More like: USSR propaganda in 100 photographs. One “man in space” vs millions of people devoid of plumbing and basic products, all living in a repressive orwellian society. The aftermath is still tangible: former satellite states are even after 30 years behind Western Europe economically, the former USSR republics are either marginalised, autocratic or in active war for their survival against their former colonial masters, and of course there’s Russia itself with its utmost lack of respect for its own citizens’ well being. So sure feel free to enjoy these photographs but don’t let them trick you into imagining USSR as some sort of utopia, because it was definitely way closer to an actual dystopia, and the world is now an actually better place because USSR is no more
It was far from utopia but it wasn't orwellian. It was different in a way that's hard to explain if you didn't experience it. The lack of public goods, lower living standards, and the oppressiveness of the state were somewhat compensated by the peace of mind coming from knowing that you couldn't become unemployed or homeless. This is what a lot of people miss when they say they miss USSR.
Is plumbing seen as the pinnacle of human development? We lived without it until the late 19th century whilst in Mesopotamia they had sewage systems, plumbing and even toilet bowls 5000 years ago. The Romans sewers built before the birth of Christ are still in use today.
Note that even today hundreds of millions in India and China still don't have access to modern toilets or sewage systems.
I’m not sure about the pinnacle, but for me plumbing definitely makes it to the list of the top 100 most important human achievements, at least as far as sanitation, health and quality of life goes
You’d be surprised how many people there are in the West who picture USSR as some kind of a magical world run by elves and fairies. Left-leaning French academics is one such group worth calling out directly. Their (partly justified) hatred for capitalism plus the lack of direct exposure to communism causes some real cognitive distortions
>vs millions of people devoid of plumbing and basic products
Quite the opposite: millions of people got electricity and plumbing in the USSR era, that lacked before.
>The aftermath is still tangible: former satellite states are even after 30 years behind Western Europe economically
And how are the Latin American 20th century right wing countries doing compared to Western Europe?
Funnily forgot how most of the Western European countries had massive colonies funding their earlier development, which the eastern european countries lacked.
I grew up in an ex-eastern bloc country, so I’m familiar with some of the aesthetics and even echoes of the Soviet mentality. The images fill me with despair. So much human potential wasted.
Me too, Poland, but I don't share the sentiment a bit.
I'm not denying things are better now, but they are also much more complex, people socialize way less, neighborhoods that were filled with life are now filled by cars taking any corner and you barely see anybody sitting outside and just talking.
People are way more anxious and less happy, have no kids at all.
Are we better overall? Sure. If you look at the financial angle we are.
Look, you had PRL back then and some basic freedom. It’s quite different status than the countries under direct control from Moscow. People had kids, but didn’t talk either. Why? Because you didn’t want to be reported to KGB by your friendly neighbor. Who accidentally visited you during Xmas Eve and didn’t leave before midnight. Maybe for you the collapse of USSR is not that big thing. But for your northern neighbors it is!
>they are also much more complex, people socialize way less, neighborhoods that were filled with life are now filled by cars taking any corner and you barely see anybody sitting outside and just talking.
People are way more anxious and less happy, have no kids at all.
This is also the contrast you can see in countries that didn't live under a single-party rule with a secret police that can disappear you at any moment.
What you describe is the disease of modernity, and you wouldn't get a safer happier result if the USSR was back or never disappeared.
That’s a false comparison. People socialising less today has nothing to do with the end of communism. Poland becoming freer, safer and vastly more prosperous is a lot more than just a “financial angle.”
Picture 9 with 12 string electric guitar. Extremely rare instrument. Normal 6 string electric guitars were very average quality. Rock music was anyway not desired. Coming from the wrong place. Every piece of popular musicians was reviewed by state organs. Endless censorship everywhere.
Something I noticed in Star City was how well they managed to find the aesthetic from the time of the USSR.
A set designer can of course find pieces from the time, but I always find with shows made now it always feels retro rather than authentic, but in this show they managed to find some genuine time capsules.
These kinds of articles are only popular in places that had no direct experience of life in the USSR. No one in Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, etc. looks back on the time with fondness.
I've lived in Poland for the last decade. I'd say 95% of the population looks back on the USSR era with negative views. Poland probably has the best situation it's been in for hundreds of years.
The opinions of 20 year olds that weren't alive during the USSR era do not count.
This topic is very interesting. People from former Soviet states learned what and when to say. Sometimes in brutal inhumane way. Saying that dad brought some sausage or construction material from work was a thing kids learned not to say in public very early. There were many things no to say. Like Xmas or Easter celebrations were topic for family members only. Burial with a priest was tabu. Grandfather fighting Soviet occupation was a big secret kids never knew about. Knowing that having and reading some books were a way to have big troubles. You needed to get mature quickly to live normal life under Soviet occupation. It was really shocking when I arrived in West Germany that guys in their 30s were behaving like Soviet teens.
