Comments by "" (@elvirabary) on "Soviet Russia Life Hacks: Surviving the USSR" video.

  1. Thanks for noticing! All those are my own creations. :)
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  2. Wow! Didn't expect such a lively discussion and interest in my paintings, thank you! :) A lot of that art is still very experimental, so making prints is not something I've considered since I wasn't sure if anyone but me would like them, but perhaps I should look into it more. I will keep you posted! Thanks for the advice
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  3. Thank you for your comment. I think I mentioned it before, many people (perhaps even myself included) tend to remember more positives than negatives from the past, which makes the past better than it actually was.
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  4. @Volkbrecht That's a very insightful comment about life being easier under a totalitarian rule. I think there is a lot of truth to it. When many choices are made for the individual by the government, life could definitely seem easier. This would be especially true when there is nothing to compare your current life to. I would love to learn more about East Germany, it's such a fascinating case. In an experiment on a grand scale, where one nation was essential divided into two (East and West) and separated by a wall. It's like twins separated at birth. Comparing the two societies after 50 years of separation would be so interesting.
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  5. @pamelajaye Thank you for sharing your stories. I am truly amazed by the responses under my videos. In the last 2-3 days on YouTube I read more cool, personal stories left as comments under my videos than I probably read in the 2-3 years on the Internet. The personal connections that are made between and a creator and the audience on YouTube are truly astonishing and it is something I never expected to be honest. Thank you so much! P.S. I now live in Southern California, so I feel very blessed and safe - thank you for your thoughts!
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  6. Thank you for your comment. Technically, no one knows what Communism is like, as it's never really been implemented by any state. Even Soviet Union was at best a Socialist state.
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  7. West is too general of a definition, even within Europe there are major differences. Look at Nordic countries vs Western Europe vs Easter Europe for example. Canada and US have major differences too in terms of how much the government controls. North Korea is probably the closest you can get to what USSR was like.
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  8. Thanks for your support. I didn't realize how well these tips would resonate with many other organizations/societies.
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  9. Excellent and insightful comment, thank you!
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  10. Thank your for your comment. What's interesting is that if you look above you'll see essentially this same type of a comment from another user but it's about the Democratic Party. It's curious that both sides (Democrats and Republicans) associate USSR with their opposition.
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  11. That's a good point, I didn't actually think of other regimes, but you're right!
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  12. Thank you for this story. It's truly amazing how people are wiling to share awesome personal stories in the comments under my videos. Bananas were a rare delicacy in USSR, so a 2 hour queues for them were quite common, I stood in many of them myself. :)
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  13. Thank you and Merry Christmas to you as well.
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  14. I think lots of people have very favorable impression of the past and pessimistic of the present. For example, most people in US would say they fell less safe now than in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s. However according to all the statistics violent crime has been going down in US every single decade.
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  15. Thanks for your support! I've actually researched freemasons for a book before, it's a fascinating organization.
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  16. I guess when you're a part of this system, you get used to it and consider it normal.
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  17. I've heard about similar sentiment before. We, humans, tend to remember past with rosy glasses on, so perhaps they have forgotten some of the bad things in the lives. It's also possible that their lives have gotten worse, as they were not able to adjust their lives to the current realities and their own expectations weren't met.
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  18. Glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you for your suggestions about the translations, I will look into it!
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  19. You're welcome!
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  20. 👉From ancient tribes to modern nations, one hidden law has shaped power for centuries: https://youtu.be/msi-wFGfOYQ
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  21. Thank you for your support and a wonderful comment!
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  22. LOL.... So true, to be honest, I didn't expect the comments under my videos to be so lively. :)
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  23. Thanks! That's an interesting point I hadn't thought of. But I think at many levels bureaucracies are all the same, no matter what political system is like.
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  24. Great question. Yes, it would be very useful, it would be the same as marrying into royal family in England for example. Possible, but most likely very difficult to do and not for mere mortals. :)
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  25. Actually, you're quite right! Georgian republic enjoyed special privileges in Soviet Union, most likely due to Stalin being Georgian and having a soft spot for his birthplace. In Georgia, there were less restriction on private enterprises, such as wine making for example, which resulted in Georgians being wealthier than the average Soviet citizen.
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  26. Thanks for your comment. I suspect the same was often true for all of the Warsaw Pack's countries. Soviet Union exported it's own system to many Eastern European countries.
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  27. Interesting. I was just reading about how pretty much everyone around the world is not happy with their current government administrations, which results in many ruling parties losing control in the latest elections - case in point US and almost all of Europe. But even if you look at countries like India, the current administration is losing support as well. I wonder if Covid had a lot to do with this unhappiness with the current way things are.
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  28. Totally unexpected by me, I must say. :)
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  29. I wonder if there is any other country in the world that has a better and different system?
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  30. Fascism as a phenomenon would be very interesting to dive into in a future video, it's just I'm afraid the topic will be too divisive, as folks will search for and find aspects of fascism that can be applied to their political opponents.
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  31. Thanks for your support. Saw the message and replied.
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  32. With some differences, many of same survival skills can often be applied to both USSR and USA. :)
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  33. Thank you for watching. Not sure the English equivalent exists, it's a Tatar name, which usually just translates directly.
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  34. There were (not many) brave souls like you in USSR who would do the same, I can only applaud that type of bravery.
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  35. But the hacks might still be applicable. :)
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  36. I would classify North Korea as a Socialist state as well, but stricter than the Soviet Union ever was. One of the main ideas of communism is Karl Marx's idea of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs". Given that North Korea often suffers from food shortage and malnutrition, their needs are obviously not covered very well, so it's pure communism in that sense.
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  37. Great point, I think that many government systems have a lot in common.
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  38.  @grantp4022  thank you!
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  39. Thank you for watching and sharing your story!
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  40. Thank you for watching, you're absolutely correct. There were some who could play the system very well and they usually prospered.
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  41. Thank you for your comment. I discuss some of the factors that keep throwing Russian into dictatorship in my video "The Real Reasons Why Russia Keeps Living Under Dictatorship" here: https://youtu.be/K2uhWaerTRA
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  42. So interesting, this is probably the 3rd or 4th comment drawing parallels with my video and corporate America. To be honest I find it surprising and unexpected, as I have very little experience with the corporate structure, here, in the US.
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  43. I like Suvorov's works as well!
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  44. Thank you for watching!
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  45. Thank you for watching, and stay strong, things are often not as bad as it may seems.
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  46. We live in very interesting times.
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  47. The answer is some do, but most don't. Older generations get all of their information from highly controlled state television channels. Newer generations do use Internet, but even in that case, you have to actively seek out that dissenting information, and I bet many simply do not.
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