Do you now live a thousand times better than during Soviet times?

[peacetraveler22]

If time travel ever becomes possible, I would transport myself back to Moscow or the province in the 1970's or 80's to better understand the realities of life in Soviet times. Looking at old photos in books or online, I can hardly envision such a system of life where everything is so structured and predestined. This is the eternal debate amongst my older Russian friends and readers - the pros and cons of life in the USSR vs. modern day Russia. Tonight I read an article written by a man who was only nine years old when the Soviet Union collapsed. However, he claims this was long enough to form a strong enough opinion about life in the USSR to know that he never wishes to return. His observations seem a bit shallow and naive on the surface. He takes a few of the most commonly expressed strengths of the Soviet system, and explains why they are misconceptions. Please remember these are not my personal views, but the opinions of a former resident in the Soviet Union. Let's begin with education...

Myth 1: The Soviet education was the best in the world



There's a common belief that education in the Soviet system was good, perhaps even the best in the world.  However, this was largely a result of propaganda, and it's important to ask the primary question of how a "great" education should be measured?  It's clear that scientific progress in the West was no less than in the USSR.  Moreover, if everyone was so smart in the USSR, why couldn't they make good cars and VCRs? Something is wrong here, and doesn't add up.

Myth 2: Soviet medicine was better

Obviously, the quality of medical care was worse in Soviet times.  It has always been worse when compared to decaying capitalist countries. Life expectancy in the USSR was lower than the "enemy" at all times.

Reasons for lower life expectancy are simple - lack of modern medicines and treatments. While every effort was being made to create the next warheads, citizens died without having access to advanced diagnostics or care.

Myth 3: Free housing

A common misconception about the USSR is that everyone lived for free. In fact, there was no free housing but cooperatives, which cost an average sum, payable through reasonable installments for 25 years. Everyone in the USSR had a roof over their head, but the quality of housing was horrible and inferior in quality. After the collapse of the USSR, the owners of these apartments were faced with the need to privatize for big money, otherwise the housing became the property of the city. What, in general, makes housing better during Soviet times? Nothing.



Myth 4: In the Soviet Union, there was no unemployment or homeless

The main problem here was the equalization of labor in low wages, where many people lived paycheck to paycheck, creating a low standard of living for the majority. It's better to provide economic incentives for high quality work, rather than simply handing people wages. The latter creates lazy and entitled workers. Side note from me: I dont' understand employment during Soviet times? How were people hired? They picked their own jobs, or the choice was made by the government?

Myth 5: The most powerful army in the world!

Classic point of discussion for lovers of the USSR! Yes, the Union had a strong army, to the "defense industry" money was never spared. The Soviet forces were greatly feared abroad, but there are two important points. (1) A strong army has no effect on the lives of ordinary people, except in the negative direction (when all power goes to the creation of tanks, there remains no funds for infrastructure and other improvements); and (2) the Armies of Western countries were no less strong.

Myth 6: Products and clothes were better in the USSR


This is complete nonsense according to the author. In Soviet times, everything was worse with clothing and consumer choice. People wore shoes for ten years, and it was the same with all other clothes which were of poor quality. Remember how everyone was so desperate for Levis and other American jeans?

In his opinion, the absolute worst part of life in the USSR was the lack of choice in everything - education, work, food, clothing. Soviet citizens couldn't leave the country or really choose the accommodations which best fit their own personality, goals or comfort.  Individuality was suffocated. The government planned human life from birth to death. In general, it completely ruined the country and strangled motivation.

The author's final words - "God forbid that we all go back. Now we live a thousand times better." Do you agree?

P.S. - is the term "совок" offensive and derogatory, or it's okay to use?

Comments

[inescher.livejournal.com]

Yes! But it you were lucky to get it. :) What about tomato juice in the store with wet salt in the glass and one spoon for everyone? :)))
Where are you from? I'm from Kharkov.

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[andrey-kaminsky.livejournal.com]

Каждый совок имеет такие вот оправдания для своего любимого Совка " to prevent blocking of Straits of Eilat and get rid of Egyptian army bases close to its borders". Сталин под такие речи навязал всей восточной Европе просоветские режимы.
Ну а что я не больно вежлив, это не отменяет того, что вы совок:)

[morreth.livejournal.com]

Dnipro!
Tomato juice - eewww... Still eeewwww. Only when I prepare borshtch or "mexican stew".
Birch juice! 8 kopeykas a glass!

