Communism

During the early days of the “Cold War,” there was a story about Josef Stalin in which the Soviet Dictator is flying from Leningrad to Moscow. The plane passes over a particularly desolate area and Stalin reaches into his pocket and throws out a ruble. “That will make some poor peasant down there happy,” he says to others on the plane. One of Stalin’s “yes-men” thinks that is a wonderful idea. “Why not throw out five rubles and make five poor peasants happy?” he asks. Stalin replies, “Why not ten rubles?” “Why not fifty?” says the yes-man. Stalin thinks that is a great idea. The excitement grows as the rubles start raining down on the poor peasants — until, in his exuberance, Stalin’s “yes-man” blurts out, “Sir, why don’t you throw yourself out and make everybody happy!”