[Mark Heide]

M,

The problem with measuring censorship in degrees or types is that the degree or type needs to be objectively viewed in comparison to the person measuring censorship based on his ideology. In other words, it's impossible to measure the degrees and types unless your ideology is neither US Capitalism, Russian Socialism, or a combination of both.

The Soviet Union operated from a centralized point of view. Pravda was supported by the majority of it's population for quite some time, because it reflected the views of the majority. It was the minority that objected and became dissidents that the US government exploited during the propaganda war between us and them. I think the propaganda from the Cold War has clouded the thinking of many Americans, besides having biases from viewing the world from a Capitalistic viewpoint.

I was watching the BBC World News tonight. They did a report on Russia. The BBC did a survey that stated that 30% of the population liked Stalin and what he did for Russia (I know it's not the majority, but the percentage of citizens liking Stalin has been going up). I believe the reason for this is the comfort level for the average citizen in the Soviet Union was much better than today with todays failed attempt at capitalism. If I find the story on the web I'll post it.

Mark