Childhood memories of the USSR
kotichok :
my grandmother told me a lot about the 30s, 40s and 50s
the story especially stuck in my memory, how in 1939, when Soviet power came, half the village ran to see how the Soviets drank vodka with granchaks
Grandmother said that earlier they could play a wedding with a bottle of vodka - and everyone had fun
* * *
my father built the Moscow, Kharkov and Kyiv subways
he worked a lot, he seemed to earn money, but he didn’t have cronyism
everything had to be delivered
I remember when tangerines, bananas and Vecherny Kyiv sweets were "gotten", my parents watched so that I didn’t eat everything at once and didn’t get covered with diathesis)))

topof , "Eaglet 1988 stew Chinese wall":
Among the lucky ones was in the All-Russian camp Eaglet in the summer of 1988 ... there were many children from all over the country ...
there were only 2 people from my city, after we were given dry Chinese stew Great Wall on a camping trip in the All-Russian camp ... I realized that the USSR would soon not be 00)) ... at that time ours still knew how to make normal stew .. .
I experienced the second shock a couple of years later, when, having arrived in the village to visit relatives, instead of cream from my cow in a 3-liter jar, as usual, they began to spread Rama butter from a plastic jar ... agriculture was gone))))

tres_a :
Kyiv, late 80s.
White bread could be bought only in one store and only within an hour after delivery - in the morning and at lunchtime. Where the stale one came from among the loaves - I still don’t understand.
Ice cream ice cream in chocolate was rarely brought in and only in milk (a special store with dairy products, in other grocery stores milk was rarely imported and stale).
In all stores there was a smell of bleach and rot (even in the central ones).
Children stood in public transport if there was someone adult (from 4-5 years old).
There are few overweight people, only one or two children for the whole school (the schools I know had up to 1,000 students at that time).
For a cigarette, they could be pulled by the ears and taken to their parents. The police 150% did this.
Subbotniks and other voluntary-compulsory events (I still don’t understand why I have to clean if someone gets paid for it).
Politics and adult topics were not discussed in front of the children.

tol39 (born 1975):
You could buy bread from us before lunch, after lunch you could fly over, because bread was usually sorted out during the lunch break, which was from one to two at enterprises, and from two to three in stores. We had four varieties of ice cream - in waffle cups, we didn’t have it on sale, my father brought it from the city. Eskimo, expensive and not very common, still weighed, very tasty, in such shells. And the products of our local dairy - in paper cups and with ice crystals. There was a specific smell in the shops, only it was not rotten, it smelled like barrels that were always in the back rooms.
***
Well, firstly, it was childhood, and it was good, I was born in 1975. Until 87-88, everything was generally wonderful, and then the word "deficit" appeared. In fact, it was before, but it belonged to the category of things not very significant in everyday life. There was a sense of imminent change, exhilarating, like when you roll down on a trampoline to take off, but the takeoff did not happen. All the way crashed into the dirty mess of the nineties. Black t-shirts, chains, nunchucks, Royal alcohol and all that. How I survived, who the hell knows.

