--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you read about the end of the Soviet…" description: "\"When you read about the end of the Soviet Union, it's always about the \"death of socialism.\" They never say \"the death of democracy.\" But it makes abou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f97/noam-chomsky-42_death_when-you-read-about-the-end-of-the-sovie_1357163.jpg" --- # When you read about the end of the Soviet Union, it's… ![“When you read about the end of the Soviet Union, it's always about the "death of socialism." They never say "the death of democracy." But it makes about the same sense.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f97/noam-chomsky-42_death_when-you-read-about-the-end-of-the-sovie_1357163.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f97/noam-chomsky-42_death_when-you-read-about-the-end-of-the-sovie_1357163.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f97/noam-chomsky-42_death_when-you-read-about-the-end-of-the-sovie_1357163.jpg) > “When you read about the end of the Soviet Union, it's always about the "death of socialism." They never say "the death of democracy." But it makes about the same sense.” [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The collapse of the USSR is framed as socialism's failure, while democracy's decline is ignored, suggesting bias in historical narratives. **In simple terms:** History often highlights some failures while downplaying others. Key Takeaway Question narratives and seek balanced perspectives. Themes history politics media bias Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical reflective When to use this quote - political discourse - educational curricula - media reporting - public debates Key Concepts ideology narrative framing historical analysis Questions to Reflect On - How do media choices shape our view of history? - What other narratives are marginalized? A Different Perspective The quote may oversimplify complex political dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-democracy-2691268/) [Death Socialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-socialism-606908/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Democracy Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy-makes-591038/) [End Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-soviet-3392468/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Socialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socialism/) [Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet/) [Soviet union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-union/) [Unions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unions/) ## Related quotes > [Wojtyla was a warrior, who did more to end the Soviet Union than even America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/wojtyla-was-a-warrior-who-did-more-to-end-the-soviet-union-than-even/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-hutchins/the-death-of-democracy-is-not-likely-to-be-an-assassination-from/) [Robert M. Hutchins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-hutchins/) > [Thirteen years after the end of the Soviet Union, the American press establishment seemed eager to turn Ukraine's protested presidential election on November 21…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-cohen/thirteen-years-after-the-end-of-the-soviet-union-the-american-press/) [Stephen Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-cohen/) > [One substitute for the disappearing Evil Empire (The Soviet Union) has been the threat of drug traffickers from Latin America. In early September 1989,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/one-substitute-for-the-disappearing-evil-empire-the-soviet-union-has/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [NATO was constructed on the - with the reason, whether one believes it or not, that it was going to defend Western Europe from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/nato-was-constructed-on-the-with-the-reason-whether-one-believes-it/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The Soviet Union was pretty much what Lenin and Trotsky said it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-soviet-union-was-pretty-much-what-lenin-and-trotsky-said-it-was/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The Bolshevik revolution was a counter-revolution. Its first moves were to destroy and eliminate every socialist tendency that had developed in the pre-revolutionary period.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-bolshevik-revolution-was-a-counter-revolution-its-first-moves/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Homeland or death! Socialism or death! We shall overcome!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/homeland-or-death-socialism-or-death-we-shall-overcome/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [The major political event of the twentieth century is the death of socialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-kristol/the-major-political-event-of-the-twentieth-century-is-the-death-of/) [Irving Kristol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-kristol/) > [It is certainly safe, in view of the movement to the right of intellectuals and political thinkers, to pronounce the brain death of socialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-tebbit/it-is-certainly-safe-in-view-of-the-movement-to-the-right-of/) [Norman Tebbit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-tebbit/) > [democracy always makes for materialism, because the only kind of equality that you can guarantee to a whole people is, broadly speaking, physical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-fullerton-gerould/democracy-always-makes-for-materialism-because-the-only-kind-of/) [Katharine Fullerton Gerould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-fullerton-gerould/) > [True Democracy makes no enquiry about the color of the skin, or the place of nativity. Wherever it sees a man, it recognizes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-democracy-makes-no-enquiry-about-the-color-of-the-skin-or-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In almost every detail, when one examines it closely, it is not Democracy which makes the system work, but the Individual democrats who, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-m-mes/in-almost-every-detail-when-one-examines-it-closely-it-is-not/) [G.M. Mes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-m-mes/) > [Democracy makes us articulate our views, defend them, and refine them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-h-hamilton/democracy-makes-us-articulate-our-views-defend-them-and-refine-them/) [Lee H. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-h-hamilton/) > [As I understand I took most so-called democratic states about 200 years on average to build their democracies. That is why, when we go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-lebed/as-i-understand-i-took-most-so-called-democratic-states-about-200/) [Aleksandr Lebed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-lebed/) ## More by Noam Chomsky > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are questions as to whether it should even exist. Who should corporations be responsive to, the management of a corporation? Theoretically they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-questions-as-to-whether-it-should-even-exist-who-should/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/governments-regard-their-own-citizens-as-their-main-enemy-and-they/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The first thing you ought to do is verify what I present. Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-thing-you-ought-to-do-is-verify-what-i-present-just-because/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/this-is-class-war-on-an-international-scale-and-power-is-in-the-hands/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-big-extremely-irrational-parts-of-the-society-and-they-have/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's plenty to criticize about the mass media, but they are the source of regular information about a wide range of topics. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-plenty-to-criticize-about-the-mass-media-but-they-are-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The 50,000 Korean mercenaries we had in Vietnam were professional killers and just massacred people outright. And the American army did plenty of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-50-000-korean-mercenaries-we-had-in-vietnam-were-professional/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Explore all 2,129 Noam Chomsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. 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Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. 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