92% Of Polled Russians Want To Return To The USSR

Energizer

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In a public TV poll, asking people if they wanted to return to the Soviet Union, 92% said "Yes."

92% россиян хотят вернуться в СССР. Мнение Медведева: "идеализировать Советский Союз не надо".

"In support of their opinion, respondents expressed various arguments. Here are the most frequent arguments:

  • There was confidence in the future. People were not afraid of the future. They were not afraid of losing their jobs, earnings, etc.
  • In the Soviet Union, there was affordable and free medicine.
  • There was free and high-quality education.
  • Relations between people were different, they were better. They were not afraid to leave the key under the Mat, there was no such social inequality and income gap."
 

Regina

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In a public TV poll, asking people if they wanted to return to the Soviet Union, 92% said "Yes."

92% россиян хотят вернуться в СССР. Мнение Медведева: "идеализировать Советский Союз не надо".

"In support of their opinion, respondents expressed various arguments. Here are the most frequent arguments:

  • There was confidence in the future. People were not afraid of the future. They were not afraid of losing their jobs, earnings, etc.
  • In the Soviet Union, there was affordable and free medicine.
  • There was free and high-quality education.
  • Relations between people were different, they were better. They were not afraid to leave the key under the Mat, there was no such social inequality and income gap."
I've trained (aikido) with some Russians who would agree. Only, they correct me and say, "No, not Russian; I am from the Soviet Union."
 

Minimal

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Well this is totally on Putin. People are essentially saying they would rather have a brutal dictatorship where the state hunts and silences differing opinions, than what they have now. Of course these are the same people who have been voting for Putin for the last 20 years.

Bottom line - people are mostly bad and stupid.
 
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Energizer

Energizer

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I've trained (aikido) with some Russians who would agree. Only, they correct me and say, "No, not Russian; I am from the Soviet Union."

Interesting. There definitely seems to be a point of pride about it. Understandably so, since the Soviet Union achieved quite a lot in such a short time.

Well this is totally on Putin. People are essentially saying they would rather have a brutal dictatorship where the state hunts and silences differing opinions, than what they have now. Of course these are the same people who have been voting for Putin for the last 20 years.

Bottom line - people are mostly bad and stupid.

"80% of Russians consider important and support Putin's amendments to the Constitution" (2020)

80% россиян считают важными и поддерживают поправки Путина в Конституцию

"Putin won the presidential election with 76.69 percent of the vote" (2018)
Путин победил на выборах президента, набрав 76,69 процента голосов

 
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revenant

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I know quite a few Russians and none of them would want to return to the Soviet Union. I guess communism is always in fashion among some young people, but it's odd that anyone who actually lived through it would want to go back. I saw the empty shelves and endless queues myself when I was a kid.
 
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Energizer

Energizer

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@revenant Did you live through whole Soviet Union? If not, your limited snapshot experience says little about life there. I would trust more the opinions of people who were born and stayed in Soviet Union even through collapse, rather than bitter emigres who left. As for you knowing "quite a few Russians", anyone can claim that. It says little again, about life there. The majority of surveys say Russians want communsim back, they miss the USSR. So, your anecdote is contradicted by that.

But either way, it's a smaller sample that you know than what I am talking about in the surveys. As for communism being fashionable, well, maybe there is some truth to that, but, it's not just fashion that old people are saying they want to return to communist Soviet glory days. There's more to it than that -- many say, life was better overall. Was there hard times? Yes of course, some say there was hard times. But how is that different from modern Russia? Modern Russia is more unequal, there are greater class disparities now than Soviet era. So what is the alternative? More capitalism? Capitalism does not work. The history suggests, there is more prosperity with proletariat dictatorship, strong egalitarianism, than Western neoliberal ideals. Just some examples I found on Youtube to add to the other polls:







Before Putin they could not safely walk the streets, there were no jobs, water and electricity would not run, mafia and gangs were running large parts of the country. Meanwhile Yeltsin was giving the natural resources to billionaires and western powers.

Putin is popular because he essentially saved Russia. It would be a failed state in which life is impossible without him. The issue is neoliberal looting, which was never stopped, even if Putin did prevent it from completely gutting Russia.
:yeahthat:goodpost
 
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Hugh Johnson

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Well this is totally on Putin. People are essentially saying they would rather have a brutal dictatorship where the state hunts and silences differing opinions, than what they have now. Of course these are the same people who have been voting for Putin for the last 20 years.

