The Guardian today is running a 14 year old story on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s abandonment of Marxism-Leninism as the official ideology of the Soviet Communist Party.

Was it only 14 years ago?

Back then (well, before then really — more like 1989 I imagine) there was a communist bookshop across the street from the University of Toronto, and I remember the strange sight of a pyramidal display of Gorbachev’s Perestroika: New thinking for our country and the world in the window, now clearly ringing the death knell for that very book store, though who could have predicted all of the fantastic improvements the next few years would bring so rapidly and dramatically.

So, here we are 14 years later and, thank god for the victory of capitalism. Now the world is safe from conflict and strife. We’re on our way to saving the environment, and everyone has enough food and shelter. Thank you Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and the Georges Bush!