• 🏳️‍⚧️Edward [it/its]
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    7 months ago

       Another prisoner, who had been in Sin Sing, San Quentin, as well as in jails of England, Spain and Germany, before he was picked up by the Soviets for grand larceny, had been reclaimed by the Baltic-White Sea Canal. He had done a bit of engineering in his youth, and was promptly given a chance to work at this specialty. He won a medal, pursued his studies further, and was doing brilliant work on the Moscow-Volga Canal when Dr. Callcott met him. To her query about his reformation he replied:
       “In the other countries they treated me like a prisoner, clapped me in jail and taught me my place. Here they clapped me on the back and said ‘What can we do to make you into a useful citizen?’”

       […] Bolshevo Commune, the most famous “cure” for criminals can be entered only by application approved by the general meeting of members. Its waiting list is so long that it accepts only the most hardened cases, priding itself on being able to make over persons who cannot become cured in any other institution. Its strength lies in its large membership of intelligent former criminals, who apply to new entrants their intimate knowledge of the criminal mind.

    Anna L. Strong, This Soviet World, Chapter XIV

    (Emphasis mine, because of “2)” in OP image)

    • MeowZedong
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      7 months ago

      The further I get in this book, the more my heart breaks from the loss of what was built.

        • MeowZedong
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          7 months ago

          You’re right. It also gives me hope.

          What we once had, we can build again!