I Grew Up in the Soviet Union During the Cold War _ IAmA

7/29/2019 I Grew Up in the Soviet Union During the Cold War _ IAmA

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during the Cold War (self.IAmA)submitted 4 days ago by born_in_ussr

I grew up in the USSR ( in theSocialist republic of Belarus) inthethe 70's and 80's and saw thetransformation of the country fromCommunist to what it is today. Iimmigrated to the UK in the 90's

and live there now.

PROOF :http://imgur.com/ZeoXLf3

365 comments share

all 365 comments

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[] strangelove262 35 points 3 days ago

How were Americans perceived by people in theSoviet Union? What sort of things were said about"average Americans" by the government and the

media?permalink

[] born_in_ussr [S] 87 points 3 days ago

American people were presented as two mainclasses. Class of capitalists who were ruling thecountry and hated us. The other class was ofworkers and peasants who were just like us.Capitalists were war thirsty evils who were soafraid of the spread of communism awarenessthat they were prepared to wage wars to stopit.The only good part was poor oppressed

common people of US who did not haveenough courage to revolt. Here is theexample: It changed however when Gorbachevcame into power and we saw the real picturewhich was of course different

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[] thirdrail69 18 points 3 days ago

That's not really that far off the mark.

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[] Tandr 88 points 3 days ago

No, no, you had it right the first time.

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[] BillyDa59 33 points 3 days ago

Why is this downvoted? Its a commonlyheld belief nowadays that Americawent into Vietnam because they wereterrified of the "domino effect". I'm anAmerican and I know my governmentbetter than to pretend we're not a warhungry, xenophobic nation. Its not thepeople's fault, its the government. Thegovernment that doesn't always servethe eo le's best interest.

best

w up in the Soviet Union during the Cold War : IAmA http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/17rf9s/i_grew_up_in_t

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[] tonybanks 9 points 3 days ago

How does it feel knowing that whenyou want to organize and protestsomething, the government willpoint guns at you?

Latest example: OWS.

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[] ToMakeYouMad 10 points 3 days

ago

This is not news. Look at the50's and 60's and they hadarmed police at protests.

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[] tonybanks 5 points 3 days ago

And they still do.

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[] [deleted] 3 days ago

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[] Ahhuatl 1 point 3 days ago

It is ironic that on a threadabout the Soviet Union andthe ways in which agovernment convinces usnot to think critically,people would believe whatsome schmuck on theinternet says about OWS.I've been to plenty of OWS

meetings, this stuff doesn'thappen.

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[deleted]

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[] Ahhuatl 2 points 3days ago

perhaps you'vejust been to themeetings and

not thedemonstrationsin oakland andnyc

Nope.

stylishanarchists andtheirself-important"diversity oftactics" are


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these parts.

Which is why themovement is namedafter the NYC groupsand why Oakland isone of the mostsuccessful of theprotests.

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[deleted]

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continue thisthread

[] Panzer2583 1 point 3 hours ago

Feels great. Now if only thesqueezed the trigger on thosedirty bums. Oh god the stink!!

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[] somenamestaken 0 points 3 days

ago

Never tried it. But I will tell youhow it feels to want to protectMt right to do so but thegovernment is taking my guns.

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[] STLReddit 12 points 3 days ago

It's downvoted because that is youropinion. Just because ourgovernment makes mistakes and

does things we don't fully agreewith doesn't mean they're an evilempire out to destroy the world.

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[] TheEmporersFinest 22 points 3 days ago

Not to destroy the world no, but to shape it according to the interests of the onepercent, and if evil is involved then so be it.

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[] Ahhuatl 8 points 3 days ago

Going to war isn't a mistake. Its something a country does intentionally.

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[] tauntobr [ ] 1 point 3 days ago

Which can be a mistake, intentional or not (Iraq was a mistake)

What you mean is war is not an accident.

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[] frrarp 3 points 3 days ago

You go to war deliberately though, you then retroactively determine it amistake.

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,

Iraq was not a mistake. Iraq was a war conducted because of lies, forreasons that the American people should have seen as deceptive. Theupper class got what they wanted out of Iraq.

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[] tauntobr [ ] 2 points 2 days ago

The war was a mistake, and a giant waste of human life and taxmoney. There is no other way to put it.

Another mistake was vietnampermalink parent

[] BillyDa59 0 points 2 days ago

The distinction between "mistake" and "accident" is prettysuperfluous. They both convey the exact same idea.

I don't think anyone understands the Iraq war as the kind ofaccident where someone "accidentally" bumped a button withtheir hand and war was declared.

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continue this thread

[] alekspg 0 points 2 days ago

I'll give you warmongering and imperialistic but when I look at my neighborhood Isee anything but a xenophobic nation.

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[] BillyDa59 1 point 1 day ago

I made the distinction between the people and the government. When you lookaround your neighborhood, you see the people. The government is thexenophobic element.

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[] alekspg 1 point 16 hours ago

You do know that it's the government that is largely responsible for all

policies that result in immigration and therefore the ethnic makeup of thenation. Our government is responsible for a refugee policy that is the reasonwhy I am in the United States along with a number of other ethnic groups(cubans, hmong, vietnamese to name a few), it's responsible for a poroussouthern border which results in constant illegal immigration and periodicmass amnesty for these immigrants (which is just recently again beingconsidered), a generous guest worker program which allows a lot ofimmigrants from central and south America to come to the states legally, andby law the U.S. has quotas for immigrants from the world's nations as not tofavor any specific ethnicity, and offers better chances of immigration for welleducated people around the world.

This is hardly the behavior of a xenophobic people OR government, in

contrast to the immigration policy of a country like japan, N korea, or Iran.When viewed in perspective, the United States government is actually one ofthe least xenophobic on the planet and it's amazing that there isn't morexenophobia among Americans themselves.

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[] rebelxwaltz 1 point 1 day ago

except the peasants and working class are also war thirsty evils who are so afraid of thespread of communism awareness that they are prepared to wage wars to stop it

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[] alekspg 1 point 2 days ago

No soviet ro a anda tried to obscure im ortant facts about the truth of what it was like


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in America... The large middle class, the overall high standard of living, the abundance ofopportunity, the relative freedom of speech and religion. You probably grew up in thiscountry so you have no idea what life without all of those things ACTUALLY MEANT forthe people living in the Soviet Union. And as someone who emigrated from the formerSoviet Union it is a bit sad to me that you don't appreciate all that you have, and youhave so much.

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[] Tandr 2 points 2 days ago

I am first generation Canadian, from Ukrainian immigrants. I appreciate what I havehere. I am VERY aware of what information the soviets can hide from their people,including atrocities. I lost over half of my family tree to the holodomor. thanks forthe assumptions though

don't be drink the kool aid about 'the american way' either. Propaganda ispropaganda

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Well then perhaps you shouldn't be so flippant about soviet propaganda.

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How do you react to Americans like the redditors that commented to this comment whoseem to think that their government is evil and soviet propaganda was entirely accurate?

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[] Rude_Etude 10 points 3 days ago

TIL they taught the truth about US society in the Soviet days.

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No, the propaganda was ridiculously exaggerated, the USA was made to look like a sortof capitalist north Korea where in fact it was a country enjoying an ever higher standardof living, opportunity, had a burgeoning middle class while in the Soviet Union peoplewere dealing with shortages of sugar.

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[] Rude_Etude 0 points 2 days ago

The Soviets just weren't as good at extracting wealth from the rest of the world. Wewere ace at that, esp. after WWII.

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[] alekspg 2 points 2 days ago*

Are you kidding me? Soviet Political imperialism (and the economic imperialismthat comes with it) stretched across northern Asia and Half of Europe. TheSoviets not only inherited all of what were essentially the colonies of tsaristRussia beyond the Urals they took the fertile and wealthy lands of easternEurope and central asian countries (Mongolia, Kazakhstan) as well. Andcorruption in the soviet union was extreme, meaning the wealth of these landswas being stolen to pad the pockets of politicians.

