> I'm living in post-USSR country and a lot of old consumer goods which were "made in USSR" are an etalon of quality compared to modern goods. Maybe the simple

> I'm living in post-USSR country and a lot of old consumer goods which were "made in USSR" are an etalon of quality compared to modern goods. Maybe the simpler ones, like blow dryers. Cars made in communist Poland usually broke down within first couple of hundred kilometers of purchase. People used to take a new car to a (private, as in not-state-owned) mechanic, who would dissasemble it and then reassemble, to make sure everything was put together correctly. Not to mention that communist Poland, a nation of 40 million, was unable to design its own car and had to licence it for production from capitalist corporations.