true_frog (born 1952):
My year of birth is 1952. So, all my conscious life fell on the USSR.
Childhood. All the most interesting was on the street and in the yard. It was impossible to drive children into the apartment. In the evening, windows and vents were opened: mothers called the children from the yard. We played calm and active games, tennis, volleyball. On rainy days they played outside. Even in winter, in the dark, we girls were not forbidden to walk. We moved a lot. We only went to school on foot, no matter how far it was. For some reason, it was not accepted to ride the bus. Fat children - "zhirtresty" - were a rarity and despised by all.
Starting from the first grade, schoolchildren first did a little cleaning in the classroom, and then they themselves washed the floors in the classrooms.
They collected either scrap metal, or empty bottles, or waste paper. It was not scary to send children to unfamiliar apartments.
There were a lot of different circles. Only at the music school education was paid, all the rest (sports and art) were completely free. A huge House of Pioneers, where you could do anything for free - even ballet, even boxing. Each child could try himself in any occupation.
Even preschool children were sent to pioneer camps. They lived there in one-story dachas, half for boys, half for girls. Toilet with a hole in the floor on the street, only cold water in the washstands, also on the street. In the morning, a mandatory general exercise. The children themselves were on duty at the gates to the pioneer camp and in the dining room. The dishes were not washed, but the bread was cut and the dishes were arranged.
***
Yes, "the key under the rug" - it was everywhere in childhood, even in the city, and in the late 70s, in our youth, in a small village in the Far North, we inserted a wand into the latch when we left home. In the early 80s, again in the city, the entrance doors were locked only at night, sometimes I forgot, and they slept unclosed all night. When we moved to a new apartment, at night the door was closed with a washing machine until the lock was inserted.
***
From youth. In the first two years of university - cleaning. We are a little surprised why the collective farmers bend their backs in their gardens while we throw grain on the current, but in general we have a great time: we learn to heat the stove, cook our own food on it, ride horses, drive a motorcycle, arrange concerts.
In the 70s, a brass band was still found at dances, which had not yet been replaced by electric music.
Girls and girls are supposed to walk with their hair tied up. "Ponytail" is cool. And loose hair - well, this is only in foreign films.
Dressed, of course, gray. I went to the first harvest in a quilted jacket, because jackets were rare, I sewed my first jacket in the atelier. It was strange to watch in the cinema at the bright clothes of Soviet film heroes: they never dressed like that in life. I remember being amazed by the bright red jacket of the professor's daughter from The Gentlemen of Fortune.
It was possible to dress not like everyone else only in the atelier, but it was not easy to get there: there was also a queue. Good, but worn things could be bought in thrift stores.
Well, I will contribute to the discussion of the food program. In the 60s we lived first in the Far East. There were no problems with the products. In 1963 they lived in Tuva for a year. That's where the line for milk occupied from the night. In 1964 we moved to Tyumen and saw a food paradise. Banks of condensed milk decorated the counters, they bought 200 grams of sausage, fresh, all kinds of compotes in jars in bulk. I don't remember when it all disappeared.

razumovsky4 , "The key is under the mat....":
All right. 1951. Hide and seek, catch-up, rounders, table tennis, badminton, wars with swords, swords, toy pistols, bicycles, a river in the weather, and, of course, the king of all games is football. From morning to evening. At the little gate.
And more girls in "classic" and "shtander." And so on until dark. And it got dark - so some other thread of the game with running around with flashlights with Chinese or German daimons. On the feet are either Chinese, Vietnamese or Czech sneakers. Sports panties such as harem pants and a shirt. Forever in abrasions, bruises and scratches. In winter, skates - from snowmen - to knives, skis, sledges, hockey.
There was no time for lessons. A maximum of an hour - and then somehow, quickly, you need to run into the yard, drive the ball.
Circles - full in the House of Pioneers. In the summer - yes, a pioneer camp, with hikes and a river and a forest and amateur performances - the same games and competitions. Not boring.
That's right, there were practically no fat people. Skinny and mobile. And they almost didn’t swear (up to a certain age) And there’s nothing to say about the girls. Don't smoke that much. And about pedophiles and drugs - they have not heard at all. You fly home, there is a note in the door - "The key is under the rug"))))

