About Leo Expertise I was born in the form. USSR. I`m a native Russian speaker and have a first-hand experience in Russian language, culture, and customs.
I've been reading up a lot on the Soviet era, and I have a general question that I'd like to ask someone with first-hand experience: How effective was the Soviet socialist system in meeting the needs of the people? I think the information I, as an American, have received from the American media may not have been completely correct; for example, the American media often showed the bread lines and empty shelves. They also claimed the USSR had bad medical care and a general standard of living way below the US (i.e. cramped apartments, lack of appliances like microwaves, automobiles, etc.). However, I'm not sure if the information I received was more propaganda than anything else.
Do you think the Soviet system took care of its people? Was life really hard? Were the people happy?
Thanks in advance!
-Chris
Answer Hi, Chris, thanks for your question.
I must to say that the American media was generally correct.
Soviet social system was based on a principle "One who doesn't work doesn't eat"... Think for a moment what would happen with all of those who are unable to work for any reason, they all would starve to death according to that principle...
While there were unemployment during that time, compensation for work was below the poverty level compare to the Western standards. And, yes, endless lines were a hallmark of daily Soviet life. Healthcare was free and accessible to all, however, its level was very low, especially in rural areas and small towns...
There's one very important remark. Soviet system existed since 1917 until 1991, almost 74 years. During those years the worst ones were first 4-5 years during which economy was totally destroyed and civil war and famine killed millions of people. The next few years were relatively good when Lenin allowed free market to return. Stalin, however, eliminated free market for good, destroyed farmer's communities, caused starvation and death of millions, further worsened the situation by purges and murders of millions. Pre-WW II years were better with regard to supply of food. WW II was a time of great trial and millions were killed by war and by starvation(especially, in Leningrad).
Again, since Soviet industry was ALWAYS heavily skewed towards armaments, race in space, and other goals other than meeting needs of daily life, cars, electronics, and many other goods were in permanent shortage and of low quality. Imported goods, however, were not accessible to many...
It's very important, however, to differentiate between poor or terrible situation with food and goods supply on one side and overall cultural and educational level of Soviet society on the other side which was definitely superior compare with those of many countries including Western ones.. But that is another question..
Were the people happy? Some people were happy there most of the time, some were happy sometimes. I don't think that millions of exiled and tortured in "GULAG" were happy...
Again, everyone had his/her unique experience and most often it was neither black nor white, but something in between...
