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What branch of the Soviet military did you do your military service in? What was it like?
During the cold war, I read horror stories about conditions for Soviet conscripts. These stories told of beatings from senior soldiers, ethnic fights, poor quality rations, deaths from training accidents being covered up etc. Are these stories true?
As I am young and never experienced the Soviet Union, but from stories I hear life was generally good especially in the 70s. My mom even living in the US for 25+ years, she still sometimes wishes she lived back then. She love the simplicity of everything. Also women had a lot more rights compared to the US. My grandmother was second in position, one of the top managers at if I'm not mistaken, an engineering firm. And this was back in the late 50s and early 60s, which would have been almost unheard of back in the US. However the stress she experienced having this position was a little to much and had a mental break down, and had to be sent to a sanatorium in Georgia, and stayed there for about a year or so until she recovered and then became a sower. And when the perestroika she opened up her own business, and would make fashionable woman's clothing and was quite successful at it, she even had my dad fly to remote arctic Siberian towns to sell her clothes, which is a very far distance considering they lived in Crimea. Also I think why my parents and other family members have such a nostalgia, is the fact that they lived in Crimea, which would've been like living in Hawaii or California for an American. My dad grew up in a little costal village on the Black Sea. Also People forget that before the 70s, the US had very poor human rights and it was only a utopia if you were a rich/middle class white male. Nobody would give 2 s***s if you were anything but. So I think that for certain periods the Soviet Union was better for the average person and minorities than in the US, and they swapped places in the 70s/80s. My dad also said he liked what the perestroika stood for except that Gorbochove was breaking the government institutions and tearing everything apart until it couldn't function any longer and the whole country fell apart. However if the Soviet Union survived it, I think that it would be on par with Europe today, just not as liberal.
In America may be. But in Russia (in Soviet Union in this case,) where fist fights and brawls (among younger guys in particular) were quite common, this ban has prevented a lot of unnecessary deaths I'd guess.
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Was military service compulsory for all males back then?
Yes, from the age of 18 to 20 - for two years, ( but students were exempt -they've had some military preparations in Universities from what I remember.) That's why a lot of parents were in a rush to push their sons to pass University exams right after school (10th grade) and send them to Universities. Otherwise they'd have to go to serve in the army before the next summer ( and next available opportunity to pass the entrance exams.)
For all the nostalgia here - and the "earlier everything was better" we must also remember that earlier there was much less income disparities in the US and better retirement protections and union job protections etc. So it's not fair to compare the US today with any country 40 years ago. Also less women worked and while their was more discrimination against them it was also that the median household income was higher and a family could live well off of one salary here.
For all the nostalgia here - and the "earlier everything was better" we must also remember that earlier there was much less income disparities in the US and better retirement protections and union job protections etc. So it's not fair to compare the US today with any country 40 years ago. Also less women worked and while their was more discrimination against them it was also that the median household income was higher and a family could live well off of one salary here.
Absolutely.
When Soviet Union was flourishing, life in the US was even better ( same should be said about Western Europe.)
This is the most interesting thread I've read on CD to date, and I'd like to thank those who have shared their experiences so freely here.
I have a question, if I may. You all said that everyone (except retirees) worked. What about disabled people? What about those in wheelchairs, or those who are blind or otherwise sick, and particularly the mentally ill?
Most homeless people in the US are mentally ill, although the poor economic climate is playing an increasing part in families being rendered homeless, which is a disgrace, considering that none of it is necessary. Currently, there are 3.5 million homeless people in the U.S., and 1.4 million of those are children. Canada has similar statistics when the number in the population is taken into account.
The various proposed solutions here revolve around increasing taxes in the private sector, which I think is a bad idea. I believe that the corporate sector should be taxed according to profits made, which would work out better for everyone, as the private sector would then have more funds to spend (if they are not further taxed), and the corporate sector would have more consumers and ergo more profits.
How does Russia handle caring for those who cannot care for themselves -- for whatever reason?
Absolutely.
When Soviet Union was flourishing, life in the US was even better ( same should be said about Western Europe.)
which time period? because it may have been a good life for the average white male, but it certainly wasn't for minorities, women, the poor and immigrants. It only started to get good for everybody in the 60s/70s. Just like many Russians tend to remember the good time in the good old USSR, so do Americans with their past.
Sure. Right on. Born in 1955 in Siberia in the persecuted family. Mom was sentenced to death then they took entire family, changed it to 25 yrs in exile and loss of all possessions and civil rights and family ended in camp.
Reason I'm saying this what I'll say will be followed by a lot of caustic remarks, so have my word - I am not pro-commie or pro USSR just for that reason itself.
But, objectively speaking:
38 years of life in the USSR. 2 marriages and 3 kids. Mom was an intellectualist. I was somewhat a brat till about age of 19 when I got married and started family and went to work as a blue collar guy. Then I had my Masters in Pharmacy. SO I went through all kinds of life situations.
I miss that life. When I was growing, we lived off one very small salary, but I was never hungry, as produce was abundant in stores and very inexpensive. Flats were practically free, as we paid only utility bill and that was minuscule.
Free education, free daycare, free schools, free high education. Free health care. Yes, you had to have "connections" to get into a "good" education like, say, a doctor. Yes, it was common to tip doctors, but not required and many did not.
Education quality was very high. Very hard and high standard exams. Country was something like 96% literate. Reading was common for everyone.
