PREFACE:
Before we get into some positives of life in the Soviet Union, let's start off by stating this is not a thread to excuse the atrocities committed by the Soviet Union. Labor camps. Executions. Stalin's shite farming policies. Stalin's intentional starvation of certain areas. The brutal suppression of the Czeczlokian Revolution (Prague Spring). You get the point. All that is true and happened and should not be discounted. This is not a thread to excuse oppression and mass executions.
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Growing up in the West, all you are ever taught about the Soviet Union and its life is how terribly oppressive it was. The government told you what to think, what to do, how to act. There were breadlines around the corner. Stores were always empty. It's exactly like the book 1984. Then I learned more and more that "Soviet nostalgia" was a real thing, 56% of Russians in 2016 say they regret the collapse of the Soviet Union; that number has never dropped below 49% and has only risen. East Germans have expressed similar sentiments. This got me thinking, why on Earth would they think that? Surely, a more open and free life was better? I mean, maybe in autocratic Russia of today they can be nostalgic about the Soviet Union. But, why would East Germans in modern, democratic and prosperous Germany still fondly recall Soviet life? In 2009, 57 percent, or an absolute majority, of eastern Germans defend the former East Germany. Women definitely suffered as apparently "approximately 70% of East German women lost their job after 1990." I was unable to find a more recent poll regarding East German affinity for the old GDR, however.
That said, it's easy to see with full knowledge why individuals who lived in the Soviet Union, especially Soviet Russia, are nostalgic about its days as opposed to modern day Russia. Education was free. Housing was free. Unemployment was at 0%. Art and Culture was fully supported by the State. Women were encouraged to be leaders in work and politics. Family life was supported. Maternity leave and childcare was all provided. And contrary to Western propaganda, food was not scarce. What was scarce was the choice in consumer goods, especially attractive Western goods. And for Russians specifically, it was a time when the country was "respected."
Here's one video the BBC did on East Berlin, it still has a very Western bias. For instance, there is a segment where they interview some lady with sad music who was placed in a labor camp for some time for spying for the British despite the fact that she always maintained her innocence. Of course, turns out she actually was a spy for the British. Like, yeah being put in a labor camp wasn't nice, but she was a spy. Regardless, the documentary has a good mix of people that hated Soviet life in East Berlin and those that miss many of its benefits.
DW also did a nice documentary about life in Modern Russia from the perspectives of different generations, it's not really about Soviet life. However, the oldest lady there greatly misses Soviet life. She appreciated the education and opportunities she got as a women. She also hates how religious Russia has become now.
There's also this brief WaPo article on the subject that cites the various polls on Soviet nostalgia:
2009 Der Spigel article about GDR Nostalgia:
www.spiegel.de
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So, why don't we ever hear about some of these actual good aspects that were part of the Soviet Union? Also any counter-viewpoints and experiences are welcome.
Before we get into some positives of life in the Soviet Union, let's start off by stating this is not a thread to excuse the atrocities committed by the Soviet Union. Labor camps. Executions. Stalin's shite farming policies. Stalin's intentional starvation of certain areas. The brutal suppression of the Czeczlokian Revolution (Prague Spring). You get the point. All that is true and happened and should not be discounted. This is not a thread to excuse oppression and mass executions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Growing up in the West, all you are ever taught about the Soviet Union and its life is how terribly oppressive it was. The government told you what to think, what to do, how to act. There were breadlines around the corner. Stores were always empty. It's exactly like the book 1984. Then I learned more and more that "Soviet nostalgia" was a real thing, 56% of Russians in 2016 say they regret the collapse of the Soviet Union; that number has never dropped below 49% and has only risen. East Germans have expressed similar sentiments. This got me thinking, why on Earth would they think that? Surely, a more open and free life was better? I mean, maybe in autocratic Russia of today they can be nostalgic about the Soviet Union. But, why would East Germans in modern, democratic and prosperous Germany still fondly recall Soviet life? In 2009, 57 percent, or an absolute majority, of eastern Germans defend the former East Germany. Women definitely suffered as apparently "approximately 70% of East German women lost their job after 1990." I was unable to find a more recent poll regarding East German affinity for the old GDR, however.
That said, it's easy to see with full knowledge why individuals who lived in the Soviet Union, especially Soviet Russia, are nostalgic about its days as opposed to modern day Russia. Education was free. Housing was free. Unemployment was at 0%. Art and Culture was fully supported by the State. Women were encouraged to be leaders in work and politics. Family life was supported. Maternity leave and childcare was all provided. And contrary to Western propaganda, food was not scarce. What was scarce was the choice in consumer goods, especially attractive Western goods. And for Russians specifically, it was a time when the country was "respected."
Here's one video the BBC did on East Berlin, it still has a very Western bias. For instance, there is a segment where they interview some lady with sad music who was placed in a labor camp for some time for spying for the British despite the fact that she always maintained her innocence. Of course, turns out she actually was a spy for the British. Like, yeah being put in a labor camp wasn't nice, but she was a spy. Regardless, the documentary has a good mix of people that hated Soviet life in East Berlin and those that miss many of its benefits.
DW also did a nice documentary about life in Modern Russia from the perspectives of different generations, it's not really about Soviet life. However, the oldest lady there greatly misses Soviet life. She appreciated the education and opportunities she got as a women. She also hates how religious Russia has become now.
There's also this brief WaPo article on the subject that cites the various polls on Soviet nostalgia:
2009 Der Spigel article about GDR Nostalgia:
Homesick for a Dictatorship: Majority of Eastern Germans Feel Life Better under Communism
Glorification of the German Democratic Republic is on the rise two decades after the Berlin Wall fell. Young people and the better off are among those rebuffing criticism of East Germany as an "illegitimate state." In a new poll, more than half of former eastern Germans defend the GDR.
www.spiegel.de
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So, why don't we ever hear about some of these actual good aspects that were part of the Soviet Union? Also any counter-viewpoints and experiences are welcome.
