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Traveled several times across Kazakhstan by rail and my impressions are quite the opposite. You wait to arrive to your destination for days and nothing changes

Traveled several times across Kazakhstan by rail and my impressions are quite the opposite. You wait to arrive to your destination for days and nothing changes outside the window: just the same scenery with endless sand or steppes with no sign of trees or animals or people. Probably the most boring experience I had in my life. Funny how western media can't resist poking the dead enemy at every occasion: > Adylet: ‘Anyone who still mourns the Soviet Union today is out of his mind!’ Well, if you'd really talk to people, you'd find out that significant percent of population still mourns the Soviet Union and they have all the reasons to.

maeln 5y ago
> Well, if you'd really talk to people, you'd find out that significant percent of population still mourns the Soviet Union and they have all the reasons to. It really depends where and who you ask. You probably not going to find any sympathy for the USSR in central Europe. But it is true that in Russia and central Asia, you still find people, those who were mostly kids/teenager during the "golden-age" of the USSR, who fondly remember the USSR. Considering that the USSR got replaced by various dictator in those places, its not that hard to understand.
- anticodon 5y ago
  You will find people that mourns Soviet Union in all parts of the former USSR and among all age groups. Just like the opposite opinion. But percent of people mourning USSR would be quite big. This has nothing to do with western stereotypes about dreadly life in USSR (mostly invalid propaganda) or various dictators (can you, without checking Wikipedia/Google, name the president of Kazakhstan, and say if it is a authoritarian or "democratic" place?). USSR was destroyed for a number of reasons but none of the reasons had anything to do with the goal to improve life of USSR citizens. One goal was to destroy a global economic competitor. Another goal was to open huge new market to the western corporations (both goals achieved by shutting down and destroying all the USSR industry almost overnight). Third goal was for the crooks to be able to become super-rich and be able to pass the inherited power and money to the offspring. All these goals mean that life of the ordinary person in the former USSR states was to become much worse than before. And it happened as everyone born before 1991 knows out of unpleasant and sad experience. But my comment wasn't about that. It was about that the West is still so afraid of the USSR it still tries to kick the USSR in every article even if it is not really relevant.
  - avmich 5y ago
    > One goal was to destroy a global economic competitor. I don't know what you mean here, but USA was trying to prevent USSR from collapsing.
    - anticodon 5y ago
      Yeah, bees opposing honey, as we say in Russia in such cases.
      - avmich 5y ago
        Just a fact :) . Stubborn thing...
- anticodon 5y ago
  > You probably not going to find any sympathy for the USSR in central Europe. The most funny thing is that when they recently conducted a survey in Baltic states, percent of supporters of the USSR was so big, that it surpassed percent of supporters of the USSR e.g. in Russia. This created quite a big fuss. :)

maeln 5y ago

> Well, if you'd really talk to people, you'd find out that significant percent of population still mourns the Soviet Union and they have all the reasons to. It really depends where and who you ask. You probably not going to find any sympathy for the USSR in central Europe. But it is true that in Russia and central Asia, you still find people, those who were mostly kids/teenager during the "golden-age" of the USSR, who fondly remember the USSR. Considering that the USSR got replaced by various dictator in those places, its not that hard to understand.

anticodon 5y ago
You will find people that mourns Soviet Union in all parts of the former USSR and among all age groups. Just like the opposite opinion. But percent of people mourning USSR would be quite big. This has nothing to do with western stereotypes about dreadly life in USSR (mostly invalid propaganda) or various dictators (can you, without checking Wikipedia/Google, name the president of Kazakhstan, and say if it is a authoritarian or "democratic" place?). USSR was destroyed for a number of reasons but none of the reasons had anything to do with the goal to improve life of USSR citizens. One goal was to destroy a global economic competitor. Another goal was to open huge new market to the western corporations (both goals achieved by shutting down and destroying all the USSR industry almost overnight). Third goal was for the crooks to be able to become super-rich and be able to pass the inherited power and money to the offspring. All these goals mean that life of the ordinary person in the former USSR states was to become much worse than before. And it happened as everyone born before 1991 knows out of unpleasant and sad experience. But my comment wasn't about that. It was about that the West is still so afraid of the USSR it still tries to kick the USSR in every article even if it is not really relevant.
- avmich 5y ago
  > One goal was to destroy a global economic competitor. I don't know what you mean here, but USA was trying to prevent USSR from collapsing.
  - anticodon 5y ago
    Yeah, bees opposing honey, as we say in Russia in such cases.
    - avmich 5y ago
      Just a fact :) . Stubborn thing...
anticodon 5y ago
> You probably not going to find any sympathy for the USSR in central Europe. The most funny thing is that when they recently conducted a survey in Baltic states, percent of supporters of the USSR was so big, that it surpassed percent of supporters of the USSR e.g. in Russia. This created quite a big fuss. :)