The Soviet nomenklatura lived like the American upper middle classes -- sort of like me, equivalent of a nice house in the burbs or an OK apt in the city, a dacha in the country, a couple cars, a housekeeper (I don't have the dacha or the housekeeper myself, but I suppose I could afford them in principle.) Therewas nothing like the disparity of wealth or luxury between ordinary workers and the American super rich, some of whom I knew from college. jks --- Yes. I know people who were in the nomenklatura, or close to it. (E.g. I know a guy who used to be Brezhnev's elite dentist, and some KGB families.) This sounds about right.
However, having a dacha was not restricted to the nomenklatura. Every city dweller who wanted a dacha could have one. This has very positive results today for pensioners, who will often rent their apartment in the city and live at the dacha.
_________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus