 Well, it's wonderful to be here. It's I think that this is the best place in the world if I will be looking for another defection destination I think that but Rome was definitely a winner I was just looking at the Turkish newspaper. It said that six people out of one thousand believe what's written in the newspapers Six people and they don't have a Nazi propaganda radio, however, we have an NPR in the United States or PBS which is the only truth about that would be BS I think So today we'll talk about a little bit. I was just teaching this semester in in University of Dallas in Texas. Yes, and we're speaking at all tea parties all over the state or great state of Texas and Was in Sherman, Texas. It's a kind of in the middle of nowhere and one lady said you came here You're like sarpelin in this way. Don't look like that She said you came here to scare us And that's exactly what I will try to do because I wish somebody would come and scare Russians in 1917 or Chinese in 1948 or Cubans in 1959 They were not scared enough. So they conducted this deadly Experiment on themselves. Well for those who don't know Don't know me that I have quite a bizarre background. I worked For Soviet government will work. This is a great overstatement of my activities As one of economic advisors nobody listened to and look what happened there too big to fail was definitely Soviet Union 11 time zones one six of the world surface and failed miserably failed miserably and then I defected to the United States and To find myself working for the second largest bureaucracy of this planet for the federal government in a congressional Think tank which like all congressional think tanks didn't think at all But were tanking quite a lot So that's interestingly enough that Almost everything human relations Style of work was exactly the same as back in Moscow is back in Moscow So no work that was great that no work was done. No work was done. So today. I think that will talk About it's a every academic conference. I think to be truly academic should have at least one Presentation completely out of step and I'll try to to make this out of step presentation well at first we will talk probably about about What is socialism after Nicola it's difficult to talk about this And he quoted that parietta was pessimistic about our future And there was a Russian saying that pessimists is a well-informed optimist and parietta Definitely was and I would say that that social is no such thing as socialism even it's a just slavery it's just slavery in my In my work, I also I never use the word communism because communism was Just a secular religion. It was never achieved and Many socialists would say well, we're not communists. We are socialists. Socialism is better than coming to communism like fascism or something Right, however, it's it's definitely definitely Utopia it's a secular religion. That's why communist was so much a socialist were so much against other religions other religions That's what Karl Marx was trying to profess that we will hunt in the morning fish in the afternoon rare cattle in the evening criticize after dinner and That would be the the neverland which would never be achieved never be achieved well Nury Rodberg he Several times he talked to me that I should write and I should write a history of economics thought of Russia that this would be a Very because not many people know were the what kind of economists existed before before 1917 and one of us economists was bugged out of he was a Marxist in the beginning of his life and then turned to Austrian school after eating Bombay the the closure of the Marxist system And sure enough he was absolutely right that any government any government what a socialist or not is Parasite in parasitism and destruction and nothing else So you have smaller governments smaller parasitism smaller destruction or big government it with total destruction and total parasitism Sure enough for this kind of quotes. He was shot in 1923 and This other individual who you see that Time magazine greatly honored and whatever it was a man of the year He was there that the he was the one who realized well Then indeed but Stalin especially that the only way to make that system work of the big government is to kill To kill and as in the more you kill the more efficient you are In I got a small grant and working in the Library of Congress on a very interesting archive of general Volkogonov there was a Dmitry Volkogonov was a Soviet Army general and Commander of the Institute of military history of the USSR and he was kind of a propaganda hitman Anytime he would be on Soviet TV. I would switch him right right away I couldn't believe that that this very person since 1981 was making highly legal copies of everything going through his desk And then he moved everything to the Library of Congress He was a US ambassador offered him help of the CIA to do that Well, his point was that if CIA wants to read this archive they can get the readers card and go to the Library of Congress So so it is available. However, nobody knows about this and this is an amazing hand-written materials by Lenin Stalin Trotsky Gorbachev Yeltsin all all leaders of of the former Soviet Union and and Russia today and It's amazing to look at this memo. So for example Lenin he's he's writing in 1921 that I'm telling people and