We used to live next to a tank division base in USSR. Once a conscript soldier was assigned with maintenance work on a tank. Trying to be helpful he attempted t

We used to live next to a tank division base in USSR. Once a conscript soldier was assigned with maintenance work on a tank. Trying to be helpful he attempted to remove laser rangefinder while the officer was away. But it being a two-person job he inevitably dropped and damaged it. He was court-martialed, got three years of prison and had the cost of the instrument withheld from his future income. The rangefinder cost was about 24000 rubles while the average Soviet monthly salary was ~160 at the time. Now this was not Balkans but it is always startling how fundamentally inhumane and atomized all Communist societies are, in very much the same way. Am convinced one could transplant a Cuban to Romania or a Bulgarian to North Korea and save for the language and cuisine they'd instinctively know how the things work. How you should get hold of your groceries, when it's a good idea to bribe, who is important in informal way, what you shouldn't say and just how much effort you should put into your work. This was truly global, Borg-like culture like nothing before.