In 1989 Boris Yeltsin visited the US and Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX. He went into Houston and visited a super market and was floored at the quality, quantity and low prices of everything in that store.
His one comment that places Communism/Socialism into perspective is that if the Soviet people saw that store and the others like it they would completely revolt. He also said that the entire Party elite did not have access to anything near as good or in such quantities.
Here is a quote from his autobiography:
“When I saw those shelves crammed with hundreds, thousands of cans, cartons and goods of every possible sort, for the first time I felt quite frankly sick with despair for the Soviet people,” Yeltsin wrote. “That such a potentially super-rich country as ours has been brought to a state of such poverty! It is terrible to think of it.”
Which Book? Apparently Yeltsin wrote at least a few.
I read something similar to what Boris Yeltsin was quoted about. It was the reaction of a pilot who had flown a MIG into an airbase in the West. When taken to the US, he was shown a super market. He told his escort “I believe that this store was stocked and prepared just for me to see.”
He was told, “no, there are many stores like this in every American town. They compete to sell their goods so they are fresh and priced right. If not, the customer goes to another store.”
It is amazing to hear how the commies kept their subjects in the dark, unaware of the “Western Way.”