To expand on this - I’m interested in thinking about times that a cause we support won, not only because maybe it feels good to see positive stories instead of all negative, but also because specific examples might help illustrate why it won, and reveal strategies we can use in the future.
I’m no tankie but I wouldn’t consider Russia moving from communism to oligarchic kleptocracy to be the “good guys” winning. Russian life expectancy fell by several years. Putin used resentment over the humiliation to consolidate power. Gorbachev isn’t to blame for it or anything but the transition was so completely mishandled that we’re still dealing with the consequences decades later.
Don’t know about Russia itself, but it was a big win for all the former eastern bloc satellite states that got to free themself from the influence of Russian imperialism.
It’s like any other radical change: it can work, or it can end up fucking everyone over. I think the point was that it may have seemed like a true potential for change for a minute. The fall of the Wall and all that.