of poets fleeing abroad, and there wouldn't be the absurdity when, during the war, a poet's poem is played on the radio, and then, for THAT SAME poem, they are sent to labor camps...
But, in general, the idea was not bad... but, like everything in the former empire, it was done "the wrong way." Yes, there were many advantages, the development of art, for example... But, damn it, read the memoirs of writers of those years!!! When books lay on the shelves for ten years or more, and were published censored to death!!! And good books! The Strugatsky brothers...
And the USSR collapsed precisely because of TOO rigid frameworks. And insane diversity. Now it has collapsed, and what do we see??? European countries, including my homeland and Russia, are gradually moving towards EUROPE and the BIG WORLD, and who knows, maybe they will change it for the better... separately. But we still have "the Soviet mentality" lingering, and even WORSE — the same people are at the helm, and even worse:( but that's not the point. And now, let's take all these "-stan" countries (I apologize if I offended anyone, everything said here is the IMHO of a new generation)... and what do we see??? D-E-G-R-A-D-A-T-I-O-N. And the worst of the Soviet era, but tenfold more clearly.
Once again, this is my IMHO, and I do not claim to be any kind of absolute truth. And the USSR collapsed because it was time for it to change, but it couldn't. And I DON'T WANT the USSR precisely because the first 10-25 years will be what it was in the first 10-25 years of the USSR. DO YOU NEED IT? I don't.
And one more thing, everything said above is my IMHO.
