4 ms·

I think the point that this article somewhat strenuously tries to make is, if the ship was rotting and falling apart on the inside, why didn't it do it in the B

by txru 11y ago

I think the point that this article somewhat strenuously tries to make is, if the ship was rotting and falling apart on the inside, why didn't it do it in the Brezhnev years, during the stagnation and attempted economic reforms, especially when oil prices dropped to an all-time low? To say that simply "the system was bad, and 1985-90 was just when the bottom fell out" smacks of hindsight bias.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
dsfyu404ed 11y ago
People often forget that a typical existence in the USSR is on par with being poor white trash in the semi-rural northern US, just swap the trailer park for the apartment complex. They weren't starving but they had been close for decades. They were working as hard as anyone else who's trying to make ends meet but getting nowhere fast. For example, if a light-bulb burnt out in their home the only way to replace it was to switch it with a working one at work. Walking a miles in negative double digit temperatures to get to work, or to go to the grocery store because you can't afford to buy gas until payday wears on you. Taking scraps of insulation from a dumpster to keep the wind from coming in around your windows isn't fun. Having to park your car on a hill so you can roll start it in the morning because you can't afford a battery that can start your car in the cold doesn't make you feel good about your life. When you're living poor like that you've got so little invested in the system that you just don't give a damn. You wouldn't care if society collapses because you know in the back of your mind that there's a chance that in the following chaos you might come out ahead. These are the kind of people that made up the working class of the USSR. Some were better off, some worse but very, very few were comfortable where they were. Meanwhile the upper middle class and above are comfortable but insecure. Sure the nation looks good on paper but even the people who are doing ok aren't going to be comfortable in a corrupt system because even if they put in the time and effort to do good work there's that chance that the next bunch of guys in charge will have someone else they'd rather give your job to or worse, by doing good work you've put yourself at odds with them and might be promoted to digging a ditch in Siberia. IMO the statistics may have looked good there were a lot of unhappy people in the Soviet Union and in retrospect the place looks like a house of cards.

by txru 11y ago

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

dsfyu404ed 11y ago

People often forget that a typical existence in the USSR is on par with being poor white trash in the semi-rural northern US, just swap the trailer park for the apartment complex. They weren't starving but they had been close for decades. They were working as hard as anyone else who's trying to make ends meet but getting nowhere fast. For example, if a light-bulb burnt out in their home the only way to replace it was to switch it with a working one at work. Walking a miles in negative double digit temperatures to get to work, or to go to the grocery store because you can't afford to buy gas until payday wears on you. Taking scraps of insulation from a dumpster to keep the wind from coming in around your windows isn't fun. Having to park your car on a hill so you can roll start it in the morning because you can't afford a battery that can start your car in the cold doesn't make you feel good about your life. When you're living poor like that you've got so little invested in the system that you just don't give a damn. You wouldn't care if society collapses because you know in the back of your mind that there's a chance that in the following chaos you might come out ahead. These are the kind of people that made up the working class of the USSR. Some were better off, some worse but very, very few were comfortable where they were. Meanwhile the upper middle class and above are comfortable but insecure. Sure the nation looks good on paper but even the people who are doing ok aren't going to be comfortable in a corrupt system because even if they put in the time and effort to do good work there's that chance that the next bunch of guys in charge will have someone else they'd rather give your job to or worse, by doing good work you've put yourself at odds with them and might be promoted to digging a ditch in Siberia. IMO the statistics may have looked good there were a lot of unhappy people in the Soviet Union and in retrospect the place looks like a house of cards.