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The Perspective Of A Russian Immigrant
IBD Editorials ^ | September 4, 2009 | SVETLAMA KUNIN

Posted on 09/04/2009 5:33:47 PM PDT by Kaslin

In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, I was taught to believe individual pursuits are selfish and sacrificing for the collective good is noble.

In kindergarten we sang songs about Lenin, the leader of the Socialist Revolution. In school we learned about the beautiful socialist system, where everybody is equal and everything is fair; about ugly capitalism, where people are exploited and treat each other like wolves in the wilderness.

Life in the USSR modeled the socialist ideal. God-based religion was suppressed and replaced with cultlike adoration for political figures.

The government-assigned salary of the proletariat (blue-collar worker) was 30%-50% higher then any professional. Without incentive to improve their life, professionals drank themselves to oblivion. They — engineers, lawyers, doctors, teachers — earned a government-determined salary that barely covered the necessities, mainly food.

Raising children was a hardship. It took four to six adults (parents and grandparents) to support a child. The usual size of the postwar family was one or two children. Every woman had the right to have an abortion and most of them did, often without anesthesia.

There is a comparative historical reality that plays out the consequences of two competing ideologies: life in the USSR and in America. When the march to the worker's paradise — the Socialist Revolution — began in 1917, many people emigrated from Russia to the U.S.

In the USSR, economic equality was achieved by redistributing wealth, ensuring that everyone remained poor, with the exception of those doing the redistributing. Only the ruling class of communist leaders had access to special stores, medicine and accommodations that could compare to those in the West.

(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: communism; communist; envy; lenin; marxism; marxist; russia; sovietrevolution; ussr
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To: Kaslin

I’d love it if Beck or others would interview people like this woman who have escaped communism.

They’re doing a great job of educating us on the ideology and the methods being used to implement the agenda, but it’d be great to hear first hand the reality of life in such regimes.


21 posted on 09/05/2009 6:03:35 AM PDT by Nickname
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To: Nickname

That is a great idea. Perhaps you can suggest it to Glenn Beck


22 posted on 09/05/2009 6:04:55 AM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for 0bama: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Nickname

There was a caller on Hannity on Friday that was from the former USSR. He commented on 0bama’s upcoming school speech and the lesson plans that go with it. He said that putting up the quotes, etc., talking about how to help him, etc., was exactly like what he grew up with in the USSR, except it was Lenin. He said that most everyone distrusted the government and knew it was all crap.


23 posted on 09/05/2009 9:00:04 AM PDT by ReagansShinyHair
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To: ReagansShinyHair
everyone distrusted the government

And they still took over.

24 posted on 09/05/2009 3:22:06 PM PDT by alrea
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To: Kaslin
here is no perfect society. There are no perfect people. Critics say that greed is the driving force of capitalism. My answer is that envy is the driving force of socialism.

The Democratic Party could not exist without envy.

25 posted on 09/05/2009 3:27:50 PM PDT by alrea (The Democratic Party could not exist without envy.)
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To: alrea
And they still took over.

I'm pretty sure the distrust of the government happened AFTER the Commies took power and started trying to get everyone worship Lenin. After all, taking from the "rich" and giving to the "poor" seemed like such a great idea at the time...

26 posted on 09/05/2009 6:27:52 PM PDT by ReagansShinyHair
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