Thread: О тех, кто в России у власти

What was it that was really bad about living conditions in those days?
I mean, what do you remember as truly irritating and frustrating about your living conditions when you lived there? I never had an opportunity to ask a Russian person that, and it would be interesting to know.

And on the USA - I am just not sure about what the situation with poverty is really like there.
I don't know how big a percentage that is, or what the average living standard of a worker is, or was in the 60s. Like somebody who works in an average factory. I think there are some really poor people living in slums of big cities and in the South of the USA. Not sure how that compares with people in the USSR in those days. I guess in the USSR people generally did not become homeless at least. On the other hand, it might have been hard for them to improve their living conditions through hard work and diligence, like people in the USA can.

Originally Posted by Hanna

What was it that was really bad about living conditions in those days?
I mean, what do you remember as truly irritating and frustrating about your living conditions when you lived there? I never had an opportunity to ask a Russian person that, and it would be interesting to know.

I'm not sure that is a fruitful question. There's probably nothing as frustrating as finding a fair comparison. Once I read a serious research that the standards of living in the Soviet Union were better than in the US. They compared the GDP, the housing costs, the amount of the proteins and fat an average person consumed a day, and many more factors. After reading that research, I kind of refuse to answer your question. Really bad things happen everywhere. The reason why those leaving the Soviet Union were named "those who left for the sausage" was a legend that a woman entered a corner deli store in the West Germany and fainted because she saw some 50 different sorts of sausages. (And of course due to the fact that there was very limited assortment (most often - nothing) in the Soviet corner stores.) Personally, I find that story hard to believe because those who were allowed to leave the iron curtain and visit the West Germany were quite familiar with the different sorts of sausage, maybe not 50, but 10 for sure as they should have access to the fine sausages in the special distribution stores. Such stores were closed for the general public and were only open to the specific people, either the party nomenclature or the high-rank specialists working for the Military Complex. The prices in those special stores were very good, not expensive at all. It's just that the access was limited. The top government officials got all that (and many more) for free. The Communism wished to eliminate the difference between the rich and the poor. But, you can't produce the sausages for everyone. In the West it was controlled by the high price, and in the USSR it was controlled by the government (just like about everything else). Whoever was closer to the government had better goods and services and there was no other means to get it. Would you consider that "really bad"? Perhaps, no as long as other people are used to live that way, right?

Originally Posted by Hanna

What was it that was really bad about living conditions in those days?
I mean, what do you remember as truly irritating and frustrating about your living conditions when you lived there? I never had an opportunity to ask a Russian person that, and it would be interesting to know.

Speaking from my own experience I would say that life back then was about the same as today, living conditions included. Whether everything was really really bad or tickety-boo depended entirely on you just as it does now and I suppose just as it always will. For those wondering how long ago "back then" is, I am 53 so do your own maths.

Originally Posted by Windup Merchantski

Speaking from my own experience I would say that life back then was about the same as today, living conditions included. Whether everything was really really bad or tickety-boo depended entirely on you just as it does now and I suppose just as it always will. For those wondering how long ago "back then" is, I am 53 so do your own maths.

I think your view is particularly interesting then, since you can remember the USSR from an adult perspective.
Most people here just remember it from their childhood, or not at all.

It seems to me that the situation with flats etc must have changed a lot. People can buy a flat according to their finances, whereas as I understand, in the Soviet Union it was problematic and bureacratic to get hold of a flat, or move to a better one.

One of the reasons Russia is so fascinating is that people there have been through so much, particularly people who are a bit older.
Some people might even remember the hardships of the War, then life in the USSR over a few decades, followed by the chaos and hardship of the 1990s and then now.
Hardly any country had so much drama in its modern history!
Then as it happens, Russia has beautiful nature, fun and friendly people + cool culture.
So all, and all very intereresting!

in the Soviet Union it was problematic and bureacratic to get hold of a flat, or move to a better one.

It was not if you were an immigrant in the Baltics. They got them outside of normal queue - while local people had to live in communal apartments (2 or more families in one apartment) while waiting in queue for ~10 years or so.

Hanna, the "drama" you seem to be fascinated by is, in my opinion, rather overrated. Particulary the "drama" of the 90s. Maybe that's just me and my usual unflappable self but try as I may I can't really visualize anything particularly dramatic about that period. Everyone got on with their lives the way people do.

nulle, has someone double crossed you or have you been shortchanged in some way? what's the matter, dude?