Bottom line - people are mostly bad and stupid.
Before Putin they could not safely walk the streets, there were no jobs, water and electricity would not run, mafia and gangs were running large parts of the country. Meanwhile Yeltsin was giving the natural resources to billionaires and western powers.

Putin is popular because he essentially saved Russia. It would be a failed state in which life is impossible without him. The issue is neoliberal looting, which was never stopped, even if Putin did prevent it from completely gutting Russia.
 

Gone Peating

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@revenant Did you live through whole Soviet Union? If not, your limited snapshot experience says little about life there. I would trust more the opinions of people who were born and stayed in Soviet Union even through collapse, rather than bitter emigres who left. As for you knowing "quite a few Russians", anyone can claim that. It says little again, about life there. The majority of surveys say Russians want communsim back, they miss the USSR. So, your anecdote is contradicted by that.

But either way, it's a smaller sample that you know than what I am talking about in the surveys. As for communism being fashionable, well, maybe there is some truth to that, but, it's not just fashion that old people are saying they want to return to communist Soviet glory days. There's more to it than that -- many say, life was better overall. Was there hard times? Yes of course, some say there was hard times. But how is that different from modern Russia? Modern Russia is more unequal, there are greater class disparities now than Soviet era. So what is the alternative? More capitalism? Capitalism does not work. The history suggests, there is more prosperity with proletariat dictatorship, strong egalitarianism, than Western neoliberal ideals. Just some examples I found on Youtube to add to the other polls:







:yeahthat:goodpost


That’s because they killed off anyone who didn’t fully submit mind, body and soul to the USSR after the revolution.

The people who remained alive were completely “Sovietized” and almost all their descendants unfortunately have the same slave mentality
 
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Energizer

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That’s because they killed off anyone who didn’t fully submit mind, body and soul to the USSR after the revolution.

The people who remained alive were completely “Sovietized” and almost all their descendants unfortunately have the same slave mentality

So you believe Stalin massacred Soviets (which is a lie, btw, it's propaganda), and despite this, him and the Soviet Union in general is somehow still loved? That's quite the mental gymnastics you've got there.
 
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Oleg

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Well this is totally on Putin. People are essentially saying they would rather have a brutal dictatorship where the state hunts and silences differing opinions, than what they have now. Of course these are the same people who have been voting for Putin for the last 20 years.

Bottom line - people are mostly bad and stupid.
Brutal dictatorship?! You’re been watching too many American movies. I was born and raised in SU and the country wasn’t a dictatorship by any stretch of imagination. American imagination is another thing.
 
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Energizer

Energizer

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What do you think of life in SU era vs modern Russia, @Oleg? I'm curious to know your perspective of how your life compareed in SU vs today. I think your story would help counter some of the doubters on this forum since you have very valuable experience as someone who lived through both eras. Please forgive me if the question is rude, but I feel your input is important on this.
 
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Vinny

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In a public TV poll, asking people if they wanted to return to the Soviet Union, 92% said "Yes."

92% россиян хотят вернуться в СССР. Мнение Медведева: "идеализировать Советский Союз не надо".

"In support of their opinion, respondents expressed various arguments. Here are the most frequent arguments:

  • There was confidence in the future. People were not afraid of the future. They were not afraid of losing their jobs, earnings, etc.
  • In the Soviet Union, there was affordable and free medicine.
  • There was free and high-quality education.
  • Relations between people were different, they were better. They were not afraid to leave the key under the Mat, there was no such social inequality and income gap."
Those numbers are incorrect, lightly said.
First of all, the young Russians don't remember the SU, some of them struggle even to point was Lenin before Stalin, or opposite, so they wouldn't know to what exactly would like to return.
Also, the Soviet prosperity didn't last through the whole period. Basically, what was achieved started to crumble after Stalin's death, and during the 80s it was already an agony.
Last, being born and raised in SU doesn't mean at all that the person can not be delusional.
There are indeed many Russian people, who had kinda descent lifes before, and they gladly would go back under the red flag, but their number is far less than 92%.
 
