Hearted Youtube comments on USHANKA SHOW (@UshankaShow) channel.
-
1600
-
1200
-
1100
-
851
-
802
-
789
-
789
-
531
-
515
-
512
-
442
-
413
-
401
-
398
-
387
-
385
-
359
-
357
-
354
-
349
-
345
-
342
-
331
-
301
-
299
-
Thank your lucky stars you never smoked. I did from when I was about 16. I'm now 73 and quit five years ago, but it wasn't soon enough, so I'm now suffering from COPD. I first visited Russia in 1992, right after the collapse of the USSR. I brought in five cartons of Marlboros, the maximum allowed at the time. I didn't sell them. I gave them to friends I met and used them for tips to taxi drivers and tour guides. It was nearly impossible to get real US made Marlboros, and a pack of 20 was appreciated even more than getting dollars as a tip. Almost everyone smoked, and people smoked almost everywhere. We went to the Moscow Circus, and every seat had an ashtray in the arm rest, and almost everyone was smoking. Now that I think about it, the only places I didn't see people smoking was in museums and churches.
I tried some Russian smokes, including Apollo, Kosmos, Diplomat, Crest, TU-144, and Belomorkanal. The last were the weirdest I've ever smoked. They were in a cardboard tube and burned in an uneven way and produced an acrid smoke from the cardboard. They had the strongest tobacco I've ever smoked. I was so dizzy from one drag I had to sit down for a few minutes.
The Kosmos and TU-144 were about the closest to a US smoke, but even they were a lot stronger than a Marlboro. I liked the TU-144's because I was a private pilot, and it's the only cigarette brand I've seen named after a plane. The pack was beautifully printed with the gold panel and color picture of the aircraft on the front. I still have an unopened pack as a souvenir of that trip. I never saw the TU-134 brand or I would've gotten one of those too. The Moldovan made Marlboros were pretty good, but still didn't taste like a US made Marlboro.
289
-
286
-
270
-
253
-
244
-
238
-
234
-
230
-
227
-
224
-
219
-
217
-
216
-
208
-
205
-
205
-
203
-
202
-
201
-
199
-
194
-
190
-
187
-
187
-
186
-
184
-
184
-
183
-
177
-
173
-
173
-
172
-
169
-
167
-
167
-
166
-
162
-
161
-
160
-
158
-
154
-
152
-
151
-
151
-
150
-
148
-
148
-
Yes, Escrava Isaura( Slave Isaura). It was a popular soap opera, here in Brasil. It also was played in China. A funny story about it: in 97 ,my mother was visiting Turkey. She, and my tounger sister,lost herselves into that country. When the turkish people, went to help them, and discovered ,that my Mother and sister, were brazilians, they brought to my mom, a Lucélia Santos( the main caracter of this soap opera) poster! Slave Isaura,was being aired in Turkey that days!! Gospodin Sputnikof, congratulions for your job, and greetings from Brasil!!!!
144
-
144
-
138
-
137
-
Sergei, my friend, this had to be one of the most difficult videos for you to make. Though I know about many of the horrors of oppression, this one was entirely new to me. I have thousands of stamps from the USSR. When I watched your other videos about handicapped people, I came to realize that none of my stamps show a handicapped person. Yet there are plenty of men in uniform, medals, and other military themes. Regimes such as the Soviet Union and North Korea (another one I have studied a lot) try to hide their disabled (or, as we see here, do much worse), for they do not like any image of a less-than-perfect society. Things like this video really need to be out, no matter how hard they are to accept. Thank you for doing this. I know I will never forget it. Peace and blessings to the victims and their loved ones 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️😥
136
-
135
-
133
-
130
-
130
-
Here's some jokes from Romania when I was a child....
1. Question: Why in communist Romania the shops were made at least 5 km away from each other? Answer: So that the queues do not tangle.
2. In Ceaushescu's time, there is a stamp with Ceaushescu. Ceaushescu, disguised, goes to a post office to see how the stamp is sold. "It's not sold," says the clerk. - Why? - It does not stick. Ceaushescu asks for a stamp, spits on the glue, put it on an envelope, and tell the clerk: "Why do you say he does not stick?" Look, it sticks! "Yes," says the clerk, "but everybody spit on the other side.
3. Ceaushescu goes to Russia on a visit to Brezhnev. Amazed by the luxury he lives in, he asks him where he has so much money. The Russian says, "Well, you see the bridge there? - Yeah ... - That cost 100,000 rubles. And from such a large amount a part goes into my pocket ... Brezhnev is coming to Bucharest next year and he is amazed at the luxury in which Ceaushescu is living, so he asks how he can afford it. Ceaushescu replies, "Well, you see that bridge?" - Which bridge? - That bridge costs 100,000,000 lei ...
4. Two people are talking. At one point, one of them says, "Come on, let me tell you the last joke with Ceaushescu that I heard. The other one says, "God, that's a shame of you, I see you a good man, why do you need trouble?" I work for the Securitate (Secret Police). - Oh, are you working on the Securitate? Then there's no problem, I'll repeat the joke until you get caught up.
5. In Ceausescu's time a guy enters a store: "Excuse me, do you have fish here?" - No, here we do not have meat, next door there is no fish.. (this is very similar with one you told Sergei)
6. Question: - What is Securitate (Secret Police)? Answer: - The heart of the party, which beats hard!
7. Question: - In Ceaushescu's time, what was coldest than cold water in the winter? Answer: Hot water.
125
-
124
-
122
-
121
-
120
-
118
-
118
-
118
-
117
-
115
-
113
-
112
-
111
-
110
-
110
-
110
-
108
-
107
-
106
-
I was in the Black Sea, October of 1969 on a destroyer. The U.S. was thumbing it's nose at the Soviet Union who considered it their waters; we just sailed around simply to prove a point. We crew were called to quarters to man the rails when a Soviet cruiser came up to give us the once over; they manned the rails too. We passed in review within a few hundred yards and there, under a sponson, I saw one lone "Russkie" jump up and down waving and smiling at us, it was a pivotal moment for me because it was then I realized he was just a simple sailor- not any kind of "enemy"; all he wanted was to be left alone to do his job, hit the beach at night, get drunk, get laid, and do it all over again the next night— just like us Capitalists. I would have never dreamed I would get so much pleasure watching videos of the former "bad guys" in their workshops doing so much with so little and doing it so well. Screw governments, they lie, they spill the blood of the young for money; the ordinary working man has no need of their bullshit.
106
-
105
-
105
-
105
-
105
-
105
-
105
-
104
-
104
-
Wow, your video brought so much memories back! Several more things missing in HBO to add to your work:
About Ukraine highest party official, Scherbitskiy. He committed suicide later, possibly because of the guilt he felt to the Ukrainian people for that May 1 1986 parade.
During the evacuation: it seems that high party official gets evacuated on a same bus as others, can't be true. They evacuated themselves and their family members using separate transports.
Another confirmed by my relative fact:
Many pregnant women in Kiev and Ukraine( may be in Belorussia as well) got forceful abortions, because of suspected fetus radiation poisoning. One of them was my wife's cousin, she was born in 1963 in Kiev, got married in 1986 spring, and at that time she was on a 6 or 7 th month of pregnancy with her first child. She got forced to get an abortion in a government hospital ( labor house).
Other details are so shockingly accurate, vehicles, license plates, military uniform( I was drafted into Soviet Army I 1985). Dosimeters, they bear another special story for me. My uncle was a chief design engineer for the research institute and a plant that manufactured them. Uncle was multiple times in Chernobyl guiding and instructing on radiation measuring activities during the crisis there.
Sadly, he died in 2015 in New York at the age of 93. He was one of liquidators of Chernobyl disaster.
Thanks for your work man!
104
-
My parents lived in the Soviet Union for most of their lives. My father was born in 1949 and my mother in 1952 (Stalin was still at power at this time). They were descendants of Germans who emigrated to Czarist Russia in the late 18th century. Central Europe faced widespread poverty after the Thirty Years 'and Seven Years' War and the Russian government offered portions of land to good conditions. 150 years went by and an own republic, north of Tsaritsyn (later known as Stalingrad) and south of Saratov, mostly inhabited by ethnic Germans had formed. Here in Germany the inhabitants of this former republic, who lived near the Volga stream, are called "Volga Germans" by the historians.
After Nazi Germany launched its wide scale military operation in Summer 1941, many German communities (mostly located near the Black Sea) and the above mentioned Republic (which at least on paper to this point had something of an autonomous status) were forcefully dissolved by Stalin's order and its people got deported to Siberia and bare steppe of today's Kazakhstan. My paternal grandmother faced this harsh fate when she was only 18 years young and soon saw herself laboring in the "Трудовая армия" (a giant multi-ethnic working force consisting of forced laborers who were considered a severe thread to communism and state integrity during the war). And even after the Red Army and Western Allies won in 1945, my grandmother and her husband, whom she met in the labor camp, didn't get their citizens rights back till 1956, as Khrushchev already began to debunk the constructed myths and lies surrounding Stalin. Wherever they went afterwards, there were soon or later labeled fascist pigs, those who didn't get "rightfully shot or beaten to death". Even as my father and uncle grew older, they were still sometimes confronted with such verbal attacks.
My mother's parents... just had bad luck. Her father, an Estonian, tried to flee from his country after Soviet occupation in 1940 with a small boat. 50 kilometers away or so from Swedish territorial waters, he got caught with others following the same intention. Needless to say where he had to went, after he was sentenced a traitor.
Her mother, who lived in Ukraine at the time, sympathized with the invading Germans and was soon brought "back to the Reich", as she could prove her German ancestry and ability to speak fluently German, and was housed in Spandau (Berlin). Not knowing of the atrocities the Wehrmacht and SS units did on the Eastern Front and within the conquered territory, she had hoped that Hitler would win the war and free Ukraine (and foremost German villages) from Bolshevist rule. Especially Ukraine has suffered horribly under artificial famines in the 1930s caused by Stalin's five-year plans to modernize and industrialize the Soviet union.
April 1945, as the Red Army was about to close its encirclement around Berlin, my maternal grandmother and others in her district were told to wait till they'll be evacuated to West Germany. Preparations were about to be completed but it was too late. All escaping routes were blocked by the Red Army and in 1946, she was sent to where many of my family members already had to work off their labor sentence for some years.
This text doesn't have much to do with the video. But I still wanted to share this story.
YouTube recommended me your videos recently and I like your content. Keep up the good work.
Greetings from Germany,
Artur
PS: I look forward to buying your book.
102
-
102
-
102
-
102
-
As has been mentioned by Joanne, Khrushchev established the Patrice Lumumba University in 1960. Its stated intention was to offer higher education to Africans who were unable to obtain it at home. The Soviets made a big deal about how they were practicing racial equality at a time when many blacks were not being admitted to de facto white universities in the US. In reality, the Soviets built the the school in an isolated section of Moscow specifically to isolated them, and black students were not permitted to go to the city centers unaccompanied. Students complained of being segregated from most Russians, and that Russians treated them like a colonial power.
The university was admitting students from sub-Saharan Africa that didn't even have a secondary education all the way through students from places like Libya and Tunisia that had educations comparable with most European schools. This not only caused a very high dropout rate, but the more highly educated students, who were generally light skinned, demanded that the black students be segregated to a different section of the university so their lack of education wouldn't hold them back.
Although the University started out mostly offering education in engineering and construction, all the students were required to take courses in communist theory and third world liberation. As the school became more political, more and more of the students went back to their countries to become political agitators and revolutionaries. Almost all African countries were dictatorships at the time, and even avowedly Marxist countries like Ghana stopped allowing students to study at Patrice Lumumba. The university started admitting more students form Central and South America to keep up enrollment, but the political education caused the same issues when they returned home, and more racial clashes broke out.
There were actually demonstrations by African students in the late 60's and early 70's demanding things like a bus line that would allow them to get to the city centers, the end of prohibition of interracial dating, and more education in science and medicine with less political indoctrination. Over time, the university "social agencies", the ones that really ran the place, gave into these demands after the western press started reporting on the demonstrations. This was the start of African students being able to mingle with the Russian population and the incipient antiblack racism you talked about started to emerge. It was easy to be for racial equality until your daughter started dating an African or Africans demanded the same public accommodations as Russians. There were near riots in Moscow and other cities when Africans were allowed in the same bars as Russians and alcohol fueled fights broke out. Soviet police were rumored to use street beatings as a non-judicial punishment for Africans they felt "got out of line". Some African students left because they felt their treatment was no better than what they would have gotten in the US and the quality of the education was worse. Soviet leadership was aghast at the lack of gratitude when these student returned home ad started criticizing the USSR.
The end for Patrice Lumumba U came along with demise of the USSR. The university was renamed The Russian Peoples’ Friendship University, or RUDN. It still exists, but mainly serves students from Russia's minority regions, other former Soviet republics, and a smattering of foreign students. Educational standards have declined dramatically, and, even within Russia and the former CIS republics, an RUDN degree isn't accepted in many places. There have been moves in recent years to increase standards, but that would mean not admitting many of their preferred students, so the battle between education and ideology continues.
101
-
101
-
101
-
100
-
100
-
99
-
99
-
98
-
98
-
95
-
95
-
95
-
95
-
94
-
94
-
In Mexico, we kind of looked up to the Soviet Union, and the government emulated a lot of the socialist policies. It was a weird mixture of socialism and capitalism, called "Stabilizing Development" with a centrally planned economy, almost zero imports, and nationalist policies. Brazil also followed this model. While there was collectivized agriculture, private property was sacred, and there was (and is) complete freedom to travel and move around the country. Oil and electricity industries are state-owned. There was a sort of free market, but with really bad quality goods. Imports were almost forbidden. This created a huge black market.
But since around the mid 80s, neoliberal policies were adopted, and most of the positive aspects of socialism were lost, but high quality goods became available for everyone, and politically the one-party model was abandoned. But personal freedoms were never a problem. They were viewed as sacred. No one was subjected to surveillance or restrictions in travel or freedom of expression. When the first and only nuclear power plant was started here in the 70s, people said wishfully "Hey, maybe one day we'll be like the USSR!" That is, a mighty industrialized nation, a world power. They didn't know about the bad stuff...
94
-
93
-
91
-
90
-
89
-
89
-
89
-
88
-
87
-
87
-
87
-
86
-
86
-
86
-
85
-
85
-
85
-
84
-
83
-
83
-
82
-
81
-
81
-
79
-
79
-
79
-
79
-
78
-
76
-
76
-
Hello comrade Sergei.
I agree that Khrushchev's placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba might have seemed to be reckless, but there's more to the situation than just that:
I've been reading "Nikita Khrushchev: And the Creation of a Superpower" by Sergei Khrushchev (Nikita's son) and more or less he puts it this way:
- Nikita Khrushchev realises that they can't keep up producing so much for the military (tanks, air planes, warships, etc.)
- The economy needs revitalisation, people need more food, clothes, places to live
- Khrushchev bets on the idea of mutual destruction: if we can show the Americans that we can all destroy each other, they won't dare to bomb us first
- He starts big development of rocket forces and expands construction bureaus of Korolev, Yangel, Chelomei and others.
- Khrushchev cuts down on troops (more young people who are able to work now), scraps the building of enormous warships (he asked the Navy chief of staff while at Vladivostok: "What are you going to do if the Americans hit this base with a nuclear weapon?" - and the admirals couldn't answer anything)
- He puts the money into the civilian economy, starts building panel apartment blocks (Khruschovka)
Up till then everything seems OK because mutual destruction is more or less assured (with inter-continental ballistic missiles). The USSR knows that the Americans don't have too many of them (and the soviets bluff that they have more than they actually do).
Many problems arise with the mass production and use of soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles: the fuel used is corrosive, it takes a lot of time to prepare them, and they're generally expensive.
The moment the Americans place rockets in Turkey, the whole game changes.
The Americans no longer need to compete with the USSR in the production of ICBMs and can instead concentrate on producing mid-ranged missiles instead.
This tips the balance of power to the side of the USA.
Khrushchev has now two choices:
- Scrap his economic reforms and put the money into making more expensive ICBMs (while waiting for scientists to improve their deployment capabilities): but make people poor(er) again.
- Do the same thing as the Americans: place middle-range rockets near their number 1 enemy.
In the end, I'd do the same as him.
One could never have expected such a hypocritical response from the US - after all, with missiles in Cuba and in Turkey the scales were back to a level position.
The US generals mobilised the whole armed forces (Navy, Air Force, Marines, Army) and prepared them for an invasion. And not quietly, they made a lot of noise so that the USSR could understand it's serious.
According to the author of the book, Kennedy did not have that much power to stop the generals for a long time. Initially, he was willing to let the incident go unnoticed.
Interesting fact: Castro believed in the Communist cause so much, he was ready for Cuba to become a martyr in the new war!
Anyways, it was a gamble that did not pay off. With hindsight it would have been easier to just concentrate on ICBMs that could be launched from the USSR (as things progressed, TOPOL missiles for example).
The Americans told Khrushchev that he could not mention Turkey in this report - and this made him look stupid and clumsy in front of the politburo.
The hyenas there snatched the moment and took power.
75
-
75
-
75
-
75
-
75
-
74
-
74
-
74
-
74
-
73
-
73
-
73
-
72
-
72
-
72
-
72
-
71
-
70
-
69
-
69
-
68
-
68
-
67
-
66
-
66
-
66
-
65
-
65
-
65
-
65
-
65
-
65
-
65
-
64
-
64
-
64
-
64
-
64
-
63
-
63
-
63
-
62
-
62
-
62
-
61
-
60
-
60
-
60
-
60
-
60
-
The central boiler heat, in my experience, worked very well when it was working. The trouble was it often broke down. The other trouble was that the walls were concrete, and didn't insulate very well. So you lost heat to the out door air an very high rates. Fuel was heavily subsidized as well, so heat was still cheap. But your apartment was slow to warm up, and fast to cool down, and that made winter unpleasant. Older homes from pre-Soviet times (still rented) often had more reliable coal stoves built in. At a pinch, you could burn wood, and they never broke down. The trouble there was they often didn't have indoor plumbing, or only running water but not sewer. That meant a outhouse in the back yard, or a tin pail. Survivable, but not exactly ideal. The limits on apartment size were obviously fluid. Shortly after WWII, housing was short, multiple familes might share a couple of rooms, and communal kitchen/bathroom. But by the time my parents had me, they were able to get a two-room apartment in a small city of 200 000-300 000, with neither of them being in the military or special party organizations. Dad worked at a brick factory, and mom worked at a children's library. A Banya, is somewhere between a public bath in the ancient Roman sense, and a sauna in the Swedish sense. It was a place to get clean, but also a place to relax, possibly drink with friends, possibly part of a health regime. The other side effect of a central boiler heat system, is it also supplies your hot water for bathing and laundry. So when the boiler breaks, or the pipes leak, or whatever other breakdown troubles the system, you're left with cold water that needs to be heated on the stove in the biggest pots you can find. Fine if you're prepared, but not ideal if you're accustomed to centrally heated water, that then fails at invariably the most inconvenient moment.
60
-
59
-
I just finished watching the show the other day and I really loved hearing your insight on it :D I will say that about half the issues you have with the series about missing info is mentioned in the podcast of each episode. If you haven't heard those yet, I do recommend listening to it (not only you but anyone who watched the show), as the creator goes about explaining on each episode of the podcast what they left out and why or where they changed things, especially in the last episode.
I think for the May 1 parade one of the biggest problems was that there isn't any footage available, iirc (this may not be true, but that is one of the reasons they gave). I think other things weren't shown - especially things outside Pripyat/Chernobyl - because of the limited scope they had. Like to show everything is just kinda impossible on a miniseries, but I do agree that it would've made the show even better. I loved the details you've given about the radio with classical music and the iodine poisoning (idk about other places, but we still occasionally use iodine to disinfect in little bottles, so I don't think that's too foreign a thing? The drinking of it surely is though. Must be a horrible experience to drink it because of lack of information. As for iodine pills, I wonder if many ppl already know about that. I knew about it because I got some when I moved to Japan for a year after the FUkushima incident (it was nowhere near the plant, but they handed them out to any person going for a longer period of time).
Anyway, I liked the details of how you personally experienced the incident. It surely rounds up the picture the show gave.
59
-
58
-
58
-
58
-
58
-
57
-
57
-
57
-
56
-
56
-
56
-
56
-
56
-
Comrade Sergei, thank you for sharing. These seem to be two boys saving for the bicycle, no surprise they have to save. BTW, in Czechoslovakia, although in general we were probably better off than Soviets, there was a shortage of bicycles in 1970s and 1980s. A decent bicycle Favorit, made in Czechoslovakia, cost CSK 1,550 in 1988 (SUR 155, or black market $40 at that time). There were waiting lists, and people paying CSK 2,000 to the bicycle store employees to "put one aside for them." There also was a popular saying related to Украина-brand bicycles: "Chces-li poznat co je drina, kup si kolo Ukraina." or "If you wish to learn what the hard labor is, buy yourself a Украина-brand bicycle."
56
-
56
-
56
-
56
-
56
-
56
-
56
-
55
-
55
-
55
-
Very good, everything you stated was correct. I commend you and HBO for highlighting this horrible accident. At that time I was stationed near Frankfurt, Germany with the US Army. I don’t remember we were told anything. Working on the flight line, flying helicopters, and doing PT outside as usual. We prepared meals from local sourced fresh foods, ate from outside vendors. Maybe, we have to many secrets on both sides at the time called, Iron Curtain. US Veterans are followed up on Agent Orange after Vietnam, unusual ailments after the Gulf War, but not a word not one, about stationed in Germany or that region during this time from the VA. The only reason I mention this is because I’m a Veteran from all three. Hopefully, we can learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. History has shown we cannot...
54
-
54
-
54
-
54
-
54
-
53
-
53
-
53
-
53
-
53
-
53
-
52
-
52
-
52
-
52
-
52
-
52
-
51
-
51
-
51
-
50
-
50
-
50
-
50
-
50
-
50
-
50
-
50
-
49
-
49
-
49
-
49
-
48
-
48
-
48
-
48
-
48
-
48
-
48
-
47
-
47
-
47
-
47
-
47
-
47
-
47
-
47
-
47
-
46
-
46
-
46
-
46
-
46
-
46
-
46
-
I lived in St. Petersburg from 1992 to 1996, and encountered all of these dishes during my time there. I also learned to make quite a few of them at home, both while living there and after returning to the US. "Tvorog" is actually called "farmer's cheese" in English. Cottage cheese curds are typically larger and the consistency is more runny than farmer's cheese. I love how "tvorog" can be used in sweet and savory forms. I had never heard of "grechka" (buckwheat groats) before living in Russia. I learned to cook it by wrapping the pot in a blanket after bringing it to a boil and leaving it to steam for awhile so the groats were tender. As mentioned below, many forms of "kasha" can be found in other countries, although prepared different ways. "Stolovaya" (cafeteria) cuisine ranged from pretty good to pretty terrible, depending on the day and mood of the women preparing it.😉 The green sorrel summer borshch is the BEST when it's really hot out, as is the cold summer beet borshch. I have made "vinigret" (cold chopped vegetable salad with beets, pickles, potatoes, carrots, peas and a few other ingredients with a light mustard dressing) for parties and everyone LOVES it, particularly due to all of the chopped dill and scallions included in it. Благодарю за отличный видеоклип!
46
-
46
-
46
-
45
-
45
-
Serhij, I´m an ethnic hungarian from Zakarpatska oblast. My parents and I moved to western Europe after the collapse of the soviet union. So I barely speak ukrainian anymore but I still have relatives there and I visit frequently. I now live in Hungary and what bothers me a lot, is lies and propaganda by the hungarian government about ethnic hungarians being opressed in Ukraine. Nothing can be further from the truth. There are TV and radio stations and newspapers in hungarian language in Zakarpattia. In Berehove everything is labled in both languages, street signs etc. I even have friends who are ethnic ukrainians called Kiril or Jaroslava for example who speak hungarian fluently, simply by growing up with us hungarian kids. Schools teach in hungarian until 5th grade, then it´s mixed. Nobody I know has ever had problems being hungarian there. You see, hungarian nationalists are playing the same game as the russians do, on the other side of the country. Even when traveling further into the country, like into the carpathians, you´ll meet hungarian speakers or the people there at least know a little. Thank you for your videos and your perspective. Slava heroyam, smertj voroham!