lexyara :
But I'll draw. A little. (63-76 years of the last century)
I was born and lived in the city of Krasnoyarsk. My father was a pilot and often flew to our capital. From there he brought all sorts of goodies. There were no goodies in Krasnoyarsk (more precisely, they were, but some "clumsy".)
By "clumsiness" it is meant that ... Everyone wanted butter that was not salty, and the shops were packed with salty. There were no bananas or oranges. There were no batteries for the flashlight either (junk workers came and changed the junk for batteries, caps and other nonsense).
Bread and buns in the "Bread" store were always fresh. Vegetables, pasta (long ones like a modern ballpoint pen), sugar, salt, matches, soap, etc. have always been in stores. Even if the rumors were crawling - "Tomorrow - the war, there will be no salt." She was.
Deficit of course was not to buy. These are toilet paper (important), glazed curds, a cake like "Bird's Milk", sweets "Bear in the North" or "Squirrel". This dad brought from Moscow. Ice cream has always been there. "Leningradskoye" appeared quite rarely (once or twice a week, everyone knew in advance when they would bring it). Cereals - this was a blockage. That's the trouble with sausages and sausages. But sometimes it was not lying on the floor. I was not familiar with alcohol in those days, so I will not say anything. Cigarettes were always on sale (although I did not smoke, but I remember).
Shmotye somehow did not interest me. I did not iron a pioneer tie every day. There was no uniform at school.
Here's what was interesting. The streets could be walked at any time. Without fear that they will stop you and shake out all the little things from your pockets. If there was some kind of incident in the area, then they would gossip about this case for months. Children could go to all sorts of "circles", "studios", etc. For free. I went to the "circle of aircraft modeling". Ely-paly, Gazprom has not dreamed of financing such a circle to this day (the toad will suffocate).
And the machines were there, and they provided the material (pleasure is expensive), and they took us to different competitions.
In the summer it was possible (again free of charge) to go to a pioneer camp. Fed "for slaughter". I did not observe any "hazing" there.
About life. In the evenings, the neighbors would gather in the yard and play dominoes, bingo... well, and just chat in a friendly way. Neighbors (who had children) staged theater performances for us (with our participation). A puppet theater was organized, slide shows on a sheet, etc.
Yes. There were no cars for everyone (someone had, of course).
From a material point of view (sausage, delicacies, clothes, cars, roads) everything was rather unfortunate. I don't deny it. But there were also many positives.

General impressions and reasoning

alexandr_sam :
1965 USSR. Mom is a railway worker, dad is an electrician in a mine, then, for health reasons, left as a refrigeration engineer. Salary for the whole family 200 r. I am 7 years old, my sister is 5. No one has ever given us any apartments. all their lives they lived in their hut and also built something like a house, if it could be called that - conveniences in the yard.
I bought a refrigerator when I was already married in the mid-80s. We only dreamed about smoked sausage in childhood. There was never enough money. Ice cream was bought to us once or twice a year. They kept their chickens - eggs, meat. Planted in the garden (outside the city) potatoes, corn, seeds. Oil (unrefined) was obtained from the seeds.
TV appeared in the late 60s. "Dawn" was called. Black and white. The screen size is the same as the current iPad. ;-)
I don't even want to remember. Dreamed of the great "Penza". True, the used "Eaglet" was still bought. I went on it in the summer to plow at the State Farm. Carried water and watered cucumbers. They paid about 40 rubles a month. I bought myself a watch. And the stupid teacher forbade them to be worn to school. Unaffordable luxury.
Lived and fattened in our city only employees of the city committee, city executive committee, and all the trade and audit vermin. Until 1974, beggars constantly walked along the streets. Mother usually gave them a piece of bread and a couple of eggs. And there was nothing more to give. Until 1977, there was grub in stores, but there was not enough money. And by the end of the 70s, everything began to disappear in our country. They dragged sausage and butter from Ukraine, since it was nearby.
They stole everything. It was possible to steal from the state - no one condemned. The country of nesuns.
Then the army. Hazing, lies about Afghanistan, the CPSU, political studies, drill and stupidity.
Finally Perestroika and Glasnost. Glory to Gorbachev! He delivered us from that shameful and gray life.
I felt free only in the late 80s - early 90s. It was difficult, I don’t argue, but it’s better that way than with advice.
Now Russia lives in a way that it has never lived before. Putin is a chance for Russia. At the same time, I ask my future critics to note that I have never held public office and have nothing to do with oil and gas. He didn’t steal a single ruble from the budget and never had anything to do with budget money either.
That's it in a nutshell. I've lived 55 years and I know what I'm talking about. I have seen a lot in my life. And I laugh at thirty-year-old idiots who praise the Soviet government and the Soviet Union. You wouldn't even live a week there. They would burst from there like elk!
I do not need this USSR. God forbid my children from such an artificial and deceitful country.
***
It was all about lies and hypocrisy. It still hiccups. Do you think today's corruption is an invention of Yeltsin and Putin? Horseradish! Its foundation was laid by Lenin and Stalin. Just dig deeper, gentlemen, and do not nod at the kings. There was little left of them after October 1917...

