By bashing the soviet system do you mean communism? Cuz I can intelligently bash that all day. I just won't because this is a gun forum not a political forum.
I wonder what Mikhail did for his 90th birthday. I'm sure it involved 7.62x39 and a round of stolichnaya. Not that I condone drinking and shooting.
I'm not sure if everyone has read these or not but I thought these are interesting quotes from Kalashnikov:
"My work is my life, and my life is my work. I invented this assault rifle to defend my country. Today, I am proud that it has become for many synonymous with liberty."
"It is the Germans who are responsible for the fact that I became a fabricator of arms. If not for them, I would have constructed agricultural machines.
"If someone asks me how I can sleep at night knowing that my arms have killed millions of people, I respond that I have no problem sleeping, my conscience is clean. I constructed arms to defend my country."
"Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything that already exists in this field."
"I am still ready to shake hands with anyone who designs a better assault rifle than mine."
"It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon, I created this weapon primarily to safeguard our fatherland"