they don't do anything So what if we will dear comrade Zyrzhinsky? What if we will take a couple of them and shoot them publicly and they did and Then people began to work and socialism began to kind of like to to tag along Then the same Lenin is writing One person is writing to him. Well, you You should the letter that we should fight religion. How we can fight religion dear comrade Lenin He's writing of the same letter dear comrade Limbisil Kill religious people. That's how and they did and they did and so this mass murder was During the During the socialist experiment of 74 years and then murder toll in the Soviet Union was anywhere from 43 to 61 million people. I don't even care whether it's 43 or 61. It's just these numbers are completely overwhelming and Stalin used to say Death of one person is a tragedy that of millions is just statistic just statistic another kind of thing He would say that every problem has a man lurking behind it. No man. No problem That's not many people realize that they were printing backwards Pravda and his vestia and other major newspapers and replacing them in public libraries For example, this is comrade Yezhov who was a great murderer himself on his watch about 11 million people were murdered Then he was murdered himself and then all pictures and all newspapers Mentioning his name where he printed without his his name without his picture and so and so he He kind of never existed never existed. So Soviet Union China It's a very interesting work done by Rudy Rammel who was professor of demographics in the University of Hawaii About genocide about death by government. How many people were murdered all around the world and he came up with the numbers About hundred seventy seven million people murdered by just socialist Governments not in the wars, but but Just to prove that social works Two patterns were talked about that several times One means is he made the point that two patterns of socialism One pattern is Russian pattern That when everything all means of production belong to the state and another German when property rights are formally acknowledged by it But do not exist. It's just owning title of properties like owning Wetlands in the United States, so you cannot do much with that at all That's kind of the type of socials that we are moving to that's another favorite of Time magazine and then however, it's kind of Sorry Pretty sad Russian saying that the only lesson of history is that it does not teach us anything And it's really true that today we have a revival revival of Socialism of Soviet type socialism not only of German type of social but Soviet type of socialism and This is an interesting article and I was reading dreams of my father by by our Dear leader in in Washington DC and and he referred to his Very reverend to his father So I looked at what his father was writing and this is an amazing amazing article. It's a problems facing our socialism It's was published in East Africa Journal in 1965 in which Barack Obama Senior is making a point that we shouldn't have socialism like they had In the Soviet Union what we should have we should have taxation of one hundred percent Hundred percent action and then give people what they want However, some people would try to take more so we should actually define what they really want and this is a and this this kind of message, I think his son is a succeeding very Very efficiently he is being criticized by the left that he's not going far enough or what not? I think he went far enough In two years, I think that's already our movement told some both types of socialism Was stunning was stunning government ownership is just exploding. That's that socials means the government ownership on the means of production We have government motors. We have practically nationalized financial service industry Nationalized health care, which is the largest industry in the United States So we can we are going there He has the same in the same magazine And he has a he has the same stern look of beloved leader that's the That's another person of the year this I made especially for Tom de la Rensa Pretty nice picture Then What they're doing right now? I think that they're trying to smuggle socialism by destroying destroying the economy by Inflating and by borrowing like there is no tomorrow in their government is spending right now. I would say As a drunken sailor, but that would be a slander against drunken sailor who would spend his own money Rather than federal government, which is borrowing Not only from foreigners who do not vote for them, but also from the future Generation was recently an interesting article in financial times. If you would be interested to mail me and I'll send you a link about Seminar conducted by Goldman Sachs in New York for federal officials about issuing a 100 years maturity bond Can you imagine the 100 years maturity bond? So we will borrow not only from our children not only from the grandchildren, but from their Grand-grand-grand children. So that's the It's kind of shows the mr. However, when he was asked whether he supports it or not, he said that he's undecided. He's confused So that's the Hayek, I think was absolutely right when he was making a point that government is Through democracy so-called democratic process. It corrupts people it really creates clients it provides