>From: "Alexandre Fenelon" <afenelon at zaz.com.br>
>
>
>-But, weren´t western made goods really superior????
>
>
Of course. Soviet consumer goods sucked in general. I think this is not so much because of the evils of central planning as it is due to the fact that, since it was almost impossible to be fired, people has a very lackadaisacal attitude toward work. When buying something from a Soviet shop, you would make sure to look at the date of manufacture: If it was a Monday or after a holiday, it was something to avoid, since it was quite possible the person making it was hungover. If it was the end of a month, you would avoid that too, since that was when people were working at breakneck speed in order to fulfill the plan.
Note that we are only talking about consumer goods here. Things the Soviet government put a priority on (military-industrial complex, construction, airplane manufacture, etc.) had a much higher standard.
_________________________________________________________________ Get a FREE online virus check for your PC here, from McAfee. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963