45
-
Despite my screen name, I am not the Dead Tsar (far from it... just a Russian history buff). I was born here in the United States of America in 1986, and I can honestly say, am 110% aware of what the KGB (and it's current successor, the FSB) is, as well as several precursors to it (the Soviet NKVD, Cheka, and of course, the Tsarist Okhrana come to mind).
Not all of us Millennials are totally unaware of things like that. I blame the shoddy education system over here for the fact that the Cold War is largely overlooked, or downplayed by some teachers here in the U.S. today. It's a big part of the history of both the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, and it honestly shouldn't be downplayed the way it is.
45
-
45
-
44
-
44
-
44
-
43
-
43
-
Companero Ushanka:
I did not live in a Communist nation but I lived in preNAFTA or pre1990s Mexico when it was a planned economy of a mix of government agencies, government funded companies, government sponsored cooperatives and private companies in which the federal government had some leeway in its decisions: banks were government owned and during the early to mid 1980s there was the "canasta basica" or basic basket of bread, milk, tortillas, rice, eggs, beans and several fruits and vegetables in which the price was supposedly controlled (though private retailers found a way around it) also you had a choice of supermarket chains that were private or government sponsored stores such as Conasupo, or you could go to the Market but that was in smaller villages and towns.
And yes to this day Mexico is full of bakeries and even at big supermarkets you can get fresh, crusty hot bolillos, teleras or pan frances.
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
43
-
The real question was not how much material stuff you need to get happy, but the lack of very elementary things (and, what was available, was usually poor quality). For example, the selection of winter clothing was so simple, that there was simply no alternative to wearing long underwear - in planning economy, warm winter trousers (not counting the "vatnik" working trousers) were simply not produced at all, in climate where -10C is regular and below -20C is not unusual, plus strong winds and humidity. The first time ever I saw warm winter trousers in sale was in Vilnius, Lithuania, right after the regime selling only to local residents was established. So, the shopping centre was full of angry shopping tourists from Belarus. But, it was the time of Baltic solidarity, and after talking to the saleswoman in my broken Russian with strong Estonian accent, she sold me the pants to piss off the Belarusians even more.
Before that regime of selling only to the local residents was established (and it ended with general collapse), most of the regions were so poorly supplied, that people were traveling to centres even for buying sausages. It is really easy to talk philosophic bullshit when your basic needs are covered, and people can never fully understand the situation they didn't experience themselves.
43
-
42
-
42
-
42
-
42
-
42
-
42
-
42
-
Sergei has told us so much about his life and shared so many of his thoughts that I feel like I know him, like he's a friend. I've been a fan for about a year and I really like the videos. The experiences remind me very much of my parents' and grandparents' stories from communist Czechoslovakia. The Americans attacking Sergei, saying his stories are untrue, are a joke. He literally lived there, not so long ago, and if he wanted to, he could be brutally critical of the system, much more than the lighthearted, but matter-of-fact style he has now. Thank you Sergei from Prague, Czechia 🇨🇿🇺🇦 I know a little about Ukraine (married a Ukrainian, visit the country) and I speak Russian, which I hope could help me understand your vids a bit more deeply.
42
-
42
-
41
-
41
-
41
-
41
-
41
-
41
-
40
-
40
-
40
-
40
-
40
-
40
-
40
-
40
-
40
-
39
-
How DARE you... calling this story a struggle in the title...
OK, that's as far as I'll go "insulting" you, because you're probably the only person on the youtube, if not the internet, that is giving us actual numbers from the Soviet Union to compare stuff, so I have to respect that. That, and you actually said you were living in nice conditions since 1981 at that video, so you had a point from me there. I am from former Yugoslavia, so I don't really have easy access to compare prices, just like westeners don't.
So, how dare you call that a struggle? Why am I saying that? Well, our dear western readers, here is why.
Soviet 600 square feet apartment = 12.000 rubles (this is the non free version where you simply have to wait.. P.S. They MIGHT HAVE EVEN STAYED ON THE LIST... since they were probably still paying for apartment fund in their companies so they'd have... gasp... another "free" apartment in 15/20 years time... had communism survived...)
So.
Soviet 600 square feet apartment = 12 000 rubles
Current 200 square feet UKranian apartment = 24.000 dollars.
Soviet median wage = 120 rubles?
Current Serbian\Ukranian "median wage" = at BEST 300 usd/monthly., probably 250 or *230*...
1 soviet 3 bedroom apartment = ~100 monthly wages
1 SRB/UKR 0 bedroom apartment = ~100 monthly wages
Yes, we happen to have more consumer goods today than in USSR, because history... Capitalism is not the point there. And more cars, cause again, history(they are NOT cheap, though). Though seeing more consumer goods in the market and having the money to buy them are 2 (two) different concepts... But alas...Today, you can FORGET about a young couple with a 5 year old child purchasing a 3 (frikin three) beedroom apartment if they live in one, especially the government just giving out to them a (basically) free ("zero" bedroom) apartment. Forget about it for a typical family in former USSR/eastern europe. (in capitalism, there is always those 3-4% of the population that can afford it that "everybody" "styding" the situation, capitalist apologetics concentrate on).
Also, you notice how our western comrade ;) Ushanka failed to mention the prices in roubles for the utilities he was talking about? the unmetered water/gas and the metered electricity... well, his mother and father were earning about 300 roubles per month... those goddamn utilities werent probably even 10 (TEN) darn roubles (1/30th of his familys income, flat payment) ... same for that government given "free" apartment that the mother gave back... there was probably rent, and it was probably less then 10 roubles... How many of you westerners pay 50 dollars for leasing an apartment? Your utilities go higher than that, don't they? (p.s. you've seen in the video how nice those apartment can look if you put some paint on the interior walls... same for exterior by the way, some "Krushchevkas"/yugoslav equivalents were painted in my neighbourhood in the last 4-5 years and I coudn't believe their exterior look...)
But here's the funny part. Forget about the "free" apartment from the USSR and such similar fantasies that even westerns can't contemplate, let alone us easterners now... Here is the FUNNIEST part...
Today, in eastern europe, you have to pay through your nose for utilities. Liberties of the "free" market... So family was paying 50 roubles for that 3 bedroom apartment? Well, they'd be paying about 80-90 roubles JUST for those UTILITIES (gas not included) today. So, water/central heating (a gas replacement, i suppose)/power, and they are all metered (water at the building level, so i guess that is the same as communism still). I live in a three bedroom apartment currently with my sister/husband/child (so, minimum of 4 of us), and our UTILITIES are around 170usd per month. That's almost the minimum wage here today (~ $200 usd)!! Median is maybe 250usd, 300usd in wet dreams. Median means 50th percentile... 50% of people above and 50% bellow that wage... more easier to understand than fake "average" wages
So... Thank you for this video, it was extremely informative... But, how dare your call it a struggle in the USSR. :) Take a plane trip back to your home country, see the reality of todays eastern europe.
39
-
39
-
39
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
38
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
37
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
This is such a great channel! As an American born in the late 1950s, the USSR was an enormous presence in my view of the world for most of the first part of my life. From weird nightmarish images I must have gotten from TV as a kid not even old enough to go to school, to the way "Communism" (by which I meant the Soviet Union) colored politics at home and in Germany where I was an exchange student in the 70s, right through a glancing interest in the Soviet invasion/occupation of Afghanistan, the USSR and Russia seemed like an almost eternal ... presence? I dunno what to even call it. It would be really difficult to overstate the pervasiveness of anticommunism and the consideration given to the USSR in everyone's lives in America. In a very real sense, US government's interest in the USSR even influenced what I studied in grad school in the late 1980s, which had nothing to do with Russia, Communism, Eastern Europe, or anything like that, except what was injected by the quasi state religion of anticommunism.
And yet, for as much as everyone thought about these things, I always knew I didn't really know or understand anything about the Soviet Union or the people I was supposed to fear and despise.
Since the almost unbelievable disintegration of the USSR, that country and its former constituents have pretty much remained a big enigma to me. It hasn't stopped me from forming and expressing my opinions on them, no matter how ignorant they may have been. As an American, I can be counted on to pontificate on all things, whether or not I have any basis for those opinions. But, where possible, I'd like my views to have some basis in reality and rational thinking. This channel seems like an excellent place to learn a lot of things I wish I'd had access to a long time ago. Bravo and thank you, Sergei!
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
36
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
35
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
Thanks for sharing. I also remember the day like yesterday. I was 27, I lived in Helsinki, Finland. It was late April, unusually warm for the season as there was a continental wind from southeast. On the day of the accident, which was Saturday, I decided to ride my bike from Helsinki to a town 40 km north of the capital, to visit with my parents. I wore a bikini bra and shorts all day long, riding my bike in the glorious warm sunshine. In the evening, I heard the news on TV. They recommended people in Finland to stay indoors, or at least be fully covered, if going outside.
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
34
-
In many states, the largest city is the capital. Other American states, however, deliberately chose a smaller place as capital to prevent the total domination of the state government by a single population center. Capitals often moved before assuming the current position; Springfield was Illinois's third capital, after Kaskaskia and Vandalia. In some cases, a capital was overshadowed by the later growth of a newer town, as happened in Georgia, where the centrally located Milledgeville, which had replaced the colonial capital of Savannah, was in turn replaced by the booming commercial center, Atlanta; in some cases the capital remained in its original place. Some capitals were chosen because of a more central location than a larger city, like Dover in Delaware, or Lansing, Michigan. Jefferson City is roughly halfway between Missouri's two large cities, St. Louis and Kansas City. Florida's capital was chosen in 1824 because it was about halfway between Pensacola and St. Augustine, the two largest cities in the territory at the time.
The most inconvenient capital is Juneau, Alaska, which can be reached only by air or sea -- no roads access it. In 1976 a vote was held to move it to a better location, but Alaskans have not yet been able to decide where!
Honolulu is at least accessible to the island of Oahu, but other Hawaiian islands need air or sea connections, of course.
34
-
34
-
The man caught between the buffers on the railroad cars shows a dangerous situation on most European railroads, and not just those in Russia -- the need to step between cars to couple or uncouple them. He may have been inspecting, but trainmen working in switchyards always carried lanterns. In North America, the Janney or knuckle coupler became standard on cars in interchange by 1900. This coupler did not require a man to get between cars. It was also a stronger device than the hook and loop types used in Europe, and, with the use of the continuous air brake, allowed such long freight trains here.
In the type shown in the poster, each car had a screw link and hook. To couple the cars, the trainman had to lift the link over the hook as the cars came gently (it was hoped!) together, then tighten the screw to draw the cars together until the buffers touched. This reduced the slack which could damage the load, and in some cases, lead to derailments or broken links. Modern Russian trains use an automatic coupler, similar to the American type.
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
33
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
32
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
31
-
30
-
30
-
I worked in shipbuilding and we had alot of safety training concerning confined spaces and oxygen depletion. Rotten vegetables in a confined space creates S2O, which is heavier than air, so you can't simply have vents, you have to have forced draft ventilation. Both in and out, S2O blows out, good air blows in. If you are in an O2 depleted environment you think you are breathing then just fall over dead, so no calling for help! If anyone goes in to help without a breathing apparatus and O2 bottle, they die too! They call that a trap, it has happened there is a safety film on that. Also got to worry about radon in certain areas underground.
A good term for that door is "hatch", I got hit and had teeth chipped by an improperly latched open hatch on a destroyer in '98. I saw a root celler under a house built in 1871 that was torn down 10 years ago.
Anyway, awesome video.
30
-
30
-
I had a Raketa watch, left from my grandfather, I loved that watch, it was kept as brand new, since my grandfather worked with marble and other various stones, he rarely wore that watch, because the repetated shocks of hammering a chisel will ruin any mechanical clock.
A few years after gandpa passed, my father gave it to me, I was in highschool; and one day, while running with a classmate on the corridor of my school, the watch came loss, and I lost it; I turned back and looked for it in a matter of minutes, but somebody already pocketed it; I think it was the cleaning lady, I saw her on the corridor and asked about the watch, but she said she did not see any... what was I supposed to do, start searching thru her pockets? There was no one on the corridors but her, it was during class hours, and we were running around because our teacher did not come to class, so we were free to do whatever we wanted.
Twenty-five years after it happened, and I still regret losing that watch, I remember grandpa liked to wear it when he was going around town shopping, visiting friends or doing business.
30
-
30
-
30
-
30
-
30
-
30
-
30
-
30
-
30
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
29
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
Re Uni costs in America in 1940. I checked University of Michigan, a state-supported school in Sergei's home state. School of Literature, Science, and the Arts was $60 per semester for state residents and $100 for out-of-state students. The same fees for the Schools of Education, Business, Forestry, and Music. Engineering was $65 and $120, respectively. Same fees for Schools of Pharmacy and Architecture and Design. Law School was $80 and $125, respectively. School of Dentistry was $115 and $160, respectively. Medical School was $125 and $200, respectively.
The Schools of Medicine and Dentisty had irregular fees as well to cover lab materials. For example, $100 for in-state students to cover anaesthesia for 12 months.
There were a few other small fees, such as acceptance fee and optional one for the student medical clinic and physical education.
Adjust for inflation and that ranges from a low of $1,279 to a high $4,263 per semester.
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
28
-
There have been some conspiracy theories surrounding the accident (for example the one from 'Russian Woodpecker'), but they do not add up. The power surge during a reactor SCRAM wasn't dangerous by itself, it only caused the explosion because the plant operators had screwed up and brought the reactor to a very unstable state - but I see that there is no need to explain it again, someone else has already done it in another comment.
The number one thing that was missing from the show - and that is often either barely mentioned or not mentioned at all in videos about Chernobyl - was that it wasn't really a civilian power plant. This has huge consequences.
HBO's Legasov said that the reason behind not building a containment structure was that 'it was cheaper', which is not exactly correct. The other Soviet reactor design - VVER - does have a containment structure. In fact, VVER is a very successful and robust design, it has been exported to a lot of countries all over the world, it's still being developed and there are new VVER's being built right now. It has been certified by the EU as adhering to the European safety standards, which are among the strictest in the world. A lot of them have been operating for the last 50 years and there has not been a single major accident at any of the numerous VVER's... so why the hell did the Soviets even build the RBMK when they had such a good design to use? Why is RBMK so big it is impractical, bordering on the impossible to build a containment structure around it ? Why graphite moderation, why the positive void coefficient, what the hell was wrong with them?
HBO implied that there was no reason behind it other than 'it was cheaper', which is misleading at best.
The answer to all of these is very, very simple. Chernobyl NPP (and the RBMK in general) was never supposed to be just a power plant. Yes, it did supply a lot of electricity to Ukraine, but this was a side effect. RBMK was designed to be able to produce weapons-grade plutonium for nuclear bombs. When you know it's purpose, it turns out it was actually a very clever, efficient and successful design - it enabled the Soviets to produce weapons-grade plutonium from low-grade, poorly enriched uranium whenever they wanted without disrupting the production of electricity, with very little preparation, basically at a moment's notice. It also enabled the production of various other useful radioisotopes in the same reactor that powered Ukrainian homes.
This is the real reason that the Soviets built Chernobyl. If you treat it like a civilian power plant, it was an idiotic failure from the very begining - but as a military installation, it was actually a brilliant design....which also explains the secrecy and the disregard for safety.
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
27
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
I'm from England, and way back, in the early 1990's, the house next door used to let rooms to students. One kid, from Russia, actually had a portable stereo radio cassette, or boombox. I service and repair things like that, he asked me to take a look at it. The thing had never worked properly. The cassette's mechanism was a LONG obsolete German Grundig design, but was badly let down by poor materials used for plastic gears and also the play/record heads. The set was mostly made of wood, the fronts were aluminum. I managed to source all the parts needed from Grundig, and repair it. The sound was better than most of the plastic boomboxes available then. I seem to remember the speakers were made by "Tonsil". Though older now, he still has his old Unitra ( I think it was ) and wouldn't throw it away ! In the early/mid 80's our Woolworth shops sold Unitra record players, renamed as Havard. These old Iron Curtain bloc things were easy to work on and once a few modifications were done, performed well and were vastly more rugged than some Far Eastern imports at the time. Happy days.
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
26
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
You really have lost your Soviet skills if you can't use an outhouse while drunk.
These stories remind me of stories that my parents and grandparents told me about growing up the south-eastern US. Up until about 50 years ago this part of the country was extremely poor. Growing up my father lived in a house that didn't have indoor pluming until he was about 12 or so. When my grandfather was growing up he got his water from a pump-handle well in the back yard. I remember him telling me that their neighbors were very jealous because this was quite the luxury back then.
However, by the time I was born modern conveniences like indoor plumbing, air conditioning, refrigerators, and color TV were mostly common. Still, it wasn't 100% universal. My cousin, who's parents were much poorer than mine, raised chickens for food in a coop in the woods behind his trailer park. As you can imagine, the first time I helped my cousin go through the process of taking a live chicken and turning it into dinner was an eye-opening experience. Still, they had air conditioning (when it worked), indoor plumbing, electricity (when his parents could afford to pay the bill), and a black and white TV that we never watched when I visited because we were too busy playing in the woods.
As a side note about the Space Race, during the launch of Apollo 11 there were numerous people at the launch protesting because the government had money to send people to the Moon, but they couldn't be bothered to make sure that poor people in this country were fed.
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
Absolutely amazing coincidence happened to me while looking at those shortwave radios. I stopped the video and started to write a comment praising the beauty of the radio at 5:28, and wrote how I was into shortwave radio in the early sixties. I explained about jamming, and went on to say how that beautiful old radio might have carried the first news of Chernobyl into the USSR.
Then, I unpaused the video, and listen to you say the exact same thing! Perfect! The USSR confiscated radios during the war, and I'm wondering when they became legal again. Was it suspicious to own one? Were they hard to get? Expensive?
And then you talk about iodine, and that brought back memories of the nuclear bomb tests in the early sixties, where there was something of a race to see who could make the biggest bomb. The US tested its bombs in the Nevada dessert because there were no people in the area, hardly any farms, etc. BUT the prevailing winds carried the fallout over the most densely populated parts of the country! So at one time, iodine was prescribed for pregnant and nursing women. It was self-administered from little vials, that had a tendency to leave a purple spot on the user's lips. It was noticeable, and meant that the woman is either pregnant, or nursing. We also had iodine for cuts, that came in a small bottle with a glass applicator built into the cap. I don't remember if they've ever been taken off the shelf.
I was living in Hawaii when Chernobyl happened, and I had new neighbors from Denmark about a week later. They wanted to get as far away from it as they could. Imagine packing and leaving your life behind, going halfway around the world to some place they've never been, and know no one. But they were from Denmark, had enough money, and left that fast. Soviet people didn't have that choice. Wow, Sergey. What a great life. Thank you for sharing your stories. I grew up wondering what the USSR was really like, and your show is always such a treat. Thanks.
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
25
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
24
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
23
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
Thanks.
I am from Bulgaria.
When Chernobil incident happened, I was in our villa near Sofia. At the exact moment of the accident, my mother felt something, but 3-4 min after that she was ok.
3 days later we understood about Chernobil, we continue to live "normally", including fresh food, but since we were far away, we in Bulgaria were not really affected.
At the same time, in the Bulgarian Army, they switched to canned food and cancel all outdoor training activity - we knew that because everyone knew some relatives who were soldiers.
Years later, the main Bulgarian Army General said, that he had idea Bulgarian government to do the same with the whole country - e.g. removing all fresh food from shops, cancel all outdoor activity etc. However other political leaders did not agree, because "people will be scared:, so nothing was done.
Rumor said this General said "f*ck you all, I can do whatever I decide inside the army" and he implemented the measures inside the Bulgarian Army. All this were secret until early 1990's when political changes in Bulgaria.
22
-
22
-
22
-
I like the principal of capitalism and the free market. On paper, forward thinkers can take an idea, produce it, market it, sell it and be rewarded. Perfect(ish) example, John Rockefeller. Started off poor, had some ideas about oil and natural gas, became a billionaire. He was a ruthless businessman and now the Rockefeller family is just terrible, but you don't have stories like that coming out of Europe and in the USA it was like that for hundreds of years where you could be left essentially to your own affairs and although you had laws to follow no one could boss you around.
Capitalism in practice is the same thing as Socialism and Communism in practice. Communists and Socialists are meant to represent the peoples interest but that doesn't happen, politicians just become apart of a ruling class. Same with Capitalism here, business and government slowly intermesh until you have telecommunications companies, fortune 500 CEO's, arms manufacturers etc. sitting in on closed door congressional meetings, you have arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin also having the business of running welfare offices and child services, then now these companies and banks say to the politicians "hey this guy goes against our interest because he's a competitor, sick the IRS on him or lush through this new law that'll put him out of business". Now what you're stuck with isn't Capitalism, you're stuck with something starting to resemble the structuring of the Soviet Union. But perhaps that is too presumptuous a statement for me to make
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
Soviet era electric trains were never sold in stores. They were used as gifts to the children of high ranking Party members, military men, a foreign notable visitors, and and as awards for high performing Young Pioneers. The train sets were almost always one diesel engine, two passenger cars along with three streetlights, three signal lights, station, bridge, and set of crossing gates.
Other than paint schemes, the "state" trains remained the same up until the end of production in 1969. The only major change was as DeStalinization got underway. All the trains produced before 1960 has Stalin's initials on the side along with a five pointed Soviet star. Khrushchev ordered the initials removed in 1960 as well as the star. The star was replaced with the state railroad logo. Sets were apparently produced until about 1969 since there's no evidence of sets made after that date. They were probably still used as giveaways for a few years after that, and it seem like the set given to the Polish ambassador in 1973 was one of the last. Trains sets were no longer all that special as one could buy much better sets from the DDR and Hungary after 1970.
The tracks and transformer were close copies of US O27 Lionel parts. There was no attempt to model a specific Soviet diesel engine. Indeed, there was no attempt to copy any engine except for the general outline of a double cab engine. It seems the most important things was to make them beautiful. They used an exact replica of American Flyer couplers, and oddly included buffer plates on both ends of the engine. Oddly because Soviet engines never used buffer plates or screw type couplers, just American style automatic couplers. The assumption is the train should have a vaguely European look to it. The engines were all hand built and hand painted, and some of the variations in paint schemes may come down to the individual doing the painting that day. The freight and passenger cars are also vaguely Soviet in design but they too include buffer plates. Some parts of the set were copied directly from other manufacturers. The crossing gates is an exact copy of a Marlin set. The operating crossing gateman is an exact copy of a Lionel #45 accessory. The Soviets copied other companies products at will with no worries about patent problems.
I have seen a few of the engines at train shows but just don't have enough money to get one since they start at about $800 for an average condition example all the way up to $5,000 for an as-new model in the original box. Cars range from $85 to $200 each, and the beautiful -station that came with each set generally goes for about $750 for a decent example. A set in the original wooden crate these were all packaged in is a near impossible thing to find. One sold at auction a few years ago for $28,000 and I'm sure one would bring even more today. There was no record kept of production, but estimates are about 4,500 sets were made from 1951 to 1969. The engines and cars I've seen have been of a high quality mechanically while the paint job quality varies by individual model painter and, I suppose, how rough a weekend he may have had. :-)
22
-
22
-
22
-
So here's my one condom story. I was an aide to a politician. Im a woman, he was a man. An std prevent group was giving a presentation. At the end we had to break up into these small discussion groups. Someone mentioned that it aeemed a little much that they give out not only free condoms, but also these single use lubricant packs to teenagers. My politician agreed, and was like, "Im 43, and I don't own lubricant. What- young people are all havin-" and he stopped cold. I looked at him and was like "ass sex?" He just looked at me like I was crazy. A few minutes later it was over and he asked me to accompany him to the basement of the building, which was empty. As soon as we got down there he started yelling "Dont ever EVER use the term "ass sex" to me in public! I was gonna say "BAD sex" and thought better it..." I mounted a rather feeble defense. He relented "Look, I will talk ass sex with you whenever you want all day and all night- ON THE PHONE, not in front of 12 people!" Just then we heard someone say "woah" and turned around to see that another politician and his aide had been told that he had gone downstairs and so they had come down to say goodbye 🤣. The woah came from the aide. The politician /preacher was already hustling to get back to the stairs. The 3 of us just stood there looking at each other until my guy was like, guess we better get back upstairs and we like "yeah we probably should." I don't know if he ever explained what had happened, or if to this day, those two men think I just love forcing people to talk about ass sex 🤦🏾♀️.