parasites with With the means taken from producers taken from from producers. I was watching Hi, it's absolutely right on this. Oh, that's the wrong hike He was absolutely right about that and I was just watching I don't watch TV usually because I'm not paid for that I'm like 6% 0.6% of Turks But once I was just watching it somewhere and They were asking a guy who was supporting Rod Blagojevich, you know that politicians some politicians are really funny I'm I'm missing George. I'll be bush not just because he is not a Bolshevik, but Manchivik, but also Also because he's pretty funny. I think that's I kind of missing it is stern. Look who does not replace this fun of His presidency and his his father especially remember George Herbert Walker bush He was I think the funniest, right? Remember how he threw up on Japanese prime minister and And did a lot of other things like that So that's the speaking about about that what what do they do it and Rod Blagojevich is supported by many people in Illinois So they're asking Why would you support such a crook and crook he is and one gentleman? He said he gave me a free bus ticket free bus ticket so you can buy a person with a bus ticket Just give a free bus ticket and these people would be already Already clients of the state clients of the state today in the United States not many people realize that 50 and a half percent of people are paying taxes Half of the population is not paying any taxes Then well they're paying what kind of Sales tax whatever but but no income tax 50% of people not paying income tax 47% of people are beneficiary of this or that government program So it's almost half of the population is was is put on the needle of federal dependency I was recently in Puerto Rico and Was absolutely amazed for me as labor comes to find out that labor participation rate in Puerto Rico is below 40% So we're not even talking about unemployment. We're talking about about people completely on federal toll Because Puerto Rico for example the the GDP per person or whatever they have for the statistics It's also fake, but it's about $10,000 per year federal power to lines $23,000 per year So so that only kind of combats in the seals would work in Puerto Rico. That's doesn't make any any Then nationalization of health care. That's the most I would say the most at Russia's thing that people can't believe in and so then This is a headline from a Russian newspaper that Now we have a private health care system and socialized one defected to the West and kind of thriving there driving there Why this is the most awful thing because this is the way you got for the government to nationalize your bodies to nationalize Well-being then you're completely hooked on the government on the government Charity I would say charity and People believe and and it was sold to the people that that we should we should cut on spending that That we're spending too much on health care Which is completely absurd. I mean they were spent about 16% of GDP on health care today For example in Russia, they spent 4% but 11% is spent on booze So should we instead of health care spent spent on booze more or whatever then it doesn't make much sense Today system is completely deotic However, the system which was passed last year by Congress is it's just out rightly at Russia's because the only way to Save on the health care is either to squeeze providers or to deny care and the government put both And the most amazing thing is this position of many doctors who are really like meat which voted for a meat grinder they just want this this to Self-inflicted wound on themselves, so it is It is the most awful kind of thing. This is socialized health care say in the Soviet Union That's kind of that that you can save on that and Spend 11% on booze So that was the system in today's Russia life expectancy for men is 58 for women It's about 70 so you can see that that's what socialized. That's that's public slavery Where nobody is concerned about this slaves? In private slavery it would be kind of outside irrational to destroy slaves in public slavery, I mean it's good with its compassion of DMV or whatever any other post office Slaves were wasted millions of them tons of millions of them. So that was there. That's I think is the greatest morning besides that costs costs are running a kind of a way run away costs in the United States I Would say if you will look The progress it's mostly technology and there's economists. It's very interesting. It's mostly technology That's why the costs are skyrocketing if you will look at 1950 How much would you spend on my past surgery or hip replacement? There was no such thing No such thing as as as what we can do today So this is says Soviet hospitals and The most amazing thing is it's a kind of national public radio or PBS They are feeding us with BS produced by Mike Moore or other kind of Socialist propaganda hitmen And the most amazing thing I don't know whether you watch sicko sicko It's really sickening because it's just lies pile good lies As living would say that you should say tell lies Put more lies on old lies and something would stick something with stick I said the most atrocious thing I believe that many Americans believe in is a human human health care human health care system I Took many students to Cuba because Cuba is the best