Also, the wealth of the United states is actually significantly a result of domesticproduction, more so than any other developed nation. The united states producesa huge percentage of the world's entertainment in just the city of Los Angeles,the States have been at the forefront of technological advancement with muchmedical technology, consumer technology, and industrial technology beinginvented and manufactured in the states, the United states is a major producer ofagriculture as well, and a large producer of energy.

When compared to a nation like Great Britain or Japan the United statesthroughout its history is notable for producing it's wealth domestically.


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[] igrekov 1 point 2 days ago

I second Aleks.

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[] Offtheheazy 4 points 3 days ago

This is actually quite true lol. Better than they typical american sterotype of crazycommunists trying to nuke us.

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[] SnowGN 1 point 1 day ago

Awkward.

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[] Bezzie -3 points 3 days ago

poor oppressed common people of US who did not have enough courage to revolt

So it's EXACTLY like it is today?

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[] EUPRAXIA1 10 points 3 days ago

Or most people aren't newly liberated college students who assume that they havelearned everything worth knowing by the time they are 20;

yeah probably the latter option.

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Sorry, but United States "oppression" is nothing like soviet oppression.

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[] Bezzie 1 point 2 days ago

I never said it was. But stuff like the laughable occupy movement was a greatexample of Americans being too afraid to do what is necessary to fix the problemsthat plague the country

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[] its_very_funny_imo -2 points 3 days ago

In Soviet Russia, Russians perceive you!

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[] zx321 1 point 2 days ago

as....?

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[] Eurocad 29 points 3 days ago

From what I've heard, people in the United States were in constant fear of being attacked. Werepeople in the Soviet Union just as afraid?

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Yes it was exactly the same. I had a personal issue gas mask and basic military educationlessons from the age of ten. That was also the age I was shown how to shoot from a AK-74

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[] Measle 54 points 3 days ago

Sounds like the Soviets were actually a little more afraid

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[] Raejk 8 points 3 days ago

Just a little.

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ua po n s ays ago

Well, the United States was the only nation willing to actually use a nuclear weapon andit was constantly calling their country an evil empire.

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[] alekspg 4 points 2 days ago*

The Soviet Union or more specifically Soviet Russia was ahead of America in beingthe most imperialistic nation of the last several decades, not only involving itself inAfghanistan but more importantly holding hostage half of Europe and chunks of Asia.

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Not in question.

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[] mike45010 1 point 3 days ago

Well we didn't commit genocide against our own people... think that counts forsomething.

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[] Ahhuatl -2 points 3 days ago

Neither did the Russians - they committed it against a group of people theythought were inferior. If you don't think the United States did that, I know a fewNative Americans who would have a word with you.

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[] schmetterlingen 4 points 2 days ago

So people are inferior for merely refusing to collectivize their farms? Stalinused genocide for ideological punishment.

Also, let's be honest. The USA was rather successful with that Indiangenocide and thus are definitely not their own people (were not citizens).

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So people are inferior for merely refusing to [1] collectivize their

farms?That was Stalin's line of thinking.

Stalin used genocide for ideological punishment.

Not in question.

Also, let's be honest. The USA was rather successful with that Indiangenocide and thus are definitely not their own people (were notcitizens).

That is a moronic argument. Genocide isn't reprehensible because of whoit is directed towards, it is reprehensible because it is genocide. Russianshad a low opinion of Ukrainians, Europeans a low opinion of Natives. Inboth instances the operative element is othering, the legal trappings of

citizenship are irrelevant.permalink parent

[] schmetterlingen 1 point 2 days ago

I didn't say it is correct to murder people of other nations. I didn'tdeny it was genocide. I didn't deny that it's morally reprehensible. Imerely said it's a different set ofmotivations when the target nationis not and never was represented by your nation.

The Holodomor wasn't committed byjust the RSFSR. The USSR (viathe Ukrainian SSR) claimed to represent the Ukrainians at the time.While Stalin and the Russians imparted the political and ethnicimpetus for the genocide (respectively), it was clearly targeting the


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USSR's own citizens. The USSR claimed to represent the very peoplethey were starving to death.

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I merely said it's a different set of motivations when thetarget nation is not and never was represented by yournation.

And that is what I am rejecting. It wasn't a function of nation, it

was a function of ethnicity.The Holodomor wasn't committed by just the RSFSR. TheUSSR (via the Ukrainian SSR) claimed to represent theUkrainians at the time.

Keyword: claimed. Your logic is circular. On the one hand youobserve that it was Stalin and the Russians who conducted thegenocide and on the other you try to conflate its perpetrators tosome multi-county leadership. The Ukrainian SSR wassubordinate to the Russians, it had no real power over who Stalindecided to massacre.

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The genocide of native Americans by the United States government is notnearly on the scale of The soviet union. Especially because the Spanish,British contributed and it was European diseases that were responsible forthe overwhelming amount of native depopulation.

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[] Ahhuatl 0 points 2 days ago

Why do you keep making points that are irrelevant to the discussion?

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[] mike45010 -1 points 2 days ago

At least the Native Americans had their own army to fight back... Not to

ustify it or anything, but we were at war. The USSR slaughtered defenselesscivilians.

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[] Ahhuatl 0 points 2 days ago*

At least the Native Americans had their own army to fight back...

That is both incorrect and some terrible thinking. Native Americans didnot have an army, they had small groups of warriors who were taskedwith defending their tribes. This is entirely different than an army - whichis trained and supported by an extensive infrastructural base. Ukrainehad an army, it simply worked with the Russians. In contrast, NativeAmericans could not just draft people to fight, build cannons and rifles to

equip them with, and send them out to destroy enemy forces. All theircombat efforts were in essence defensive.

Not to justify it or anything, but we were at war.

No, "we" were weren't. Rather, we attacked without provocation andoften in contradiction to treaties.

The USSR slaughtered defenseless civilians.

Again, no. Many people can and did resist Soviet oppression - which isprecisely why the Holodomor began in the first place. That said, countrieslike the Ukraine resources necessary to resist. That was not always thecase with Native Americans, who saw entire villages slaughtered butcould do nothing in response.


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Again, no. Many people can and did resist Soviet oppression

Ummm... I don't know what sort of history you've been reading butthe Soviet government has been both directly and indirectly linked tothe murder of innocent and unarmed civilians.

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[] Ahhuatl -1 points 2 days ago

Not in question,

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[] cornfused_and_cornho 13 points 3 days ago

In the States children learned how to hide under a desk or or to huddle ass up in a hallway.

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[] akmarksman 4 points 3 days ago

Because the magical nuclear radiation is stopped by an average metal andplastic/composite school desk..........

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The hiding under desks was to minimize damage from falling debris, I would think...and from what I understand much of the damage caused by a nuclear bomb is aresult of the shockwave not "radiation".

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[] akmarksman 1 point 2 days ago

I know..I was being a smartass. ;)

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[] B2BWorldWarChamps 1 point 2 days ago

this is just like the "duck and cover" concept from south park.

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[] 5thKeetle -1 points 2 days ago

Yeah, even ten year old girls had to learn to shoot from an AK, hilarious.

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[+] its_very_funny_imo comment score below threshold (0 children)

[] t_maia 45 points 3 days ago

Funny or not:

Why was toilet paper in the USSR so rough? So that even the last arse would be red.

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Funnily enough Toilet paper was hard to come by and was indeed rough. Most people used oldnewspapers instead. Good Joke!

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[] cromonolith 11 points 3 days ago

If QI and my memory of QI don't deceive me, the west deliberately stopped toilet paper fromgetting into the USSR. Then when Soviet officials started having to use old officialdocuments as toilet paper, western agents rooted through the garbage and collected theused papers for the intelligence they contained.

