Quote Originally Posted by Barack Dalai Lama View Post
Let's compare:

Under Hoxha:
a) Albania led the world anti-revisionist movement with (then not seen as revisionist) China, and did much to help Maoism spread in Europe and West Africa, and also was one of the few pro-Chinese states in the UN at the time;
b) Albania was relatively modernized, going from tribalism to modern health care, education, total electrification, industry, government (as opposed to the clan-based almost at times pseudo-state of the past), independence (Hoxha resisted Greek claims on southern Albania, for example, and incorporation into Yugoslavia in the 40's), women's rights, a far higher standard of living, etc. For a state that achieved most of this in under 25 years, that's pretty goddamn amazing. It went from the 15th century to the 20th. Oh, and it also resisted Soviet social-imperialism while remaining a member of the WP. (Until withdrawing in 1968)

Now, in the period of 1990-today:
a) there was a massive surge in corruption, which accumulated until 1997 when a civil war (civil war) began over a government-sponsored ponzi scheme;
b) a revival of tribal laws including the (banned under Hoxha) Gjakmarrja which fucked over entire families, rise in organized crime, deteriorating health and educational systems, etc. US aid came in to save the day for Albania after its transition totally wrecked the economy.

Pretty sure Hoxha wins here, unless a life expectancy of 38, 90%+ illiteracy, no electricity, clan laws, no independent foreign policy, not even a unified language, and total superstition sound totally awesome to you. In this case I'd tell you to look into King Zog's rule, because that was the condition of Albania in the 30's.
Either way buddy, it has been, and still is, one of the poorest countries in Europe. I don't really care what Hoxha did, what King Zog did, or what the country is up too now. They are still one of the poorest countries in Europe.


So wait, Tibet invasion isn't imperialist (not arguing that it was) yet China's maneuvering over Taiwan is? The RoC itself was seen as imperialist by many ethnic Taiwanese, Tibet was de facto independent for the majority of its history under de jure Chinese rule.
Notice where I said "I just threw around Imperialist since MrDie gets off to that."

You are obviously the one who can't read.