what was it like living in the former soviet union?

Question

what about it was good, what about it was hard or bad

Answer 1

I happened to be stationed in Germany before the Wall came down and after the fall of the wall. I travelled extesively both times and was very interested in this very question. I can not tell you from the Russian prospective but I can tell you what I learn in my travells and from my conversations with the people.

The former soveit block (Eastern Europe) was a communist soceity not a capitalist, everything belonged to the state, the right (priviliage) to own property was very limited. Everything was controlled by the state. The food one eats the clothes one wears all were from government sources. They was no unemployeement everyone was asigned a job. Depending upon the need and the grades one had in school would play as to what you would do. The farms, factories, mines, fishing, all were government controlled. If you did not like your job then that was tough. Depending upon what you done and where you lived you would have a place to live. You did not pick it the state picked your place for you. For every funstion in life they was a government control agency that was responsible for controling what every product or function that it covered. If one wished to get married one would apply at the marriage department of the local city hall of where one lived, ones background and personnel history would be reviewed and if found acceptable the permission to marry would be granted.
In most parts money was used to purchase items, everyone had a ration card and was entitled to purchase the daily nessescary items if they were avaiable often they were not. Used cars were worth more than new cars, because the used cars you could purchase and if purchase was approved by city hall one would be able to actually drive the car. If you choose to buy a new car (I visited a car dealership in East Berlin and asked about purchasing one of there cars for 8,000.00 East Germany marks in 1985. I could pick the color, their were 4 to choose from, and the then present production level would allow me to take delivery of the car in about 8 years.) Factories had a production level set, controlled and monitored by the state. When they ran short of raw material production stopped everyone went home, or if they were short of the quota then they might have produced the item minus what ever they were short of. For example it would not be uncommon to purchase an item for example a car without a gas tank because when the car was made they did not have a gas tank to build into the car. Communial farms were the norm people were assigned to work on the farms and giving specific jobs to do. If a person job was to drive the tractor then that is what that persons did, if the tractor was broke that person did not work, if it were a persons job to load the tractor with seed then that is what that person would do. If the person was their to drive the tractor but the seed person was then the tractor would be loaded with seed and should the tractor driver drive and the seed person not be there the and emty tractor would drive around the feild. The next day when both person were there and the had the seed they still could ot plant because they used all the gas the day before. In the city you found entire families living in apartments. Their was alwas a housing shortage, and priority went to comunist party members or those who did a service to the party. Spies were everywhere half the population was spying on the other half. Neighbors on neighbors and even family members were encouraged to turn ther family members in. In school kids were told that this was important and asked thing such as did their parents have a radio and listen to western stations, read forbidden books, say things against the state or government. If youu turn in someone then you may get a better apartment or other priviliages. Their were always long lines for anything one wanted to buy. and trading often got one more than buying. If I had paint and need a coat my neighbor had a coat but needed paint, the value was inmaterial, then real value of an item was based upon it's availablilty. The hard the item was to get the more it was worth.
I friend of mine lived in a small villiage and he told me that at eight o'clock evreynite the power went off and did not come on again till nine o'clock the next day. He was put in jail once for three days because one nite he drank to much and said something he should not have and someone turned him in. What was interesting is that the jail was only so big no it did not matter if their was only one prisioner or a hunderd they only made a certain amount of meals each day irregardless on the number of prisioners. If one was sentenced for a long period then one would starve unless family brought one food.
When the wall came down travelling in the former eastern block was like driving back in time to WW2. Allot of places were still not rebuilt from the war, and a number still had shell marks, and craters where bomds went off was still veiwable. Talking and travelling with those people was very interesting. Their were people in one town that I visited where there was a big pig farm, but all the pigs were dead because when the wall came down no one brought the farm the pig food and no one showed up for work any more because no one was their to tell them what to do. But now they were all hungry and waiting for them to bring them food.
I hope that this helped you understand a little bit.

Answer 2

it was not that bad. the bad thing: no freedom of speech. good thing: there was no rent to pay. bad thing: low salaries. good thing: low expenses. bad thing: government controlled people too much. good thing, that despite not so much freedom, there was some sort of independence (from bills).
by the way, there is unfortunately misperception of soviet union, with its bad image of "evil empire" and all. it had no bad will toward america. it did disapprove of capitalism, but I do not remember a very good reason why; because it was so idealistic, i guess. but now they're keeping up with capitalism all right.
the hard thing was that people's eyes were closed. they were limited to thinking what they were supposed to be thinking. so on the news people saw things within a certain scope. the attitude was: the less you know, the better you sleep at night.

Answer 3

Best way to find out is to ask the Russians who have stories to tell.

An easy way to find them is to visit the nearest Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

See Link below, where you can locate the nearest parish.

Also, if you dig through the site and associated links, you will find many stories of Orthodox Christians who were martyred (killed) because of their faith by The Communists.

It was not a good place for anyone who believed in any kind of God. Officially Atheistic.

Answer 4

Read these books by Hedrick Smith:

As the New York Times Moscow bureau chief in the early 1970s, Hedrick Smith witnessed the inner workings of the Soviet system first-hand and won the Pulitzer prize for his reporting from Russia and Eastern Europe. And as the Soviet system crumbled fourteen years later, Smith was back in Russia - talking to Russians in Russian - bringing book readers and PBS viewers the inside stories from an empire in collapse and a nation in change. His series on perestroika, Inside Gorbachev's USSR, won the top television award in 1991 -- the DuPont-Columbia Gold Baton.

Join Smith as he explores not just Russia, but changes taking place all around our world that will determine how we live, learn, and work in the next century.

The Russians (1975)
Though written over 25 years ago, this best-selling classic remains a definitive work. Moscow bureau chief for the New York Times in the early 1970s, Hedrick Smith explored the soul and psyche of Russia in a way few Westerners have accomplished. This is the story of Russia told in Russian voices - voices that remain relevant as modern Russia struggles to find its place in the world.

The New Russians (1991) From the crises in the breakaway republics to the remarkable rise of Boris Yeltsin, Hedrick Smith delves into the turmoil of a country on the brink of collapse to bring readers the inside stories of Russia's second revolution-the anti-Communist revolution-and the rise of a new generation of politicians and entrepreneurs. Smith describes how Gorbachev launched a revolution that got out of his control.

Inside Gorbachev's USSR (1990) Former New York Times Moscow bureau chief Hedrick Smith returns to the Gorbachev-era Soviet Union in this award-winning PBS series broadcast in 1990. Politicians, business leaders, activists, and ordinary Soviets tell the inside story of Russia's second revolution, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the rocky road to reform and capitalism in the new era.

After Gorbachev's USSR (1992) Two years after the first big series, Hedrick Smith returned to Russia for PBS Frontline to for a special report on the impact of perestroika at the grass roots. This report was unusual because Smith went back to revisit the Russians he and his viewers met in 1990, from new entrepreneuers to the bosses of big state industries, from farmers to religious dissidents, from Moscow to Siberia.

Guns, Tanks and Gorbachev (1991) A Frontline special on the effort of old guard forces in the Soviet Union to try to repress the rise of nationalism in outlying republics, like Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the Baltics.

Answer 5

In soviet russia, car drives you.

Just kidding. I don't think it was very pleasant. Resources seemed to be a bit scarce.

Answer 6

Simply put, it was hell on earth|| ||

If there was any goodness there or any happiness there, it was solely due to the grace of God who knows how to draw good out of evil.


Ronald Reagan will always be my hero for drop-kicking the U.S.S.R. into oblivion|




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Answer 7

just give old George bush a chance and you will see we will have the same life here