Sounds crazy, but I trust QI.

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Bi BobBobson 18 oints 3 da s a o


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I haven't trusted QI since an episode about the origin of the word 'Fuck' was wrong andmy world was shattered into a million pieces, each with Stephen Fry's lying cackling faceon it.

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[] cromonolith 10 points 3 days ago

They made a correction though, no?

My favourite correction was when they gave points to Dara O'Briain for knowing that

the triple-point of water was at 0 degrees Celcius, then took points off of him in thenext season, pointing out that it's actually at 0.001 degrees Celcius.

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[] BigBobBobson 2 points 3 days ago

Oh wow, I usually just watch scattered repeats (Guess which channel), Iremember the triple point correction though. Time to go find the series link!

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[] Ref101010 1 point 1 day ago

I've seen all episodes of QI, but can't remember everything that's been said.

What did they say about the word fuck?

AFAIK, no theory is unchallenged. One (of many) theories I've heard is that it's

related to the Old Norse (also more-or-less modern western Swedish) fukka "to movesomething back and forwards in a rocking motion", but it's like I said just one ofmany theories.

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[] all_hail_discordia 1 point 1 day ago

AFAIK, no theory is unchallenged. One (of many) theories I've heard is thatit's related to the Old Norse (also more-or-less modern western Swedish)fukka "to move something back and forwards in a rocking motion", but it'slike I said just one of many theories.

I live in the west of Sweden, and that's not a Swedish word.

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[] Ref101010 1 point 1 day ago*

Samma hr, men du har rtt.

Fokka/focka was the word I was thinking about (but spelling has also variedover the centuries).Fukka is Norwegian slang though, IIRC.

Can't remember where I heard/read the claim first, but it may have been insomething by Fredrik Lindstrm.

I did some googling just now though:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fuck

Origin:

14951505; akin to Middle Dutch fokken to thrust, copulate with,Swedish dialect focka to copulate with, strike, push, fock penis

However, fockatodaymeans "to fire [someone] from work", which is aslightly different meaning. (You couldmaybe argue that it still is "to fucksomeone over", but that's a bit farfetched).

EDIT:

http://web.archive.org/web/20011109211024/www.faqs.org/faqs/alt-usage-english-faq/

[Fuck] is a very old word, recorded in English since the 15th century (fewacronyms predate the 20th century), with cognates in other Germanic


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.(Random House, 1994, ISBN 0-394-54427-7) cites Middle Dutch fokken= "to thrust, copulate with"; Norwegian dialect fukka = "to copulate"; andSwedish dialect focka = "to strike, push, copulate" and fock= "penis".Although German ficken may enter the picture somehow, it is problematicin having e-grade, or umlaut, where all the others have o-grade orzero-grade of the vowel.

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[] BigBobBobson 1 point 1 day ago

That it was an acronym for Fornicate Under Command/Consent of the King orsomething similar. Then I read somewhere else that was nonsense.

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[] megazver 1 point 3 days ago

Into an embassy.

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[] its_very_funny_imo -4 points 3 days ago

In Soviet Russia, joke laughs at YOU

:D

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[] virtualghost 2 points 3 days ago

bad joke

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[] SynShads 18 points 3 days ago

I know there are plenty of people who grew up and lived in the Soviet Union that completelysupported Communism and to this day, would love it if it was back. Were you supportive of theSoviet Union while you were growing up? If so, would you want Communism to make a return?

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We were so brainwashed and were not taught to think. We were blindly excepting and repeatingthe opinions already put in front of us by our teachers. Iron Curtain was doing its toll as well asI did not know any different and had no reason to doubt the official point of view. I was verypatriotic when I was growing up.I am looking at North Korea now and I think that is probablyvery similar how they live there. I was 100% supportive of everything our leaders did. I wouldnot like for Communism to return. I think it is not possible and was proved to fail, however thesociety with some socialist values would be ideal I think.

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[] SynShads 4 points 3 days ago

Wow, I can't even imagine what it'd be like to not be able to think, I'm sorry you had to gothrough that. I know in Soviet Russia, they were brainwashed into thinking Lenin and Stalinwere both gods among men, each having their own cult of personality. Did they also havethis in Belarus? I'm actually taking a class right now on the Soviet Experience and I'm very

curious about all of this!permalink parent


It is very easy if you try to compare it with religion, I think. When from birth you weretold that certain things just the way they are. You mentioned Lenin and Stalin being likegods - exactly. I remember being a child and the thought of doing something whichwould be disapproved by Lenin would terrify me. From the age of 7 I wasOCTYABRYONOK (the child of OCTOBER - great revolution months) I was given a badgewith the picture of young Lenin and swore to try to be like him. When I was 10 I becamepioneer. I have got a different badge, red scarf and my oath of supporting the party, andeverything that Lenin started was even more serious. We were so politicised from the


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,heretism in religion. It is easily done when great degree of isolation applied. It wouldonly work behind "Iron curtain". I know know that we had people who thought differentlyand were not afraid to speak up. Those were very talented and brave individuals, easilybranded as enemies of the state. In Soviet Union there was hardly any differencebetween the republics. Even though different nationalities and cultures were celebrated,however the main idea of the communism was that we were all one race - one class! andshould have concentrated on class differences. We were taught that cultural differenceswould only divide the class of workers and peasants in their fight against the capitalists,therefore it should be left behind for the sake of the common aim!!

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[] BigBobBobson 28 points 3 days ago

This post, and this entire AMA is the best thing I have seen on this subreddit. Thanksfor all of these insights.

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[+] MasterGolbez comment score below threshold (4 children)

[] AlwaysGoingHome 0 points 3 days ago

I know in Soviet Russia, they were brainwashed into thinking Lenin and Stalin wereboth gods among men, each having their own cult of personality.

Like the founding fathers and some of the presidents?

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[] LincLoL 2 points 3 days ago

Not even close. If I were to say Lincoln was a shitty president, I wouldn't be anenemy of the state. (I don't think he was btw, my cat is named after him)

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[] AlwaysGoingHome -1 points 3 days ago

That's not what the comment is about. You weren't shot in the SU after Stalinsrule if you said he was bad. It's about the cult of personality, making formerleaders into superhuman beings and spreading propaganda about their unrivaledqualities, that made them better than normal people, including theirsuper++good character. It's about building statues and monuments for those

superhumans, telling children (mostly made up) stories about how good thissemi-gods were, and asking "What would our beloved former leader do?" aboutcurrent questions. All this happened and happens in the US. Think about insanestuff like Mount Rushmore...

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I see what you're saying, butI don't ever recall thinking about our foundingfathers as gods, just great men, and rightfully so. But then again, I washomeschooled and American history was only a small part of my education.

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[+] Deusdies comment score below threshold (8 children)

[] Troll_Mane 2 points 2 days ago

Very interesting and insightful stuff. Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this AMA .

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[] YetiTerrorist 17 points 3 days ago

What was the one thing you were most excited about or what was the thing you most enjoyed aftercommunism fell that you couldn't have prior?

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The most exiting part to us was that we discovered a whole world that was hidden or distorted.The thing I enjoyed most after communism was freedom to travel where I want.


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[] ElisaAnderson 9 points 2 days ago

The most exiting part to us was that we discovered a whole world that was hidden ordistorted.

To a lesser extent, this is how we all live now. The cure is travel.

Since moving from western europe to eastern I've gained so much insight. Talking to peoplefrom the communist times is always so very eye opening.

Thanks for the AMA, love things like this!

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[] larspalmas 6 points 2 days ago

Protip: watch "Good Bye Lenin!", brilliant movie!

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[] yaipu 2 points 2 days ago

have an upvote, really good movie

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[] dasubertroll 10 points 3 days ago

Have you visited Belarus since?

