Thread: Перестройка, также до и после

Originally Posted by Eric C.

"The reason for your happiness is that you don't have a clue of how unhappy you are" ("Ваше счастье в том что вы не знаете как плохо вы живете")

The same could be said for people in the US right now.

Originally Posted by Deborski

The same could be said for people in the US right now.

And for any nation and era

Originally Posted by dtrq

And for any nation and era

I completely agree!

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Troll: In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally[3][4] or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[5] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Originally Posted by dtrq

And for any nation and era

Maybe a little bit offtop, but still: if you could choose when you live, now or 40 years ago, provided you would be in the same exact area you're now in, what would you choose?

Originally Posted by Eric C.

Maybe a little bit offtop, but still: if you could choose when you live, now or 40 years ago, provided you would be in the same exact area you're now in, what would you choose?

It would depend on which of my friends were there

Because more than my country, or any specific time, I love my friends.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

Let's assume all of your friends would go back in time with you =)

But we would all have to live here in Spokanistan? There would not be any real difference between now and 40 years ago! LOL

Originally Posted by Deborski

But we would all have to live here in Spokanistan? There would not be any real difference between now and 40 years ago! LOL

That's the thing! (if you take out of consideration the progress humanity has made over these years, though )

While in Russia, there would be a fantastically huge difference.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

That's the thing! (if you take out of consideration the progress humanity has made over these years, though )

While in Russia, there would be a fantastically huge difference.

It depends on the area you are talking about in any country, I suppose. I've visited some of the places where I grew up and the biggest changes I noticed were 1) the population increase/number of houses 2) more shopping malls, more franchise restaurants and fewer locally-owned businesses 3) less wild places, more encroachment on formerly wild lands.

In Russia, changes have been sweeping in the major cities, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as others - but life in rural villages has barely changed at all. There are still many villages where people draw water from communal wells, have no internet access, and sometimes no roads or the area is accessible only by horse or by boat, if it is by a river for example.

I am not opposed to all of the changes which have happened. Some changes are great. But not all change is for the best.

If I could live in Spokane 40 years ago, as opposed to today, I might pick then because even though these days there are gains in human rights (civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, etc), the income disparity is greater than it has been before and the cost of land has greatly increased. Forty years ago, a common person could still hope to make something of himself, have a good career and a paid retirement if he was loyal to his company. He could buy a home, provide for his family and although we didn't have as many shopping malls or McDonalds or Walmarts back then, there were still many locally owned businesses where people did their shopping. And the wilderness was still almost pristine in many places.

Now, America is beginning to resemble one big sprawling strip mall from coast to coast. I guess it is inevitable. But not all of that progress is good.

Originally Posted by Eric C.

Maybe a little bit offtop, but still: if you could choose when you live, now or 40 years ago, provided you would be in the same exact area you're now in, what would you choose?

40 years ago there was nothing in the area where I'm now, lol. Anyway, of course I'll choose present days, because this is what I used to live in. But a lot of older generation people would choose 'Back in the USSR'.