22
-
22
-
22
-
22
-
I am really loving your videos. So fascinating! I took Russian language in high school in America between 1988 and 1991. As an American who was a kid during the late 1970s and early 1980s, we heard all kinds of things about the Soviet Union. In 1991 our high school hosted about 12 teenagers from the Soviet Union who come to visit Ithaca in Upstate NY. We talked a lot about Glasnost and Perestroika in Social Studies and in my Russian class in high school. Ronald Reagan was kicking ass and Gorbechov was opening up to the west. Anyhow, these teenage Russian students all came over to my parents house for dinner. We had a huge house and my mother made a lot of food, including corn/chicken chowder. I remember feeling so sorry for these Russian students because their clothes were so out of style, too small, and worn out. The ones that had glasses wore hideous frames. Some of the students had problems with their teeth, scars, more asymmetry in their faces, etc. They just didn't look all that healthy and I just wanted to have them stay in my house in America so they could heal and not go back to Soviet Union. These Russian students were amazed at what they saw in America -- the grocery store, the mall, Montgomery Wards, Sears, JC Penny, Jamesway (like Target, Walmart) etc.
22
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
I rarely comment, altough I´ve watched all of your videos. Interestingly enough, we have many things in common (greetings from Finland, next to Russia, not former Soviet state fortunately). What i mean, is certain closeness to nature, fishing, agriculture etc... Funnily enough, altough Finland is so-called capitalist country, but especially nowadays, were closer to communism than CCCP ever seems to be after watching all of your videos. Free education up to university level (well, you have to buy books, computers etc. consumables, or get a loan like in america, but not on the same level). Also, we are one one of the highest Pisa-test grading countries, and well, gypsies are still the same (altough the government pays them apartment rent and basic living costs, never in my life have I seen a working gypsy in Finland)(same for everyone, even if you´re unemployed, lazy or crazy) which funnily enough, relating to older video about homework in CCCP, well, we had that too, at least in my generation (altough we didn´t study on saturdays). Anyway, as always, I appreciate your work.
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
21
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
My deceased father told me a story , that In Romania on the river Danube , the border with Yugoslavia , in the 50s there was a big billboard with a big poster , maybe 10 meters long by 5 meters wide , with Tito holding an axe , with the title Tito the butcher , and on the opposite rim of Danube in Yugoslavia there was a similar size poster , with a big pig , bearing the name Stalin and with many piglets sucking at the Stalin , and the piglets bearing the names , Ceausescu , Jivkov , Gomulka , Kadar , Hoxa ....the socialist leaders .
Bunch of idiots , arguing among themselves , while the Wall Street was planing their doom .
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
20
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
Regarding Carter: I was born in 1979, so Reagan is the first president I remember, but I recall parents/relatives talking about Carter as a child. As "working class", most were Democrats up till 1980, so they voted for Carter, but then they voted for Reagan in 1980. The consensus is that Carter was a good, moral person, but a terrible President who needed to be voted out. The main complaint was high inflation and high interest rates, which made buying a house or paying a mortgage difficult, if not impossible. The inflation was running at over 10% in the late 70's, and interest rates for homes was near 15%. Unless you had a huge down-payment, a normal working person could not buy a home. Carter had no ideas on how to control inflation or how to deal with the energy crisis. Also, the consensus was that he appeared weak before the Soviet leadership. I think this is why Reagan won the 1980 election by a wide margin.
Carter's place in history has improved due to his humanitarian work after 1981. But the bottom line is that inflation is one of the most destructive forces in "capitalistic" economies, and Carter's name will always be linked with the "I" word. At its worse, inflation is a catalyst for political instability. An example is the soaring price of bread in late 18th century France. The Soviet leadership was aware of this weakness, and it certainly gave them leverage during the SALT 1 and 2 negotiations. One of the interesting things I've learned in your videos is how the price of basic goods in USSR never changed--I guess that gave people security, but it was a lie, since these prices carried no meaning. The inflation was hidden in the USSR, lurking in the form of bad debt, so the leadership were never forced to deal with the problem as the US and UK were forced to do. (The British Labour gov't was also brought down by inflation in 1979).
DISCLAIMER: I am not in any way advocating for Reagan in this post, merely reporting what I heard as a young person in the US. My personal attitude on Reagan is very mixed, which is my general attitude toward almost all US presidents.....
19
-
19
-
Hospitals have changed a lot in the US since we were children. I got very sick one winter when I was 3, and I remember very well being in a huge, long room with dozens of beds on either side, full of sick babies and children. The beds were at one end, and there were some exam rooms at the other end. There was scheduled play times, but they were very strict about not allowing you to join or get out of bed if you had a fever. I remember wanting to go play with the other kids so bad and not being allowed and being very sad about it. Parents were not allowed to see their children except at visiting hours back then. These were universal practices in the 1970s and earlier. Now today many pediatric wards have private rooms and parents are allowed to stay 24/7 and are provided with cots to sleep. Hospital food is universally known to be bad, very bland and unsatisfying. It really has improved in recent years, but everyone I know still asks visitors to smuggle in food from outside. :D
Ugh the dentist! I had most of my baby molars pulled before they were ever loose, with the giant pliers. I don't know if this was normal in the US in the 70s or just my jerk of a dentist. My mother also told me stories of when she was a kid in the 1950s, people would pull loose teeth at home with some crazy methods like tying the string around the tooth, tying the other end of the string to a door knob, then slamming the door to yank the string.
I remember learning about the doctor in the USSR who came up with this eye surgery to correct vision. We did not have anything like this in the US then. The only option was to wear glasses, or if you were old enough, get contact lenses. Now having glasses is no big deal, but 20+ years ago, glasses were not regarded as cool. You could be teased mercilessly with taunts of "Four eyes!" and "Girls/Boys don't make passes at boys/girls who wear glasses." You describe perfectly the reason I don't check out lasix or other eye surgery to correct my crappy vision. You are AWAKE the whole time, and can see everything because of course your eyes must be open. No thank you! I hope I never have cataracts. I could not handle it, not even with a handsome young doctor to gaze at. I can barely handle using eye drops, never mind someone doing things to my eyes while I am helpless to watch. :D
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
A short “sea” story.
In the early 1980s, I was in the US Navy. I was 22 years old and was stationed aboard a Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine. One of the “41 for Freedom” boats. We deployed out of Kings Bay, GA. Every patrol when we’d leave port, we could expect, and usually encounter, a Soviet AGI (spy ship). They’d be waiting for us just beyond the twelve-mile territorial limit. From there, they’d follow us for many miles until they either got bored with us or until some US surface warship in the area… usually from Jacksonville… would run them off. But they’d sail around us taking photographs, getting sound recordings, and just generally harassing us. We, of course, would harass them back and also play little tricks on them.
One trick we played, knowing they were out there waiting for us, was before we left the pier our Captain had someone take a cardboard box and paint it black and put some weights inside of it. They then placed the weighted cardboard box on top of the sail (the tower-like structure sticking up from a submarine). They then took several #10 cans (coffee cans) and painted them black. Weighing the cans with weights, they then placed the cans on top of the previously placed cardboard box. Well let me tell you, those spies aboard that Soviet AGI were so excited when they saw our “new antenna/device” that several of them came out on deck to get pictures of it. Hahaha If only they had known!
But a more profound experience was one patrol while we were leaving port. I was on watch up on the bridge (at the top of the sail) along with the Officer of the Deck and a couple other people. We had encountered an AGI not far after crossing the twelve-mile boundary. For the next few hours, they were peacefully sailing just off our port beam – so close that you could see them well without the use of binoculars and so close that if you listened closely you could hear the sounds coming from them and their ship. We were instructed not to make any gestures at all to them and not to engage them in any way. Just observe them.
I watched a Soviet sailor jogging around and around the boat deck of his ship. I watched a Soviet sailor sitting on a capstan reading a book. I watched a couple Soviet sailors doing some painting on various things. I watched a Soviet sailor doing pullups while another was doing pushups and another doing stretches. I watched as a couple Soviet sailors stood along the rails at their starboard quarter smoking cigarettes and talking and laughing. I watched other Soviet sailors as they went about their work and others as they went about their work spying on us. And I watched as a Soviet bridge officer stood for several minutes on his starboard bridge wing drinking coffee and looking at me while I was looking – almost fixated - at him… eye-to-eye contact several times and for many moments at a time we made. It was the first time in my life I had ever seen a real Soviet person in real life, having only seen them before on TV and in pictures.
Anyway… I so clearly remember as I stood there watching them thinking to myself, “Wow, they look just like we do!” You know, all of the propaganda pictures make the “enemy” look like some kind of monster… the boogieman… or alien. But what I saw were people that looked just like me and who looked just like Americans and they were doing things just like me and just like Americans. They didn’t look scary at all.
Later that night after the AGI had long since been run off by a US warship and we had submerged and were well on our way, I was lying in my rack having all sorts of thoughts about the experience earlier that day. I remember thinking to myself; “the typical Soviet person can’t possibly wish any harm to the typical American person any more than the typical American person wishes any harm to the typical Soviet person.” I thought, “It has to be that John Q. Citizen in the Soviet Union cares about and worries about the same things in their lives as John Q. Citizen in the USA cares and worries about… they just want to live their lives, enjoy life, take care of their families, etc. etc.” All the thoughts I was having really made me start to question it all; in the sense, “I’m on a ship that alone could annihilate a huge swath of the Soviet Union… those millions that would be killed have as much control over their politicians as we have over ours… is this shit worth it… this shit makes no sense… the problem isn’t between the Soviet people and the American people – it’s between the Soviet political machine and the American political machine… so how about instead of all this weaponry – we put Reagan and Andropov in a ring and let them duke it out and just leave the rest of us and the rest of the world the hell out of it!”
For me… at 22 years old then… it was a rather cathartic moment.
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
Hi Sergej, being a German I really appreciated the Vodka bottle with German inscriptions at 3:42 (genius !!!!!). Gorbachev's official title was "General Secretary of the central Committee of the CPSU, which I remember was changed to "Mineral Secretary ... ".
Apart from that nice detail, I think you should have mentioned that Gorbachev did not really have any idea of what should change and how it should change. I don't know if the USSR could have changed at all, but I remember that national conflicts broke out, the economy went from bad to worse, and Gorbachev obviously had no clue how to handle all these problems. At the end, he lost control over things happening and the changes took control over him. In retrospect it was an extremely interesting time. I remember having watched the changes going on in East Germany (GDR), at times I was sitting in front of TV with an open mouth and thinking "where will this lead to?". I could not imagine that the USSR would ever allow German reunification, not even under Gorbachev. I agree to the comment of Alec Neuschaefer further down. Gorbachev was a brilliant speaker, but he had no idea of how to turn his visions into reality. I guess this is the reason why he finally failed and the USSR collapsed. Again, I also don't have a recipe, I don't know whether and how the USSR could have been made better. Maybe too many problems had been swept under the carpet for too long.
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
18
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
Speaking of NKVD and the Cold War in general, I served in the USN during the Cold War in several capacities including submariner. My first submarine was stationed in Norfolk, VA and our job was to go somewhere very far north and collect meteorological data. That's my best recollection anyway.
At some point prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, I don't remember if it was Glasnost or Perestroika and really don't know the difference, a major Soviet surface combatant made a port visit to Norfolk. I think the sailors were restricted to the base, but they pretty well mobbed the various stores mainly wanting Bic lighters. I did not know at the time about how Soviets acquired US currency and assumed that they were spending a month's salary on a disposable lighter, but as we learned in another of your videos they were probably getting a very favorable exchange rate for their rubles.
They really wanted those Bic lighters though! One of them approached me in one of the exchanges with something made by Bic that looked sort of like a lighter, but it was perfume. The Bic lighters were pretty much sold out throughout the base. I speak no Russian, and he spoke no English, so I did not know what he wanted. Hopefully he got it straightened out though since getting that home and finding that it was cheap perfume would be pretty disappointing.
The Soviet Union was my enemy because it was my job to be their enemy, but I never really felt any animosity toward the people of the Soviet Union. My encounters with them outside when we were collecting meteorological data were always pleasant. They deserve a better government, but then I guess everyone does. Anyway, just thought I'd share.
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
I am from Poland and although I was born in already capitalist Poland, I heard stories from my parents, other family members as well as in Polish movies, songs and so on from these times that are very similar to what you are presenting in your videos. I guess it must be really hard to believe for someone who was born and raised on the other side of the iron curtain, that even buying simple house appliances or furniture, something that takes you an hour in a well functioning economy, could take months of looking for offer, using your connections, favors and what not. For me it would be hard to believe, but because I heard stories about these issues from multiple people my whole life, I know it must have happened.
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
We have the exact same expression in Romania, still widely used today, " Pe sub masa", which means under the table.It's always interesting to see how many of the things they pulled off in the Soviet Union was common to all republics in the USSR and to the states that were in the Soviet sphere of influence, like Romania was.Hell, a lot of the things they did back then, in the soviet era, we still do it to this day.The old habbits die hard it seems, or do not die at all.
Thanks for the insight you bring with all these videos.I am too young to have lived during the comunist regime, but I grew up in what was left of that world, so all of this is really interesting for me.
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
17
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
16
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
Sergei, I don't think I've expressed before my gratitude to you for having this channel because it's such a fascinating look into a world I once thought I'd never get to know. I was a small child in the '80s but I remember following the news back then and "behind the Iron Curtain" just seemed like such a forbidden, dark, eerie, and mysterious place, and never did I think back then that as an adult I'd get to hear these recollections from someone who was actually brought up "behind the Iron Curtain". It reminds me of something I felt very recently when I saw someone commenting on Facebook that they lived in Iraq and I had to thank them over and over again for being there, because that too was considered forbidden/mysterious/dangerous territory to me not all that long ago, and now here I was reading a comment from someone who lived there! BTW, do you or your kids watch "That '70s Show" and if so, what do y'all make of one of the stars (Mila Kunis) also coming from Ukraine? Oh, and were you happy when Alexander Rybak won the Eurovision Song Contest for Norway (ca. 2009) because he was born in Belarus? His "Fairytale" is one of my three favorite Eurovision song winners of all time (along with Finland's Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah" and Sweden's ABBA's "Waterloo").
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
Great video,
I dont think your example about north amd south korea is a good one because North Korea has been under western embargo for so long, it hasnt had a chance to compete with any products on the open market. Also, South Korea was basicly gifted a large share of its industry by the US and while they have a good economy and many high quality products, their success wasnt organic in the sense that they have achieved success via normal capitalistic channels.
Also, the USSR was severly damaged in every way during ww2, this left the United States and the West in a giant advantage for producing and marketing goods, we also enjoyed the benefits of having the worlds reserve currency, so we in America havent been bound by true economic market forces of capitalism. Our national debt is a hot topic right now, but we are in graven danger of a financial collapse in the US. God forbid such a collapse should happen, because I cant guarantee that the territory we recognize as the US would be in as good a shape as the Russian Federation/CIS is today.
I think you are correct to say capitalism didnt ruin the ukraine, or the former soviet countries, they were ruined by a ramshackle soviet collapse and this collapse was caused by economic forces spiraling out of control. If the soviet union hadn't collapsed, and it had been able to take advantage of such modern innovations as walmarts inventory and supply chain software, and there were a few minor market reforms, the hypothetical soviet union that might exist today would likely be a far different place than the soviet union of the 70's or late 80's. This would only be a fair prediction.
I dont pretend to know more about your country than you do. This would be silly, but in America we were drowned with so much hateful anti soviet propaganda for so long, that it has obscured our opinions of what was good and bad about the place. Every country has good and bad, I think its important to be broad minded when assessimg the soviet union, if only to have a more clear view of history.
It is a mistake to compare the quality of life in the soviet union with the US, we werent destroyed by a war, our literacy rates were and are far below the soviet countries, and we have a giant national debt. The soviet union didn't default on a giant foreign debt when it fell.
There were likely very well known and popular soviet exports, like the trucks and tractors you have mentioned, but we didnt see them in the west. Just like the people of the soviet union only had scant knowledge of American products and brand names.
The people OF the soviet union knew of their own brand names, cars, cameras, candy, etc, but we didnt know of them.
Im not trying to say the soviet system wasnt imperfect, it fell for a reason, but often times we jump to the conclusion that because the soviets fell, they didnt also have good features and products.
Sometimes its a good thing that a product doesnt ever change, in America many people wish they could still buy a certain car, or tool, or gun, or clothing item or food. In America change often means that the accountants from a corporation have found a way to decrease the value of a product to make more money, and the public gets a lesser value product.
For example you arrived to America too late to taste a twinkie, you can go to the gas station and buy one today, but the recipe has changed, for the worse, just for the name of profit. Its sad.
Craftsman tools used to be super high quality and made in america, now they are average on a good day, all in the name of profit.
Over and over again American products have lost quality and value, just so companies can make a little more money.
Americans and westerners cant remember the soviet union as you do,, but you are here too recently to have a frame of reference to the decline in product quality and overall quality of life we once enjoyed.
We are lucky to have you in America my friend, please keep up your excellent video series!!
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
I mentioned my friend who visited the Soviet Union. He was actually there just three months before the Berlin Wall fell, later than I had thought. He noticed the reverse of what Nellie saw. On the train from Helsinki, the railroad stations were neat and clean, with well-kept grounds and flowers. Once over the border, the stations were dingy and shabby, with peeling paint, and the grounds unkept and weed-grown. The main stations looked okay, but the small town stations were not well-maintained at all.
Walking around Moscow, he noticed things like trucks that looked normal from a distance, but up close he saw they and the signs on them had been painted by hand, and not spray painted as they would be in the West. The paint showed streaks and drips, and even hair from the brushes in the paint. I pointed out spraying paint requires expensive and complex equipment, but hand labor is cheap in comparison and provides work for more people. The Soviets were not much concerned about consumer goods.
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
15
-
14
-
14
-
"...took him to 'pound town'."
🤭😂😂
Americana right there!
I indeed have stories about BO, deodorant, and such. I can confirm as a caucasian, that has dated several different races of women when I was younger:
It may not be a pleasant truth to accept, yet it is indeed the truth that people certainly smell differently. While, I have dated a couple of black girls, it is true that we do smell differently.
To be honest, it's not unpleasant in my opinion. Just different.
I also dated a Korean American girl, and she also had a different smell than I was used to. Again, it's not bad or unpleasant, just different.
Everyone is probably wondering what the 'playground' smells like. 😂😂
It's the same to be honest, not bad not unpleasant...just different.
The girl from India was probably the most pleasant smelling person I ever dated, actually I remember actively sniffing her hair and clothes...of course she was mortified and very insecure about that, asked what the f#$< I thought I was doing, and I told her
"...I'm sorry, I don't know, you smell so good I can't get enough of that!
She wasn't amused by that, and so I quit bringing it up.
There is a lot of hypersensitivity in this area in our country at the moment, so I believe today that it would cause an argument, just like it did 15ish years ago when I did it.
🤷🏻♂️😂😂
Hope that clears up some misconceptions and ignorance.
Great video man!!
😎🇺🇸
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
Let's adjust the average wage after subtracting how much bills cost.
The average American makes about $52,000 a year. The average electric bill costs about $1,300 a year. The average water bill costs about $300 a year. Gas costs an average of about $1,000 a year. Taxes cost the average American about $5,000 a year. The average mortgage a year comes in around a whopping $12,000 a year. Averaging between individual and family plans, the average health insurance bill is about $7,000 a year. Healthcare (which is different from health insurance) costs the average person $10,000 a year.
This means that the average American, after all the bills and taxes are paid, makes about $15,400 a year, or $1,283 a month, or $183 a week, to spend on groceries and other items. A Chevy Impala today costs about $27,500. So in reality, you'd need to work about 2 years in order to pay for one with cash.
Still better than the USSR. Plus you can get loans, or buy a used car for cheap. America still has the better system, but the USSR doesn't seem too much worse than a lot of Capitalist countries that I could name, at least if we're comparing it based on how much money one makes compared to the cost of a car.
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
I had a Soviet-made wind-up car that came to me in a very circuitous route. My Dad was a US Navy officer stationed at Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, in the early 70's. A Polish-flagged ship sent a distress call to the base, because of a medical emergency (appendicitis, IIRC) and requested assistance. No one on the ship spoke very good English, but several spoke fluent Russian. By sheer coincidence, one of my Dad's subordinates was either a Russian immigrant to the US, or possibly first generation Russian-American, who spoke fluent Russian. My Dad, and his subordinate, were shuttled out to the ship. After some brief conversation, the sick sailor, and one of the ship's officers were brought ashore. The sailor was treated, and I can't remember if he returned to the ship or was evacuated to Mauritius. Anyway, while the sailor was being treated, the ship's officer stayed with my Dad, his subordinate, and the British military rep (it was technically a British Territory) in my Dad's office. He saw a photo of me and my siblings, on my Dad's desk and that sparked a conversation about everyone's families. Though Dad didn't say so, I'm almost certain that some beers were shared. When the officer was returned to the ship, he sent back a box with some "Thank You" gifts. I don't know what else was in the box, but there was a wind-up sedan that ended up coming home with Dad. A nice bit of person-to-person diplomacy during the height of the Cold War.
14
-
Ushanka:
Not only in Communist countries. Smuggling foreign goods which are either cheap or not available was and is very common in Latin America.
For example, until World War II Mexico exported raw goods and some basic industrially refined products like sugar, steel and silver and liquor and tobacco products.
Then after the war the Mexican government decided it was time to industrialize Mexico and went into a policy of "import substitution" for all manufactured and basic goods. This led to a mild deficit since many international products continued to be sold, but all products
had to be made in Mexico and since until the 1990s no business could be owned more than 49 percent by a foreign person, corporate or physical, companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Kellogs, McCormick, Ford, Chysler, Toyota (one of the first overseas Toyota plants was build in Mexico in the 1960s for that reason), Volkswagen, Phillips, etc partnered with existing companies or "found" partners to open subsidiaries that legally were Mexican domestic companies, and manufactured locally. One example is cars, new car models in Mexico are different from US models since even though Mexico exports cars to the US, new cars in Mexico to this day must be 100 percent "Mexican cars" to be sold as new cars which pay a special tax known as "tenencia" (ownership or belonging) which owners pay annually until the car is four years or older.
But imports could still be sold if the item was not "possible to be manufactured" in Mexico, but paying a very high tariff AND a high excisse tax on top of VAT.
This made it very expensive for well to do but "not very rich" upper middle class or even "lower upper class" families, like professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects and successful medium size businesses to afford them. Also while many goods such as shoes or clothing were made abundantly in Mexico since before the Mexican Revolution, and by the 1950s Leon and Monterrey and many industrial cities were producing them abundantly and of very good quality (to this day). Many working class and lower class families yearned, just like today, for "brand goods" not available anymore.
So anyone who could afford it and since anyone, except males doing military service or who were under 18 and hadn't done it, which used to be one year only anyway and consisted of painting schools and doing community service could get a passport all that was needed was a Visa to go to the USA to buy desired goods such as brand goods, clothing either high brand or lower brand but at much lower prices, even food such as certain candies or snacks or cereals no longer sold in Mexico.
Naturally it was illegal to import anything except food and basic goods up to a certain limits and items such as clothing and shoes were forbidden.
Also the domestic production requirements meant some technology such as electronics were more expensive and some items were nonexistent or in short supply, so naturally people flocked abroad to buy them.
How they got them across, saddly they resorted to bribes to with the bribe been higher if the good was more costly, like electronics.
Also the US at the time would give "crossing cards" to border residents and the Mexican Constitution established a "free zone" along the border and since no one checked for Mexican passports when leaving the country and the US government only required proof of residence in a border state and a birth certificate, border residents flocked to the US side and bought goods in excess and since they lived on the border they paid no excise tax or tariffs and then smuggled these goods further inland.
After NAFTA many restrictions on business to business importation and foreign investment were lifted and the "free zone" on the border was abolished. So this traffic subdued, though it still exists to a certain point.
And Mexico is not the only one, Paraguay for years has had issued with Brazil, Argentina and Peru for virtually allowing all foreign goods duty free and actively allowing them to be smuggled into their neighbors territories and Venezuelans and even other South Americans nervous about their national economies open foreign accounts in North America and Europe in masse.
