The USA was better than the USSR
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| Author: Patrick Crozier |
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I am talking about the period 1917-1989. This shouldn't be controversial but just in case it is here goes.
This is a reasonably good comparison because we are comparing two countries with similar populations and of comparable size with not dissimilar climates.
Contents |
The USSR
In the USSR state control was total. Ok, perhaps not total - it allowed some private possessions and some small holdings.
And the outturn? On the upside they:
- put the first satellite and first man in space (though apparently with largely World War II German technology)
- defeated the main bulk of the German army in World War II
- fostered painters who could paint (though there are those who disagree)
- built the Moscow Metro
- won lots of Olympic gold medals (though if you're not encumbered by amateurism or squeamishness about breaking the drug rules it does give you a head start)
On the downside the USSR:
- killed 10-60m (estimates vary) of its own people by means of massacres and starvation
- established the Gulags
- launched invasions of Finland, the Baltic Republics, Hungary and Czechoslovakia
- locked up anyone who disagreed with the state
- made shortages common to the extent that:
- Russians had a worse diet in the 1980s than they had before the First World War
- there were queues for everything including:
- cars
- food
- made poor quality commonplace. For example:
- televisions that had a tendency to explode
- Ladas. These became such a joke in the West that one company offered them as a punishment to under-performing staff
- built white elephant projects like the White Sea Canal. Built in the 1930s with slave labour at a cost of tens of thousands of deaths it was completely useless.
- banned people from leaving
- had a system of internal passports
- banned the free press
- largely drained both the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal (I think)
- had a number of disasters such as Chernobyl and the railway/pipeline disaster in which a pipeline next to a railway line exploded killing 500
Anecdotes:
- an acquaintance who was there in the mid-1980s talked of the stench of the milk shops
- another acquaintance was there at about the same time talked of having to overcome the stench of the housing blocks
The USA
In the USA over the same period state control was lower than almost any other major state. It wasn't non-existent with there being:
- Prohibition
- The New Deal
- Johnson's Great Society
Over that period in the US:
- its citizens were the richest of any major economy
- they put a man on the moon
- helped win both world wars
Comparison
I hope this is self-evident. If anyone reading this is thinking that the USSR was better than the USA then all I can say is "oh well".
Questions
So, how come the Soviets beat the Germans? I don't know. It's a mystery. Not an insignificant one either considering that they succeeded where the Tsarists failed. It's possible that the Germans were even less free (certainly in the way they treated their conquered people) and that this had an effect. It is possible that the Arctic convoys had a bigger impact than is generally understood. It may be that the Allies had a bigger impact eg the Blockade, North Africa, Italy, the Bomber Campaign than we generally think. It is also possible that they were simply better.
Comments
If you would like to comment on this article I suggest you make it here rather than attempting to use the Talk/Discussion page. I have recently received a large amount of Wiki spam and the only effective way of preventing it is to prevent the unmoderated creation of new accounts without which the page is uneditable (unless your name is Kieran or Jax).