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Stockholm syndrome
 
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Energizer

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Those numbers are incorrect, lightly said.
First of all, the young Russians don't remember the SU, some of them struggle even to point was Lenin before Stalin, or opposite, so they wouldn't know to what exactly would like to return.
Also, the Soviet prosperity didn't last through the whole period. Basically, what was achieved started to crumble after Stalin's death, and during the 80s it was already an agony.
Last, being born and raised in SU doesn't mean at all that the person can not be delusional.
There are indeed many Russian people, who had kinda descent lifes before, and they gladly would go back under the red flag, but their number is far less than 92%.

Russia's second biggest party is the communist party. Clearly a significant amount, maybe not 92% that the polls claims, you may be right that the poll is exaggerated.

I don't think you can dismiss such a signficant number of people as delusional. You can't ignore the experience of others in such a significant force. In the West a lot of us I think prematurely shoot down communism and say the Soviet Union was oppressive, because of propaganda. What if life was better under communism? Why is Belarus communist, if they thought communism was bad, don't you think they would've switched political systems by now, considering they also were part of the SU?

Some other polls suggest Russia isn't the only country to have a majority of its citizens missing communism:

Former Soviet Countries See More Harm From Breakup

Serbia Poll: Life Was Better Under Tito

Why nearly 60 percent of Russians 'deeply regret' the USSR's demise
 
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revenant

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@revenant Did you live through whole Soviet Union? If not, your limited snapshot experience says little about life there. I would trust more the opinions of people who were born and stayed in Soviet Union even through collapse, rather than bitter emigres who left. As for you knowing "quite a few Russians", anyone can claim that. It says little again, about life there. The majority of surveys say Russians want communsim back, they miss the USSR. So, your anecdote is contradicted by that.

No, but I do have friends who were born in Soviet Union and lived there through the collapse.

Where are you from? It sounds like you're one of those people who glorify communism without ever experiencing it.
 

revenant

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So you believe Stalin massacred Soviets (which is a lie, btw, it's propaganda), and despite this, him and the Soviet Union in general is somehow still loved? That's quite the mental gymnastics you've got there.

You don't believe the gulags happened? Based on what? I never heard even communists say that before.

I have some relatives who moved to the Soviet Union from Finland in search of communist paradise and the promised land, and got arrested and/or disappeared.
 
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Energizer

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No, but I do have friends who were born in Soviet Union and lived there through the collapse.

Where are you from? It sounds like you're one of those people who glorify communism without ever experiencing it.

That's the problem isn't it. So many have a negative opinion about a place they never lived through. I was born in the US, and I grew up brainwashed that Russia was the big bad boogeyman. Now I realize everything I grew up believing, including about politics, was a lie because I have been trying to read everything I can get my hands on regarding Russia and the Soviet Union. It doesn't mean I necessarily glorify communism -- I'm just willing to examine alternatives and keep an open mind about politics.

I would consider myself more of an anarchist in theory, but that's even more radical than communism, which as you can see from this thread, rubs people the wrong way because they have an emotional reaction about it. See here's the thing. I don't believe the political situation in America is going anywhere. I don't believe it can. It is built to fail. So that's part of the reason I'm interested in Russia. People aren't as brainwashed to think corporate fascism / capitalism is the only way forward. There's a reason why Ray said Latin America and Russia are probably the two places with the best chance for the culture to escape.

Look up "Blood Lies" by Grover C Furr if you want a starting point for a rebuttal of just about every myth about the Soviet Union. Trying to rebut all the lies about communism and the Soviet Union is well beyond the scope of me posting in this forum. Short answer is: don't believe everything you're told by Western propagandists / Kruschev / Trotsky (who were known liars). Also, I never argued gulags didn't exist, but I do think they're widely misunderstood. You'll have to read that book to find out why, going into detail about it would be beyond the scope of my post.
 
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revenant

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I'm also an anarchist (anarcho-capitalist really), but just because corporatism has failed I don't think the Soviet Union is the place to look for solutions... the second-greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that we already tried capitalism and it failed, and the only alternative is socialism, when really the choice is between oppression and freedom.

Maybe Ray is a socialist, but hey, no one is infallible.
 
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I was born in SU. It was hell on Earth. Anyone who believes otherwise is a psychopath with sadistic tendencies.
 

S-VV

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State sponsored helicopter rides to transport communists to their Utopia when
 
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