Life was not rich, but it was not poor too. Cars were rarity and public transportation was a must, but it worked like a Swiss clock - a bus or a trolley or a tram every minute or so. I actually mostly walked anywhere, city was very condensed though about a million people.
Life was booming in the streets. Thousands of people walking, chatting, leisure or business. That's where we picked girls. Streets, parks. There was almost no bars or discotheques, so that's how it works. Those started coming in like mid 80s, before collapse.
We didn't have fancy clothes, finding good shoes was a problem, but no one really paid attention to this. Not in my environment. And I was very social kid.
Everyone was dressed neatly and nicely. No one was walking in shorts only in the street - you get 15 days of jail for that. There was a lot of restrictions - no sitting on sidewalks, or fences or whatever else was public. No pan handlers, that was severely persecuted. No homeless living in a street. Streets were normally kept rather clean, each couple blocks had a person assigned to maintain them. We had special designed trucks that will drive around every morning, flushing streets with water sprays. City was super green, lots and lots of trees. No pollution.
Yeah, there was a black market of course for "import" - mostly shoes, dresses and electronics. Industry limped badly with home made stuff. Roads were rather real chitty quality. But ALL houses had street name and number on them. Miss this a lot here.
Overall, population was well cultured, mannered, educated.
Yes, drinking was very common. But abstinence was common too.
Churches were open and functioning, I never saw any repressions against services. There was no official religious holidays but we celebrated them anyway. Family circle. No one was persecuted for that. Was common knowledge that is happening.
Coutry was very "political". When I worked as a blue collar, we had our mouths stripping about how wrong and lying the system is non stop. Loud and clear. No one ever was touched for that. Our CPSU local cell chairman will stick his head in, once in a while, and say - guys, please, keep it down, please. He could get something hard and heavy flying in his direction for that. That's all we did - *****-ing about the politics and government.
They sort of didn't really touch workers. Intelligence had to be more careful with their mouth. The higher up in hierarchy you were, the more lip tight you had to be, but that is same everywhere. Lay people, unless they really started conspiring or planning some action, where let be.
Political jokes were daily feast.
TV had one channel, part time. Then they added something like up to 3.
There was no guns or sharp weapons allowed. Period. No sticks, baseball bats etc in the street. Cops were, hmm, what's word - quick to kick you?
Biggest problem in the streets were hooligans. Damn plague. Otherwise, life was pretty safe. Streets were rather well lit.
Oh, the vacation time. I had 45 days of paid vacation. Vacations were generous.
Maternity leaves were more than generous. I'd need to refresh with my wife, but mother could have up to three years of leave with job not lost. They normally had a month or two before delivery, then something like 9 months after, expandable based on circumstances.
Oh, it was illegal not to work. There was a penal code for it. Up to five years in jail and forced labor.
Private businesses were allowed but not abundant. Employment was guaranteed by law. There were plenty of jobs everywhere. Plenty.
Don't really know what else to say. Ask me. Never encountered a person that would have been persecuted. I mean - many from the times it happened to us, but not during my life there. I guess, they were somewhere out there.
There was no propaganda of horrors, violance or narcotics and such in the movies. Movies were mostly either patriotic or family or happy or comedies. But none of what you see here now. Music was also censored, toned down. Yes, there were always rebels trying to go against the hair. I think, we all went through "I'm a rebel" stage in our lives.
Life was sort of lame, but I miss it. I surely miss healthcare and educational system. And vacations.
THen it all started falling apart late 70s. Got real bad after perestroyka. Bless his heart, Mr Gorbachev, I don't want to judge what he did. But hey, it's the way the world goes.
Thank you for the insight.
How about lines at the store? Rationing? We were always told of terrible lines to buy many basic items like meat or canned goods.
Did people with medals from military service really get to go to the front of the lines, depending on the awards?
How about travel? Were you free to leave the country on vacation, and if so, where could you visit?
And what were you taught in school about Western Europe and the USA?
How about lines at the store? Rationing? We were always told of terrible lines to buy many basic items like meat or canned goods.
Did people with medals from military service really get to go to the front of the lines, depending on the awards?
How about travel? Were you free to leave the country on vacation, and if so, where could you visit?
And what were you taught in school about Western Europe and the USA?
I can tell something about then East Germany which we visited from around 1980, at least this is as far as I remember. The lines were definitively there. Anytime something aside from basic goods was available in a store, like the famous oranges long lines would appear immediately. Word of mouth I guess. People with relatives in the west or political connections had big privileges. And everyone was part of the collective black market. People who did not have marketable skills for the black market were the big loser. Our relatives were better off because of us and the goods we would send them. They could be exchanged on the black market if not used by themselves. Btw the buildings were all falling apart. All the historic buildings were ruins and the newer built socialist apartment block buildings were substandard too from our perspective yet coveted by the locals. Many old buildings still showed bullet scars from WW2. That seemed even more true in Poland at the time. Attitude-wise the East Germans seemed a lot more docile and timid than us Westerners for fear of the secret police. Once these restrictions were gone they now show more tendency towards neo-nazism unfortunately.
Always fun was the currency exchange. Some money we had to exchange at the official rate . The rest was at the black market rate. For example we would put a west german bill into the restaurant menu and the waiter would come back with a menu full of local currency. This seemed to work smoothly in Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia. Btw I always remember Prague as being the best sustained place I visited in the East Block.
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