> This is a common trope, but is it really true? While the author above you may have been unfair to the Soviet Union by claiming they made everyone poorer, the

> This is a common trope, but is it really true? While the author above you may have been unfair to the Soviet Union by claiming they made everyone poorer, there's still not much of a defense of socialism. Capitalism has had some spectacular failures, but it has also had unparalleled successes. Neither the slave trade or colonialism are essential or unique to capitalism. Most of the travesties perpetuated by current capitalist countries were before those countries were actually capitalist. The colonialism practiced by the European powers began when those nations were feudal/military autocracies operating under mercantilist thought. As they became more capitalist, they gradually moved away from colonialism. In some cases, even as a country moved away capitalism for themselves, they maintained different forms of governments in their colonies which caused problems. England with India and Belgium with the Congo are two particularly infamous examples. India and the Belgium Congo would have been much better off had their oppressors liberalized them. In fact, despite the sordid histories of capitalist nations, they have done a far better job of distancing themselves from such practices compared to Marxish governments. You can tally the cost of US-installed dictatorships and compare it to the cost of Soviet-installed dictatorships. You can also compare the impact of socialist and capitalist thought on their respective countries. As for the Soviet Union's large economy, there are several things to note. First, Russia's previous form of government was feudalism and literally almost anything is better than feudalism though they may very well have been better off had they moved to capitalism instead of socialism. Second, they were bigger than any other capitalist country except the US which gives them a large economic potential. Third, the Soviet Union exported their economic system to East Germany, which was the most prosperous nation of the soviet bloc, but it's standard of living was still far below that of West Germany. West vs East Germany is probably the best economic experiment ever performed on capitalism vs socialism.