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Yes a few times. Last time in April 2012 with my wife and my son. I still have a big family livingall over ex Soviet countries. They come to see me in the UK too.

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Can you travel freely in Belarus? AFAIK it's the last 'real' dictatorship in Europe still. Howfree is it?

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[] born_in_ussr [S] 6 points 2 days ago*

Yes, you can travel freely within Belarus and Russia - they have no borders like some EU

countries. Until recently you would need a special permission to be able to go abroad, infact just a stamp in your passport. That would refuse this stamp to people who are onbail for some criminal offences, or refuse to undergo National conscript service and stufflike that. Apparently, even that obstacle is taken off now. I cannot comment on how freeis Belarus, I don't live there,though have my parents, relatives and friends living there.My impression is that it is an autocratic state, where majority doesn't mind that. Mostfeel safe to live in such state without interference from other countries. I am a strongbeliever that the people and not personalities are the driving force of the history. Whenand if Belarus and its people would be ready to change the way their live - they would beable to do it themselves. Look at the examples of Orange revolution in Ukraine and Roserevolution in Georgia. It has been orchestrated from the West and as such did not livelong. It reverted back to pre-orange era in Ukraine and it seems that the same is

happening in Georgia now.permalink parent

[] Crossfire_XVI 12 points 3 days ago

Is it true that people in the USSR used do almost anything to get a smuggled pair of blue jeans fromthe United States? I've always heard this, but I want to know whether it actually happened.

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Not always and not everywhere and not anything. In 70's Soviet Union started to trade oil andbrought in some imported goods. There were people who had access to this stuff and corruptionwas of unbelievable proportions. It was a basic human nature to want to have somethingfashionable, that others could not get. Sometimes moral values were failing for those on a hunt


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for material gain. I believe it affected a small amount of people who lived in big cities and hadforeign friends. I had my first pair of jeans in 1986 and it was not a big deal for me. My parentshad them earlier. I remember that their cost about half month's salary (80 - 100 roubles) a pairif you were lucky enough to get it from the shop. It would cost considerably more from peoplewho would find the opportunity to buy them for resale

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[] welcometomyface 13 points 3 days ago

I visited Moscow in 1987 on a school trip. We stayed at a hotel with hundreds of other high

school students all on the same kind of trip. I remember these guys going up and down thehalls knocking on our doors asking if we had anything to trade. I personally only had tons ofbubble gum since we were told to bring that to trade with kids on the street for these littlesoviet pins and medals. But a couple of other guys decided to go for higher stakes. After theRussians left, we went to their room and there they are sitting in their underwear wearingtheses giant military fur hats, military jackets and swinging around hockey sticks. They hadtraded the clothes off their backs for this stuff! A couple of other guys weren't as lucky. Theywent out to the parking lot to do their deal and got picked up by some sort of police. Theydragged them in to a room at the hotel just to scare the shit out of them and called thechaperones down to get them. The cops were laughing as they told the chaperones that thekids kept shouting "spasiba" which means thank you, over and over as they dragged themaway. It was the only Russian word they knew and must have been pretty funny to them."thank you, thank you for hauling my ass off to jail"

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So did you trade any of your bubblegum??

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[] welcometomyface 6 points 2 days ago

Yeah tons. The little kids would come up to you with a handful of those pins andyou'd give them some gum for it. They probably thought we were silly for wanting allof those dumb pins and we thought the same about the gum.

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[] gdination 11 points 3 days ago

I can understand if things weren't great in the Soviet Union, but I'm sure there were some goodparts to your life there. What do you miss the most?

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The kind of people that we were. It has gone once we started to get American chewing gum andjeans. People used to care after each other. I remember making 40 minutes journey to kindergarden on my own when I was 5. Apart from walking it involved 2 bus changes and crossingroads. None of my guardians ever thought I could be in danger. It was that safe!! I rememberwhen I lost my tickets in Moscow and was sending a telegram to my relatives to send me themoney - someone in the queue saw the words in it and just gave me the money, because I wasin need. I remember my parents coming home after work with a stranger. Apparently, they sawhim sleeping on the bench as he had no money for the hotel and his train was departing thenext day. They thought he did not have to sleep on the bench as we had a folding bed we set upfor him in the kitchen after giving him dinner. People trusted each other more and were morecaring. Most did not care about materialistic things.

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Small towns can still sometimes be like this.

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[] willdabeast94 14 points 3 days ago

well in America it used to be very similar. My dad used to hitchhike across the country andnever had a problem. My mom walked 3 miles to school every day and skied by herself since


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s e was ; s e never a a pro em. mer ca as c ance a o s nce e s an s,people have become a lot less trusting

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[] kingrodney1246 2 points 3 days ago

wow...amazing.

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[] cuddle_bunny 3 points 3 days ago

Damn. I feel shitty. I know I could help strangers more than with a fucking money donation

(not that I have muchha!).

But I do think we tend to think the worst of people we don't know.

I think it is apart of this "No!" culture that we are raised in.

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[] Kyuutai 2 points 2 days ago

I think I understand what people you mean. Sometimes I am lucky to still come across justsuch people as you described, but it's really a pity that there are very few of them now. It'sthis helping to strangers without thinking of any remuneration, "why? no reason, justbecause they're nice people". I like this way of treating people; not towards everyone,though, because some people may be repulsive.

I live in an exUSSR country (Latvia), but am ~10 years younger than you. By the way, inRussia there are more of them than here, but in cities like Moscow some people have beenbecoming gradually more... egotistic.

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[] frenchtoaster5 1 point 2 days ago

This is exactly what I remember of my childhood in Russia, now I live in America and it isthe biggest pain to my soul to not experience such culture and individuals any longer. Wherethere was just unbreakable unity and love.

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[] cj2500 18 points 3 days ago

Were you affected by Chernobyl?permalink


I am not sure if that counts or even if that was an effect from Chernobyl, but here is the story.Chernobyl is in Ukraine, however 70% of radioactive rains fell on Belarus territory within thefirst few months. I lived 400 km away from it, when it happened. My parents and myself went tolive for 4 years in Mongolia 3 months after the disaster happened. Something peculiar happenedthere. About 10 months after the disaster mu mother started to loose her hair. She was ahealthy woman and doctors could not find an explanation to that, neither could they cure it. Shelearnt to live wearing wig and has no hair even on her eyebrows and eyelids for the last 25years. Was it Chernobyl? I don't know. My Grandfather used to live within 200 km of Chernobyl.They were measuring radiation levels in his village and told the residents that it was not safe to

live there. Apparently there was a radioactive patch there. No one allowed to grow food for salein that area even now. My granddad refused to move out and lived there until 1996 and diedaged 77. I have visited him few times within last 10 years of his life. They said the area was notclean - it is hard to understand when you don't see it

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[] breakinbread 22 points 3 days ago

Yes, that counts.

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[] MichaelNewmann 10 points 4 days ago

You have lived in both - east or west? Good and bad sides?


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Hard to say which is better. The good things about the east was that everyone in yourcommunity was more less equal. What you had everyone else had. People also had more moralvalues and everyone would help each other out in the community .I didnt know then but thebad thing was that we had less freedom of expressing our thoughts on any issues. In the westthe bad thing is that sometimes people who are a bit mad are free to do what they want whichcan affect society in bad ways. Quite often when you are in trouble you are on your own youdont get enough help. In the Soviet Union the state would look after you and your life could be

planned many years ahead. The good things are the opportunities and choices that you havehere in the west.

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[] MichaelNewmann 9 points 3 days ago

Thanks for your reply!

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[] Dr-Maximum 0 points 3 days ago*

"your life could be planned many years ahead" : holy shit, that's not for everyone ! yousee, for me, that would be a really really BAD thing.