After Stalin's death in 1953 the higher ups became more preoccupied with fighting amongst each other and maintaining the soviet union's status on the global scene than holding a tight grip on society like their former leader.
Most of the photos appear to be from the Brezhnev Era, when the soviet union already transitioned away from Stalinism.
Also I imagine anyone taking a photo of any of that would find themselves a resident shortly after.
I would take an American prison over a slave Labour camp in Stalins Soviet camp with massive death rates. Few American prisoners freeze to death, starve to death or are beaten to death by the guards. Stop comparing American prisions to Stalin gulags or Hitlers concentration camps. They are not the same.
I watched "Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone - What It Felt Like to Live Through The Collapse of Communism and Democracy" (7 episode documentary series) last year and can highly recommend it. It's not like any documentary I'd ever seen, there is no narration, very little "story" exactly, it's mostly a collection of footage spliced together (I believe it was all/mostly BBC footage, a lot of it seemed like b-roll-type stuff).
I found it absolutely fascinating. After the first episode I didn't think I'd watch anymore of it since it's very odd (how it's presented IMHO) but it kept drawing me back in.
What's going on with the photo of the children standing around a light wearing sunglasses? My first thought was tanning booth but surely they weren't tanning children?
Likely it was UV exposure to raise the kids vitamin D. I'm guessing this was something for northern parts of russia. (Yes, they were tanning the kids :D)
Skin cancer from sun exposure wasn't something I think they'd have considered in the USSR.
Yes, I have heard a lot about the austerity of life in the USSR growing up in the 1980s. Comparing life in the world of today to what was available , even in the US, is going to look meager. Growing up in a small town in the 1980s in the US our local grocery store could be measured in the 100s sqft (that also sold clothing and was a feed store) . Now in the same area I shop in a store that can be measured in acres with a super Walmart down the street that is even larger and a few other giant stores in the neighborhood (Home Depot, Academy, etc). It will make anything of the time look sparse. Again, not trying to say the USSR had an abundance of merchandise but that they were different times.
At times I think about how democracies, especially those plagued by winner-takes-all mechanics like presidential and semi-presidential republics, can pretend to be democratic while de facto being very authoritarian.
In the USSR, workers (in Soviets) voted their delegates and the delegates in turn elected the top hierarchy of the communist party.
So yes, the USSR was obviously an authoritarian regime controlled by a single party, but you still had to lobby and depend on getting elected by your party, whose delegates had to be first elected by the workers.
In modern Russia, Belarus, etc?
It's arguably even worse, the elected presidents and prime ministers de facto control the opposition which pretends to be an opposition, and real opposition faces either legal issues or direct threats.
And yet, you can pretend to be a democracy and tell your people its better than it was once, but is it really?
It's been 60 years now till the last parliamentary republic turned authoritarian, Sri Lanka. Every single other country to do so has always been a presidential or semi presidential republic. From the former Eastern Europe, to Asia, to Africa to South America.
We should now know that electing a single person to hold executive power is just non democratic and concentrates too much power in a single individual, but we keep falling in love with winner-takes-all elections and loving the idea of a single individual that doesn't need to win his own parties or PMs support every day can fix things quickly.
Soviet only had elections on paper. You serious think it was possible to vote away Stalin? You must be crazy if you claim there was free elections and anyone could run against Stali.
More like: USSR propaganda in 100 photographs. One “man in space” vs millions of people devoid of plumbing and basic products, all living in a repressive orwellian society. The aftermath is still tangible: former satellite states are even after 30 years behind Western Europe economically, the former USSR republics are either marginalised, autocratic or in active war for their survival against their former colonial masters, and of course there’s Russia itself with its utmost lack of respect for its own citizens’ well being. So sure feel free to enjoy these photographs but don’t let them trick you into imagining USSR as some sort of utopia, because it was definitely way closer to an actual dystopia, and the world is now an actually better place because USSR is no more
It was far from utopia but it wasn't orwellian. It was different in a way that's hard to explain if you didn't experience it. The lack of public goods, lower living standards, and the oppressiveness of the state were somewhat compensated by the peace of mind coming from knowing that you couldn't become unemployed or homeless. This is what a lot of people miss when they say they miss USSR.
Is plumbing seen as the pinnacle of human development? We lived without it until the late 19th century whilst in Mesopotamia they had sewage systems, plumbing and even toilet bowls 5000 years ago. The Romans sewers built before the birth of Christ are still in use today.
Note that even today hundreds of millions in India and China still don't have access to modern toilets or sewage systems.
I’m not sure about the pinnacle, but for me plumbing definitely makes it to the list of the top 100 most important human achievements, at least as far as sanitation, health and quality of life goes
>don’t let them trick you into imagining USSR as some sort of utopia
was there some particular risk of this?