mariyavs :
I won't be original. Those of my grandmothers who had no problems with food and clothes due to the positions they and their grandfathers held, have only joyful memories. Sanatoriums on trade union vouchers, free travel to and from the place of vacation, children's vouchers to camps, order desks, officer department stores ... And who was "easier" - shortages, queues, give - take it (whether you need it or not, you'll figure it out later) , "sausage tours" in Msk. But, of course, there were some good things too. Children's leisure was organized and accessible to most, an atmosphere of friendship and trust in a neighbor. All sorts of reptiles were enough, of course, even then. But the children were allowed into the yards alone and were not afraid.

psy_park :
There was a lot of bad and a lot of good - as, however, always and everywhere in the world. But about the bread - it was much better than the current one. Then there were no leavening agents, flavorings, taste improvers, etc. I especially miss rye from coarse flour for 16 kopecks - now there is no such thing in Moscow. And, of course, hearth white - 28 kopecks each. and gray - 20 kopecks each. They don't exist anymore, unfortunately.
Yes, special large two-pronged forks or spoons were tied or simply lay in bakeries - to check the "softness" of bread, and many poked and crushed bread with them. Although almost always the bread was from the same machine and all the same, but since the fork was lying, many used it. True, they were mostly old women. In our bakery in the neighboring department - in the "grocery", you could not only buy sweets, gingerbread, bagels, but also drink a glass of tea or coffee (black or with milk) near the standing table. Tea with sugar - 3 kop. Coffee - 10-15 kopecks. The taste is not great, of course, but quite tolerable. And if you also buy a bun - from 10 to 15 kopecks, then it was quite possible to have a snack. Banality, but now there is no such thing, which is a pity. All this is Moscow. In Leningrad - about the same. And in other places with products it was not so good, unfortunately. However, no one has ever gone hungry. Naturally, in the period from the late 50's - early 60's. until 89-91. Yes, I can’t resist - and the ice cream was not on palm oil.

raseyskiy :
In Soviet times, there were no chocolates in stores; for dairy products, the line was occupied at 6 in the morning (Moscow does not count). There was no meat in the stores, and sausages too. There was such a term "thrown away" a shortage for sale, for example, instant coffee - a queue of hundreds of people, although there was a queue for coffee in Moscow.
***
... a number of cities were supplied relatively well, while in others even sprats in tomato were a rarity. ... 70s and 80s. In those years, for the most part, everyone and everything was bought in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Minsk ... i.e. on vacation, business trip, etc.

tintarula :
I spent my childhood in a private house on the working outskirts of Vladivostok, and, like any childhood, it was full of sledding, fussing in the garden, vegetables and berries "from the bush", games, friendship and betrayal - in general, everything is fine. There were few books in the house, but I was subscribed to children's magazines, a school library, a TV set from my neighbors. Then there was almost no shortage, there was a small amount of money.
More or less conscious age is the end of the 60s, and then the 70s. I studied this and that, worked. In general, "what they don't know, they don't feel." I was generally satisfied with everything. Well, yes, sausage began to disappear (dry - almost completely, but Vlad is a sea city, there were fish in bulk (it never ended, so even during the "Gaidar famine" we did not starve, and the stories of acquaintances from Russian centers are strange to me, how it was difficult to get food.) In 1974 or 1975, it seems, Gioconda was brought to Moscow, and we (three friends) went to watch it - in a common carriage back and forth. We shied around Moscow for about a month, went to theaters, stopped by to Leningrad and Luga (where they knew each other, including acquaintances of acquaintances - you have to live somewhere).
The shortage of books was very disturbing, but my friend's sister worked at the Research Institute of Marine Biology, and there the people were advanced, the Strugatskys got manuscripts, and my friend and sister copied them by hand. And I rewrote The Master and Margarita. That is, we were "in the know."
And yet it was youth, and therefore good. And in general, in my opinion, "good" and "bad" are personal private feelings, not too dependent on the circumstances of life. The "dashing 90s" were not dashing for me either, role-playing games arose in the 90s - and in the same way we went to Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk (to Khabar - in a common carriage), and it was good.
Yes, it's good now.