Also: did most people had much say or choice in the matter, if they didn't like the way their

lives where planned ?permalink parent

[] Stromovik 4 points 3 days ago

This sentence probably meant you could plan ahead , you couldnt lose your job or yourhouse etc. Altougth if you live in a village things could be different. (if you were a part ofKolHoz )

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[] streakingduck 5 points 3 days ago

Any bad things you see as a kid?

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No actually not. All the bad things that I saw were the lawless times of transition fromcommunist to market economy times. Mafia, racket, corruption, greed, despair. It was crazy anddangerous time - life cost very little and everyone could only count on themselves to survive

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[] the_goat_boy 5 points 3 days ago

You're referring to the shock doctrine that Russia went through in 90's?

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[] EUPRAXIA1 1 point 3 days ago

Yes; that was horribly mismanaged.

I know there were a multitude of other problems but I always felt one of the greatest acts of

theft in the modern world was when 'connected' people were making themselves owners ofshares of the companies that they had managed and justifying that ownership by the factthat they had managed the systems while they were publicly owned.

I would have made a system that tried to distribute shares in all companies equally acrossall the people as a last acknowledgement of the fact that "everything" was owned by thepeople prior to communism ending. No communist country should have had anymultimillionaires or billionaires for at least a decade or so after communism ended thetiming is mostly just proof that they "stole" shares in companies.

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[] tonybanks -4 points 3 days ago

I remember when there were same cars on roads. Don't you remember that? Haha, I hated


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. .

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[] msxenix 9 points 3 days ago

What is your present day view on communism?

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I think that Communism is an Utopia. It is impossible to create a society where everyone wouldlive abiding a set of rules driven by their consciousness alone. The simplified definition of

communism for Soviet citizens was:It is when you give to the society all you can and take onlywhat really need in return-no questions asked. I would prefer Capitalism with a Socialist front.

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Funny thought. Could you imagine teaching ants anything other than what is essentiallycommunism? Just different ways animals (humans and in this case ants) are wired.

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[deleted]

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[] sakaionrye 2 points 3 days ago

Not quite.

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[] Marylandman101 3 points 3 days ago

What is your view on Stalin? Trotsky? Marx?

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Not the OP, but a common joke from the early 80s ran like this:

Arafat dies and goes to Heaven, at the Gates he meets the Angels. They don't want to let him in,since he is carrying a gun. He peeks through the gates and sees a guy with a long beard holdinga Kalashnikov. "What about him? He has got a gun!" "That is just Karl Marx waiting for Lenin."

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I think he'd be waiting for Stalin. Lenin at least knew what Marxism was all about.

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[] Stained_Panda 1 point 2 days ago

Is the joke also implying that Lenin went to hell?

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Communists don't believe in god, heaven or in hell, so I am sure he did time in an idealcommunist afterlife - which is its own sort of hell. :P

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[] two_goes_there 2 points 3 days ago

Cute.

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[] courtoftheair -2 points 3 days ago

Best. Joke. Ever.

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best book/movie of what it was like in the Soviet Union?

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I don't think I watched or read any specific things about the life in Soviet Union. No. I know thebest movie actually - Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears (1980) Moskva slezam ne verit (originaltitle). This film won the Oscar. If there is anything you would like to learn about Soviet Union -this one is the best reflection. Just the life of few ordinary citizens throughout couple of decades.It covers only 60s and 70s, but this is the country I remember and love.

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[] megazver 5 points 3 days ago

It's officially on Youtube.permalink parent

[] kewlkidmgoo 13 points 4 days ago

American citizens were taught to believe that we'd win a nuclear war, capitalism was superior, andthat they could survive a nuclear strike by hiding underneath desks. What things did yourgovernment tell you?

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Pretty much the complete opposite, however we were told that we had to compete in the armsrace to protect the good people of the world from the Capitalist warmongers. The difference waswe were told there would be no winners in a nuclear war.

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[] MeatPiesForAll 77 points 3 days ago

That last part was sobering.

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The last part is also what Americans were actually taught MAD Mutual Assured Destructionwasn't an unheard of term even among laymen.

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I made it sound a little too optimistic. We weren't told we'd win necessarily. We were led to

believe that we'd be devastated, but still some parts of us would survive. For the most partwe'd still lose out.

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[] courtoftheair 2 points 3 days ago

That's all true...

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[] hatheaded 19 points 3 days ago

Child of the detente era cold war here (b. 1966), and I don't remember ever being taught theU.S. would "win" a nuclear war. It was all M.A.D. and detente for us.

Born and lived in Florida for the first 12 years of my life. It was common for 50's and 60's erasubdivision housing to have concrete bomb shelters in the back yard. Little 1-room concrete,

half-buried structures with an "L" shaped entry hallway and a steel door.permalink parent

[] rainman18 3 points 2 days ago

Yeah, I grew up in the 70's and I don't recollect ever hearing the we would win scenarioeither. However I do remember the get under your desk and cover your head drills.

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[] kewlkidmgoo -1 points 3 days ago

I didn't grow up in that era, so my information isn't first-hand. But I didn't mean win.Obviously, both sides would be ravaged. But from a few of the movies that I saw from backthen, and from what I've learned from my teachers, it seems that there was this idea thatthere would be American survivors and the America would still continue. And there was the


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very firm idea that we would win the Cold War.

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[] Dylan_Ram_Brick 7 points 3 days ago

You might survive a nuclear blast by hiding under a desk. I don't know why people ridicule thattechnique so much. A nuclear blast is not magic and does not destroy the entire world in oneexplosion.

Yes if the blast occurs directly over you that's it. But what if it hits thirty miles away? Shit fallingon your head is likely cause of death. Everyone's not going to be at ground zero, and even if youwere at predicted ground zero the missiles weren't perfect, they might miss by enough miles toallow you to survive.

In the scenario of a nuclear attack "Duck and Cover" made perfect sense.

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I've read about the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. People tried to jumpin rivers to avoid the heat. The rivers were boiling. Nuclear radiation destroys all organicmatter and sticks around for decades afterwards. And even if you were far enough to avoidthe radiation, but still close enough for the roof to come down on your head, I think yourdesk stands a pretty good chance of breaking underneath the weight.

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[] Dylan_Ram_Brick 1 point 1 day ago

That's just silly, you're treating the explosion as magic because it involves radiation. Idon't care what the source of the explosion is you're better off shielding yourself thannot.

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[] kewlkidmgoo 1 point 1 day ago

I agree. Some manner of shield is always best. But you have to admit this; if a rooffalls on your desk, then the desk will probably cave.

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[] No_Filter_on_Mouth 3 points 2 days ago

That is not correct. I was also raised during the cold war, and nuclear was seen as unwinnable.What we were ACTUALLY taught was the principle of MAD...Mutually Assured Destruction. Inother words, it was like a continuous Mexican standoff, such that neither side wanted to pull thetrigger, but both were capable.

We were taught that capitalism was better than communism, and that has been shown to betrue.

The hiding under desks thing was a 50s-early 60s thing that was gone by the 70s and wasadmittedly stupid.

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[+] its_very_funny_imo comment score below threshold (1 child)

[] G_I_Joe_Mansueto 4 points 4 days ago

Where you able to visit other Bloc countries? What were your experiences away from home whilewithin the greater USSR?

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There were no restrictions for travelling within the USSR (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus,Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, KyrgyzstanKazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia) , but travelling to other countries was a nightmare. Mostcitizens have never been abroad. As a teenager I was lucky to go to Mongolia with my parent swhere my Dad went to work. It took them over 6 months to get the appropriate forms andmedical tests done. They would have to have a good reputation and even family up to cousinswas checked for reliability. It was considered to be a great honour to represent the USSR

'


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a roa . e p ace ve n was c ose o o s or ers. on reca a s ng e person w o wenthere at the time.

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[] TheReasonableCamel 3 points 3 days ago

Did people ever come from other countries like Poland?