You’d be surprised how many people there are in the West who picture USSR as some kind of a magical world run by elves and fairies. Left-leaning French academics is one such group worth calling out directly. Their (partly justified) hatred for capitalism plus the lack of direct exposure to communism causes some real cognitive distortions
The whole of US socialists believe it was some sort of paradise on earth
>vs millions of people devoid of plumbing and basic products
Quite the opposite: millions of people got electricity and plumbing in the USSR era, that lacked before.
>The aftermath is still tangible: former satellite states are even after 30 years behind Western Europe economically
And how are the Latin American 20th century right wing countries doing compared to Western Europe?
Funnily forgot how most of the Western European countries had massive colonies funding their earlier development, which the eastern european countries lacked.
as if this society is not orwellian. think snowden.
I grew up in an ex-eastern bloc country, so I’m familiar with some of the aesthetics and even echoes of the Soviet mentality. The images fill me with despair. So much human potential wasted.
Me too, Poland, but I don't share the sentiment a bit.
I'm not denying things are better now, but they are also much more complex, people socialize way less, neighborhoods that were filled with life are now filled by cars taking any corner and you barely see anybody sitting outside and just talking.
People are way more anxious and less happy, have no kids at all.
Are we better overall? Sure. If you look at the financial angle we are.
Are we safer or happier? I don't see that at all.
Look, you had PRL back then and some basic freedom. It’s quite different status than the countries under direct control from Moscow. People had kids, but didn’t talk either. Why? Because you didn’t want to be reported to KGB by your friendly neighbor. Who accidentally visited you during Xmas Eve and didn’t leave before midnight. Maybe for you the collapse of USSR is not that big thing. But for your northern neighbors it is!
>they are also much more complex, people socialize way less, neighborhoods that were filled with life are now filled by cars taking any corner and you barely see anybody sitting outside and just talking.
People are way more anxious and less happy, have no kids at all.
This is also the contrast you can see in countries that didn't live under a single-party rule with a secret police that can disappear you at any moment.
What you describe is the disease of modernity, and you wouldn't get a safer happier result if the USSR was back or never disappeared.
That’s a false comparison. People socialising less today has nothing to do with the end of communism. Poland becoming freer, safer and vastly more prosperous is a lot more than just a “financial angle.”
> 53. МИР И ЧЕЛОВЕК
Oh wow, a blast from the past. Remember reading and re-reading it a lot when I was very young. Seems it is still printed and updated! You can see the 1988 edition in full here https://samoe-vazhnoe.blogspot.com/2014/03/mir-i-chelovek.ht...
I had the toy pictured in 59. You could tell that a toy was made in USSR by the fact that it often didn't have any markings indicating the origin.
Picture 9 with 12 string electric guitar. Extremely rare instrument. Normal 6 string electric guitars were very average quality. Rock music was anyway not desired. Coming from the wrong place. Every piece of popular musicians was reviewed by state organs. Endless censorship everywhere.
Something I noticed in Star City was how well they managed to find the aesthetic from the time of the USSR.
A set designer can of course find pieces from the time, but I always find with shows made now it always feels retro rather than authentic, but in this show they managed to find some genuine time capsules.
https://cdn.trinixy.ru/pics2/20070801/ussr_18.jpg my favourite of the lot.
Runner up, the inconsolable background pooper (towards the end), what a weird photo to take btw.
Number 58 is an American MB Big Trak programmable toy tank.
I would find it fascinating if an author did a deep dive into the toy knock-offs in the USSR and how they came to be.
no photos of KGB prisons or gulags? Not surprising..
These kinds of articles are only popular in places that had no direct experience of life in the USSR. No one in Latvia, Poland, Czech Republic, etc. looks back on the time with fondness.
I'm Polish and your statement is absolutely false.
Things were simply different. My family had an absolutely happy life for all the generations that followed WW2.
I've lived in Poland for the last decade. I'd say 95% of the population looks back on the USSR era with negative views. Poland probably has the best situation it's been in for hundreds of years.
The opinions of 20 year olds that weren't alive during the USSR era do not count.
So your family belonged to the nomenklatura, or was completely submissive to the Party...
Are you certain your parents weren't informants for the SB?
People, on average, were much less unhappy than others believe.
Under occupation people hide their real emotions
This topic is very interesting. People from former Soviet states learned what and when to say. Sometimes in brutal inhumane way. Saying that dad brought some sausage or construction material from work was a thing kids learned not to say in public very early. There were many things no to say. Like Xmas or Easter celebrations were topic for family members only. Burial with a priest was tabu. Grandfather fighting Soviet occupation was a big secret kids never knew about. Knowing that having and reading some books were a way to have big troubles. You needed to get mature quickly to live normal life under Soviet occupation. It was really shocking when I arrived in West Germany that guys in their 30s were behaving like Soviet teens.