ular76 :
I come from two specifically counter-revolutionary families.
therefore, I have no claims against the Soviet government.
childhood was happy and carefree.
I did not experience restrictions in education, sports, food, recreation and happy pastime.
for which I have deep gratitude to all the Soviet people.
I don’t suffer from any illusions about the liberoid-thieves’ internal politics of modern Russia, but I calmly observe the natural course of changes and transformations.

Discussions

belara83 :
50% of some kind of nonsense is written, queues have been a phenomenon since 1989, until then, well, there were 5-10 people there, they sat down something like that. No one was starving, Everyone had a job, but there was no chic, there was a shortage of imported things, but now with a lot of choice people have problems through the roof .. I lived in the village, my mother bought ice cream home for our children in boxes .. Bread was always and cost 16 kopecks , and white 20 kopecks!!! Sausage 2.2 r kg, 2.8 kg, is a boiled sausage.
But people lived more calmly, they understood that tomorrow today everyone is in nervous tension, they don’t know what will happen to them tomorrow. Nothing happened to us without imported clothes and everything else, it was not necessary to destroy the whole country, it was possible to change something and leave a lot, no, "to the ground and then" ordinary people suffered as a result ....

Many still feel nostalgia for the Soviet Union. Those who lived in this vast country remember their carefree childhood, songs around the campfire, pioneer days, affordable prices, and a caring state. And those who were born later listen to the dreary stories of older comrades or relatives and imagine how it used to be good. Not like now...

Did Soviet citizens glow with happiness like that? Or were there more disadvantages in the life of the builders of communism? We are unlikely to ever come to an unambiguous conclusion, because there will always be both supporters of the Soviet Union and those who casually call this huge empire Sovkom.

Today's editorial "So simple!" He will tell about the USSR in the words of eyewitnesses - those who have felt all the comfort of living in the Land of Soviets. These people knew that the Soviet is not always of high quality, and food and clothing should be "extracted".

How they lived in the USSR

“I was born in 1977 in a relatively wealthy St. Petersburg. I remember how my parents were embarrassed to make friends with the unlucky neighbor Vasya, but they did it, because he worked in a grocery store. Uncle Vasya was always dirty and often drunk, but he could get decent meat. And my parents had to somehow feed me and my sister.”

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“I am from 1980. I remember that at the age of 8 I had only green sandals from shoes, which did not fit any outfit, because I didn’t have any other green things. But I walked in sandals and did not dare to ask. And winter boots! You go to school in the snow - your feet get wet in an instant. Neither I nor the other guys had spare shoes. And so they walked with wet feet.

« Food products in the USSR- a separate story. The lines for bread stretched such that they stood for an hour and a half. The meat waited even longer. If “Hercules” was thrown on the counter, then the parents bought it in boxes in reserve. In general, vodka was sold only by coupons.

About the last point, very amusing stories are told. Some cunning people applied to the registry office to get coupons for vodka. The application was later withdrawn, but the alcohol remained. By the way, alcoholic beverages were in great short supply. Therefore, even non-drinkers tried to get alcohol - it was possible to exchange it profitably for something.