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I would suspect a few did, however I saw none as I lived in a small town (200,000

people) in Belarus. In that town during Soviet times I never met any foreigners apartfrom in 1980 where all the trains from Western Europe passed through our towncarrying Olympic Athletes to Moscow. Me and my Grandma went and brought flowers forthe Athletes to make them feel welcome in our country, no one asked/forced us to do it.

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[] TheZetetics 2 points 3 days ago

Were you able to visit Bulgaria?

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[] TheAmazing 1 point 2 days ago

I am Bulgarian and my parents have told me how they traveled toRussia,Poland,Yugoslavia,Czechoslovakia and so on

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[] The_Mermaid -1 points 2 days ago

Why was it a nightmare to travel to other countries? Was it illegal, or just really difficult?

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[+] perche comment score below threshold (1 child)

[] doomgiver98 4 points 3 days ago

If you have read 1984, how similar was the USSR to the setting in the book?

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I haven't read 1984, but I know what it's about. I personally lived in such a bubble that i didn't

feel that it was a 1984 type society.permalink parent


Well, to summarize, it's a society where everyone is programmed to accept the society andnot even think about questioning the regime. And when you do begin to think somethingundesirable, you are taken away in the middle of the night.

I was just asking if people actually think they're treated well.

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I know now it was very similar. It just never personally touched me or affected me. Ihave never heard about people becoming undesirables for questioning the regime.People around me were relatively happy and never thought of criticizing thegovernment. Then again, I lived in a small provincial town...

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[] Cymry_Cymraeg 4 points 3 days ago

He said he knows what it's about.

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k

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[] LincLoL 1 point 3 days ago


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I haven't read the book in years. That comment helped refresh my memory.

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But he wasn't giving a summary to you.

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And I was saying that the summary in general was helpful in understanding

his question.permalink parent

[+] courtoftheair comment score below threshold (1 child)

[] thirdrail69 4 points 3 days ago

It should be mandatory reading for everyone. Slightly ironic statement I know. You reallyshould read it.

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The book is written by an englishman who was (at least at the time) againstcommunism. Not written by someone who lived in communism. It's a good book, but justkeep that in mind when you read it. Be as critical against it's message as you should be

against anything else. But great read!permalink parent

[] thirdrail69 1 point 2 days ago

I've read it several times. I know what it's about.

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[] Dabuscus214 2 points 3 days ago

we've always been at war with eurasia

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[] khriys 5 points 3 days ago

1984 wasn't about them, the Soviet Union--it was dark satire about us, the west.

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It was more about the dangers of total-surveillance, I think. Animal Farm is more about thedangers of Communism. :)

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[] khriys 7 points 3 days ago

If you're reading this on a tablet, note that it is a screen with a little camera. Essentiallythe same object as the telescreen in the book.

Also note that the outer party members had to buy their telescreens in the book, andthey were expensive.

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Orwell actually talks about censorship in the West in his preface to Animal Farm. A shortbut very interesting preface. I strongly advise everyone to read it.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/Orwell.html

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[] envyone -2 points 3 days ago*

I see this question a lot here on/r/IAMA, just to remind you guys - Orwell was a communist.1984 is not about USSR.

edit: typo

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[] obscuredreference 7 points 3 days ago

George Orwell wrote 1984... Not Orson Wells. Lol

And on that subject, you might want to take a look at Animal Farm!

George Orwell was a socialist (1984 was about what he feared his idea of a socialist utopiawould slip out and become, if I remember well).

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[] obscuredreference 1 point 2 days ago

"Typo"? XD lolFrom "Orwell" to typing instead "Orson Wells" is quite a stretch. No offense, I'm just amusedyou're passing it off as a typo. Lol

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[] FinKM 3 points 3 days ago

Gorbachev seems to be despised by former citizens of the Soviet Union, what is your opinion ofhim?

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He is my best politician of all the times and countries. He had the courage to admit inevitableand get the country away from the catastrophe of much more dramatic end. Most Soviet peopleassociate him with the hardest time in their lives. Sad. He is one of the most sensible andcharismatic people on the world stage.

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[] FinKM 3 points 3 days ago

That makes sense, well put. Also I would just like to say that this is one of the mostinformative and insightful AMAs I have ever seen, thank you very much for doing it.

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[] SnowGN 1 point 1 day ago

So, had the USSR not dissolved then, the final end a few more decades down the road wouldhave been even worse?

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[] Aero06 5 points 3 days ago

As someone who's been through it all, do you think Socialism could work? I mean there were avariety of factors that lead to the downfall of the second world, but was it bareable? Because Ialways hear people say 'we won the Cold War!' and 'Communism doesn't work!', those remarks arestupid obviously, but I'd like to hear your opinion.

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Thanks for your question. As I was saying before I believe in capitalism with socialist face, a bitlike in China maybe. The USSR was a difficult experiment as it wasnt flexible enough and thearms race killed it economically in the end. If there are enough people who believe in thesystem and no outside interference I believe that it is possible to create a fair Socialist society

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[] Aero06 1 point 3 days ago

A Social Democracy, or regulated Capitalsim. In terms of modern times, I wonder ifsomebody from Cuba would be willing to do some sort of AMA, last time I checked it was oneof the few remaining 'Communist' Countries, that wasn't in reality under some harshdystopian rule. Also, since I note that you are from Belarus, what do you think ofnationalism there? I watched a documentary on post Soviet Republics, apparently peoplethere are upset that Communism is still glorified there and that it is pressed as more as anassociation of Russia than it's own state, leading nationalism to be at a low. Do you keep inmuch contact with Belarus still?

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Nationalism was on a rise in the early 90s. It all died down as far as I know. There is aminority of Belorusians who are fussed about preserving the language and culture. Mostpeople I meet when I visit see the future of Belarus tightly connected with Russia. thecultures are too similar, the history is so inseparable. As for the glorifying communism -I used to live on the SOVETSKAYA STREET 200 meters away from LENIN SQUARE andthe monument to LENIN. My parents still live there and last time I checked (April 2012)all of those were still there. However, the way it is viewed is not glorifying anything, but

"what is the point to destroy something that was our history". If anything it is a goodreminder. I think most people just not bothered about keep changing the names of thestreets.

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I would not say that Cuba isn't currently under harsh rule. Political dissidents are stillailed, homosexuals are sent to harsh labor camps, prisoners are tortured andextrajudicial executions are known to occur.

Why do you think that refugees keep risking a very dangerous boat ride in order to getto Florida? People in free countries who wish to travel do not need to resort to suchmethods to go abroad.

I'll give you that Cuba isn't as batshit insane as North Korea, but harsh dystopian rule isdefinitely still the order of the day there.

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homosexuals are sent to harsh labor camps

Total bullshit. That used to happen. Not anymore.

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[] obscuredreference -4 points 3 days ago

"Cuba isn't under a harsh dystopian rule"?! :(

Have you been there or know people there? Have you talked to the people there and

seen the utter misery and horror they live in? It's very bad.As for a socialist country functioning, taking a look at Europe is enough to see it doesn'twork. (I left Europe for that reason, btw.) China is an even worse example. Quality oflife there can be good for the elite, but for the rest it's often quite abysmal.

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[] obscuredreference 1 point 2 days ago

Haha! I knew the little children filled with idealistic nonsense would down vote mypost. Too bad denying the truth isn't enough to make it go away, huh. :P

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[] tonybanks -1 points 3 days ago

The fascist experiment was the worst. Nazis went too far. Still, USSR killed millions of own

citizens.permalink parent


I'm not sure what you mean when you say "Nazi's went too far"? There's sort of animplication to that statement that if they had only killed fewer Jews and other"undesirables", they would not be so reviled and condemned. I'm sure you don't mean toimply that.

Stalin and Mao both killed more of their people during their purges and pogroms thanThe Nazis. They all deserve our condemnation and contempt.

