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Living in Russia is always associated with the Soviet union, like China is always associated with the Communist government. But communism has formed a very sma
by yters 7y ago
Living in Russia is always associated with the Soviet union, like China is always associated with the Communist government. But communism has formed a very small part of these countries' histories. I wonder why the focus on just the communist aspects of these countries.
- forgotmypw 7y agoBecause pre-Communism ended about 100 years ago, and post-Communism is approaching 20 years ago?
- smacktoward 7y agoAnd lots of the housing stock in Russia was built during the Communist era, so the impact of Communist housing policy hung on long after Communism itself had passed. (Lots of the stories, documents, etc. in the linked site come from after 1991.)
- vkou 7y agoBecause the pre-communism period was in most respects, even worse. China had a century of occupation and decades of civil war. Russia was a backwater, with constant repression and terrorism of it's population. Hell, it had serfdom until the mid 19th century. (Which was reintroduced in all but name through the kolhoz system.) The repression of the regimes that followed didn't spring up in a vaccum, but was a natural evolution of the political environment they operated in.
- coldtea 7y ago>China had a century of occupation and decades of civil war Plus millennia of a very rich civilization, for the majority of which it was the richest economy in the world, a lot more advanced than the cruder rest of the world, and with a very intricate society and culture. >Russia was a backwater, with constant repression and terrorism of it's population. Hell, it had serfdom until the mid 19th century. Well, the US had slavery until the mid 19th century, Jim Crow until the 40s, and segregation until the 70s, so there's that.
- eng888888 7y agoHope I don't get downvoted to hell, but I guess it's remarkable that Russia had serfdom until mid 19th century because by then it was well established that white people shouldn't enslave, or attach to land, other white people.
- notyourday 7y agoNot only that but one's net worth was largely a derivative of the number of serfs one owned. I highly recommend reading "Dead Souls" -- it is a fantastic novel about that period.
- hamilyon2 7y agoDead souls is a gem.
- coldtea 7y ago>because by then it was well established that white people shouldn't enslave, or attach to land, other white people. Well, you'd be surprised. A large part of Europe (Germany, Austria, etc) halted serfdom only a few decades before Russia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom#Dates_of_emancipation_from_serfdom_in_various_countries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom#Dates_of_emancipation_...
- wongarsu 7y ago> because by then it was well established that white people shouldn't enslave, or attach to land, other white people That's not how Europe works. Virtually everyone around here is "white". That doesn't prevent racism, it's just racism against Gypsies, or Albanians, or Itelmens, or Jews, or now (often white) muslims. And of course in Europe we had a big thing for using class differences instead of using race differences as our justification for such things as serfdom.
- yters 7y agoDid the pre-communism period engage in widespread religious persecution and send millions of Russians to the gulags to be worked to death?
- the_af 7y agoYes: From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom > A pogrom is a violent riot aimed at the massacre or persecution of an ethnic or religious group, particularly one aimed at Jews. The Russian term originally entered the English language in order to describe 19th and 20th century attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire (mostly within the Pale of Settlement).
- yters 7y agoWhile that is religious persocution, it is persecution of a particular religion. The Soviets oppressed all religions since theism threatened the state's power. Same as in China today.
- the_af 7y agoMaybe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Muslims#Russian_Empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Muslims#Russian... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassian_genocide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassian_genocide then?
- yters 7y agoCertainly bad, but does not seem at the scale or intent of the gulags. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag At least it is hard to see how the Soviets were an improvement on the past.
- the_af 7y agoPeasants, workers and people from non-aristocratic families could rise to the top?
- disordinary 7y agoBecause communism accelerated development and living standards. A lot of the infrastructure is a legacy of this.
- toiletfuneral 7y agoPeople are downvoting this? Is HN a capitalist safe space or something?
- yters 7y agoHow do you know communism was responsible, vs riding on the back of general industrial progress during that period? Plus, living standards in ex-Soviet countries do not seem very high, compared to non-communist countries.