Hard to make a comparison. Is a spy at a meeting and reading physical mail really different from... spys at meetings and reading electronic communications?
The big difference probably isn't that modern -- it's bugs that record in-person conversations even when no spy is in the room. A problem, but not an impossible one.
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to be fair, the level of surveillance now far surpasses anything the ruling class of old could have ever dreamed of doing
Hard to make a comparison. Is a spy at a meeting and reading physical mail really different from... spys at meetings and reading electronic communications?
The big difference probably isn't that modern -- it's bugs that record in-person conversations even when no spy is in the room. A problem, but not an impossible one.
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There was even an informant (Malinovsky) in the Central Committee at one point.