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[] EUPRAXIA1 1 point 3 days ago


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So we didn't win the cold war eventually and communism hasn't failed as a system?

Fighting the cold war was like having an investment contest with your neighbor in which he'sdetermined to only hold on to bonds and you're allowed to and knowledgeable enough to investin anything including stocks. Your portfolio might have more variance but the geo mean is goingto be much higher and over the decades he won't be able to afford a car and you'll have movedto a bigger house or apartment.

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[] freemarket27 1 point 3 days ago

Were there any private houses in Belarus when you lived there? I am curious how a socialist systemhandles housing. Does everyone get the same sized home/apartment?

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Most people were living in the blocks of flats. However some were living in the private sectorand had their own houses. I think it was a privilege of people connected with the countryside,farming. Living in the big industrial town you would have no option to purchase your own house- there were not many built and you would never save enough for it. You would usually startyour carrier at the factory. That would give you a room in the hostel or something like that andput you on the list for the flat/apartment. Depending on the area where you lived, you wouldprobably work for that organisation for 6-9 years before you get municipal accommodation.

Blocks of flats were built in accordance with 5 year plans made by party officials. There wasnever enough housing. Those living in their own houses would probably inherit them after livingfew mixed up generations under one roof for decades. My family never had their own property,not even a car, which was such a luxury.

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[] Redskull673 3 points 3 days ago

i heard you had to apply for a car and wait for a time period

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Yes that is true. You could only buy Soviet made car anyway. In the 80's the list wouldbe few years long if you wanted to buy it for the government price. There were people

who bought cars and resold them. Your queue to get car could be quicker if you askedyour granddad - veteran of war to do it for you. That would have priveledges and theirqueue would be shorter - could buy a car within a year, if you had the money.

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[] Dormidont 1 point 2 days ago

You had to apply even for a decent furniture. Or TV set.

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[] R3laX 1 point 3 days ago

I don't know about the area where you lived but in my town (LV SSR) you could work on theconstruction site of (your) future apartment block getting your flat ahead of the queue.

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[] SovietBattery 3 points 3 days ago

Were you raised to think anything negative about america?

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[] born_in_ussr [S] 13 points 3 days ago*

Yes I was. The only good part was poor oppressed common people of US who did not haveenough courage to revolt. Here is the example: It changed however when Gorbachev came intopower.

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what do you think the role of government should be?


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[] jaj5954 2 points 3 days ago

Do you have an opinion on the Republic of Georgia? When I was in Russia, I made friends with a kidfrom there my age back then-- he's a lawyer now, seeking to immigrate to the UK. He's extremelycritical of Russia and its influence of former Soviet republics.

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I love Georgians. They have such a unique culture. I think Russians adore their cute accent. By

the way, I think it is the only nation in the world which calls the father - MAMA, and the mother- PAPA. I don't know what happened recently, I mean last 20 years. I remember when USSR wascollapsing, Russia was supporting some separatist movements within Georgia. In return,Georgian government started to support Chechens when they wanted independence. As for theinfluence, it seems that like in older days it is again either American or Russian influence and Ican relate to the feeling that it is better to step up and try to be in control in bordering regions,rather then let very remote and alien US to fill the gap? I came from Belarus which have greaterintegration with Russia then any other ex republic, which is build on a very different and fairerbase. I think it is the way forward for a few other countries in the region - if they want it! Thereis not that much bullying any more from Russia and countries have choices (that does notnecessarily apply to Georgia. I am not happy about Russian attitude towards breakaway regions)

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A lot was done wrong in the USSR, but right now, what political system do you favour? (EgCapitalism, Socialism, Communism, Liberalism)

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[] shenron1146 2 points 3 days ago

How did the iron curtain affect musical influences, what kind of music did you listen to? What do youlisten to now?

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[] periskope 2 points 3 days ago

Did you ever see the Russian hard rock band Gorky Park in concert in the late 80's? If so, what was

the public/private opinion towards them? And did you see the Moscow Music Peace Festival?permalink

[] born_in_ussr [S] 1 point 3 days ago

It was extremely popular and I was a fan as well. I watched Moscow Music Peace Festival on TV.I was not lucky enough to go to Luzhniki Stadium to watch it. That was my kind of music at thetime. I think most young people in USSR at that time were discovering rock and hard rock musicwithout limits. The soloist of GORKY PARK - Alexander Marshal is still singing, but he is a popartist now.

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[] drfsrich 1 point 2 days ago

BANG!

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[] spacedboy 3 points 3 days ago

To what extent could you get away with just hanging out with friends criticizing the government? Igrew up in the US during the same time period and we were given the impression that you wereheaded to siberia if you got drunk and started bitching about the system with your friends in yourown apartment. It also seemed like every apartment over there was being recorded.

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[] t_maia 8 points 3 days ago*

I did not grow up in the USSR, but in another bloc country.

The impression is greatly exaggerated.


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you pers s en y ma e suc remar s espec a y n pu c you wou no ea s ra g oSiberia, but depending upon your situation somebody might sit down with you to "talk reason".Essentially you'd be told to "tone it down or..."

Since the whole system was connected and the state had authority over almost everything, youmight loose your job, get into trouble at school, get kicked out of university and your friendsand family would be affected too. Your children might not be allowed to go to college or yourbrother might be asked to move to another city to distance himself from you.

One of the worst things the government in my country did was to take the children away frompeople who were openly against the system and put them up for adoption.

The threat was subtle, but always there. Plus they could do quite a lot to wreak havoc on yourlife. Growing up, you quickly learned what to say when or when to keep your mouth shut.Funnily, it is a bit like learning on how to be tactful. You just did not do certain things and oneof them was openly critizising the government.

I think a good way to compare it with is working under an inept psychopatic boss who cannothandle criticism with nasty colleagues who love intrigue at a time when economy is bad. Youneed that job, but you do not dare open your mouth about all the things that are wrong in thecompany for fear of getting backstabbed by somebody out there for your job. So you suck it up,play three wise monkeys and worry about your own shit.

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I think the scale of surveillance varied throughout 70 year history of USSR. I remember thatcriticizing the government and bitching about the system did not come to my head. I know itshard to imagine. I was a young communist and would not join the organisation if I was nothappy. I knew it could cost me dearly to start any sort of criticism - it was called anti-sovietpropaganda. To me it would be like if a very religious person would start to doubt the existenceof god.

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[] MonsterTruckButtFuck 6 points 4 days ago*

If you could go back to the 70's and move to America with your family, a house, a car, and amagical knowledge of american English, would you do it?

Also, how do you feel about this picture? http://zg.swl-clan.at/asset/201211/zg.vj8d.jpeg

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No I wouldnt, (I wouldnt even do it now as I am happy in The UK and America is a bit tooextreme for me)In the 70s we didnt have a car or our own house. We bought our first TV in1982 and it was Black and White! However I enjoyed that life and I wouldnt swap it for the

American dream Also I enjoyed your comic.

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[] gdination 2 points 3 days ago

Ha. As an American, I'm really glad to hear this.

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[] Cannibalzz 0 points 3 days ago

If you enjoyed a simpler life more, why are you living in the UK and not a more "oldfashioned" country?

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I felt very comfortable living in the USSR before the changes. That country and thesociety does not exist any more. Instead there is a lot of instability and people who wentthrough a difficult transformation. I like to have stable and safe life. In the late 90's Icame to UK to work and found the stability I was looking for. I feel comfortable here andthis is my country now. My both children were born in London and I serve my newmotherland by working for Metropolitan Police. Love my job and Londoners. I consider


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.have incorporated the best from both systems and very different cultures.

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[] heyangelyouthesexy 1 point 2 days ago

Your statement is extremely humble. My mother always said as we get richer andmore developed we also become less and less humane, less trusting, friendly etc.She still fondly remembers her childhood back in 70s where it was peaceful andpeople helped each other.