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
We had a similar situation working at the mines (NCB) in England in the 1984 strike, my mine already had an overtime ban issued by the local NUM office, we knew the strike was coming so we stockpiled some gun metal valves used in the pumping of gas which we serviced and fitted during our worktime, we took one home every day and when the strike came we cashed them in as scrap metal, the wages were poor in those days so before and after the strike you had to try and make whatever money you could, we did car and motorcycle repairs in our lunchtime, made gates and any other fabrication that our workmates or friends required, the management were implicit in this also, the union had a shop that sold everything and anything at near cost price, large items like washing machines had to be ordered in from their main warehouse, we would order items for non employees and charge less than market value but made ourselves a profit, everyone had what we called a "fiddle"
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
14
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
It was a very complex question. All depended on a place of living and who was a person, what was his or her status.
If there were free cable pairs, getting a line was comparatively simple. If not, this was a problem – to put an additional cable was expensive. A phone company was a government company and monopolist. It has no interest to extend a cable net.
Big officials and other communist bosses had not such problem – they got phone line everywhere.
In apartment buildings there were more chances to get a phone. For it was needed less of a cable, there were more connected subscribers.
In areas with private houses it was almost unreal. It was necessary to lay a lot of cable, there were fewer connected subscribers.
My grandfather lived in the private sector and was disabled, a war veteran. A neighbor was also a veteran. They went together to the city administration and asked to lay a telephone line, because they were old sick people and they may need to call an ambulance. The nearest street phone was 800m away, but it was constantly broken. The other was about 2 km away.
As a result, the main cable was laid to the our street by the end of the 80s, and we already laid the distribution cables ourselves in about 1995, after USSR already. We collected money together with our neighbors, hired equipment for digging a trench along the street, bought a cable. Trenches to the houses we dug ourselves by hand.
The neighbor did not live up to this point, my grandfather had the phone the last 6 years of his life.
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
Ushanka, I totally dig your show! This episode was for me very interesting, as I am a Librarian by profession and Historian by avocation. In 1997 I got a job working for the Chicago Public Library as a Serials Reference Librarian. I had the advantage of being able to read in Cyrillic alphabet, and helped patrons who would do research in languages that used it. I knew this because I'd taken three years of Russian Language in my high school, which was located in Anchorage, Alaska, and Russian was one of the four Foreign Languages that were taught to Alaskan kids as an elective. I also had visited the Soviet Union in 1980 (Leningrad), and lived in Finland from 1978-1980, and speak Finnish language fluently.
Anyway, at the Serials Desk where I worked in the Library, there was a full-time Clerk named Elena who had grown up in Kiev during the 1930s and 1940s (she was a young girl during the Great Patriotic War). She later emigrated out of the USSR by using some loophole in the Soviet restrictions of movement that had something to do with her being Jewish.
So, years before, during my studies for my History Degree at the university, I had taken a college course that focused specifically on the history of the Soviet Union. One of the required reading books was "Execution by Hunger: The Hidden Holocaust" by Miron Dolot (1987), where I learned about the great Ukrainian Famine of the 1920s-30s, and how it had been deliberately created by Stalin to acquire heavy industry from the West by selling off huge amounts of home-grown grain (while their own population starved) to generate the necessary capital to push the USSR into becoming an industrial superpower, and to control the rebellious population of Ukraine by starving them to death.
When I met Elena, years after this college class, and learned that she had lived in Ukraine during the years of the Great Ukrainian Famine, of course I immediately wanted to talk to her about her personal experiences of growing up in that nightmare horror of people resorting to cannibalism and entire villages being starved to death. To my enormous shock, Helena told me that she had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA of what I was talking about! She insisted that I was making it all up, and when I looked up and showed her books and articles that told the story, she switched her logic to say that we were all being deluded by Anti-Communist propaganda, and that no such thing had happened in the Glorious USSR. To this day, she insists on this. How a person can have lived through this and claim to have no knowledge of what was happening all around her is a mystery to me. And though she has much to say about the evils of Communism, she is a devoted Patriot of the Soviet Union, a contradiction that makes my brain hurt trying to understand.
Perhaps you could shed some light on this phenomenon of ignorance that many people in the former Soviet Union seem to share about their own history.
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
It's funny that car stereos getting stolen used to be a big problem in the USSR as it used to be a big problems in the rougher parts of the USA and Adam Carolla, an American comedian, had an interesting way to avoid getting either his radio or car stolen. He realized someone stealing a car radio or car itself weren't lovers of music or cars but junkies looking something to quickly sell for drug money.
First he would leave his doors unlocked his van as locking them just meant you wound up with a broken window on top of a stolen radio/car. He then painted his radio an ugly brown color, making it impossible for them to be sold without finding some way to remove the paint and, as most drug addicts don't have that kind of time, it meant it was worthless to them. Finally to deter the theft of the van, he installed a secret shut off switch for the fuel pump, hidden under the dashboard in a spot only he knew about. What he would do was turn the fuel pump off about 20 seconds before he parked his van so that if the vehicle was started and the switch wasn't turned back on, it would stall out and the engine would die in about 10 seconds, faster if it was being driven.
He claims on a about 3 occasions he would come out of his or friend's house he was visiting, see his van was missing then look down the road and see his about 100 meters away in the center of the road with the driver's door wide open.
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
In the US, every state and the District of Columbia issues a license plate. I can remember looking for out of state plates when we were out driving. They were easy to spot, as every state had different colors. Some states even had the plate itself cut in the outline of the state, or had the state's outline on the plate.
In Florida, the first number indicated county, based on population: 1 was Dade County, where Miami was; 2 was Duval (Jacksonville); 3 Hillsborough (Tampa); and so on. I lived in Orlando, and 7 meant Orange County. A state-owned vehicle was 68 (only 67 counties) or 90. (I forget what 90 signified.) A letter after the number gave the vehicle's weight: D was a small car, no letter was a standard size, W was heavy, WW was very heavy, like a Cadillac or Lincoln. Trucks had their own designations. Some states put the county name in small letters on the plate. An Ohio plate with Hamilton on it was from Cincinnati.
Canadian plates were similar, with each province having its own color combinations. Some states changed plates every year. In Florida the colors would alternate over a two-year span, so a blue plate with orange letters would be succeeded by an orange one with blue letters. Some states issued a small metal tag with the year on it, to be affixed atop the year on the original plate.
In the 70s and 80s, things began to get colorful. In Florida, the state outline appeared. Then an orange with blossoms. Other states put pictures as backgrounds on the plate. Then specialized plates appeared. By paying an extra fee when you renewed each year, you could get a plate with a college logo, or a sports team, or a cause, like funding state parks or wildlife preservation. Each renewal comes with a sticker, to be placed on the year. A license plate now lasts for years. Florida currently issues about a hundred designs of license tags (as plates are called here). Other states do the same. It is now almost impossible to identify a state's plate at a glance. Our childhood game has become complicated.
Most states issue two plates, front and rear. Florida issues one, to be placed on the rear. The state doesn't care what you put on the front. If you want to put your old plate from New York, or Wisconsin, or even Germany there, go ahead. And if you have a classic car, like a 1965 Mustang, if you find a 1965 plate somewhere, and it's in good condition, you can use it, too, with a current-year sticker on it. (On the front it doesn't matter, of course.)
One last thing: Jacksonville has two Navy bases, and the military will sometimes ship your car to your assigned base, or you can register your car back home. Therefore I have seen Alaska plates (which you can reach by road - a long drive!), and several Hawaii plates, as well as Guam once -- and those two you can't reach by road!
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
Leningrad 1985! Our high school class made a school bus trip from Helsinki to Leningrad and stayed for a couple of nights. It was eye opening! To start with the offical exchange rate was 1 Ruble=1USD =4,2FIM. However, we exchanged our Western hard currency Finnish Marks (FIM) for rubles in the black market. In reality one dollar was worth 20-40 rouble's on the streets. Consequently, we 18-year olds had so much local money that it was impossible to spend it all no matter what. However, Stolichnaya vodka, excellent rye bread, Pepsi, taxi rides and miniature metal tanks and other military toys were abundant. We concentrated on those, especially on the vodka. I have to compliment our Chemistry/Physi cs teacher, an old, petite lady for trusting us enough to take us to Leningrad!
Nobody got into trouble. Nobody believed a word of soviet propaganda after the trip either. I think the latter was her secret reason for letting us lose in the land of the free booze despite the obvious risks ininvolved.
11
-
Wow! I was amazed to see how similar were soviet and yugoslav holidays, knowing that we had uneasy relations even after ww2. For example, we also had Granpa Frost in YU (but not his daughter), used pine tree for New Year (which was celebrated for 2 days). Then, we had Mayday as a pubic holiday (2 days off), and March 8 and May 9 were observed, but were working holidays (on may 9 we had also army parades). Of course, instead of Lenin bday, we celebrated Tito's, it was called Youth's day (!!!) on May 25th, I believe. Army's day (JNA Day) was somewhere in December (22nd, if i recall well), and instead of Gagarin day, since we obviously never fly to space, we had Freedom fighter's day, July 4th (day when Tito proclaimed fight against Nazi's in Yugoslavia in retaliation for Operation Barabrossa). As of religious holidays, everything was the same, except in USSR was bit of more freedom. We in Serbia couldn't celebrate Serbian New Year ("old" new year) openly, for that you would end up in jail, easily. However, some people, like my parents and grandparents would keep pine tree for couple of weeks, wait new year in dark, and then toss the tree aftermath. I remember that I celebrated Serbian new year freely first time on 31 dec 1989/jan1 1990 (jan13/14 1990). Also, as an addition, we regularly celebrated kids, mothers and fathers' day, which are 2 weeks , 1 week and 1 day before christmas, respectfully, in spite of communist bans.
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
The belief in Finnish product quality being so good still keeps on going, mostly its true, a lot of Finnish made stuff is very good, but the Russians belief in it feels some times bit over the top. :D I had a o funny moment about ten years ago when I was visiting Viipuri once. I stopped at a bar for drinks and had a talk with several locals there. I talked for a long while with a Russian girl, I can't remember her name, really cute blonde girl anyway. She said she's planning to move to Finland at some point and asked bunch of questions. I tried to tell her that life in Finland isn't all that rosy, although many things are better than in modern day Russia. She didn't want to believe some of the things I told and she said: "Don't you realize you guys live in a paradise on earth." That was so weird remark about Finland as its not that always that great. But tells a bit about how Russians often view our country. I have friends from Petroskoi, musicians and one of them is a passionate fisherman, I do fishing too so he's always talking about fishing with me. His usual thing is to show off new fishlures he buys every time he's visiting, always Finnish made and he's so excited about them. In his words they're the best, he wont even care about the high prices. I live in a bordertown, so we have a lot of tourists there all the time. Also a lot of Russians have moved in permanently. My closest Russian neighbor lives just across the street. It seems that majority have a very good views on Finland, excluding some tourists who might behave as if they own the whole place. But I guess that's a normal thing, tourists aren't always that nice and well behaved compared to those who have moved in permanently.
What I like about Russians is that they bring their good characteristics with them, they are often very friendly and GENEROUS. But they expect that generosity to work both ways, which I think is fair. For example, when my Russian Karelian buddies come for visit, they ALWAYS bring something for me, vodka or food or cigarettes or what ever. They also always clean my place the next day, something which Finns usually consider to be the house owners duty to deal with.Everything is shared and it also works both ways, they might just go and make coffee without asking for a permission, or smoke my cigarettes or something like that, things that Finns wouldn't ever do just like that, but the price is that they always bring stuff with them and share it with me.
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
Well, those trams are not made by Skoda, but by Tatra. This specific type is Tatra T3(developed in 1960s), and in some cities, even here in Prague(but also Liberec, Most, Litvínov, Ostrava, Brno...) Czech Republic area you can find a slightly modified verisons of them(different speedcontrolers, with lowered middle to accomodate handicaped). They are indestructible, they are able to work in mountanous towns(Liberec, Jablonec uppon Nisa), I am not certain, but they are powered by 750V DC(80kW per carrige).
Around 14 000 of them were made.
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
11
-
10
-
10
-
My dad's friends (who were Australians) traveled across the USSR, they even took the Trans-Siberian Railway. Naturally, Soviet citizens were reluctant to talk about certain aspects of Soviet life, for obvious reason; they were friendly, although. My dad's friends said the foreign students, many of them being African, studying at the universities would freely talk about their day-to-day lives, plus the realities of living in the Soviet Union. This would have been in 1971.
By the way, myself, and I'm sure many others, really like these book reviews. To be completely honest, I had never heard of many of these books/authors. But I do love these reviews, I enjoy learning about the information, or point of views. And I hate to admit this, but I don't have the energy, or more importantly the time, to find the books and read them myself. Much appreciated comrade Serge!
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
Whoa, that third memory is brutally honest, and the sort of experience probably a lot of young guys had at some point the world over. It's interesting how we remember certain times and places not for what actually occurred, but rather for how engrossed we were within our own minds with a particular idea or person.
Strangely enough, one of my first trips outside of the US and Canada also began with a flight into Frankfurt am Main. Interwoven with my first memories of navigating this awesome new world, are memories of what I was thinking about at the time. While struggling through a mediocre knowledge of the German language and enjoying good times with my friends and classmates, I also constantly thought about this girl I had recently been hanging out with, who had promised me ahem a warm welcome upon my return, shall we say since this is a family TV show. Intertwined with my first glimpses of the Bavarian Alps were thoughts of a couple of other (presumably) beautiful peaks. I also obsessed over this awesome job I had applied for recently, and was SURE I was going to get upon my return. Ultimately the welcome reception was NOT as warm as one might have hoped, and before long we drifted apart. I also didn't get the job. But man oh man, those memories of thinking about what COULD have been.
I wish I could go back in time and say, "Hey you dummy! Some of these girls on this very trip are pretty and very obviously at least somewhat into you, and you're traveling a foreign country and sleeping in the same hotels hanging out together all day..." Hindsight is 20/20 I guess. Oh yeah, and fuck "maybe dates." It's a hard lesson to learn as a young man that when a girl says 'maybe' to a date, that means 'no', or at least "no for now." Most girls are hoping to avoid hurting your feelings, or at least to avoid potentially enraging you and drawing a hurtful or dangerous reaction. As a guy who doesn't get it though, that shit can be torture. Ah well, live and learn.
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
I was ten years old at the time and remeber perfectly how we where waiting for the news everyday to see the progress of the huge, huge radiation cloud across all of Europe, and the journalists always mentioning that there was no reliable information comming from the Soviet Union. We heard about the 1st of May parade, too, and everyone was chocked about it. In Portugal, as far as I can remeber, the official infornation was that the radiation levels where not very high, but my mother, who is a doctor, told us everyday that lots of people where showing in sick with unspecific simptoms (vomits with no reasoneble explanation, for instance) and she was convinced it was radiation poisoning. Althoug they where never diagnosed as such, since officialy we where not affected.
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
Howdy! I grew up during the Carter 70's and the Reagan 80's, and I just want you to know, this channel fascinates me to no end. I would have never thought I'd live long enough to learn all these things about the USSR from someone who was actually there! I couldn't have imagined ever meeting an actual Russian in my lifetime, back then.
Also, I wanted to ask you- when I was growing up, there were some television shows and movies in the United States that were about the "Red Menace", as we used to call communism. I can remember one in particular called "Amerika", that was about life in the United States following a nuclear war and a Soviet Russian take-over. Have you ever watched any of that genre of films, and what did you think of them? I can remember when I was young, being so terrified that the Russians were going to blow us all to kingdom-come, any minute! Thanks so much for all you do, I really enjoy it. I hope your family is very happy over here!
10
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
Thanks for doing these videos about our two former countries, comrade! I think that trade between socialist or communist countries might be an interesting topic for some future video. I remember my grandfather telling me how his firm was looking for some nice furniture for a fancy hotel (Hotel Moskva in Belgrade) that they were renovating and they eventually found a workshop or a factory in Hungary that made amazing pieces, but, for ideological reasons (apparently, money was for the capitalists), the Hungarians didn't want to take money from a fellow socialist country, they insisted on bartering for some early kind of synthetic shirts. EDIT: I think that this was right at the beginning of the '70s.
That actually made my grandfather's and his colleagues' lives complicated, because, as I said, it was some early synthetic material and, apparently, (if I remember correctly) the shirts didn't require ironing, so that made them a great hit initially, but that was short lived, because the material was nasty and it quickly yellowed. Because of that, by that point, you couldn't find them anywhere (at least not in any significant quantity), as nobody in Yugoslavia (let alone in the west) wanted them anymore, but the Hungarians insisted. So, my grandfather's firm sent people all over the country to try to find them and, finally, they struck gold: somewhere in Croatia, there was some poor guy with an insane quantity that he (his firm) got too late and couldn't sell, and who was happy that someone was taking them off his hands, let alone paying him for them. In the end, the deal worked out great for everyone, that guy got rid of those shirts he couldn't sell, the Hungarians were thrilled they got them and my grandfather's firm got that amazing furniture for peanuts.
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
Privyet and hello Sergei. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy all your videos about how life was back in the USSR. For me they are especially interesting because I studied Russian and Soviet Studies for my 1st (undergraduate) university degree at Cambridge from 1981-1986..
As a student I spent a lot of time in the Soviet Union - every summer holiday I got to spend 2 months in a major city of my choice - I always chose Leningrad - and in my penultimate year at university I won a scholarship to study in the Soviet Union for one year. In those cold war days, there was an on-off exchange programme, 12 Soviet students came to the UK and 12 UK students went to the USSR. I had a very tough interview by the UK Foreign Office, it wasn't just about Russian language skills, but I was lucky enough to be selected.
We were sent to Voronezh, a closed city, and we lived in a student hostel - 6 to a very small room (5 carefully chosen citizens and me). We lived together, we laughed together - they made me drink a big glass of vodka every time I made a mistake in Russian or if my Russian swearing wasn't strong enough!
Sometimes my room mate and best friend Sasha (my KGB minder?) came back from the village and he brought meat and mushrooms and other goodies. Mostly we ate potatoes and black bread. The potatoes we fried in 'zhir' a heavy fat - when we could find them.
The toilets were a nightmare (no privacy) the kitchen was a nightmare (only 1 gas ring worked) the showers were a nightmare (remont idyot - under repair) but in the evening we came together and sang songs - Beatles songs, Alla Pugachova songs - there was no cold war, we were just people, we were friends
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
9
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
Ushanka-man I think you will eventually find that what the Soviet people thought about Finns is unfortunately meaningless since the only information they had was just the BS from the soviet government. The Finns certainly have no reason to like any of the Russian governments. The Finns (Suomi) were various tribes, including the Karelians and distantly-related Sami (Lapplanders). The Swedes invaded and took control of Finland and then invaded Russia in the 1700s (the Finns didn't invade Russia, the Swedes did). Then the Russian tsar invaded Finland and claimed control, booting out the Swedes. The Russian Duchy of Finland ended when the Russian monarchy was slaughtered in 1917 and Finland declared independence Dec.6, 1917. Then of course the Russian Reds made war against Finland, a county with a population of 3 million at the time. And so on until Russia again tried to invade Finland in 1939... just can't leave it alone. The soviets were unable to invade all of Finland as they'd hoped. But just look at good (not soviet) historical maps and see how much land the Russians still have of Finnish peoples' land... besides all of Karelia, almost all of eastern Finland from Norway down to Lake Ladoga, Sortavala and Vyborg (which are hardly Russian names).
When Moscow finally granted freedom to so many countries in 1991 why didn't it also liberate those Finnish lands and Karelia? Just wondering.
I remember during the 1960s-1980s (yes, I'm that old) that poor little Finland was really living on a knife edge, having to always be SO careful not to give Russia the slightest excuse to invade again. I think that may be the reason that they dared NOT to keep any escapees (defectors) from Russia. As far as Finns all being drunks... pot calling kettle black, maybe? :)
Just had to say all that because, although I really like your videos, I felt this one needed a bit more info. Keep up the great work!
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
Some call you commie. Some call you capitalist. I take in your material. What do I see? That you come to the questions with an open mind - and you've "been there". You talk about the bad, the not too bad, the good, and the even better, depending on what is there. Here's a comparison. It may not be a perfect one. In the movie "Kin Zda Zda", the first one, not the animation. I think you could sit a capitalist down to watch, and he could see it as a critique of socialism. I think you could sit down a communist and they would say it was a critique of capitalism. In the same way some capitalists will think you are a commie, and some commies that you're a capitalist. Now, I have to figure out which character you are. Koo? (Not everyone will like "Kin Zda Zda" the way I do. I think it's a great story. I think its about more than capitalism or socialism, so I'll reference and promote it, konyeshna.)
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
I find your videos very interesting, and I appreciate your openness and honesty on both the good and bad.
I would like to hear your thoughts on what Russian people thought about the KGB, if they were scared of them, and if they thought the Russian government lied to the people about America. Many Americans remember bomb drills in schools as a kid, duck, run, and cover, or kneeling down covering our necks. Many Americans think our government wasn't always truthful to us, or instigated in other countries business and problems. Good video's, Thanks, John
8
-
8
-
8
-
"Cosmopolitanism" goes all the way back to Marx. William Taubman, in his biography of Khrushev, says accusations of cosmopolitanism was a way to target "Jews and Westernized intellectuals" in Ukraine.
It sounds like it's inherently a little confusing, as capitalist globalization and the world solidarity of workers with socialism ends up having the same homogenizing, urbanizing effect. Here's something I found that goes into more detail:
"Marx and Engels tag cosmopolitanism as an ideological reflection of capitalism. They regard market capitalism as inherently expansive, breaking the bounds of the nation-state system, as evidenced by the fact that production and consumption had become attuned to faraway lands. In their hands, the word ‘cosmopolitan’ is tied to the effects of capitalist globalization, including especially the bourgeois ideology which legitimizes ‘free’ trade in terms of the freedom of individuals and mutual benefit, although this very capitalist order is the cause of the misery of millions, indeed the cause of the very existence of the proletariat. At the same time, however, Marx and Engels also hold that the proletariat in every country shares essential features and has common interests, and the Communist movement aims to convince proletarians everywhere of these common interests. Most famously, the Communist Manifesto ends with the call, “Proletarians of all countries, unite!” This, combined with the ideal of the class-less society and the expected withering away of the states after the revolution, implies a form of cosmopolitanism of its own."
-https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmopolitanism/
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
Hello from Finland. Interesting video and nice photos! My dad is leaving to sgt. Petersburg as a tourist in like right now!
You were right about alcohol price: it has always been high in Finland, gov monopoly (for national health reasons).
I think "Finns didn't give mercy" was propaganda. There were many POWs, some were taken for agricultural work because there was a serious shortage of food in Finland during the Continuation War (41-44). Not so much during Winter War (39-40).
I like Russia and Russian people, none of us people alive today are responsible to that horrible history. Some people like to hate and some are greedy, so yes there are still people who can't see Russia in positive light no matter what, but I think they are these days a very small minority any more.
Definately Russia has these days been good and important balance against American imperialism. Unfortunately Finnish media is completely with the pro EU+NATO establishment hands and tries to turn Finnish people accepting NATO membership by demonizing Russia and Putin: that's not gonna happen, NATO membership is only supported by 20% of the people and the support has been decreasing. The propaganda is so apparent, people see through it. I'm hoping information era will break establishment monopoly in news and media, and people couldn't be fooled in wars again. Unfortunately establishment in the USA & the EU is now fighting hard to maintain this edge and shut down independent media.
I'm also interested of prehistory, Stone Age and early metal ages mostly, and Russia is so interesting region in that sense. Especially to us Finns as our language family may have developped in Northern Russia. Also Finnish genetic admixture is very similar with Northern Russian (if interested, see this paper: Genetic Heritage of the Balto-Slavic Speaking Populations: A Synthesis of Autosomal, Mitochondrial and Y-Chromosomal Data). Our pagan age gods were common with the Slavs and the Balts (Finnish Perkele/Piru is the same god as Slavic Perun and Balt Perkunas), and we got Christianity from Novgorod (not from Sweden as our school books have claimed for decades). There has always been a close connection with our peoples, through millenias. Cold War was a sad phase in history, and I hope we don't see such dark time ever again.
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
Serbia.
