In the USSR everyone had come all the way from being poor and starving at the same time (the 1930s - 1940s) to just being poor (1950s +). While those in power had every opportunity to consume whatever much they just wished.

If I was forced to live my life how somebody (not me) saw it (like telling me how much I should consume, that is what I should buy for my own money), I would be trying to take down those mad dictators by any means, and I believe I would have loads of supporters.