Thread: USSR or Independent Republics

i've always wondered for those of you who have lived through considerable time between the soviet union and then whatever independent republic you in now, is how different is it? did any of you prefer when it was the soviet union versus now or vice versa?

I have read discussions for this subject in many of Russian forums. The result of those discussions was something like this "The main advantages of the soviet union times were not in things we have but in thinks we don't have". If you are interesting for an independent republic you should specify this one because they are very different.