BTW, here we still have labour books (радничка књижица). Or had, it's a little fuzzy. They were abolished in favour of an electronic register some time in the last 5 years, but I think they are still valid documents and the electronic register is not really up to date.
Also, at the age of 18, we all get a "personal card" (лична карта), a government issued ID, that, among other things, lists one's place of residence (пребивалиште), and even before that you're registered to be living with your parents. Unlike the Soviet Union, changing it is just a formality (but you are obliged by law to report any change of residence). Again similarly to the people in the USSR, with electricity being the exception, we still often have one meter per apartment building, so water expenses are usually broken down to individual consumers (apartments) by the number of registered residents (although alternatively it can be done by the apartment size, which is also the way the heating costs are distributed).
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
About thirty years ago, a friend had a 1928 Model A he restored so well it won first prize at a national model A convention. He did not chrome plate anything on it, because the brightwork was not chromed back then: He had them nickel-plated, as they were originally.
A Ford dealership opened in Orange Park, a suburb of Jacksonville, and he drove in there on the opening day. Everyone came out to look, of course. He went in to the parts department and said he'd like to order a set of spark plugs. The parts man scoffed and said they don't make plugs for a car that old. My friend told him to check the parts list on the computer -- he found they were still made! They are twice as big as modern plugs and are used in heavy machinery. The parts man said they were $10 apiece; he'd have to special order them and it'd take a week for them to be delivered. My friend then produced a coupon he had clipped from the paper that morning: Opening day special -- a set of plugs for any model Ford, one dollar each!
The parts man looked at the coupon, then at the computer, then back at the coupon -- he laughed and said, "You got 'em! I'll call you when they come in."
Forty dollars worth of plugs for four bucks.
He didn't need them at the time, he told me, but there's no expiration date -- they won't go bad!
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
About 200 years ago, someone in Russia said, "People are like sausages, they carry whatever you fill them with." So here too, in the Soviet Union there was lots of propaganda about all Soviet people being equal, friends, and in particular the Slavic nations: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. So the relations between Russians and Ukrainians in Kiev were very good. Yes, there were ethnic jokes, which everyone enjoyed and no one took personally.
The real hatred was reserved for Jews and "Caucasians" (Georgians, Armenians, Azeris, Chechens, etc. -- in Kiev they were all usually called "Georgians.")
The schools were a strange back-and-forth dance. I was in a Russian class, which meant all subjects were in Russian, except Ukrainian language and literature. However the year after me the school switched to Ukrainian for all subjects except Russian language and literature. However yet, my cousin, much younger than me, had no Ukrainian at all, neither language nor literature. Go figure.
Some people, however, do not want to forget their old history, culture or identity. This particularly relates to peoples who were conquered in 1939-1940 as a part of Molotov-Ribbentrop pact: Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Moldovans and Western Ukrainians. This is why if one spoke to Lithuanians or Estonians in their Republics, one could be ignored. (Not Latvia, it was about 50% Russian).
The thing with Ukraine, though, everyone knows that Western Ukraine is nationalistic and Eastern Ukraine is more Russified. However, no one can draw a border between the two. There is no border, it's a slow transition.
These days some politicians in Ukraine propagate some anti-Russian sentiments, and this new filling has penetrated the old people-sausages to some extent. But it's much worse in Russia, where anti-Ukrainian propaganda is massive and brutal, and where there is no freedom to stand up against it.
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
Sergio! Thanks for explaining, interesting 🤔my opinion is UKRAINIANS should kip fitting for your own People identity and future,the all world is watching I didn't know about Ukraine and I started to look at videos of your country is very beautiful,now you are recognise ,a Lott of blood have been spent, children woman and elderly,it doesn't matter the language is ok to speak Russian but they should learn Ukrainian too especially the new generation,I hope everything goes well,a new future a new country is going to happen, people is going to want to go to Ukraine,movies are going to be made about the courage and strength of Ukrainians.. VICTORIA O MUERTE!!🇺🇦 Respect From Puerto Rico 🇵🇷
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
Hello Sergei, I don't usually comment, but here we go. Questions and Answers 1) 4 campers, 2) not first day, 3) boat, 4) near village, 5) Southerly wind, 6) afternoon time, 7) Alex taking a photo, 8) Kola, 9) July 8th. I hope i got at least some correct answers. Thanks
7
-
7
-
7
-
Hello Sergei
The drawings of boys and girls with the Eiffel tower in the back are very famous in France and they are called "Poulbot" and they are sold to tourists in Paris usually in Montmartre which is a famous touristy neighborhood in Paris on a hill.
"Titis is a slang name in French for the tipical Parisian with a very strong accent equivalent of someone from Brooklyn in New York with a strong accent."
Here is what I found on Wikipedia :
"Francisque Poulbot (1879-1946), illustrator and resident of Montmartre, is known for the many illustrations representing Parisian titis from his neighborhood, published in the press from 1900. His illustrations were very successful and Poulbot will continue his work on this subject. lifetime 2.
Poulbot was also a philanthropist and invested a lot in the life of his neighborhood, he was thus one of the co-founders of the "Republic of Montmartre" in 1920. Through it, he devoted a lot of time to needy children and, in 1923, to to help needy children in Montmartre, he opened Les P'tits Poulbots, a dispensary on rue Lepic (transformed into an association under the law of 1901 in 1939 and which still exists)3,2. Poulbot is thus endorsed to describe these kids from Montmartre.
In the 1960s to 1980s, the term "poulbots" referred to the illustrations of Parisian children with big eyes (in the vein of Margaret Keane) painted by Stanislas Pozar, an artist known under the pseudonym of Michel Thomas (1937-2014) and is since occasionally used in the literature.
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
After watching this last week, I ordered a set of 1961 series CCCP currency (1,3,5,10, and 25 Ruble notes, and 9 coins (1 Ruble coin, 50,20,15,10,5,3,2,1 kopeks) I had always assumed the bills would be larger, but as you can see in the vid, they are fairly small. They are a really cool piece of history. and all were in great condition....although the 3 Ruble note was well worn...I wonder how many bottles of vodka it was used to buy, over the years.
7
-
One of the most interesting renaimings was Bishkek, the capital of Kyrghyzstan. It was renamed into Frunze after some Bolshevik leader. The problem is that Kyrghyz language does not have the "F" sound. So local people called it "Prundze," or even "Boronzo."
Another Kyrghyz city, Karakol, was renamed into Przhevalsk, after a famous explorer of Polish origin. Even Russians have trouble pronouncing that.
A major historical place in Russia, very close to Moscow, was renamed into Zagorsk, which literally means "beyond the mountains." For years I wondered what mountains they were implying, since there aren't any nearby. Finally I learned that it used to be Sergiyev Posad, after a saint who lived there and founded a monastery, and was renamed Zagorsk after some Bolshevik whose name was Zagorsky.
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
"Extirpation" = wiping out & "Tempestuous" = stormy or storm, Sergei.
Those are not usual english words to come across in this day and age, so don't knock yourself on language (you do great as it is, I surely can't read Fraktur or Russian)...trust me...I been thru enough books from the early 1500's to about the mid-1700's that have words/phrases you end up not seeing twice (remember "english" as a "standardized language", both spoken and written, wasn't standardized until around the late 1800's with the expansion of a public schooling system).
I have seen quite a few books from those early eras that are almost indecipherable...some of which, come to find out (John Dee, Francis Bacon, and others) that were encoded (in parts) using weird versions of latin that hadn't ever existed, with literally made-up words. (To be fair, all words are made up...some more than others, and not all of them can be winners.)
A channel named Warlockracy covered a section of Soviet history, while reviewing a game (Planet Alcatraz), about how the Soviet prison system has versions of its own class and language system, that isn't quite considered "public friendly"...meaning, some of it is considered "rude" in public, or "low class". And doesn't quite translate to western thinking or language (we of course have our own prison versions, but not nearly as complicated).
He pointed out a confusion of intelligencia, cops, etc., in not quite being understood correctly in the west (the structure of them), since our system and the Soviet system (prior to now) were two totally different systems...so American/British/French authors that were "experts" on the subject, were so ignorant, people used to make fun of them on how they didn't know basic Soviet or Russian prison/structure stuff, especially rural, and especially language(s).
I laughed my butt off at it when he said it, but he pointed out the most idiotic thing American "academics" and "experts" ever tried to do, was "understand Soviets or Russians" by reading Tom Clancy novels.
7
-
A very good and interesting video, thank you! If I may, I would like to bring in some controversy too however 😁
Concerning the part 6:24 - 7:02 I want to add some little known historic details. You mention the NEP as the policy of the 1920's, but what is generally overlooked is that although the NEP officially ended in October of 1928, the centrally planned industrialisation that followed still remained faithful to key concepts of the NEP strategy. It was just extended from peasants to industrial workers.
For example: Bukharin's "Enrich yourselves!" that he directed to the peasants in the 1920's was the basis of the Stakhanov movement in the 1930's. Those workers didn't produce more than average for medals and nice words, but because they got paid for it decently.
Wages were increased progressively on terms of both quality and quantity. In a few words:
Quality: The level of education, experience, talent, etc., was represented in different tiers of payment. As it depends on the industry and was constantly adapted, it is difficult to pinpoint it, but here is an example: A coal mining worker in tier 1 got 1.60 Ruble a day, in tier 2 it was 1.75 Ruble a day, and in the highest tiers 9 & 10 it was 5.75 and 7.00 Ruble a day respectively. (Edit: Unfortunately I don't know the year we are talking about. The book is from 1948, but I doubt that the example is from that year too...)
Quantity: That tier model for the quality of labour power gave you only the wage floor for fulfilling the norm. If you produced more than the norm (and the vast majority of workers were able to produce more) you got allowances that were tiered as well. This too depended on the industry and was constantly adapted. Here an example from 1947, a mechanical engineer: The daily norm of 10 produced pieces was paid 10 Ruble. If the worker produced 11 pieces he got 11.35 Ruble, and 15 pieces made him 22.50 Ruble.
Sources:
-- Baykov A.: The Development of the Soviet Economic System (1948)
-- Hannington W.: An Engineer looks at Russia (1947)
Many socialists in the West, btw., were disappointed by those income disparities, but that's another topic. And let me add that if you didn't manage to fulfill the norm, you got paid less, but 2/3 of the wage floor was guaranteed.
Khrushchev sacked this piece rate system in 1957 in an attempt to create a more equitable system. But the aim of his wage reforms was basically to provide more money for the "collective", which in his eyes was the state. That "individualistic" piece rate system was seen as an obstacle for "catch up and get ahead of America".
I don't know when exactly Khrushchev sacked "individual labour activities", as you call it, but I suppose it was in 1959 because there is this famous cartoon addressing it, and it's from 1959, Krokodil magazine:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkWKozdWoAAe8oO?format=jpg&name=small
The two guys in the upper right say: "We gotta get rid of this outdated mode of production", and below they reappear as manager (left) and deputy (right) with a secretary, accountant and cleaner on the second floor.
But there is a third very basic element of NEP times that was sacked by Krushchov: The socialist private sector of cooperatives.
This was actually the first major economic reform that, together with the above mentioned and some other shit, formed the ground for the many inefficiencies that led to the demise of the USSR in the 1980's. But that's only my opinion.
Two months after Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" at the 20th party congress, on 14.4.1956 the central committee of the CPSU decided to abolish the cooperatives. At that moment, roughly 33% of clothing, 40% of furniture, 70% of household items made of metal (which were not yet eletrified, but mechanically operated -- a tiny detail with huge implications, but I digress...) and all the toys were produced by cooperatives. And the reason for their abolishment was that these "Artels" (cooperatives) were too rich. It was perceived as if they "had stolen from society", because the high incomes they generated were available to the Artel members only.
It is too complex for a YouTube comment, but long story short: The idea was, when we nationalize all those artels, the whole nation will benefit of those huge incomes. No ill intentions, but stupid... The centrally planned nationalized economy was not able to determine and satisfy local needs for consumer goods in a way the decentralized marked based coops could.
By the way, if you read Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" from February 1956, you will realize that he's not ranting against Stalin because of authoritarianism, but because of individualism. That was his problem with Stalin. And the socialist private sector, the many artels and individual producers, as well as the piece rate system, were in Khrushchev's eyes just expressions of that individualism. It was this left idea of making everything "collective" with the state as the embodiment of that "collective".
I would even argue that the demonization of Stalin served no other purpose as to transform the Soviet economy so it fits more into leftist ideals of "egalitarianism" and "collectivism". But that's another topic.
I would be glad about some feedback : )
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
Sergei, let me inform you of what is happening in my city, in Romania:
People are donating what money they can to the Red Cross for Ukraine, and they are doing it in the thousands, if not tens of thousands; people are collecting food, medicine, blankets, diapers, cold weather clothing and everything that they are told can be used by the Ukrainian refugees; trucks are leaving daily for the border, for the refugee camps, and those are trucks run by NGOs that organised to deliver aid, beside the many Romanian State sent ones.
Food and other aid items that do not get rapidly distributed to the refugees goes over the border, in Ukraine, to be distributed to the population and the fighters there.
The putinist boot licker political formations that had run russian state propaganda for years are loosing traction very fast, many of their supporters are turning on them and calling them traitors; the Romanian State started taking measures and wants to close locally run putinist propaganda web sites, and the putinist propagandists are either gettin silent, going dark, or getting frenzied and paroxistic in their last throws of hate. Ordinary people that a few weeks ago were pro-putin are now participating in the aid effort, and cursing putin, the russian state and the russian army. All over the Eastern Europe, support for russia is colapsing, people are waking up to the fact that putin and his cronies are just a bunch of murderous gangsters that have taken over a nation and an army.
Ukrainian fighters need to stay strong, russia already lost no matter what they do, and the russian nation doesn't realise it, yet; Ukraine will be free again, and will be rebuilt with EU, US and confiscated russian oligarchs and state money, while the russians will endure privations and opression to the day they will hang putin on the kremlin wall.
Ukrainians, and all other people that support Ukraine, all over the world, need to pressure their politicians to use the confiscated war funds of russia for the rebuilding of Ukraine!
Slava Ukraini!!!
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
a) you knew the rules, if you lived by them, life was very predictable. There were no surprises.
b) you were poor, but there was no hunger and nobody was 'richer' than you. And you need wealthier people around to realize you are 'poor'. There were no glossy magazines with the celebrity/millionaire lifestyles, Your neighbor had same TV set as you, even the same furniture....
c) you were young, girls were pretty, summers were sunny and there was snow every christmas back then:)
d) you could not read banned books etc., but what percentage of people read anything complex anyway
e) you could not get out of your country to see the world, but nobody around you could, so this was not something you even thought about..... like you do not miss going to the Moon - you just do not think about it because its not worth fantasizing about
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
Hi Sergey! Regarding your question about the 1949 poster alleging mass murders of communists by Tito and Ranković, after Tito and Stalin split, there was a great rift among the Yugoslav communists. If you were a pre-war communist (and that likely made you somewhat high ranking post war), the USSR and the word of Stalin were like gospel to you. Even if you joined during the war, through partisans, at the end of every meeting, you would first cheer "Long live Stalin!" and then "Long live Tito!", so when the split came, there was a real concern over who among the Yugoslav communists supported which side. And, of course, there were opportunists who thought that, in case of an invasion (and that did seem imminent at one point, with both sides having tanks at the ready at the border), Yugoslavia would surely be defeated, and were thus looking to get themselves into Soviet service. So there was a drive to discover Stalinists and do something about them.
To my knowledge, though, there were no mass murders. There was a special "reeducation camp" set up on Goli otok (literally "The Bare Island", essentially a rock in the Adriatic) for those that supported the wrong side (and, well, if you're supporting from within a foreign power that's about to invade your country in order to make it its puppet state, you are on the wrong side). The prison existed from 1949 till 1956 (when Yugoslav relations with the USSR started to thaw and the political prisoners were released, while the facility was converted into a regular prison for hard criminals). The treatment of prisoners was very harsh, probably even more so in the first couple of years. In 1951, Dobrica Ćosić, an author and, at the time, politician, visited the site and was shocked by what he found. Having read his report, Ranković visited himself and subsequently gave orders to make things less severe. The treatment of prisoners also varied depending on how hard a case they were considered to be. The newcomers would generally be given the "regular" treatment that was quite harsh. They could over time be recognized as somewhat reformed, which meant a slightly better treatment and easier and safer work assignment. On the other end, those considered "hard" would be subjected to cruel punishments and given the most dangerous work detail. Overall, in the seven years of its existence, just over 16,000 prisoners went through the prison, out of which around 400 did not return.
It's worth noting that, sadly, while many people that were arrested did indeed support the Cominform resolution on Yugoslavia, others were sent to Goli otok simply based on a denunciation by a potentially malevolent informant (a rival, a neighbour, a "friend", sometimes even a relative).
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
When I was 8 we bought a Japanese Attary, this was preNAFTA Mexico so it was either the import from Asia or literally smuggling a Gringo one from McAllen or San Antonio, and it was expensive!
I can relate with Sergei in some things, Mexico was officially part of the West but unless you were Coca Cola or Ford the economy was closed to foreign goods if they were considered a threat to domestic production, corn by law had to be national, if there was a shortage the government could import, but not the private sector.
Some things were more open, and some things like parts and technology you could import but they were tariffs and as for personal imports the law then gave jail sentences for smuggling clothing or electronics akin to drug trafficking today. And there was a black market for imports which were cheaper than some national products or where believed to be of better quality though I have to admit it wasn't always the case.
When we went to McAllen or San Antonio or Laredo as small children my Mother or Grandmother would go to JcPenney new clothing: shorts and T-Shirts and new sneakers in the summer, jeans and long sleeve shirts in the winter, including dress socks and new leather shoes and on the day we went home we would put them on since the only way the Customs Agents could see if they were brand new was to undress us!
Food was allowed as long as it was for "personal use" and you couldn't take more than two of each since selling it was against the law.
The same for personal items such as soap and perfume and expensive perfume were considered luxury items and subject to duties, and the custom guy could always decide what was a luxury item, and either charge a tax or more likely seize it and not rarely hint if you want it take it not only required the tax but also a "tip" (many of these guys were making minimum wage so I don't blame them frankly since they had usually large families [it was old Mexico] they had to feed).
And then big businesses had deals with the government so usually everything was expensive but you had no choice but to buy from them, and to be honest some products like furniture and some foods. As a kid I can still remember how good Mexican junk food was.... and still is but back in those days there was Lays (Sabritas) and Coca Cola started its own brand, with government blessing of course, Barcel which still exists but in those days they offered things like Ketchup flavor chips and Adobadas or red chile flavored chips, etc.
And about video games my parents did not want to spoil me so from 8 to 10 I played "Atary" only two hours once a month!
On the other hand I had a great bike and rode it daily in a park in front of my house and had adventures and games with my cousins.
And my Abuela, the mother of Father may she rest in peace, was a great story teller and when she was home late at night would tell us amazing bed time stories.
I was a happy little boy!
6
-
This is a funny story. I live in Pennsylvania, close by the area that is the "homeland" of Amish people in the United States. I do have a relative that grew up Amish and left the community when she was a teenager. Because I live in this area, our culture here is really influenced by their community, very religious people here and my parents also took me to a Mennonite church growing up(not the same as Amish, but there are similarities). That being said, there are a lot of misconceptions about Amish people, and a lot of it has to do with the amount of money that they have. There are people that are NOT Amish that live in my state, that do not have running water because they are poor. Rural Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh is mostly very poor, after manufacturing and steel industry died. I bring this up because Amish in my state have a lot that many people here do not, because they are living on huge parcels of very valuable farmland that they inherited and they do not spend very much money to boot. I have never actually met an Amish person who is poor, the industries they are involved in are very lucrative and they usually own very profitable businesses if they are not farming. It's a stereotype around here that if you are trying to buy a house or any parcel of land, an Amish person will show up, outbid you and pay for the entire sale in CASH, hundreds of thousands of dollars sometimes. They generally own a lot of property and are involved in industries like renting property and things like that, too, it's not uncommon to have an Amish landlord here if you rent. Because we're so close to the Amish a lot of people outside the community do not really like dealing with them, we don't have the same picture of what they're like(not viewed as poor people living on farms with nothing), they're viewed as being cheap and hard to deal with and resentful to outsiders. Obviously, not all of this is true, but this is an American viewpoint of communities that live with and near large Amish communities, and there are stereotypes about them that go outside of media portrayals.
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
Hey, I just stumbled across your channel a couple of days ago, and I really enjoy it. I’m an American living in Central Europe, and I visited Ukraine in 1996. I have to say that it was different, and I felt I could never live there, but the people were generous to a fault, and they never gave me trouble because I am black. When I was there, I was in Kiev, Odessa, Nikolaev. And Yalta. The Crimea was the best part of the trip, but it enjoyed all of it, and have good memories of it. Watching your videos brings back a few memories. I enjoy listening to you speak about Soviet times. I remember when I arrived there, my host told me that he wished he could have told me “welcome to the USSR “ instead of “welcome to Ukraine “. But I enjoy your channel, even though I discovered it late.
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
Привет! Wow! I recognize the photo at 1:30. In the early 90s, right around the time of the fall of The USSR, I purchased a Time-Life called, "A Day In The Life of The Soviet Union". It was a collection of photos that were taken by photographers all over the nation on one day in 1987. I was always fascinated by The USSR, mostly because of some Cuban in my ancestry. I was trying, at that time in my life, to understand communism, as much as possible, without the bias of people in my family or even in school (which were very much anti-communist, especially those in my file of Cuban decent. I still have many, many books I collected about Marx, Lenin, Kruschev, Fidel, etc. While I am not a communist, I know there are no government systems that are without faults. I was also born in 1971 and I remember being told as a child that not everyone in the world was "free", like we are in the USA. As a young child, it was as if most adults taught us that the USSR was an evil place. To me, "free" is a relative term. By the time I was in middle school, I knew that to think an entire country is evil is ridiculous. There were/are flaws in communism. I believe what Marx wanted was nearly impossible for a human society to achieve. At the same time, the "American Dream",as it was taught to my generation is just that,"a dream". I have always loved learning about the cultures and languages of Russia and the other Soviet Republics and those of Eastern Europe. Outside of the former USSR, I have a fondness of Romania, as it's language is a Romance Language (from Latin). I've spoken English and Spanish all my life. I also speak Portuguese, PPiamento (Dutch Caribbean Islands) and some Italian and French. If I'm listening to news, I can understand enough spoken Russian to understand much out of context (especially if it's news story I am already familiar with). Finally, I am in the radio business. Your shows about Soviet media, music, movies and this one about banned music are among my favorites. I am going to order your book (probably today). If a signed copy is possible. I would greatly appreciate it. Keep up the great work! Спасибо, мой друг!
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
When I was kid in the 70's & 80's, my dad was a hot shot defense engineer. He was an Air Force Colonel. I really enjoyed being the Colonel's daughter. I was to young to recall it but my mom has photos of us at a Bbq with some of the Apollo pilots, I got to meet lots of people involved in nuclear projects etc. Basically, I was the prissy daughter of an important person.
I kinda hate to admit it now but I was the stuck up kid. Until...... I needed glasses and I was expected to wear military, Air Force issued glasses. Yes, the ever dreaded BCG's. lol At that point I wasn't to happy about dear old dad being Mr "Air Force" or Mr "support the country, love the military"
lol I wanted stylish civilian glasses. Better yet, I wanted contacts. I was right at that age where you think the entire world is watching your little blackhead and dad wouldn't waiver on us being a model military family. lol I think it's kinda funny now, it humbled me, which was needed, but I had to wear those god awful glasses for a few years. That is what got me babysitting & making my own money. Dad agreed to let me have civilian glasses but I had to pay for them myself.
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
What a brilliant and astonishing video. And a perfect accompaniment to watch after seeing the Chernobyl TV dramatisation. As fascinating as every detail mentioned in this video was I understand why none of those details were brought up in the show. I suspect that there must have been literally dozens of details that the writing and production team unearthed and left out. All of which would be equally as significant and interesting but editing, whether through time constraints, budget or to simply make the series as informative and 'entertaining' as it can be ultimately determine the extensive list of what can't be included. For example, the short segment that covered the eradication of the house pets left behind was a powerful image but in reality it wasn't necessary or even an important aspect of the disaster. But I've no doubt it struck a chord with many viewers. The same with the scene of the elderly woman who refused to leave her home for (as she described) "an invisible problem". There must have been hundreds of conversations and arguments of a similar nature as people were told to leave their home, with no obvious reason or understanding why this was necessary. The show, any form of entertainment, or even a series of documentaries inevitably has to edit and choose the stories and facts that best portray the circumstances and I understand why details mentioned in this video were omitted.
