there's a line of thinking that the soviet union collapsed mostly because people didn't trust the government. that trust became a social problem, so there was glasnost, and it failed and blah blah blah. would it be possible to emulate that in the united states?

well, first: is it the real reason the soviet union collapsed? no.

but, is the phenomenon easily emulated, regardless? i don't think americans have the same kind of intellectual or emotional investment in government. americans don't feel betrayed by a broken utopia, so much as they've resigned themselves to the inevitability of the state. the culture is just too different.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f93_1390833151

a lack of faith in the soviet union was admittedly a serious crisis for the state, due to it's central place in society.

a lack of faith in washington is just called monday morning.

that's not to say that undermining faith in certain systems wouldn't lead to social mayhem. if you could seriously convince the bulk of the population to divest from the markets, there'd be chaos.

but there's as much or more discordant language about government in any random speech by any random establishment republican candidate.

so, i'm calling this as a bad russian tactic that demonstrates a poor understanding of american society.