way to inoculate Students against socialism if you see it once you never go back you never go back and you never would believe in in socialism And I have a friend in Cuba who was trained in Moscow. So since my Moscow days and I Ask him to talk to my students and his kind of government officials. So the self-preservation instinct and One young woman she said she asked him Well everything is so run down here a real estate everything just in a very poor shape But we heard that your health care is the best and he said yes We have the best health care in the world and it would be even better if we would have ambulances If we would have clinics it would have hospitals and occasional medicines and sure enough this is an ambulance in Cuba and And Amazingly enough also that when we're exiting from that from from his his lecture he in Russian He said only healthcare with her is to swim to Miami. That's it And and that's exactly the same. This is a this little dots are flies Fly so this is a free health care for for the masses. This is Cuban store exactly like the stores in the Soviet Union and Everything else is rationed. I mean you have a ration card and you can get about one kilogram of beans or two kilograms of rice per month per month and two hundred grams of vegetable oil And I was surprised. What is that in this in these boxes and I was told that this is baking soda So that I'm surprised that they didn't appoint the baking soda Manager to be a head of national economy Which was destroyed remember who was who was the the minister of national economy in Cuba was Che Guevara Che Guevara mass murder He murdered economy as well So this is real estate in Cuba. So it is So Marxism I would say that I kind of was very unkind to Marx But there are some Marxist. I mean, well, I'm not even saying about Benjamin Marx who is absolutely great and With whom I was corresponding for one and Groucho Marx. I think is Marx. I can believe in So this is the Socialists they all hate gold because gold would prevent them from inflating from stealing from debasing currency So that was a billionaire in China who made this Who was Lenin's follower and Lenin used to say that gold is perfect to produce toilet commons for what reason because it's not it's it would not corrode it would be kind of Pretty durable and when socialism will be a wall over the world then we will build all toilet commons Of gold and so one of his followers in China he built that and amazingly enough It was the price for this for this Object of art was seven million dollars when he made it and now it's 28 million dollars. So it is the best the best investment you could make Then well, I kind of Continuing this Tradition of showing Roman today. He showed his picture in US Army with a guitar And I found this on my hard drive my computer the simons of it army So you could see that I I would I would never make a military career Then I looked at the other pictures this Hans here just before just before this this this lecture he asked me how do I how do I feel and What I'm kind of physically good. I said well, I wish I would be 20 years younger And then I looked at my computer just before and found this picture 20 years younger You can see it was Mary was with us and we rock well so it's a And this is my my son here in career princess, so we have he's a growing libertarian so we will have I think Children of this church as well, so that's Which is pretty good and then to justify to justify them the title of my my say lecture with About the customs and condoms and I promise to have to tell this defection story some of you heard about it Many probably didn't how did I end it out in in under rotting capitalist decadent West? well, I worked in Moscow and My boss who was the biggest economist in the world we called him he was even bigger than me about 400 pounds for sure and He called me to his office and his name is Abel a gun began. He was he was the advisor the advisor so he should take the blame and He all the time that's also kind of funny that he all the time would would talk about he was obsessed with it like our president And and mrs. Clinton was obsessed with the Swedish model of socialism Swedish model of social He was all everywhere. He would say well, that's what we need to follow perestroika is nothing but But Swedish to build a Swedish model of social and mr. Gorbachev was already sick by that and he said And you don't remember once he interrupted him said Abel will you get all the Swedes? Sure enough yes, how do you Speaking about Swedish model however that today today Sweden is privatizing everything It's amazing enough if you would look that Swedish model today is way more freer than the model of the United States economic model So they have They privatizing public schools They just privatized at pharmacies, which shouldn't be nationalized the first place definitely, but they got rid of that They're trying to privatize their health care, which is very difficult thing to do So I was pulled by my mr. Gandhi gun he said, you know what? Gorbachev wants me to stay and I was supposed to go to Finland on a lecturing tour on a lecture. I said, well, I'm sorry to hear that that and he said nobody knows what's behind this birthmark and sure enough He was asked to stay and I went in the shoes of deputy prime minister of the evil empire