This video, like the Chernobyl televised drama are both amazing.
I've found this video as I searched YouTube for the most interesting videos and documentaries (I have about twenty or so more to watch) about Chernobyl to learn more about the disaster and the effects and devastation in its wake. While it's easy for those of us that grew up and live in other countries to vilify the Russian authorities at the time, I think simplifying this as bad foreign governments or dishonest men avoiding blame is too simplistic. Chernobyl isn't simply a Russian disaster, it's a human disaster. The lies, the need to blame others, the circumstances that brought on this disaster are down to the very nature and imperfection of our species.
My first thought when the TV show ended was that the human race has gone too far. We've started down a road that has an unending list of disasters and set backs that while all are unavoidable, none will be because we accept that they're a consequence of humanity moving forward; we can't stop, we're a moth drawn to light. This may have been an extraordinary series of events that led to one of mans greatest self inflicted disasters, but isn't there an inevitability to all man-made disasters? The need and pursuit of advancement will never stop and sadly Chernobyl for humanity is no more than a fall and a grazed knee to a child in its natural desire to walk. Unfortunately I don't think that there are big lessons to learn here, which is the saddest element in this story. The disaster showed the worst of what humanity is capable of, but it also showed how unbelievably selfless and incredible we can be too. It's a shame the former is always the more powerful. But maybe, in the end, it doesn't matter. Life is short lived, whether counted by years in the individual, or the blink of an eye for a species in the lifespan of the universe.
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
13:20 The phrase you are looking for is, "the straw that broke the camel's back."
When a baby elephant is trained for the circus, etc, they tie it to a post or a tree with a strong rope or a chain. Naturally, it will pull and tug at that chain trying to move about freely until it exhausts itself. Eventually he learns there's no point in tugging and wasting all that effort and energy, since he will never break free. Years later, when that baby elephant has grown into one of the largest and most powerful animals on earth, he could easily snap that tree like a matchstick or break that chain in half with his incredible strength. However, he doesn't even try pulling against it, as he's been conditioned from a young age to accept that rope or chain as simply the nature of reality. In his mind, when that chain is around his neck there's no point in even tugging. He doesn't know his own strength, much like how the great multitudes of people living under an oppressive, totalitarian system don't understand that the system only exists because they allow it to. That system is not an intrinsic property of nature, despite what those fixing the chains around our necks would like us to believe.
So, the point is never go to a circus that features elephants because that shit is barbaric... err, I mean- The point is that we humans are conditioned the same way by the powers that be from a young age. We don't know our own strength a lot of the time. This trait of human (and elephant) psychology is what allows totalitarian, oppressive systems to survive and thrive. This applies every bit as much to the virtually unregulated heartless capitalism and wage slavery of modern day America, as it does to the Nazi Germany, as it does to the czarist Russian empire, as it does to the USSR under Stalin, as it does to Russia under Putin. The masses of people do not know their own strength, as they've been conditioned to forget it (or even worse) to never discover that strength in the first place.
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
I have seen "Come And See" on YouTube.
I like that movie, and I consider it a great work of art! But, some people go to theaters for entertainment....to escape from reality...not to be immersed in misery and death..
Come And See is too real......I don't recommend it for the weak hearted, it is like a peek into hell!
Convoy, on the other hand, was whimsical and entertaining. And we all remember the Rubber Duck song, it was also top 40 on the radio, and children love those big Peterbilt 18-wheelers! Good video Sergey, glad you touched on that subject.... Spasibo! 👍🇺🇸🇬🇧🇨🇦🇺🇦
Hey, I don't remember but Convoy did poorly in theaters because it was released the same time as Close Encounters, or Smokey and the Bandit, I forget! Watch Close Encounters if you haven't! 👽👾🛸🛸
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
not as bad as if an african would try date a ukrainian, but still wasn't fully accepted, it was more to do with culture than race, old folks always preferred you to find a partner who the old folks could relate to, so if you found someone from the soviet union, regardless if they are from kazaks or whatever, it was more or less accepted, also depended if the partner could speak the language you spoke, basically the more the old folks could relate to your partner the more they would accept the partner, its kinda like in america, some hispanic or black families dont always want their kids to date someone outside their race cause of how different culturally speaking black and white people are
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
Im from nb Canada and would do anything to live in such a unbelievable area,, , except sell my soul to satan,, im from a small village and all our traditions have been made illegal,, it sucked the life out of the village, it lost its soul, peace and harmony that people, me included use to live in,,,im extremely motivated to find some are like that so I can live the rest of my life in peace,,where the weather is the boss and rhythm of life, I'm a very simple person and extremely happy with the bare minimum ., much thanks to your mom to allow filming, inside, outside the house,,,it is beautiful,, you are 10 years older than me,,your life story surpasses everything I have ever seen, I can sense you are down to earth, genuine, a real man one can look up too ,, much respect 💯
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
I was born in 1966 so I was the "remote control" for the TV until we got our first TV with a remote in April of 1983. BTW, I'm still using that same set today. Getting to the subject of Russia, just think of all the history I saw on the TV. It is a Zenith made in December of 1982, a month after Leonid Brezhnev passed away. I saw Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech on it as well as KAL-007 being shot down, the Pershing II's being sent to Europe, US in Grenada, "The Day After," Yuri Andropov passing away, the shorter reign of Konstatin Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan taking a softer stance thereafter and so on. I'm not judging,m just saying how long I've had the set and if it could talk.
I don't know how the Cold War is taught today in our schools. I lived it back then and it was a constant thing at that time since it was the current status quo. I remember we had American History from the Civil War to the current time (1983/84 then) when I was a junior in high school. KAL-007 just happened when we came back from summer vacation, remember that time well, was working on my license driver's license since Dad gave me his old car, a big thing since I was 16/17 at that time. :) I remember we were only supposed to spend a week on the Vietnam War but it turned into over two weeks, at that time, it was still fresh in our memory along with the controversy over it.
If I may opine, yes, between the two systems of government between our nations at the time, I do prefer our capitalist system with a welfare state on top over what the Soviet Union was at the time. Both systems have their problems, but out of the two, in my opinion, at least you have more of a chance and freedom to move about in our system. Basically, over here, it is like the "Peter Principle," you go as far in your efforts as far as your training and knowledge can take you to your point of incompetence an then you remain there. Deep down inside, the main difference between the West and Soviet system is the production and distribution of resources. I'd still stick up for my side if things went bad but there are no true "White Hats," just a few Black Hats and many Grey Hats. In short, I think both sides did make moves to annoy the other, sometime for just cause, sometimes not.
Even so, I do have a respect for the USSR/Russia, you did put the first satellite into space, then the first man. Also, with your MIR and Salyuts, you did pioneer long term space flight. in 2011, we gave up our Space Shuttle, yet Russia (with some updates) still uses a 1950's era rocket sending a 1960's era space capsule into space. My hats off to the USSR/Russia. Yes, we won the Moon race but if you count the space race as a whole, I see it more of a draw since the Soviets "won" the long term space flight race.
I love your stuff, I am of Russian heritage myself (among many things), my great grandfather was born in White Russia, Minsk and his wife was a Russian Jew who suffered under the pogroms. His father was supposedly a Red Army General in the Russian Revolution who might have known Lenin but I cannot verify that as of now. Keep up the good work.
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
@FlintIronstag23 'There is a debate whether the Reagan Administration amped up the arms race specifically to hasten the collapse of the Soviet Union's economy.'
If we take a look at post-War US defence spending as a per cent of GDP, the high point was '67 when it was 9.42% of GDP. From there it declined to 4.94 per cent of GDP in '78. Reagan raised it to 6.81% in '82, and it began to decrease thereafter, though above 6 per cent each year of his admin.
The problem with assessing the USSR is incomplete, flawed, and even outright dodgy data. Presently, the consensus is the USSR was spending from 15 to 20 per cent of GDP of defence from the '60s to mid '80s. Whereas the US economy was growing strongly in the '80s, the USSR had begun stagnating and then declining from the mid '60s. From the mid-'60s to the mid-'80s, there was a consistent decline in the growth rate of the Soviet Union's national income, industrial output, and agricultural production. In the early '80s, national income and industrial output growth dropped below half of their respective rates in the late 1960s, while agricultural output fell to almost a quarter of its previous level.
Let's not ignore everyone else in the anti-Soviet alliance: America's Nato partners, Japan, and S. Korea as well as economically aligned ones like Sweden, Finland, and SE Asia. All were booming in the '80s as well. Economies were growing, productivity increasing, cost of living of decreasing, disposable and discretionary incomes increasing, international trade expanding and making more inroads into the least developed and developing world (which reduced the USSR's influence), etc. Further, the capitalist bloc was rapidly shifting from the industrial to the digital age. The USSR and East Germany each had semiconductor R&D and fabrication facilities, but increasingly each came to rely more and more on espionage to capture know-how and tools to keep up, and was really only able to provide these gains to limited areas such as the military. Digitalisation of the capitalist world has happening throughout. (There's a good paper titled Microelectronics Under Socialism by Frank Dittman that covers the efforts and costs incurred by the USSR and East Germany to keep up. Available to read for free on JSTOR.)
The USSR's fatal flaw was centralised-planned socialism itself. Centralisation proved able at building industrial might and infrastructure, but centralisation doesn't unlock the potential and talents of the masses. Russia was filled with under-utilised yet well-educated, talented people who were keen for more material prosperity and probably would have worked hard to achieve it, if the possibility was on the table. The system lacked dynamism, and even Marx himself recognised capitalism is incredible dynamic.
Economic collapse doesn't happen overnight or even after a few years. Corrosion occurs over decades, and we see the USSR began its decline long before Gorbachev came on the scene.
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
https://youtu.be/ENG7PEvByOE
Was this true in 1986? In 1986 I was a Small American Child. This was about I think five years before the fall of the Soviet Union which I could remember more. Did Soviet grocery stores actually have opened products like this that people have to buy scraps for even in 1986?
I remember around 1989 when I lived in Grand Rapids Michigan, the city that my father's family came from we lived in New apartments and we had a Soviet refugee family that moved in upstairs from us and I just remember that my friend's mother cried when she entered an American Grocery store I think it was Meijers, . I remember her crying because she saw so many oranges stacked like a pyramid but there were oranges behind every single one and bananas. I cannot get that memory out of my head my mother tried to console her saying that it's okay these are not fake. Little did my mother and myself know that my friend's mother was crying because they were real. Being an American raised in the 1980s I never knew that the Soviets did not have what we did. I was always taught to fear them but at that moment I realized why are we afraid of people who cry at real oranges? I felt Pity. And I don't even want to tell you when she got to the bakery section of the store she completely broke down. I remember my Mom comforting her out the store before she regained Composure and went back in to discover me and her son loading up on Ice cream sandwhiches. Of course most got thrown out of the cart, lol. Needless to say, that Culure Shock to her was a Culture Shock to me. I cannot forget that. I just thank God she didnt see the meat section at that time with us. I do miss her Son though, my friend back then who couldn't speak a word of English, yet as Children we Communicated well. Ice cream Sandwhiches even in the cold of West Michigan Winters. And before anyone asks if they were there not brought food of course they were however in the late 80s we did not even know there were Soviet refugees. My friend's Name was Yuri, I kept pronouncing it wrong as Eerie, as one of the Great Lakes that surrounds my State. We both lived off of Lake Michigan and again I was just a child, he was one of my best friends at the time even though he could not speak English and of course not me Russian.
We were both children. At the time I did not know about the immigration of Soviet Family Refugees into the US. I only knew about in the 1980s that we should fear the Soviets, and I was actually surprised when I saw his mother cry at an American supermarket.
That's when I realized as an American child, they have no power over us, and they will soon collapse.
If the mothers of your great nation are fleeing you that means you are not worthy of living.
And the Soviet Union collapsed.
FACT
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
Milk noodles! we had that sometimes in germany , and I loved it as a kid. We had something like tagliatelle ("ribbon noodles in german"), only made with eggs in them (basically the standard german noodle), boiled in milk with a pinch of salt, with a small amount of butter added, and maybe a little cinnamon and sugar over it. Also soup for lunch is very popular in germany. And for breakfast, boiled oatmeal is also quite popular. So, something like kasha. usually with milk over it, and maybe a little jam, or fruits.
But I definitely have to try that fried cottage cheese with flour. It looked absolutely delicious. And actually, I think beef from old milk cows is best. Also for roasting or barbecue, btw. best barbecue I ever had was from beef I bought quite cheap, as it was deemed "soup meat". A brasilian told me that the pieces we usually boil are actually the best for barbecue, and he was right....
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
I would like to compare this situation with the situation in fomer SFRY.
At the beginning, there was some waiting list but that largely disappeared until the end of seventies. Waiting lists was much shorter and you were in advantage if you want to pay the car in hard currency (basically US dollars in the early years, and later German marks). By advantage I mean you could even completely skip the list and wait only for few months (which is the same situation as it is today). The problem was that it was essentially forbidden to have foreign currency until 1965 except as a gift or inheritance from someone abroad. If you got your inheritance in, let's say, US dollars in those times and earlier, you never ever got that money, but instead it was on your bank account and than you have to go to the store and buy something by direct money transfer. The problem was that your US dollars were converted in Yugoslav dinars by official exchange rate and by this rate dinar was almost always overvalued (though not by much until 1980., but by that time it was legal to have foreign currency and you could get your money from the bank account). To this day, cars, flats and houses are all priced in foreign currencies if you buy those things from private person.
What were the options for buying cars? You could buy domestically produced cars (which were all basically of western origin; in fact there was some kind of joint ventures between western car companies and Yugoslav factories that were not owned by the state but by the workers in what was then known as worker's self management) or you could buy imported cars. Of course, Yugoslav cars were cheaper so new BMW and Mercedes were only driven by those who worked in, for example, West Germany and went back for a vacation. Yugoslav cars were: Fiat/Lada (which was also Fiat as mentioned in this video), Volkswagen, Opel, Citroen and Renault and for a short time Mini, NSU and Austin. Unlike other cars manufactured under original western names, Fiat cars were sold as Zastava and Jugo (later Yugo).
New cars were extremely expensive - you have to work pretty long time to buy a new car. That said, new cars are still expensive for former Yugoslavs. You have to work somewhere between 14 months in Slovenia to 45 months in Serbia or Macedonia for a small car. Second hand cars were always cheaper as it is expected to be.
5
-
5
-
5
-
In Sweden we have stereotypes about people from different areas of the country. People from Stockholm (our capital) are greedy, upper class, money hungry, depressed, know everything's. People from Gothenburg/Göteborg (Secound largest city, where I live) are laid back, working class, hippies, left wing, and funny. People from Skåne are conservative, farmers, who can't speak real swedish. People from Småland are Christian fundamentals, work horses, and don't like spending money. And people from Norrland are silent, alcoholic, hunters, who live on vodka and fermented fish(yep, we do have are own Russians). A joke about people from Norrland: A man from Stockholm was visiting Gällivare to open a new mine which would bring loads of money to Stockholm, but due to a new law they would have to share the money if the locals wanted it. So he got every norrlander to show up at Town Hall, all 300 of them. So he asked them if they wanted more money, and everyone inhaled till there wasn't any more air, so now he didn't have to share his money. The lesson from this story stockhomers are greedy and Nordlanders är so silent that they say yes by inhaling.
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
I started reading your book last night and I’m enjoying it so much! Your channel is my favorite of all of youtube—after I’m caught up on шапка ушанка I will finish Другая Америка and you can help me become fluent lol.
I was so surprised to see you did this episode! I’ve been thinking about overlap in your shows lately. Not because I think you should watch his, but because I’m sure he watches yours. I can understand how some of his content feels condescending but it’s certainly not his intention. I totally agree w/ you about him traveling so much during covid, especially since he almost died from having it, but at least he’s now wearing masks, i guess (idk, it annoys me, but I am trying really hard to still be kind). The thing about him traveling during winter is that it’s not like it’s a single vacation and he’s there for 2 months then returns to England. He basically leaves a country to clear his visa, sometimes going to Mexico, Africa, India, but he primarily hangs out in post-soviet countries and you know how many have good traveling weather in winter 🥶 я мерзлячка, не хочу снега 🥶 His channel is specifically designed to show the everyday life of everyday people in the areas he visits and really getting a “man on the street” perspective—i.e., he’s not marketing his show to people who live/lived in post-ссср countries, he’s marketing his channel to those of us who are also fascinated with admiration for the people who live/d there and experienced it. I think that for those of us who have seen most/all of his shows, we know his kindness and generosity to everyone he meets and when there’s a clip that’s intended to be silly we interpret it from a perspective of understanding how he really feels about the people in his shows. He did, btw, show many of the spots you mentioned, but because he’s not trying to lead a tour group, he might show it in a different way from someone who’s promoting tourism. It was one of the rare videos he took a lot of heat for, but certainly none of us can be at our best all the time.
I’m gonna email you about your book—I’ve done a lot of editing, sometimes working w/ authors, agents, or publishers, and I want to tell you how much I’m enjoying reading it. I’ll finish it tonight and will email you when I’m done. Thank you for the great content, for sharing your life with us, and for helping to keep me sane during a literal pandemic 🥰😷
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
Great insight here, I agree. The show did an amazing job. Still, those you mentioned are tiny details but including in the story for a couple of simple cutcenes would turn it even more realisic.
I live 1000 kilometers away to the west but as if it's said, the smoke raised in our direction. It was early May and certain trees just dropped their fresh-grown spring leaves. As far as I can remember they grew them again during the summer. During the following years many fruit trees died with no reason.
When it comes to radiation everyone thinks about the big effects on DNA: accute radiation poisoning and cancer. The truth is, it has long-term health effects that are not fatal. Around my place, during the following years a wave of autoimmune diseases appeared. Various thyroid dysfunction diseases. Polyarthritis at a very early age and perhaps many more. DNA spirals deforming, causing all sorts of reproduction issues and challenged newborns. Probably no one made or is able to make a statistics about that to show the real long-term effect but checking the close environment who lived near from it, it was definitely there, the line before and after the accident. Probably the radiation received would make than one woluld get in a couple of hundreds of lifetimes.
It is not to be forgotten that the heroism of Russian people saved Europe and a big part of Russia. That's it. If it wasn't handled the way it was handled most of us would have been dead or live far away from herre.
The Russian leadership at the time can be blamed of wasting precious time and straight communication only, to warn the world in time to act to be able to try to decrease those side (and of course all the terminal) casualties. The accident itself would happen anywhere else sooner or later and it did, even if you do everything right humanly possible. Forces you have no power do dealt with can turn it into a disaster like it happened in Fukushima. And it will happen again and again. It is fatally dumb to think that you are safe from a present or past nuclear test or a seemingly harmless radioactive leak from the other side of the globe. You are not. Whenever it happens, nothing can stop particles until it i contained. And it will happen again as long as the technology is used.
5
-
I don't know if you have realized but you said a huge truth about kids and people in general born within a situation, for them it's quite normal since they don't have something to compare with what they got..
Anyways during the 2010s financial meltdown I was living with my parents, in some point both me and my father lost our jobs and couldn't pay our rent, to make a long story short right before we was about to be kicked off the apartment my father found a job that was offering a little house, just a kitchen a bedroom a the corridor between them that could barely fit a couch.. The thing was that a friend of me mother didn't had anywhere to go so she came to us and few weeks later a friend of mine also unemployed had become homeless and we couldn't let him sleep at the street in the middle of winter, so my parents took the bedroom, me and the friend of my mother that hul like room and my friend the kitchen.. We didn't used closets for our clothes but travel bags just like in army or when camping, we kept our personal belongings in general to the minimum, at day the house was empty with everybody helping my father with his jop or trying to find a job or later save money to move out, at night you had to step above folding beds to get to toilet.. Eventually we moved out after a year and a half, all our belongings was just two car loads NOT TRUCK car loads, my mother's friend one car load, my friend had even less two handbags since he had cave almost everything to church and people who needed things.. As for having fun, at least I had my car for some short of privacy..
My point is that even going through this, even going through a period of constant move right afterwards due to my job honesty I can't imagine making a family, having children in such a situation..
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Here in New Zealand (South Pacific) I grew up with the old British Imperial measurements and during my school years, the country officially changed to Metric S.I. units. I "mostly" think in the new units nowadays. The Dacha you feature about 11 minutes into the video, you said the building was about 27 square metres. (A nice size for a small single room apartment). By comparison here, a standard single car garage is 3 metres by 6 metres, 18m2 total (about 10 feet by 20 feet for a total of 200 square feet). A small double garage being almost twice that, 5 metres by 6 metres, totally 30m2 ( 330 sq ft). 0.06 hectares, 6 Sodkas, would usually be referred to here now as 600 square metres (600m2) but would previously have been called 25 Perches. Note an eighth of an acre is 506 square metres. In Summer at least, a decent amount of food can be grown on 600 m2 of land. In very mild Winter climates such as where Orange trees can be grown, (perhaps Southern coastal Soviet Georgia ?) many vegetables can likely be grown throughout the Winter as well. There are many vegetables we can grow all year here, as we do not have regular snow. Potatoes and tomatoes are Summer season only.
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
My wife and I have been highly mobile in our adult lives. We are from states that are 1,200 miles apart. There is a massive cultural divide between our families. We vowed never to live where either of us are from, that way we are always on an equal footing.
In 17 years of marraige, we have moved 4 times. LA to VA, VA to AL, AL to TN, and finally TN to NC. The first 3 moves were for my career. I do not think my career would have ever advanced as quickley as it did if not for our willingness to relocate. For 1 of those moves, i got a 48% pay raise, as well as a company vehicle, gas card for personal use, and other perks, all at 27 years old with no high school diploma (i'm a dropout). The last move we made was not for work, but for pleasure. I work remotely, so we sold our house and moved to our vacation spot on the NC shore. When you can live wherever you want, why not move where you dream about being 51 weeks a year?
I think that moving around has kept us more socially isolated than most people, but i honestly think that has been great for our marraige. The only friends we have are nearly like family, because after you move to a new state, the only ones that bother to take time to visit you are really true friends. The acquaintences generally drop off the minute you dont see them regularly.
My wife and I also grew to somewhat loathe our original home towns. When we go there now to visit, we can't wait to leave again. It's not the same without the old folks alive anymore.
As for the effect a highly mobile population has on the nation, i think it is a good thing. I think mobility encourages amalgamation and crossing of cultures. That's unifying. It's hard for a guy in California to understand to plight of the poor people of Appalachia if he has never been out of his state, and vice versa. My wife and I are from vastly different cultures. I am cajun, and she is irish/italian from PA. Union labor vs non-union, crawfish vs maryland crabs, snow vs swamps, po-boy sandwiches vs cheese steaks, saints vs eagles, st. Augustine grass vs bluegrass.... you name it, it's different. Eventually, we grew into a family that richly celebrates both of their cultural backgrounds.