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“They say that in the USSR everything was the most natural and useful. Aha! There were blue hens on the counters, apparently starved to death and abused. There was also milk with sour cream by weight. Fortunately, my grandmother knew the store manager, so we got milk before it was diluted with water. And getting sour cream was considered a great success at all.

“Mom was sometimes sent on business trips to Moscow, and she brought everything she could get from there. I remember how one day she locked those damn bags, slid down dressed on the floor and quietly cried from fatigue ... "

“If someone managed to go abroad or even to a large neighboring city, then they brought home as much food as they could. Sausage, fruit, butter, cheese…”

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There are many such stories about life in the USSR. And yet there are people who deny that there was a shortage. They say that the shelves were really empty, but everyone had everything at home. For they knew how to get ...

Indeed, today it is simple: I wanted it - I bought it. Too casual and uninteresting. But before, you had to get any thing, standing in lines, or buying from under the counter from black marketers, risking not only money, but sometimes your own freedom. That's where the romance was!

What do you remember about life in the Soviet Union? Was it really better to live than now?

Dreams of people taking better care of nature. In the future, he plans to engage in the protection of wild animals, environmental protection and other useful things that will improve the condition of the planet. Bogdan believes that such work makes more sense than any other! He wants to one day return to Finland, which struck him with crystal clear lakes and friendly people. I would also like to come to St. Petersburg for a long time in order to get to know the city better. Bogdan is an energetic and cheerful football player. Our editor's favorite book, after reading which he began to write articles, is Martin Eden by Jack London.

Today, a new nostalgic wave is rising for a bygone time. And the lamentations of a generation over forty can be compared to the phrases uttered at all times: “Sugar used to be sweeter”, “In our time, young people were better”, etc. And what has changed?

Yes, there were pluses during the existence of the USSR. There was free education, including higher education, there was free treatment, when there was no need to take a health insurance policy and a certain amount for paid procedures. Everywhere there was an invisible spirit of the all-seeing party, directing the aspirations and thoughts of the workers in the right direction - the treatment and training were of high quality.

In production, there was also an active struggle for the quality of products - social services were organized. competitions, there was a strict control of the condition of manufactured parts or products, brought up workers who were fond of drinking alcohol or were negligent in their duties. The trade union really worked, taking care of the health of employees: it gave them vouchers to rest homes and sanatoriums, and vouchers for their children to summer holiday camps. Only, of course, it was not always possible to get a ticket - sometimes people waited for it for years.

But there were also disadvantages. Equalization of all employees occupying positions of the same level. Yes, there were diplomas, assignmenttitles - but this is a small share of encouragement, which practically does not add material well-being. Many will chuckle: why any extra money, if the necessary minimum is free. The main thing is that there was enough for food, there were enough funds for living. But not only breadIf a person is alive, spiritual development is needed. For some, it consisted of reading books that were difficult to get at that time, for some it was necessary to create a good designhousing, adding comfort to the apartment, but building materials are also a problem.

And if you take a trip to, there was only one option - our south. Foreign trips were available to a limited circle of people, and even so, the opportunity to visit abroad was difficult to get.

You can list the positive and negative aspects of life in the USSR for a long time. And, most likely, they were equalized - people adapted, looked for opportunities to improve their lives, found various opportunities to get a scarce thing or organize a trip, and a chocolate bar given to a doctor added confidence as a treatment.

However, there is something we have lost. This is the unity of the peoples living on the territory of the collapsed USSR. Today, they are trying hard to redraw history, passing off conjectures as reality. But many people remember how people of different nationalities lived together in the neighborhood. And there was no division into Ukrainians and Russians, Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Most likely, this explains the nostalgia for the collapsed state, when the friendship of peoples helped to accomplish great things.

A holiday was approaching: the wedding anniversary of my parents. Mom was categorically against me paying for dinner in a cafe. Then a brilliant plan was born. Arrange a home party in the style of the nineties. Let me remind them of the past, because they got married in 1985, the dawn of their youth fell on the Soviet years. She kept silent, surprise. She invited guests, downloaded the hits of the nineties and began to decorate the living room in a retro style.