[inescher.livejournal.com]

Oh... Dnepr is beautiful! :)))

I still love tomato juice. And use it for borsch, of course too. :)))
Birch juice-yes. Bublics (bagels) with poppy seads. 5 kopeykas only.

[inescher.livejournal.com]

1. Agree. Want to add that Soviet Education Program was very wide but not deep. Kids after school theoretically know "a little bit of everything" but can't use their knowledge in their real life.
2. I'm wasn't lucky as you so I remember my 2 or 3 times in the hospitals in USSR. First one when I was just 5 years old and stayed without my mom 2 weeks in a hospital after appendectomy. I still remember how the nurce yeld to us, and how I cried when I looked in the window and wait my mom who brought me the homemade food because it was impossible to eat hospital's one.... and it's not only one story. It's too sad but my family had a lot of "bad" stories about soviet medical care.
3. You dad was a rich man. :))) My parents and grandparents were engineers. Our apartment was received by my grandfather from the Malyshev's factory. It was in 60th before I was born. It was 3 rooms for 9 people: my grandparents, my aunty and her family(2 adults and 2 kids), my parents with my brother.
Actually, I remember that my mother's salary was 210 rubles.

[nar-row.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, medicine and education were better back then, generally.
Consumer products and houses often were not very good, that's true.

However, the question about Soviet Union is not the question of what we were but what we became.

Back then we were an industrial country. Maybe not the best, but still. Now we are half a banana republic. Oil, gas and metal are our bananas.

[iamschik.livejournal.com]

Автор, в основном, прав; а вы или бредите, или врёте.

[yacc11.livejournal.com]

Looks like person, who wrote that, did not live in the USSR :)

> However, this was largely a result of propaganda, and it's important to ask the primary question of how a "great" education should be measured? It's clear that scientific progress in the West was no less than in the USSR.
ridiculous. Education is not measured by science since only few percent of peoples are involved in science. I would rather say that education in USSR was better than current since there was a good chance to find a good teacher even in deep rural side.

>Reasons for lower life expectancy are simple - lack of modern medicines and treatments.
That is ridiculous as well. Life expectancy strongly depends on child mortality rather than treatments during adult age. In fact modern stomatology is definetely better and much less painful.

> In fact, there was no free housing but cooperatives, which cost an average sum, payable through reasonable installments for 25 years.
In fact you was able to build your own house. Cooperatives were rare and most of peoples don't think to be an owner of apartement in cooperative.

>The main problem here was the equalization of labor in low wages, where many people lived paycheck to paycheck
That is another lie. There were several commont types of peoples who lived paycheck to paycheck 1) alcoholics ( since they have to spend money to buy alcohol ) 2) dandies with low IQ ( since it takes to pay several wear's price to get it faster ). There are modern peoples who like to have iPhone and are ready to eat instant noodles for that. 3) peoples who are out of birth control and have many children.

>The most powerful army in the world!
That is rather myth. USSR Army was not strongest army in the world since it had defend strategy but it was able to compete with whole NATO when it tries to invade USSR,

> Products and clothes were better in the USSR
they were more reliable and that is true.

>Remember how everyone was so desperate for Levis and other American jeans?
that was a matter of bigger social status since Levis was rare. Now Levis does not give you extra bonus that is why modern people don't care is that Levis or not. :)

[iamschik.livejournal.com]

I think, you are right, and your opponent is either paid bot, or simply dellusuional.

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[moebiuscat.livejournal.com]

That's hilarious! Thank you for the entertainment. A word of advice: some history background and better manners will help other people to take you seriously. Good manners an politeness also dictate to use English in the company of Eanglish-speaking people and in their blog. But alas, you obviously weren't taught good manners.

[morreth.livejournal.com]

Kharkiv is OK too.
Donetski buns? With yellowish pastry, 9 kopeykas?

[morreth.livejournal.com]

360 $ is 220 roubles by official course. Parents gained 355 altogether, approximately 400 with bonuses and side tasks.

[sov0k.livejournal.com]

It's all bullshit. Simple as that.

And I know how a comment such as this looks, but sometimes there is not much else to say. Surely, the USSR was full of problems, some of them quite grave, seeing how it eventually collapsed. But rehearsing that sort of primitive anti-commie propaganda sheds not a sparkle of light on the nature of those problems.