4
-
Great video; I had actually watched his TV show and had also seen another show that wasn’t Servant of the People but more of a variety show where a parody scene based off of the song “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” in ‘Cabaret’ with Putin in it awhile ago (I can’t seem to find it anymore which sucks, wanted to show people it). Regardless, Zelensky is especially during wartime a president who has shown himself to be extremely intelligent; political leaders do not make good generals and will only end up being a bad political leader if they attempt to. A great political leader understands the necessity to delegate responsibility of strategy to those who are best suited for the tasks which in war are military leaders. In any case I hope Ukraine reclaims every inch including Crimea (its people did vote in 1991 to be separate from Russia and its parliament did vote to be part of an independent Ukraine in 1991). It’s potential to be an economic powerhouse through its food exports, with a population that is multicultural which is United in its defense (Catholics, Orthodox, Jews and Muslims United isn’t an easy thing to do), and the fact that it’ll have the desire to further separate itself from ruzzification which comes in the form of corruption and attempting to force a society into a homogenous mold will help ensure it becomes a place that could see many peoples wanting to move there and contribute to a growing economically prosperous society (after the USA, Germany and Turkey are most desired countries people move to, Ukraine can easily over take both as being desirable). It’ll also become a powerhouse within the EU and NATO eventually having the moral authority and backbone that Germany doesn’t have and while not wanting to be a leading power in Europe I can see Ukraine understanding it can be a beacon of hope and courage unlike France which wants to be Europes leader because it believes leading Europe is its right. Obviously any of that would take time, but it’s potential is there for all of that while the rest of Europe has proven itself to be lacking. At least that’s what I had believed after visiting Ukraine shortly after the Orange revolution, a second time a couple of years before the Euromaidan and a third time while bringing donations to a orphanage/birding school in Zaporizhzhia after the Euromaidan. Slavs Ukrayina
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Sergei, how was the water pressure for homes and apartments in the big cities? In Seoul of '80s and '90s it was very poor, and not enough for more than a gentle stream (and often a dribble), which made showering tough - same too for washing dishes and clothes. Also, we'd often lose water for a day or two. We kept our bathtub and two large (20 litre?) water dispenser jugs filled with water at all times and to shower would fill a large pail with hot water (had a wall-mounted gas-fueled water heater above the tub). In a second pail we'd mix the hot water and the cold water from the tub, and use a large plastic ladle/dipper (held about 1 litre of water with a large handle on its side) to pour the warm water on ourselves. Soap up and shampoo, then sluice off. It was quite a production. The bathroom was tiled entirely and there was a drain in the middle of the floor as well as drains in the sink and tub. Also, we'd have to step down into the bathroom because the bathroom floor was several centimetres (6 to 8) lower the floor outside it. It was constructed this way to prevent the water egressing. Still today modern Korean homes and apartments are constructed this way, though, thankfully, the water pressure problem is a thing of the past.
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
I bought some drinks from Russian Table. I tried kvas and I think I'd echo your daughter's sentiment that its drinkable but not something I'd choose to drink. I drank about half of it then gave up, it was actually too sweet for me.
My bottle of Buratino featured and elf with a pointy nose (whom I now know is Pinocchio!) riding a chicken wearing spurred boots, holding a key, and to me it tasted like "bubble gum" flavor with just a tiny bit of citris. I also had some citron and it, to me, tasted almost identical to the Buratino. It looked the same, too, so I kind of wondered if they poured the same liquid into two differently labeled bottles. The stuff I bought all came from Ukrane.
Oh, one last fun note -- the bottles were super flimsy. They held up and didn't break, but they were plastic, and I'm sure they were as thin as is possible without rupturing. You could hold the bottle by the neck and tap the side of it, and watch the entire bottle convulse. The kvas came in a "normal" bottle (by American standards) but the other two drinks were in those weird ultra thin bottles. I was always scared I would break them!
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
See, how one lives happily ever after when they're childless and marriageless lmao. Anyways thanks for this content, truly appreciate it as a Mongolian.
12:26 is the University of Education where teachers graduate,
14:07 is a hotel, that's why it's tall and different,
16:00 is drama theatre,
18:44 children's theatre,
17:28 where the Russian statue is not an embassy but many governmental palaces exist, basically a bureaucratic district.
19:17 is not a train station but countryside bus station where you can go to other cities or countryside,
20:30 Someone on the horse is Russian Propaganda made hero Sukhbaatar, where Russia rewrote most of our history again for us and brainwashed whole new generations with movies nonstop in those 70 years, we didn't ask to be communist, we had no other choice and Sukhbaatar was just a normal kid who studied in Russia, brainwashed. We had elite diplomats who tried so hard for our independence but were killed and erased from history by Russians. Don't worry tho, we start relearning our history back.
24:56 Russian embassy on the right side, spanning too much space to show the importance kk,
25:43 Russian embassy's new installment building where permanent residents live with their family
27:58 was summer palace for our last Khan, Bogd who were both religious and state Emperor. He was Tibetan man by blood but served our nation until his last breath. It's now a museum where you can literaly go inside and see interesting furniture, clothes etc.
31:07 is Umnugobi Yoliin Am National Park, it's in the Gobi. And countryside is not Chinese inner Mongolia but outer Mongolian countryside.
32:09 is about the main propaganda of that time, how we skipped capitalism and straight went into socialism
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Thanks! That was interesting. What would have been the alternative for these people? If they attempted to "join the party?" What/would jobs would be available?
I have a challenge for you - Soviet electronics. There are lots of vintage chips that were cloned versions of chips from the west. I see references to them here and there but there isn't much information that crosses the language barrier, especially in an educational entertainment type format. You don't really need to know much about electronics to tell the stories and share share the translated sources.
The early microcomputer era is the timeframe that is popular right now. The first integrated chip processor was the Intel 4004 ("four thousand four"), and it's follow up the 8008 ("eight thousand and eight"). These weren't seriously significant, but the next generation of chips were. At Intel it was the 8080 ("eighty eighty") that lead to the 8085. IBM based it's first personal computer on the 8085. This was a big turning point. The 8085 is an 8-bit version of the 8086("eighty eighty five//six"). IBM used the 85 because everything else in the consumer market was designed for 8 bits at the time, so it was cheaper to build for 8 rather than the 16 bits of the 86.
The 8086 is the first chip in the x86 architecture family. Every Intel x86 processor sold today is still directly related to, and is backwards compatible with, the original 8086 from the 1980's. A company called Zilog made an intel compatible chip called the Z80 that was very popular. Then there was the Motorola stuff. They did things completely differently from an computer architectural design standpoint. They made the 6800 ("sixty eight hundred") series with the most popular being the 6809 ("sixty eight oh nine") chip. The late Chuck Peddle was involved with the early Motorola stuff, but left the company to start Mostek. They made the 6502 ("sixty five oh two") which is/was extremely popular. Apple got started with the 6502, as did Commodore. Motorola went on to make the 32 bit 68000 ("sixty eight thousand") series that were also very popular. These look pretty cool because they are the largest dual inline packaged (DIP) chips ever made in large quantities. Most people haven't seen them before. They are only a bit smaller than a Hershey candy bar, and have 64 pins.
Some, if not most, of these chips were copied in the Soviet Union. It would be fun to hear any stories you can dig up about the 8080, 8086, Z80, 6800, 6809, 68k, or 6502. These are iconic now. There's a large hobbyist/electrical engineering audience here on YT that would be interested in this.
These chips are from an era when the significance of part numbers was less of a thing. So the chips are referenced as mentioned above. When researching actual documentation the full part numbers are more helpful. Motorola stuff always starts with MC so MC6809 or MC68000. The early stuff from them has various speed grades (chips capable of faster clock speeds) that have an "A" or "B" in the middle of the number, so like MC68B09. The "B" version was the fastest. The 6502 didn't have any of these extras bits to it's early chips. The 808x are all P808x. The Zilog stuff starts with Z08400xx the last 2 digits are a number indicating speed grades.
There were a ton of second source companies making licensed copies of all of these chips. The Soviet versions were unlicensed copies. The stories behind the unlicensed versions are largely untold.
-Jake
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
What you did in the Sea of Azov describes a bit Yucatecan "Temporada" (season) in which people who can afforded own, or rent, a beach house.
And usually you go swim in the morning, rest by the porch, swim again, then lunch, then games, board games adults, kids about 10 would play war in the dunes or build sandcastles, older boys would either play sports such as beach soccer (futbol playero).
At night in my parents days in the 60s, 70s and early 80s, teens from about 15 to as old as 19 would light fireplaces and bring guitars and have a "lunada" (no translation, except moonshine gathering) at night and boys would be with girls and vice versa and would sing love songs outloud, etc.
Single people in their 20s would go to other people's houses and either play poker, do their own lunada except with liquor included and/or have a little party, etc.
But usually most families with less connections, like renters, would simply go to "playear" at night, in which you go to the shore at night to watch wild crabs and other interesting sea creatures in the night and come back to see the stars on clear lights. There was radio but no tv, interesting times.
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Hi Sergei! Something that has been hitting a sour note in me while watching (on YouTube) the 1985 American public broadcasting show "Channel 3: Moscow" is how propagandistic and extremely biased your news program was about the U.S. It seems that almost universally the U.S. was painted as this Giant Demonic Force of Evil that the good people of the Soviet Union and others aligned with the Soviets must fight against, and the news reports about the U.S. were really nasty and not at all what I remember from my '80s childhood. Have you learned since then that the Vremya (sp?) news reports about the U.S. were, in the 1980s, not an accurate picture of life in America? Or did you already know even back then that the news was unfairly critical of the U.S. and that the truth is that America's problems were universal? The reality of life in the U.S. under President Reagan is that we did have our problems, but they weren't unique to our nation and while most of us had our disagreements about some of Reagan's policies, we did at least respect him as our president and understood that we were united with him in terms of fighting against communism and believing in the American dream. Like, I saw a Vremya (sp?) news report about the repairs being done in 1985 to the Statue of Liberty and they managed to turn that into an anti-American screed, whereas we just viewed it as a time for the statue to be restored to the condition it was when France first gifted us with it. Also, while we have always had problems with poverty and homelessness, it seems that the conditions you and your family lived in were no better than the poor in our country and our country's almost always had private and community charities to help the homeless AND the poor. I felt that this video was the proper one to leave this comment because it's about television in the Soviet Union in the decade in question and you started it off by mentioning the aforementioned news program, and I've come away from watching the third episode of "Channel 3: Moscow" with a real distaste for how my country was portrayed by Soviet TV. I mean, the only time life has been genuinely awful as an American has been ever since Trump became president! NOW is the time for the nasty news reports about our government, LOL!
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
I happen to be an instant coffee afficionado, which is one reason why I love travelling in ex-soviet and ex-warsaw pact countries. You find so many interesting things - both good and bad. Whereas in my country, where we drink more coffee than anyone else in the world, the selection is sadly limited and people are snobs. When we get to travel again I really must look for that Indian one, I don't think I've tried it.
The size of the granules doesn't really mean much. Nescafé for instance has an instant espresso (that is quite good) that is very powdery.
But that Indian instant coffee might not be freeze dried but instead flash dried by a heating method. There's an African instant coffee that I sometimes drink that is made in this way. The main difference seems to be that freeze dried instant coffee lasts much better once you've opened it, whereas the non-freeze dried instant goes stale quicker. It is also more hygroscopic, so it clumps up easier.
You can tell something from the colour of instant coffee (if it is freeze dried, the other method not so much), it roughly corresponds to the roast.
Instant coffee (and coffee in general) is a little bit like tea in that the water plays a big role, different blends and different roasts are suited to different waters.
Oh! I just looked in my cupboard, and I do have a tin of Indian instant coffee! It is not the same as this one, different decor on the tin. But it is the same type and size of tin and I seem to have bought it in Latvia two years ago. I must open it and try it before it expires.
4
-
@UshankaShow Thanks for the recommendation! I will look into that. And I want to emphasize that I don't idealize the Stalin period. Hard times, I really wouldn't want to live then and there... Still, we have to put things into their distinct historical perspective, and for the vast majority of people in pre-1930's USSR life was pretty miserable. My father was one child out of 11, only him and 4 more got older than two years. I linked you that video from Bosnia in 1966, take a look. Electricity, water, street connection -- all this arrived there only during the 70's and 80's.
Believe me, I do know how the people lived in USSR before Stalin. It was not pleasant. And you have to judge based on the experience of the contemporaries. Which is very difficult from today's perspective.
And by the way, I have read excerpts from similar memoirs, written by Jamaican born US engineer Robert Robinson and CPUSA leader Harry Haywood. Both were Blacks, and I suppose you know what it meant, back in the 1920's and 30's, to be black in the USA. Their view on life in USSR is another example of "distinct historical perspective".
Zara Witkin, the author of the book you recommend, was white and grew up in an already well developed urban area in the USA. He got high class education in San Francisco and became "chief engineer for the City of Los Angeles and won fame as a designer of the Hollywood Bowl." His experiences in USSR are not representative, you see what I mean?
"Voices of the Past" recently had an excerpt taken from "Behind the Urals" by John Scott (1942)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkw21YfvpBk
Give it a try, it's good. Really good.
I want to emphasize once more that I am not a "fan of Stalin" or something like that. I really am not. I have good reasons for my rather unorthodox views, and all I do is sharing them.
Thank you for your time and this pleasant talk. Have a great day! : )
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Great video. Many things looks like holidays in Socialist Yugoslavia, especially related to 1st May, and 8th March.
We also celebrate 1st May and it was always two days off. I think it is also a state holiday in every modern state which composed Socialist Yugoslavia.
We had also 29th November which was called The Republic Day, long story short Socialist Yugoslavia was day of proclamation of Socialist Yugoslavia in WW2, and also two days off I think, schools had two week vacation. It was state holiday in modern Serbia all the way until early 2000s.
4th July was a state holiday, long story short, on that day in 1941 Yugoslav Communists called Yugoslav people to take arms against Germans in WW2.
We had Victory day not on 9th May, but on 15th May since WW2 in Yugoslavia was not fully liberated till that day, also it might have been related to Tito Stalin split in 1948.
We had Relay of Youth which ended on Tito's birthday on 25th May with huge event on Yugoslav People's Army Stadium (still in use today). We called Tito's birthday Youth Day. Last this event took place in 1987, 7 years after Tito's death.
Since Yugoslavia had both Catholics and Orthodox Christians and sizable population of Muslims, state Atheism was also emphasizing but everybody celebrated their religious holydays. Like in Soviet Union it was not state holiday, and you did not get free days.
Serbian Orthodox Church like Russian use Old Style Julian Calendar, and we also have Christmas on 7th January. For Old Style New Year in Serbia we call it Serbian New Year.
Don't warry I was born when Yugoslavia starts felling apart, and not remember anything. During my childhood I didn't like when older people tell stories how good was living in Socialist Yugoslavia. But in 1970s and 1980s Yugoslavia had really good cinematography and music scene.
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Hey Comrade Sergei! Thank you for another excellent video. Looking at the pictures, I see the buildings strongly resemble buildings around Hyvinkaa, Finland (pop ~60,000) where I lived from March 2000 - July 2001. Although 60,000 is maybe big for a fly ** town, it got me to thinking.
Finns really did not like Russians. As you know, Finland was a duchy of Russia for about 100 years, Soviets invaded Finland during the Winter War. And the Soviets forced “Finlandization” upon Finland. Finland was the only country to fully repay its war debt to the Soviet Union. So, as you understand, Soviets made life hard for the Finns, and Finns disliked and distrusted Russians even 10 years after fall of Soviet Union.
So, I’m wondering. What was the attitude of the average Soviet citizen towards Finland? I imagine Finland wasn’t thought of , or mentioned much in Soviet media, except, as usual, when news served as propaganda for Soviet interests.
Thanks, as always, for your insight peeks behind the Iron Curtain. ❤
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Hi and congrats on the channel! I'm a Bulgarian (same age as you), and I remember the Soviet tourists of that time. The strange thing was that, unlike people from DDR, Poland, Czechoslovakia or Hungary, that traveled only with their families (usually by car), Soviet tourists were always organized in groups. These groups were moving together, like going together to the restaurant, or to the beach. There would be large tables reserved for them etc... I found that quite strange at the time. With other foreigners, we could mix freely, and often partied together, but folks from the USSR were kind of isolated, I don't know why.
4
-
4
-
4
-
I really loved the series. I was born in 1983 in former Yugoslavia (now Croatia). My father had a specific job opportunity to travel abroad (UK mostly) as he worked with airplanes. I remember his stories of London which in turn turned me into anglophile: Hamley's a big department store just for toys, hamburgers, vinyl records, kinder surprise eggs, all sorts of fancy electronics (he bought Sinclair ql and Atari ST), Lego,... stuff that was difficult to buy in yugoslavia. Regarding western electronics, especially computers, you could use it for couple of years and still sell it for profit back home. The thing was that his daily allowance in GBP then was so high compared to Yugoslavian salary, that couple of days of allowance was worth his whole sallary. In addition GBP had greater purchasing power back then, and the team was cutting expenses with lodging. He liked the 80s
4
-
4
-
4
-
Hi Sergei,
As I am watching so many of your videos, I am finding them to be so educational, complete and detailed. I was just wondering if you ever thought of doing QUIZZES or TESTS, not for every video, but after a section or playlist? For example, for 10 videos about Soviet Agriculture, maybe the final video is a "test your knowledge" video. Where you have 25 questions like: "What is the difference between a Kolkhoz And Sovkhoz?"
Then have some fun grading category like "future Politburo member" to "bad komrade". :) I am just watching videos with interesting titles, but if people knew there was a quiz at the end, they might want to watch all 10 videos about Soviet agriculture and try their luck with the quiz?
If I were teaching a class on the Soviet Union, I would definitely have my students watch your videos.
Anyway, just a suggestion. I hope the number of your subscribers starts to increase, because this is a great channel !
4
-
4
-
4
-
I wouldn't say that Americans don't appreciate this humor or that it doesn't exist today. I think it exists more in a form of internet memes now.
But I think either you're telling the jokes to the wrong people (a lot of Americans like their humor more blatant, unfortunately) or people do find the humor, they just don't outwardly show it. I understand all of the jokes in Part 1 & 2, but sometimes it's just not laugh-out-loud funny even though I find it clever. There are definitely some good ones where I laughed. But also. Soviet people would need no explanation to these. Sometimes if you have to explain a lot about a joke, it ends up losing its "magic" and not being as funny.
I also think you're right about the lack of "authentic" humor in the USSR because of control, so the people made their own entertainment. Otherwise, you'd go mad. The not-quite-authentic aspect of everything state controlled would have made people go crazy with the rift between what was being told to them and what was actually happening in their lives, if they did not have outlets like this and a community of people to share it with. In fact, what may be what made it specifically funny to Soviet people was the fact that it was as subversive as humor could get and not stuff to say in public.
Everyone loves subversive humor.
Having said that, my grandfather adored telling this type of humor. It was very prevalent among comedians in the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
Товарищ Джон Уайн Чизбегер,
I remember the train called communism anecdote this way.
Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev are all riding on a train called communism. Suddenly the train stops and they all get out to assess the situation. Lenin proclaims they have to try a new economic policy and they all get back on. The train doesn’t move so they all get off again and Stalin orders everyone associated with the running of the train shot. They all get back on and still the train won’t move. Again, they all get off to see what can be done to get the train moving. Khrushchev proclaims that everyone shot to be rehabilitated posthumously and they get back on. Still, the train won’t move. As they stand up to get off the train again, Brezhnev says, comrades, sit down. Let’s just stay on the train and pretend that it is moving.
My understanding is that this anecdote was updated with each successive leader but I have never heard how the joke continues on. Do you or anyone else know how this was updated for Andropov, Chernenko, and Gorbachev?
4
-
4
-
4
-
Сергей, вы делаете очень важное дело, потому-что о том как Советский Союз запускал людей в космос и «геройски» защищал соседние страны от «капиталистов» много написано за деньги тех же рабочих, о бытовых условиях жизни которых вы рассказываете. А вот о том как мы жили тогда и в каких условиях прошло наше счастливое детство, мало говорится(а ведь несмотря ни на что оно было не менее счастливое чем у американских детей, а вот родителей наших очень жаль, что они ничего не видели)! Я на 10 лет моложе вас, и жил в моск обл., но у моих родителей были не намного лучше условия для жизни и по выходным я купался в такой же ванне, только уже пластиковой, вот и весь прогресс за десятилетний срок между вашим и моим детством
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
How we found out here: Workers in Sweden or Finland I think, come to their nuclear reactor jobs, and alarms that check them before they normally leave from work to go home are going off. Then this is on the BBC. That's where we hear of it the very first. It's not on regular US News until a bit later. Remember, I hear it on shortwave, so we have the news ahead of most others.... shortwave not a big thing here. And of course no BBC TV here yet. We get a lot rain days later here in North America, I tell my wife to stay inside, we don't know much. And here we have a magazine called "Soviet Life", it’s a joint US/USSR publication. This magazine had the Nuclear Plant Tour featured in the magazine, just two months before! How safe it is, and so on. I still have it here somewhere. So here we had the pictures of the Power Station, from just a few months before, and then we can see the power station after it exploded when it's finally on TV some time later, and the Pripyat Town, as we also have the "before" pictures, kids playing, in school, etc. I suppose that might be worth something today: It had interviews with Plant Operators. This was a joint publication, I suppose a part of some diplomacy.
Sure enough, after the rain, they say they can detect trace fallout in the rain here and around the Earth! Well, we have an Iodine deficiency region here, it's called by WHO "The Goiter Belt", because we don't have enough natural Iodine in the diet. That's the Great Lakes Region, where there is no Iodine in the water. So why not be cautious to not uptake any Iodide 131, is what I thought, until it dissipates more. Not to worry, but be a little bit smart and cautious about that. Then US Government years later releases Secret maps of fallout from our own tests in Nevada...turns out that the whole Midwest was irradiated for YEARS from our own testing, because of the normal usual wind patterns. Seems the American Program killed Americans, Russian Program killed Russians. What a Sad Contrast.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
This is exactly how I picture a week day by day visually. I hadn't really thought of it; but once you mentioned it, I instantly realized that my image of the week is a dead ringer for the structure of the Soviet дневник/щоденник.
The fact that yours was rendered in Ukrainian in your Russophone school doesn't surprise me a bit. Both were available from any stationery store, and you'd use whatever your parents had bought for you before the school year. The same was true for the notebooks; some of them would be entitled "Тетрадь" (R) and some - "Зошит" (U). I've had all of the above both ways throughout the school years. Likewise, I've had my quarterly summary table (i.e. табель, the word actually derived from "table") issued in both languages - apparently, they'd use whatever happened to be close at hand. Nobody cared.
On a different note, we were busy with our school stuff for sure - no doubt about it. But I don't agree that it was tantamount to quality primary education (as asserted in some comments). To wit, we have to learn a whole lot of completely useless stuff. Botany is perhaps the most vivid example: For some reason, we had to learn so much of it, including all that floral taxonomy, that it would seem that everybody would eventually work in agriculture. I was a good diligent student and botany-wise, was a straight A one. And yet, once the course was over, I would't remember a darn thing about the plant structure and all those leaves, sepals, petals, and/or how the plant were classified. Anatomy, though (methinks it was grade 8) was quite useful - knowing one's body is a very utile thing.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
When I lived with my uncle in Birobidzhan, he got a LOT of newspapers, since he was a retired Colonel. He got the local Birodbidzhaner Shtern (in Yiddish), Krasnaya Zvezda, Vyechernyaya Moskva (it was considered more racy than other papers), Sovyetski Sport, Argumenty i Fakty, Literatyurnaya Gazeta... then for me he got Komsomolskaya Pravda. I know we also got the Yiddish magazine Sovyetish Heymland.
My uncle said Party members had to subscribe, and at most factories & military bases they had subscription drives... his daughter in Leningrad told me to get access to her factory's canteen & special goods store, she had to subscribe to at least 5 newspapers - they kept track.
My mum in NYC would send her brother a case of American toilet paper twice a year. It always got to him, but only if she sent it with his rank on it LOL
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
The soviets were all about speed, showing the world how fast we can do this, how big of a factory we can make, how many we make a year. To them, to impress the world is to say, hey in like 1 year we went from no car factory to a car factory that is producing thousands of cars a day, look how great soviet socialism is. In reality, in order to pull that off, they just had to basically buy it all off the shelf and set it up. In regards to the auto industry, that was their motto from day 1. The first cars built were licensed built Ford Model T's and some Fiat Trucks. Its like a catch 22, they never build that knowledge of automotive design because they were just licensing designs from the west, and they had to license designs from the west because they never built knowledge of automotive design. They may have been quite good at things like rockets and satellites, but those engineers would have no idea how to design a good car.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Привет Сергей!
This was an amusing experiment. It is a fine example of how preconceptions, peer pressure and prejudices can influence behaviour.
I am a Scot who has been lucky enough to have been married to a lovely lady from Pyatigorsk for the past 20 years and have visited Russia many times now.
On my first trip to St. Petersburg we visited friends and I became a guinea pig in a similar experiment. The 12 year old boy in the household was a smart kid. Without any preamble he offered me a glass of Coca Cola. After I had drank it he asked was it OK? Yes, absolutely fine, I replied. This response clearly wasn't what he was expecting. His face dropped, he frowned and he got very inquisitive. "Is it just like in the west?". Yes, I couldn't say there was any noticeable difference.
