Quote:
Originally Posted by CyberSEO
No, I was living on the Moon during the Soviet era.
Yes, I have posted pictures of dachas. Were they nice? They were usual. My parents had a dacha, parents of my wife had a dacha, parents of my friends had dachas and we've spent a lot of good time there. Soviet medicine was also free (today you can choose between free and paid ones). What's wrong with that? This is just a fact and it doesn't change my attitude towards commies.
No, the life in the USSR was not miserable at all. We had free apartments (not luxurious but own), free land for dacha (not too large but free) our parents had paid vacations and were able to spend one month a year in Black Sea resorts etc. It was definitely not something like you can see in North Korea today. Almost all internal restrictions were compensated by Russian mentality - as we say "строгость закона компенсируется необязательностью его исполнения" (the law is strict but you don't have to obey) 
On the other hand, I didn't like the Communist Party, because of falsehood, propaganda and freedom restrictions. For example, why should I spend my vacations on Black Sea if I want to do it at Seychelles? |
and what did your parents do for a living that they could have a dacha PLUS one month a year at a Black Sea resort?
because I grew up in Canada, my friends were working class, middle class and some upper middle class. none of my friends parents owned a cottage, which is what we call a dacha,
and none of their parents got a month at a resort in a tropical place. The average American/Canadian gets less paid vacation than an average European. My working class friends families went on cheap summer vacations, a car trip to visit relatives somewhere in the same province. Middle class friends maybe their family would rent a cottage/cabin for a week or two or go on a car trip to an American or Canadian tourist city. Almost none of my friends parents took a holiday by plane in winter to a warm weather place like Florida. Today things are better, you can be lower middle class and live the way upper middle class did when I was a kid.
What I'm saying is that if you're telling me the average working Joe in the Soviet Union could have an apartment AND a dacha in the country PLUS a MONTH at a Black Sea resort and he had 100% job security - there are many people who were living in capitalist countries like the US and Canada who would have traded much of their 'freedom' for that life.
Capitalism really doesn't benefit the majority, they'd be better off under a communist/socialist system. But they delude themselves, with help from the rich, that the sky's the limit for them if they work hard and are smart. The top 1% do great and then another 20% do good, the rest - FAIL. The US and Canada are now socialist states, so whatever my point was lol ....... is moot. Communism is bad, socialism if you follow the progress of societies through history was inevitable.