USSR: a bygone era

You can regret the past, remember fragments with a smile. But it cannot be returned. I propose to "pull out of memory" good moments because life goes on. Today I will tell how they lived in the USSR. To support my words, I will cite weighty facts.

Life in the Soviet style:

• Parents dreamed that their children would become cultural workers in the future. Librarian, historian, teacher, cultural historian, musician - prestigious professions.
• Private Taxi prohibited. Cabbers who wanted to earn money risked paying a fine. At any moment, the car could be stopped and asked who you are carrying and what route. And to confirm the relationship, they even asked for documents. Public taxi was affordable, average cost trips - one ruble.
• Soviet ballet became famous all over the world. In the evening, we watched performances in front of a blue screen. Loving this art is a sign of education.
• Fartsovschiki made good money. Because they secretly sold scarce goods. Today the word "fartsovka" is unknown to young people.

How they lived in the USSR: luxury

The idea of ​​wealth then and now differ significantly. I would never have concluded that the family is rich, having seen a crystal chandelier and a sideboard with dishes in their apartment. And before that they were pride. If the family moved, they packed carpets and dishes (especially crystal) first. Soviet citizens, who did not suffer from a lack of money, tried not to display their wealth for showing.

A person who has an apartment, a car, a dacha, a TV set, imported household appliances and thousand rubles under the mattress. You won't surprise us with a Model 7 car or a dacha where you have to bend your back.

From the author: “Remember kindergarten? Hamsters, nap time, pea soup with croutons? Christmas trees, obligatory bunnies.


Who was accepted as a pioneer at the Museum of the Revolution? In the first wave or in the second? Blacks in the USSR were considered people before it became mainstream.
Circles of the USSR, sports schools, sections, music and art schools. How many did you visit at the same time? Me: swimming, art school, carving, ship modeling and aircraft modeling. How much does it cost now to send a child to so many circles?
Practically guaranteed employment, they were persecuted for parasitism. In the honor of the specialty of the "real sector" - turners, welders - an economist in the department is considered a squint. In the photo Goblin - before we all worked with our hands, not with our tongues.
Army. Enough of everything, the Belarusians smacked the Kirghiz, the Chechens of the Muscovites, the crests of all the rest, barely getting a snot on the shoulder strap. But it was a cohesive machine, where yesterday's peasants became real universal soldiers entering Afghanistan (read how the border guards seized the bridgehead, let the line units in and also brought them out, clearly, professionally) or operations in Angola together with the Cuban "Black Wasps".
Police. They were respected, until the 70s the murder of a policeman was a sign of complete lawlessness, they were shot like mad dogs. Yes, they drank, the traffic police constantly muddied with cars, but you will be surprised to compare the level of work of the then police and the modern police, with all the means of electronic espionage and the capabilities of digital technology. Police officers after a major scandal with bank robberies with massacres in the United States for the first time saw a fax and a radio station in a car - then they changed the whole style of work. And now everyone has a mobile with the Internet and “grouse-grouse-grouse”.
Culture, art, Soviet ballet. Censorship - then nailing eggs to Red Square and setting fire to doors was not considered art, gaining paint in the ass and soiling canvases in this way went to Napoleon and those who saw aliens. Therefore, now there is our new bad cinema, with rare exceptions from old Soviet directors, and the golden film library of the USSR.
Do you remember Soviet sports? Affordable, successful, bright.
The medicine. And in general, social security, there is no need to shout that in the USA they were and are better. They treated, performed the most complicated operations, they also did it there, if there is medical insurance, but they will do it, and then a bill for $ 20,000 is still an unbearable amount there. Resorts, sanatoriums, you could get from the factory, now this is not there either.
Therefore, the USSR is already history, it cannot be returned, we lived there. Who was not - he will be, who was - will not forget. Everything goes to the fact that the quasi-USSR, crooked, not the same as they wanted, will be built again. But why was it to destroy that one?