If you ever want to move some where looking for that life before, do consider NewZealand. We're proabably the last western nation relatively untouched by pollutionand mindless money grabbing. I hear Finland is very similar too.

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"and a magical knowledge of american English".

I think a knowledge of any type of English will do.

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I'm English and disagree. I have no clue what most Americans are taking about. They don'teven have real cheese.

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At least we don't have chavs.

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[] Democrab 1 point 1 day ago

You do, just under different names; in Australia we either call them bogans orwesties depending on where you hail from. (Westies is mainly from my home town ofBallarat, they call them that because most come from Wendoree West.)

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[] hassium 1 point 3 days ago

touche.

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[] obscuredreference 4 points 3 days ago

American cheese is actually a British invention, funny enough.

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[] red-jar 1 point 3 days ago

What was the perception of Canadians in the USSR? I ask because you don't ever see Canada as anarch-enemy to anyone, much like America was to the USSR.

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[] Ludicrous 1 point 3 days ago

There was also the Summit Series between the Soviet and Canadian hockey teams.

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[] Raejk 1 point 3 days ago

It was a slippery slope. Early relations were pretty hostile, seeing as how Canada did not supportthe communist-side during the Russian Civil War. However, during WWII relations were good,due to both nations being allies.

Eventually, it gets better:

After Pierre Trudeau came to power in Canada, Canadian policy changed dramatically.Trudeau was a left-leaning but free-thinking >intellectual who had traveled to the SovietUnion in the 1950s and >was arrested for throwing a snowball at a statue of Stalin.>Trudeau wanted to lessen Canada's reliance on the United States >by forging closer ties


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.Soviet Union in 1971 >he identified the United States as a bigger threat to Canada than>the remote Soviet Union. The Americans, he said, are "a danger to >our national identityfrom a cultural, economic and perhaps even >military point of view." Eventually Trudeaubacked away from his >"Third Option" policy and returned to the Western fold. However,?>at the end of his tenure, when he believed that tension between >the US and SovietUnion were again too high, he launched a peace >mission to Moscow which the Americansdid not approve of.

"The government of Conservative Brian Mulroney cast a much more critical eye on the Soviet

Union, despite the changes produced in that country by Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika andglasnost reforms. As late as January 1989, foreign minister Joe Clark still identified the Sovietsas a threat to the West, by May however, he spoke approvingly of Gorbachev's reforms.Canada's changed position was fully shown in November 1989, when Prime Minister Mulroneyvisited the Soviet Union, accompanied by more than 200 representatives of Canadian business.Numerous agreements were signed during the visit, the most important of which was a PoliticalDeclaration calling for Canadian-Soviet cooperation in such areas as the environment, theArctic, terrorism, and the drug trade. Canadian-Soviet relations were now on friendly terms,until January 1991, when Gorbachev cracked down on independence-seeking Lithuania andLatvia, prompting Canada to suspend credit and ?>?technical aid to the Soviet Union. During the1991 Soviet coup d'tat attempt new foreign affairs minister Barbara McDougall, evoked muchcriticism by indicating that Canada could work with the plotters, a position that was particularly

embarrassing when Gorbachev was quickly returned to office. As the Soviet Union fell apart,Canada moved speedily to establish full relations with Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. It actedeven before the United States, and in December 1991, Canada was the first Western country torecognize the independence of Ukraine. With Gorbachev's resignation that month, the SovietUnion ceased to exist, prompting Canada to recognize Russia as an independent state."

So, Canada-USSR relations were rough at times, but considering the closeness of the US andCanada, relations weren't too bad later on. :)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%E2%80%93Soviet_Union_relations

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Spot on!! Thank you for answering it for me in such a detail as well.

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[] rathead 0 points 3 days ago

in soviet russia... you don't wear earmuffs... earmuffs wear you.

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In Soviet Russia president assasinates you!

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[] freemarket27 0 points 3 days ago

Is there are brain drain happening in Belarus? Where the people with smarts and ambition leave thecountry?

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Sorry but I honestly don't know. I live in the UK but I wouldn't call myself a brain. It is verydifficult for people in Belarus to find ways to go and work/live abroad unless it's in Russia orUkraine

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[] WArch 1 point 3 days ago

In Belarus, is there genuine popular support for Lukashenka, or is he incredibly unpopular? I'vebeen told that, though there is a lot of vote rigging, it isn't quite as simple as a dictatorship.

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Last time I went there (April 2012) I met mainly two types of people. One type which supporthim one hundred percent and call him father of the nation, and another type which could see noworthy alternative to him as they believe current opposition to be heavily sponsored by the westand doesn't reflect the aspirations of the people. Both types would vote Lukashenka- better thedevil you know than the devil you don't. I think the country is so far from a market economythat most people are too scared to turn back and go through the horrors of shock therapyneighbouring states went through some time ago.

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[] t_maia 1 point 3 days ago

Have you ever read "Russian Disco" by Wladimir Kaminer?

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[] born_in_ussr [S] 1 point 3 days ago

No I haven't, thanks for mentioning I will look in to it.

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[] LordByron12 1 point 3 days ago

I've read a few interesting articles on the growing economic pressures on the old S.S.R's and howPutin has tried to nosey in with them. Having grown up in an S.S.R and seen to transformation, Isthere any positive points to living in a communist country?

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[] Moonwalker917 1 point 3 days ago*

My mum, who grew in soviet union told me there was ridiculous laws like if you build a dacha, itshouldn't have 2 floors. Do you have more exemples for dumb laws?

Oh what about TV program? In the 80s they were telling us (in France) at school that everyone inUSSR had TVs but it was mainly for propaganda.

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[] UserMaatRe 2 points 3 days ago

Somewhat related to the TV question: Seventeen moments of Spring was a hugely popular TVseries. You may also be interested in the Broadcasts section on Wikipedia.

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[] Moonwalker917 1 point 3 days ago

Thanks! I will go check this out!

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[] ReIIik 1 point 3 days ago

What is your opinion on the transfer to democracy? I know that Russia experienced the biggestheroin epidemic to hit any country, and that since democracy has taken effect, the major criminalorganizations have pretty much taken control of power.

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[] 13tw 2 points 3 days ago

What was your most favourite part about growing up in the USSR?

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[] AlexJPiechowski3 1 point 3 days ago

What was shunned and why? Or, what was the west perceived of?

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[] nunobo 1 point 3 days ago

How do you feel about your Polish neighbors? Antagonists? Or brothers separated by a border?

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I love Polish neighbours. I think we have so much in common. I was born 250 km away fromPolish border. I like Poland without politics and believe it should stay that way. When you startlooking at the history - not so great. I am not the one to judge, but I think great mistakes were


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done on both sides. I was born in West Belarus, which some Polish people would remember asEastern Rech Pospolita. Some still like to think that they have the right for that land. I have metmany older Beloarussians who used to live under Poland. Most of them remeber it was not great.Polish masters had no consideration for Belorussian language and culture and treated peasantslike slaves. In 1939 when Soviet Army went in West Belarus, common people genuinely werehappy to be liberated from Polish oppression. I think some started changing their minds whenthe horror of communist oppression started to sink in, however the war started in 1941 and upto 1/3 of civil population of Belarus died as a result of that war. You cannot look back and havethe grudge at either Polish or Russians. I believe we are all very close Slavic people and should

be brothers. I have many Polish friends in UK. We never even get to discuss the past and thehistory - pointless.

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[] nunobo -1 points 3 days ago

You cannot look back and have the grudge at ... Russians.

I can't quite agree with you there. After 60 years of occupation by the Soviets I think thereis plenty of space to hold a grudge. Look how well Western Europe has done since WWII, andhow much the Soviets stifled any sort of economic development.

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do you mind if I correct you there? You can have a

Documents

I Grew Up in the Soviet Union During the Cold War _ IAmA