Well, we can argue endlessly about the lesser of two evils. Chris is probably right (I dont know. Most Russians that I know here are engineers and so have benefitted from leaving Russia...socialist or capitalist...obviously they are more privleged than most Russians). However, my question is (and I will admit to knowing a lot less about the former SU than I do, say, about China) even if we take into account that there is never going to be a utopia, did the SU measure up to even modest expectations as to what a socialist state should be? Was necessary work time reduced? Did people have more vacation time? Were they able to travel freely ANYWHERE they wished? Were they able to engage in free expression? Was it even more democratic (and please no long winded discussions about bourgeois democracy...I am not arguing that people should have the "right" to privately own the means of production)
Now, perhaps it is also the case that under the present system that the above is as bad or, in some cases, worse. I wont dispute that. But socialism was supposed to be a helluva lot better than capitalism. Instead, I see the capitalist West being used as a bell weather and the former SU not measuring up in many ways. The best defense I see from a lot of people is that somehow things that were bad in the Soviet Union are even worse now. That's an argument, in my opinion, for the rejection of both systems, not an endorsement for either side.
-Thomas
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