[quote=Veritas]John,
It would be a different world. In my opinion a better world, but clearly some of the posters will think otherwise. The Marxists prefer someone else telling them how to think, long lines, ugly architecture and substandard medicine. The workers’ paradise.[/quote]

Considering that democracy typically has evolved from a need to organize social relationships to offset the effects of un-restrained capitalism (eg: Britain and ancient Athens), I think it unlikely that any regime change without actual economic change could have brought about a new type of social structure. Please recall that, like Ireland, Russia was a country that tried to embrace modernity and failed. They ended up rationalizing serfdom centuries after the rest of the world had abandoned it and then suffering a dramatic backlash (ironically with the help of a Stalin, a Georgian). This attempt at modernizing artificially always ends up weird. My favorite examples are Iran, Japan, and Turkey. Makes me wonder what China will look like a few years from now.

And yes Mr. Gelb this is a threadjack. Not caring though.