Most Americans, including a number of American leftists, appear to think so. I doubt that the majority of your beloved European leftists -- especially of the sort involved in the Social Forum -- exactly embrace your view of the USSR.
--- God knows most people in the fSU don't. That was the Golden Age. In a recent poll conducted by My Man Robert Bruce Ware in Dagestan (for those who don't know, amajority Muslim Russian republic adjacent to Chechnya), when asked the question, "What form of social organization is right for Dagestan?", 80% of respondents said "Brezhnev-type socialism," 15% said "Western-style liberal democracy," and 5% said "Islamic state."
God was life in the Brezhnev era cushy. Total economic security, almost no danger from crime, huge amounts of leisure time, none of the vicious ethnic conflicts you have nowadays. It was Da Bomb. Except for the shitty goods and service of course.
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