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[andrey-kaminsky.livejournal.com]

Спасибо за совет приятель:) Как я уже и сказал, хорошие манеры не являются для меня приоритетом. Я здесь с единственной целью - развлечь себя. Я увидел, что вы совок и написал вам об этом, получил некоторое удовольствие, наблюдая как вы извиваетесь, громоздя одну ложь на другую, пытаясь обелить своего совкового божка-государство. Это было действительно забавно, как вы утверждали, что Израиль не хотел ничьей земли, затем, следом, что это Египет жаждал подарить землю Израилю изо всех сил, хотя опять вы же писали, что желание Египта заключалось в исчезновении Израиля. Это было виртуозно, спасибо.
Обычно, я люблю тролить фашистов, они забавнее, но так получилось, что фашистов под руку не попалось, был только совок, то есть вы. Но, опять же, хочу вас предупредить, что совок довольно легко трансформируется в фашика, если в телевизионном кабеле существует определённый пропагандистский накал. Так что если вы заметили, что при упоминании арабов вам приходят мысли о бомбардировках и губы шепчут "overkill, overkill" - процесс пошёл. Сдерживайте себя, не прогрессируйте в фаша:)
Ну и, надеюсь, без обид. Было приятно пообщаться.

[irinalk89.livejournal.com]

Even the Soviet government didn't come up with such an idea for optimization ). Usually these were your relatives, however, in some cases there could be ex-spouses, which made the whole idea of divorse somewhat pointless.

[solnce-v-kaple.livejournal.com]

She could sew a little (there were special lessons at school) but was too lazy for it )
And the girls used make-up. My Mom was good in drawing, was fond of arts, so her results in "drawing of face" looked natural. But she had a friend that didn't use a mirror while making a black line round her eye ))

[solnce-v-kaple.livejournal.com]

[solnce-v-kaple.livejournal.com]

Have added a photo made in 1973 (Mom is in white dress)

[mila-xm.livejournal.com]

It is French expression. Means bad manners, vulgar way of speech. In Russian it was transformed into word моветон - "moveton".

[anna-sollanna.livejournal.com]

I read this article in Russian (btw in Russian it was much longer) and I completely agree with its author. Though I was only eleven when the USSR collapsed I remember very well hardships and privations of its citizens - rations cards (I remember an episode when sugar was still available without them, but there was a long line to buy it and it was sold a kilo per person. I was asked to stay with an acquaintance of us who was standing several people before us for her to be allowed to buy a kilo more and I refused to do it because I was afraid that the shop assistant might remember me and later would not to sell a kilo of sugar more to our family when it was our turn), clothes and shoes of a very low quality that was not at all easy to buy (I remember that one of my uniform gowns was so substandard that it had to be patched on my elbows already after less a year of wearing), the soviet medicine (especially dental - can you imagine that even in the end of 1980ies they didn't use to anesthetize children at all? Not to mention that there were no saliva ejectors and light-cure fillings and so on; and people had to sit about ten minutes with their mouths open and just wait for their fillings to harden! Because of all of this I have rather bad teeth and I was afraid of dentists for a very long time!)
But I do not agree with the author of the article in the subject of comparing the USSR with the modern Russia. The modern Russia is moving more and more towards the USSR. IMHO it is already closer to that dead Evil Empire (though still not fully equal) than to the modern Western civilization. And in comparison with the Western civilization the USSR loses at almost all points. There were only two types of people who lived well in the SU - the Party functionaries and people who didn't want to work but wanted to get money for free. The latter got some rather small pittance from the government but in the comparison with NOTHING they would have had in the free market society that pittance was something, that is why all of them now proclaim how it was to live in the USSR...
As for the term совок... Well, some people who revere the USSR may consider this term offensive and derogatory, but I think that the ugly and ghastly state as the USSR was deserves just that offensive and derogatory term; so you can use the word совок freely (at least when communicating with me ;) )

[j1980.livejournal.com]

Нет, ну это ж Греция, мифы, культура, олимпийские игры, столько всего связано. А столицу Индонезии, например, я и сам не сразу скажу. Джакарта вроде?

[scrawnypaws.livejournal.com]

2 anna_solanna

Remember, what Pelevin(?) said? The Evil Empire was an Evil Banana Republic that imported its bananas from Finland. -- something like that. But it was - and is - no less deadly for that, unfortunately.

[cossache.livejournal.com]

You know....i collect too,lol But its for trash. We have small litter basket due size of soviet kitchen, so we just place near basket a bag and put there plastic/paper trash. Many families do the same thing with bags from shop.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

One benefit of modern life in my view is more choices - in clothing, in travel, etc. About medicine, I have no opinion. I've never been to a Russian hospital or doctor.

[peacetraveler22.livejournal.com]

Well, he was only 9 years old when the Soviet Union collapsed, so perhaps his judgment is clouded. :) Thanks for your insight and opinions.