The difference is that by late 1980s there were few true believers. This was one of the striking things about the collapse of the USSR, former KGB, the suppose

The difference is that by late 1980s there were few true believers. This was one of the striking things about the collapse of the USSR, former KGB, the supposed final bastion of defence of the Soviet system, became hyper-capitalist oligarchs overnight seemingly without skipping a beat. We see the same thing happening where the one-time stronghold of enlightenment and liberalism doesn't believe in it either. What's also strange is that there are many people in the US with lived experience of the Soviet system, and they are sounding the alarm that what's happening now leads to some very dark places, and their voices are being completely ignored or even shouted down.