It’s not so bad to keep your mouth shut. Americans blab about everything constantly.
I like the picture showing off the full shelf of bread.
Which Russian leader came over here and thought he was seeing a potemken village of grocery stores
I think you are thinking g of Boris Yeltsin - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_visit_by_Boris_Yeltsin_to...
survivorship bias
After Stalin's death in 1953 the higher ups became more preoccupied with fighting amongst each other and maintaining the soviet union's status on the global scene than holding a tight grip on society like their former leader.
Most of the photos appear to be from the Brezhnev Era, when the soviet union already transitioned away from Stalinism.
Also I imagine anyone taking a photo of any of that would find themselves a resident shortly after.
Americans prisons have been historically so much better than USSR prisons, sure <3
Yes, they were, and probably still are better than prisons in Russia.
I would take an American prison over a slave Labour camp in Stalins Soviet camp with massive death rates. Few American prisoners freeze to death, starve to death or are beaten to death by the guards. Stop comparing American prisions to Stalin gulags or Hitlers concentration camps. They are not the same.
You know that American prisons are slave labor camps too, right? I am not exaggerating things: the 13th amendment calls it "slavery".
https://daily.jstor.org/slavery-and-the-modern-day-prison-pl...
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/inmates-at-louisianas-an...
you dont have massive death rates in american prisons
There’s a few breadlines
I watched "Russia 1985–1999: TraumaZone - What It Felt Like to Live Through The Collapse of Communism and Democracy" (7 episode documentary series) last year and can highly recommend it. It's not like any documentary I'd ever seen, there is no narration, very little "story" exactly, it's mostly a collection of footage spliced together (I believe it was all/mostly BBC footage, a lot of it seemed like b-roll-type stuff).
I found it absolutely fascinating. After the first episode I didn't think I'd watch anymore of it since it's very odd (how it's presented IMHO) but it kept drawing me back in.
Adam Curtis is great, definitely check out his other work.
Hypernormalisation is a good place to start: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr7T07WfIhM
What's going on with the photo of the children standing around a light wearing sunglasses? My first thought was tanning booth but surely they weren't tanning children?
Likely it was UV exposure to raise the kids vitamin D. I'm guessing this was something for northern parts of russia. (Yes, they were tanning the kids :D)
Skin cancer from sun exposure wasn't something I think they'd have considered in the USSR.
“Ultraviolet baths” for vitamin D.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photo-of-the-day/photo/ul...
Worth watching Star City on Apple TV for a perspective on Soviet life. Now, Star City is definitely propaganda but it makes you think!
The photos of stores and the paucity of merchandise available say a lot.
Yes, I have heard a lot about the austerity of life in the USSR growing up in the 1980s. Comparing life in the world of today to what was available , even in the US, is going to look meager. Growing up in a small town in the 1980s in the US our local grocery store could be measured in the 100s sqft (that also sold clothing and was a feed store) . Now in the same area I shop in a store that can be measured in acres with a super Walmart down the street that is even larger and a few other giant stores in the neighborhood (Home Depot, Academy, etc). It will make anything of the time look sparse. Again, not trying to say the USSR had an abundance of merchandise but that they were different times.
Seeing music band names in Cyrillic was really interesting
imagine if these guys were able to be pragmatic and reform like the Chinese deed & not be so dogmatic about ideology - what they could've been.
I guess Deng Xioping said it best - "I don't care if the cat is black, white or purple as long as it catches mice"
At times I think about how democracies, especially those plagued by winner-takes-all mechanics like presidential and semi-presidential republics, can pretend to be democratic while de facto being very authoritarian.
In the USSR, workers (in Soviets) voted their delegates and the delegates in turn elected the top hierarchy of the communist party.
So yes, the USSR was obviously an authoritarian regime controlled by a single party, but you still had to lobby and depend on getting elected by your party, whose delegates had to be first elected by the workers.
In modern Russia, Belarus, etc?
It's arguably even worse, the elected presidents and prime ministers de facto control the opposition which pretends to be an opposition, and real opposition faces either legal issues or direct threats.
And yet, you can pretend to be a democracy and tell your people its better than it was once, but is it really?
It's been 60 years now till the last parliamentary republic turned authoritarian, Sri Lanka. Every single other country to do so has always been a presidential or semi presidential republic. From the former Eastern Europe, to Asia, to Africa to South America.
We should now know that electing a single person to hold executive power is just non democratic and concentrates too much power in a single individual, but we keep falling in love with winner-takes-all elections and loving the idea of a single individual that doesn't need to win his own parties or PMs support every day can fix things quickly.
Soviet only had elections on paper. You serious think it was possible to vote away Stalin? You must be crazy if you claim there was free elections and anyone could run against Stali.
Modern democracy is not just about elections but about the separation of powers.