went to Finland And I was not planning to defect there I don't like the word to defect the fact means that to give up something you believe in which was never the case With me because my grandfather was murdered by Stalin and my father's life was completely destroyed by that and what not and and so Finland at that time if you remember maybe was Finlandization policy so-called Finlandization policy is Was that Finns did not have? sovereignty over the foreign policy of the foreign policy military policy So if you would try to defect in Finland they would just return you back to the Soviet Union you would get 12 years of hard labor in Eastern Siberia And I was not ready for that kind of career change at all. And so I wasn't planning to defect and In other words and amazingly enough a lot of my colleagues came to my office when they heard that I'm going to Finland Which is considered to be kind of as a shining capitalist supermarket next door With almost everything you could buy in Sweden and in Finland and Everybody was asking me to bring them something and The something was basically enough women usually would ask me women would ask me to bring either mascara or Lipsticks and as my secretary said and the ugly ones are floppy disks so they are there I had that from women I had orders to bring Floppy disks mascara and lipstick all men however were uniform in their desires. They wanted condoms and For what is in condoms because that time everybody was scared of AIDS of AIDS and KGB They had a special KGB department of jokes were Spreading rumors that AIDS was invented by the United States Army in Fort Detrick, Maryland And and spread among Russians Yes, and I remember I asked my my sister who is a immunologist and she was just laughing like mad thinking And how fun it would be who would be all infected by Americans With AIDS yes with AIDS and the process infection would be fun. And then I So everybody wanted that And in Finland I bought a lot of that This and I was not planning to defect however, I had a speech in the Ministry of Finance and and after the speech Everybody went to an adjacent room to eat and I was thinking of a wonderful They have food so instead of spending money on dinner. I would just buy more of condoms and lipsticks and whatever else but I was attacked by People and the audience with more and more questions and one gentleman was asking me you saying well You're so critical to socialists Are you afraid of going back and if I would say no, I'm not and that would be the case I probably would still be in Moscow But I because I was was pretty hungry and Thinking that they will just finish everything So so I kind of barked at him. I said you have other options. He said well if you're looking for options Then we can do something. I said go ahead and do it. I remember I walked around him and Returned back to my hotel and was a message called Walden ASAP. I didn't know what ASAP is I thought maybe it's a Turkish person When I called that when I called this number, I realized who is that because he's had this very deep voice And he said let's go to Sweden tomorrow And I was thinking why to Sweden and why tomorrow I opened my appointment book I said no way I know booked and Then he said so you cannot squeeze defection into your tight schedule and then I realized what he's talking about and Sure enough. I looked through my appointment because I said Friday and he was laughing again saying Friday is defection day I said sure He said that if I may ask why I said well because I'm supposed to go back to Moscow And then nobody would be looking for me. It just kind of came up and and then to make long story short We crossed the borders in a whole kind of James Bond-ish way I walked into the US Embassy in Stockholm ask for political asylum and many got said okay, sir But it's Saturday come back on Monday And and then I was debriefed by all intelligent services of the West most of them were completely unintelligent and Even Swedish peace Institute, you know that Swedish intelligence service is Disgusted Swedish peace Institute. It's a big about new speak. Yes, so that's the spies peacemakers And so I to make a game long story short. I ended up in Kennedy Airport in the Kennedy Airport three months later and carrying two suitcases because one I bought already one in in Stockholm and the flea market Western with a more or less Western because I the other one was Was full with condoms and lipsticks And I and so when I now it's going through customs there was a Very big lady She said can you please open that And I opened the Soviets because it looked very different look Pretty ugly and so I opened that and and then she looked at all this She said if I may ask is that for private use or that's uh, that's our business samples or what? And I said for private use even Soviet trained economists would say private use She looked at my passport. I had a Soviet diplomatic passport with a big stamp admitted as refugee And so she said but oh you're coming for good. I Kind of looked at her inquiringly. She said well, I wouldn't let you in with all this for a weekend trip Should I open another one she said one is enough And then she actually smiled ear to ear and she said welcome to the United States And that was that was very very nice very very nice well At this point I probably should shut up