I’m interested in hearing about the personal experiences of living in the USSR without making it a political conversation. Rather, just what life was like, the good and the bad, from a nonjudgmental human perspective.
I’m interested in hearing about the personal experiences of living in the USSR without making it a political conversation. Rather, just what life was like, the good and the bad, from a nonjudgmental human perspective.
I was born a bit after it collapsed, but I grew up in it’s ruins. The people who talk about it will give you this picture:
Everybody stole, but friends shared. You can go to a store and find empty shelves, but go through people’s houses and most people have most things.
Money was largely meaningless. Don’t try to have a 100 roubles, try having a 100 friends instead. The friend from a dairy factory will give you sour cream, the friend from a store will give you best meat and canned goods from underneath the table, stuff not really available to the regular customers. The friend from the shoe supplies will give you a pair of shoes that last years.
Corruption was a way of life. To the older people, it still is.