I'm tired of hearing stories about how people in the USSR lived well. That now there is complete devastation, but then it was much better. I personally cannot say anything, because I was small. Therefore, I had to delve into the information in order to understand whether everything was really so cloudless in the distant Soviet times. The older generation claims that in the USSR they have always had enough of everything, that they were confident in their future. Is it really?
Let's look at the most common controversial statements about life in the USSR.
Soviet goods are the best
The ice cream was the most delicious, and there was no demolition of shoes or clothes. So say those who like to feel nostalgic about the Soviet times. I won't argue with the naturalness and excellent taste of Soviet food, but as for the clothes... Ordinary citizens, of course, liked everything foreign. Although it was expensive, they tried to snatch foreign furniture, dishes, clothes.
People were ready to chase after imported goods, stand in line for them and overpay many times over. If a person managed to travel to a capitalist country, he saved on everything, just to bring at least some of the things from there.
So why is it said that Soviet goods were better? Which ones? Weighing tape recorders that chewed tape all the time? Or maybe televisions, probably, thanks to which a large number of TV workshops appeared? So I think it's a moot point whether things in the USSR were the best.
There were no rich and poor, everyone was equal
Well, the state failed to meet the needs of absolutely every citizen of the country. The standard of living of industrial workers was much higher than that of others. Salaries varied by region and by city size.
Yes, even the most modest salary was enough to buy a standard set of products and household items, but there was simply nothing more to spend on before! But to get a piece of land or a car, you had to stand in line for many years. If an employee of an enterprise received an apartment, then he was thereby assigned to him. All the accumulations of people burned down during perestroika... Fun, of course ...
It was impossible to develop a career
And as for the impossibility of building a career, this is a real lie. It is clear that if you are not a member of the party, you cannot jump to the very top. But all the same, there were people from ordinary families in the management elite. Figures of culture and science made their way on their own.
The educational level was good enough! Therefore, children then engaged in more qualified work than their parents, and occupied high places in the social hierarchy. So, even if someone did not want to participate in the political life of the country, he could still build a good career.
Soviet medicine was the best
Even in the early USSR, there was an accelerated training regime for medical workers, hygiene promotion, vaccination - and we can say that thanks to this it was possible to defeat many diseases of that time. Life expectancy increased, infant mortality decreased.
In terms of the number of health workers per capita, for example, in the 50s, the USSR ranked first. But, the doctors had low qualifications, the equipment was old, and some new methods and technologies of treatment appeared exclusively thanks to the nuggets of those times.
The salaries of medical workers were low, and this did not add motivation to them to improve their qualifications, study further, and gain more knowledge. That's it!
Science and education
The USSR was indeed among the first in physics and mathematics. Otherwise, it is impossible to become a space and nuclear power. New discoveries were made again by nuggets who loved their job. And the development of science was very much hampered: national discrimination, resistance from party workers, administrative delays. For example, in the 30s such science as genetics was rejected because of a couple of distinguished scientists.
Children of the USSR knew how to write correctly, started reading early, and counted even without a calculator. But they could not get acquainted with the work of many talented poets and writers, if the works were at odds with the ideology of the state. In history, too, many facts were omitted, they were hidden. It can be said that Soviet people were taught only "correct" things, and he could not have a different opinion. And you also needed to know the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, otherwise, even if you are a promising scientist, you cannot build a career.
I think that, remembering the USSR, people speak somehow too one-sided. And there were many good and bad. Everything was not straight and light and carefree. What do you think of it?
The original article is posted here: https://kabluk.me/poleznoe/dejstvitelno-li-v-sssr-tak-horosho-bylo-zhit.html