He realised then that the whole Coca Cola thing was purely a marketing gimmick. It is only fizzy juice and not some magical nectar that will transform your life. He knew that the drink he had bought wasn't anything special, but thought that possibly the Russians were not getting the good stuff. I doubt he ever bought another bottle.
But maybe the Scots and the Russians share some taste genes! Popular opinion has it that Scotland is one of the very few markets in the world where Coca Cola is not the market leader, outsold by our own home brewed Irn-Bru, which is now very popular in Russia too.
As for my own opinions on Russian soft drinks, my favourites are тархун and дюжес, but best of all, on a hot summer's day I find it very difficult to go past a bowser without buying 500ml of cool, refreshing квас. Absolutely delicious!
Yes, you are right, the kids were pathetic! 😉
We avidly watch your tales of the old СССР. I especially enjoyed the cruise saga. I was surprised you said it didn't prove popular! Keep up the good work!
Пока,
Tom
3
-
3
-
3
-
Awesome! You can get those soup tubes in the Kosher section of any supermarket (if you ever see Streit's brand, they're even better). We use them as a "building block" like you do - we do what the package suggests, but then add in crispy veggies like you, handfuls of yellow split peas, dried whole peas, and for flavour - bay leaves, Thyme, garlic, chopped onions, and smoked turkey tails. When we make a big batch of soup during the winter, we'll mix tubes of the Split Pea, Vegetable, Lentil, and or Minestrone - they're a great starter for soups. Anyhow, I know what I'm making tomorrow!
3
-
3
-
3
-
The Kielka that you're talking about, sound a lot like either sardines or pilchards. Here in the UK, you can but sardines in a little tin in tomato sauce, brine or sunflower oil. We've never had whale in the UK, not during my time anyway.
Sea cabbage, sounds like kelp, which apparently is edible but I've never seen it sold anyway.
mechanical calculator == abacus
I'm assuming the groaning shelves behind the ladies are just empty display packets and what's actually being sold is n the displays in front of the ladies.
The last two items look like things I've seen in a Polish shop. I've actually tried pickled cucumbers, they're quite tasty!
And yes, when I lived in Sunderland, during the 2000s when there was a lot of immigration to the UK from Poland, an enterprising Polish family set up their own Polish shop that looked not unlike a Gastronome and was pretty much stacked in the same way, I got to know a lot of Polish beers and vodkas from that shop, including the almighty Spirytus Rektifykownay (as in one shot and you're rekt)
And yes, older Polish immigrants who remember a time before Solidarity told me similar jokes, basically the general theme was - they all had loads of money, just nothing to buy!
3
-
Sergei, wow! This video was really incredible.
First, I liked the joke at 1:48 - to be honest for me it’s somewhat true. 😊 I had a lot of Russian friends when I was working helping Russian people settle in to America (social worker in 1990’s) but since I left the profession... not so many.
I wrote my College thesis on shopping in the USSR (I spent 5 months in Leningrad/St. Petersburg in 1991). The photos you showed brought me right back there, wow!!!
These words,
Магазин
Очередь
Дефицит
Сетка
Перерыв ... all are So familiar.
I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me that with all the changes of the past 30 years they would go out of use.
We had no блат as students but oh I really appreciate making mistakes with words that change their meaning. Our teachers tried so much to keep us from such mistakes! We had the foreign hotels we could go to, but I did not like them at all, for many reasons, it’s blurry now but I remember on a class trip to Moscow in 1985 (as an American) I was shocked at how badly those places treated Russian people, and I really wanted to buy goods from citizens, not a store that was so abusive to native citizens.
I do try to keep my Russian language skills by following Russian people on social media. I am 50 years old now, and often when I am writing to someone who is in their 20’s I wonder if my words make me sound like an OLD old-timer, and now I know the answer is absolutely yes. 👵🏻
We had classes with much older professors, so I probably sound like a Бабушка/grandma from the 1950’s.
I got an “A” on my thesis so I sure spent a lot of time shopping (and waiting). “A+” on this video! 🙂 👏🏻
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Hello Sergei! Your videos are great, especially the personal take on history. I am 2 years older than you and from the US, but I lived in Kiev/Kyiv for 4 years about 15 years ago. I recognize a lot of the places in your videos (also the old views) of Kyiv, Lviv, and Crimea. I studied the history of the USSR, but without context, it is hard to fully understand the impact of historic events on regular people. You are the penpal I always wanted to have on the other side of the Iron Curtain to compare our lives. You present everything in a matter-of-fact, non-offensive (to me) way, even the bad words. Your English vocabulary is really great, BTW. I understand what you mean by "Soviet person" because you make it clear. I also appreciate the analysis of history in the context of what we don't know or what was hidden from the public. It is all very interesting content, never boring, especially the soviet jokes. I guess maybe I like a lot of it because I lived in Kyiv and I am getting a better idea of the place through your videos. All of the cultural/historical/linguistic Ukrainian-Russian questions make more sense now. Thanks also for the info on recipes, films, and regular stuff like shopping, phones, cars/taxis, homes, health, and what kids learn. Maybe you could talk a little about some weird stuff I saw in Georgia (the country). There were two sources of electricity to the house where I stayed: Tbilisi and Azerbaijan. In the early 2000s, when power was weak from one source, the lady of the house would go outside to the back wall of the house, pull down the handle on the main power switch, disconnect the cables from the 2 fuse-thingies, reconnect them to a set right next to them, then throw that switch to get better electricity. She also had something inside her house between her wall outlet and her TV that was a power regulator/surge protector to keep from blowing out her TV, which she sometimes powered by a car battery. This power regulator was about the size of a record player and it was made of white plastic that glowed when in use. In Kyiv, I lived in a 9-story building made of concrete panels. It was weird to see burn marks on the walls along where the electricity connected behind the wall plugs. Maybe you could talk about electricity and innovative solutions to power issues (if you haven't already). Have you done a video about how they turn(ed?) off the hot water in Kyiv for 2 weeks in rolling outages citywide every spring? Thanks for all and sorry for the length.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Sergei:
I tend to disagree with you wanting to be a journalist within the old Soviet Union. For totalitarian states do not allow for enough "journalistic freedom" of thought. And unless you tow the government line, you may have gotten yourself into a lot of trouble.
Sure, the United States is too free, thus the jerk comments you get from most likely the younger viewers about your YouTube channel. You and I are about the same age, so we know what the last years of the Soviet Union were like from an insider's and outsider's point of view. And the young in this country have a truly warped view of progressive politics and its so-called 'benefits', and what Socialism/Communism/Totalitarianism was really like, especially during the Mao and Stalin years.
Now is the time that you should write, which of course is what you have done and are doing with your book and YouTube ventures, here as a middle-aged man in the United States. You are well-roundedly educated, the intelligence you were born with, and as a middle-aged man in the United States, you have plenty of time to write.
Tolstoy did not write War and Peace until he was middle-aged. And Leo is credited with writing the first modern novel of its time. So, don't give-up!!!
3
-
3
-
One indicator about when the targets got changed in Russia are the cult movies "Brat" and "Brat 2", likely the most influential movies in the post-Soviet Russia. In "Brat" (1997), the bad guys are ethnic minorities, especially from the Caucasus, migrating into Russian cities. In "Brat 2" (2000), the bad guys are Ukrainians and the US (and it also shows that the Russian neo-Nazis are supposed to be some armed weirdos but who still can be used for "good deeds").
Killing their own people in false flag operations is nothing new in Russia. From Wikipedia (Russian apartment bombings):
On 25 July 1998, Yeltsin appointed Putin director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the primary intelligence and security organization of the Russian Federation and the successor to the KGB.
On 9 August 1999, Putin was appointed acting prime minister of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Yeltsin.
The Russian apartment bombings were a series of explosions that hit four apartment blocks in the Russian cities of Buynaksk, Moscow and Volgodonsk in September 1999, killing more than 300, injuring more than 1,000, and spreading a wave of fear across the country. The bombings, together with the Invasion of Dagestan, triggered the Second Chechen War.[1][2] The handling of the crisis by Vladimir Putin, who was prime minister at the time, boosted his popularity greatly and helped him attain the presidency within a few months.
The blasts hit Buynaksk on 4 September and in Moscow on 9 and 13 September. On 13 September, Russian Duma speaker Gennadiy Seleznyov made an announcement in the Duma about receiving a report that another bombing had just happened in the city of Volgodonsk. A bombing did indeed happen in Volgodonsk, but only three days later, on 16 September. Chechen militants were blamed for the bombings, but denied responsibility, along with Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov.
A suspicious device resembling those used in the bombings was found and defused in an apartment block in the Russian city of Ryazan on 22 September.[3][4] On 23 September, Vladimir Putin praised the vigilance of the inhabitants of Ryazan and ordered the air bombing of Grozny, which marked the beginning of the Second Chechen War.[5] Three FSB agents who had planted the devices at Ryazan were arrested by the local police,[6] with the devices containing a sugar-like substance resembling RDX. The next day, FSB director Nikolay Patrushev announced that the incident in Ryazan had been an anti-terror drill and the device found there contained only sugar.[7]
The Russian Duma rejected two motions for a parliamentary investigation of the Ryazan incident.[119][120]
An independent public commission to investigate the bombings was chaired by Duma deputy Sergei Kovalyov.[182] The commission started its work in February 2002. On 5 March Sergei Yushenkov and Duma member Yuli Rybakov flew to London where they met Alexander Litvinenko and Mikhail Trepashkin. After this meeting, Trepashkin began working with the commission.[15]
However, the public commission was rendered ineffective because of government refusal to respond to its inquiries.[183][184][185] Two key members of the Commission, Sergei Yushenkov and Yuri Shchekochikhin, both Duma members, have died in apparent assassinations in April 2003 and July 2003, respectively.[186][187] Another member of the commission, Otto Lacis, was assaulted in November 2003[188] and two years later, on 3 November 2005, he died in a hospital after a car accident.
Artyom Borovik was among the people who investigated the bombings.[200] He received numerous death threats and died in a suspicious plane crash in March 2000[201] that was regarded by Felshtinsky and Pribylovsky as a probable assassination.[47]
Journalist Anna Politkovskaya and former security service member Alexander Litvinenko, who investigated the bombings, were killed in 2006.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Dear Sergei, thank you for such an interesting video.
I think there are several issues you bring to light. However; i believe we may disagree about a few things.
In principle i dont have a problem with my 7th to 9th grade child going to pick carrots on summer break. In America young students are hired to do the tasks of "roguing" and "detassling corn" as well as "walking beans" and "bailing hay". I personally worked after my 7th grade of school in the summer "detassling corn". Many of your viewers will have also done this job at a young age also. It is very hot, dirty and difficult work. I assure you that this experience will shape your outlook on work and labor if you have done it as a teenager. I did it in 1984 for as cheap as 3.35$ per hour but i had friends who did it as cheap as 2.50$per hour. You had to have connections to get these jobs as a kid, meaning you often needed to be vouched for by a kid who did it in the previous year. In iowa where i lived there were teachers in my school who contracted large parcels of land to detassel and then hired their students to join these work crews. Everyone made extra money from these endeavors and the kids who did this for the entire season could save up to 2500$ in some cases. In my mind it is a wholesome and good thing for young healthy students to do hard and dirty farm labor for cheap prices. This difficult work makes all other work very easy for the rest of your life and teaches you that those who work have money and those that lay around dont. This is a good lesson. Also young people benefit from the work because it often keeps them out of trouble in their spare time. Have you ever heard the expression "idle hands are the devils workshop"? Ask any of your friends in michigan about "detassling" and you will easily find one of them who was somehow connected to this job.
As far as the young ukrainians being poisoned while at work,, this is a very sad episode! I hope none of them did die. I personally remember becoming a little sick because i sampled some baby ears of corn while goofing off on my detassling job. There are also no sanitary facilities in the fields, , and the shifts run pre dawn to dusk. You can imagine the rest.
The corn leaves are sprayed with pesticide and if you don't wear long sleves and cloth gloves the corn leaves will cut your hands and you will endure many paper cut like injuries and im sure the pesticides dont help.
Now we have some ukrainian kids pulling carrots,,, were they paid? Who owned the fields? Who benefited from their labor?
I can only assume the labor was free and that these carrots were sold and the profits did benefit the state economy somehow? Were the students allowed to bring home some free carrots?
Such a system still exists in Belarus and im told the population turns out to get the job done and there are no real hard feelings about it.
The photos you posted of carrot harvesting did not look very sad, the young workers did not look abused.
It is nice when such jobs become automated,, however maybe we need less automation here in the usa as we are all very fat as a result of food being so cheap and plentiful.
You are the expert on Ukraine, and this is your channel. I am only your viewer,, but i feel invited by you to give honest feedback to you after watching your wonderful videos☺☺☺☺
Thank you so much for your excellent channel. I believe I speak for all your viewers when I say that your channel is our "happy place" even when there is a sad story such as young people getting sick,,,, this is dreadful and sad,,, but the stories of your antique soviet ukraine are generally happy and for them i declare your channel a "happy place".
Sincerely, M
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Also, I am a geography nerd, so I "have" to spam some gepgraphy facts after watching your video. Some countries have multiple capitals. South Africa is the only one with three capitals. The judicial branch of the government is in Bloemfontein. The legislative branch of the government is in Cape Town. And the executive and administrative branch of the government is in Pretoria. The reason for this mess is that South Africa originally was four different colonies (The cape colony and Natal, which were british colonies since around 1800. And Transvaal and the Orange free state, which were boer republics conquered in the 1890s. So when South Africa formed in 1910 as a dominion, the british had to make concessions and the country has just stuck with it ever since. Bolivia has two capitals for somewhat the same reason, there was a civil war and the two sides agreed on a peace deal, with on of the conditions being that the executive and legislative branches would move to the liberal city of La Paz, whereas the judicial branch would stay in the conservatives' stronghold in Sucre. Chile also has two capitals, Santiago and Valparaiso. And Sri Lanka also has two capitals, Colombo and one capital which is long as hell, copy pasted from Wikipedia "Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte". There are more countries with two capitals aswell, and in some cases a country needs two capitals temporarily as it is moving its capital (as Pakistan, (West-)Germany, Brazil and Benin all have done relatively recent).
I am a real geography nerd, sorry. I was genuinly impressed of how many capitals and countries you knew though, alot more than my norwegian father born in 1962. Or most people in general it feels,
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
There is also have a similar advent tradition in Yucatan kolache colada called "rama" or "la rama" which in English means "the branch". Children go with an orange or lime branch singing and song in which they "praise" the owner of the home and greet him or her on behalf of "la rama" and asking for a small gift in money, if they get it they leave singing that the owner is generous and thank him and if not the branch leaves "altered" or confused because in this house it got nothing.
And in Latin America, and Spain and Portugal too, it's a big party that in Mexico and specifically in Yucatan starts in advent with "la rama", then follow "posadas" which commemorate the arrival of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem trying to find shelter. Then follows Christmas, Catholic.... VERY CATHOLIC... with first visits with candy and cookies to all relatives then midnight mass then the huge Christmas dinner of romeritos, a vegetable similar to Spinash but more like a herb, boiled first and served with Pueblan Mole, shrimp (not expensive or at least it "used" to be cheap) and potatoes, accompanied with bakery "bolillos" or Mexican rolls which are similar to French bread, then comes "nochebuena" or "Christmas Eve" salad.
Then it changes with the family, some have pork, others turkey and others something different like ham or fish.
Then so you can cry at the scale comes New Year's with biskeyan cod fish and ham, then on The Epiphany the Kings Ring and then on Candlemas : tamales.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Great content man, I really like your videos. I would say life for the average soviet city dweller was a bit like life under government subsidies here in the US, except that the populace there tended to be more educated. What I mean is, it's a sucky way to live, but that's all you got and you're entirely dependent on it. Hence when it gets taken away, people tend to look back nostalgically on it...the good all days when you were guaranteed the basics of life. But I remember our 4-member family living in a cramped 2-room apartment with no hot water (they turned on the boilers late at night), never any toilet paper, and always lines in stores. It was always a big deal when they had shoes for sale lol. My mom was a physician and dad a mechanical engineer, but they couldn't afford a car. Actually, my mom worked an extra shift so they could make ends meet. But there were definitely positives as well. Crime was very low and kids didn't have many negative influences, seems the entire system was geared towards raising a "proper" soviet citizen. Parents didn't have to worry much about their kid straying. I think it's a lot harder to raise kids in the US than it was there, during soviet times.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Thank you Sergei,another pleasantly paced nostalgia video..It is interesting how people have similar hobbies,Down here in Australia,we had stamp collecting too, mostly stamps removed from letters but you could also buy packets of stamps from mail order houses,such as Seven Seas stamps of Dubbo NSW..these usually came on sets such as "25 Oriental stamps assortment".. When we had airmail letters or something with the stamp printed on,it was kept complete as a " Philatelic item"..Never came across any cigarette packet collectors though quite probably some..Toy cars was a pretty big hobby even today,Matchbox,Corgi,etc many brands..have seen some USSR toy cars like you showed down here at collectors swap meets..prices arent that high for them..We had bubblegum but werent into collecting the wrappers as much as the trading cards inside..These cards were either sports or movie related,encouraging you to follow the sport or go see the movie..I remember BATMAN cards,007 James Bond,and "The battle of Britain" movie..that last one if you collected enough empty wrappers,25 I think it was, and mailed them back to the manufacturer of the gum,( forget who it was..)they would send you a free cinema ticket so see "Battle of Britain"... Some people collect watches nowadays,but back then 60s and 70s, watches were rare and expensive,only got cheaper following LCD digital ones..Only knew one fellow who collected beer cans..many people collected LP records buying several a week,they werent expensive..Thanks again
3
-
3
-
@UshankaShow Sergey, please. You're working on NPP and you shouldn't write what you've written just now about GOSPLAN and 1million personal boilers. (When talking about modern multi appt houses)
For almost a decade of my life i've worked in the Moscow heat distribution system as an techprocess automation engineer. So i know what i'm talking about pretty well.
Here goes:
1. Each. Again E A C H gas/coal (nuke also but there are always health safety concerns) electricity generating facility is sleeping and seeng dreams about how to become a heat supplier. Why? Because to get electricity from gas/coal for.ex. you gotta do a what? Heat water. For a steam turbine. A lot of water. And heat it very good. So after you've turned your wheel and did some MWts expanded steam have to be cooled down to condense it back to water to use circle again. And you can just put it through a cooling tower. OR. MAYBE. You know, just for fun. Heat some district water BEFORE throwing this energy out to a CT? No? Ehh? And so such they were made - Теплоэлектроцентраль (ТЭЦ) were their names Heat-Electric-Central. In MSc, for expample, 21 fossil fuel power plants were working(now more), it is a tremendous heating power. There were 6 in Kiev AFAIK.
So when you spitting onto GOSPLAN and write about 1 million personal boilers, it's looks a bit like nonsense.
2. Also about smaller district or 1 house boilers (also happened) in a multi apartment building, in an area subjected to a winter subzero temperature, where each house is perimeter heat protected you can't relay task to end customers, to dwellers. It's just too dangerous. A risk to freeze the whole house because of 1 appt? No. The whole system must work. So no personal water heating gadgets in heating. So heat is over there already, and used to heat dispensable water as well.
3. Buuuuut. As you ofc know there WERE personal gas boilers. But they mostly happened in intermittent period (40-60ies) before new high floors (9+) multi appts construction took place.
4. About problems with pipes. Yes and no. Gas pipes for water. It wasn't a reason for it. Gas or water, it doesn't matter (the same pipe, actually http://docs.cntd.ru/document/1200001411 ). What DOES matter with water it's correct line construction (hydrohit bumper loop compensators, support structure non damaging the pipe and all that) and it's a water preparation against corrosion (pH control and all that). Flaws in initial designs, inabequate construction control, but MOSTLY bad exploiting works and supervision - all that, yes, often it was there.
5. Also yes, issues with insulation had place. I, personally, was working on improvements in that field (heat loss lessening, leakage checking and monitoring). But let me tell you. Should all technical conditions were met even THEN, in 60/70/80ies in time of line assembly, there would be A LOT less amount of problems. But factors, factors. Human firsthead. In places where they were like they should, it was all ok.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
A LOT of people if not all of them feel at least positive about HBO Chernobyl series here in Russia. Yes, it has quite a lot of as we say "Klukva" and historical innaccuracies, but the quality of it is great (the scenes, actors, props etc.). Chernobyl series also made this tragic story more popular than ever and more and more people are getting interested on this topic, and we are pretty happy about it.
But you need to know one thing, our media is hated by the majority of citisens. Why? Because our media is controlled by the government, all of it, and they do all the cringy stuff like this in the video. So, don't be fooled by them, we appreciate the effort of this series to show the heroic actions of the liqiudators of Chernobyl and for the message that the most dangerous element of radioactivity is a lie.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
A pretty interesting video. My takes:
1. Gorbachev as the scapegoat. This knee-jerk reaction is no different from Americans blaming their sitting president every time there is a spike in the gas prices. The Soviet Union was not in a great shape by the time Gorbachev took over. Not that he had much policy tools available to do anything substantial to avert the Soviet collapse.
2. State capitalism is actually a much more accurate description of the Soviet economic system than socialism. Not to mention, for an average worker, he could care less about the ideology: Whether it be in the US or in the USSR, whenever he shows up for work, he punch in, then do whatever he is ordered to, then clock out once his shift is over. Furthermore, if he is caught stealing from work, he will face troubles in both countries--i.e., he is just a cog and has no say in business operations and what to do with the profits in either countries. The bottom line: For a wage worker, he could care less about whether it is a state or a private capitalism.
3. I tend to view the war in Afghanistan and the Chernobyl as a pair of sledge hammers upon a vessel known as the Soviet Union that already showed cracks. That is, these two disasters themselves did not break the Soviet Union. Rather, these two accelerated the process of crumbling. Bear in mind, the Soviet Union had endured something much much worse like the Stalinist collectivization of the Soviet agriculture and the Soviet-German War (1941-45) in which the Soviet Union more than survived, despite the sheer scale of devastation.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
I recently subscribed to your channel because I find Soviet life fascinating. I found bald and bankrupt shortly before finding you. I found you via the Cold War. I’m getting ready to watch this episode and I’m pausing as you suggested to chime in on your question before watching this episode through so that it won’t spoil my answer. I’m not sure what you think of Benjamin in the Bald and Bankrupt show right now, but I’ll tell you this, after seeing how he treated this sweet little old babushka that he just so happened stumbled onto in the middle of Chernobyl and then went back later damn near getting lost trying to take back a gift of provisions for her and her son was so kind and decent of him that he will forever be endeared in my heart. Any other character flaws he may exhibit are automatically canceled out but for that one act alone. So I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about him. I’ll give him one thing, I love the balls on a guy who buys a ticket to some far flung place on this planet and take us, with his Belarusian girlfriend to boot, on his journey, on camera, to some of the most fantastic places I’ve ever seen. He actually is the one who sparked my interest of Russia. After watching his show and then finding Kings & Generals, then the Cold War, where I first saw you with David S, is where I found your show. I’m really liking your show. Before maybe a month ago I wouldn’t of known jack about Russia but for the typical stuff we see and hear throughout our lives here in America. It’s not till you take a deep dive into the culture that you gain a whole new appreciation for other people’s way of life. So I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your perspective. So please don’t be too harsh on Benjamin, you can tell he has a good heart, ok?
3
-
3
-
3
-
Okay, here you go comrades. Apart from the opioids (they would deserve a separate comment) a particular stuff to mention are Solutan- contained ephedrine (or pseudo ephedrine). So with enough skills meth could be prepared with the help of God and iodine and red phosphorous and some acid. The resulting liquid had a name "Vint" (helix, screw). The solution was too acidic but people endured and have been using this concoction intravenously. Some sources suggest that it was actually a pervitine rather than meth. But who cares?
And "Marcephal" aka "Jeff", aka "Mulka" (sorry, no translation for this, but chemically it was Methcathinone solution). The recipe was basically the same but instead of iodine and red phosphorous, potassium permanganate was used. This stuff was tough and toxic af since they've just used potassium permanganate as an oxidizer so they had their manganese encephalopathy (which is a nerve- degrading and deadly decease) in the end. This was the most horrible concoction and like 80% of all shocking drug-related homicide crimes been tied to this group of methcathinone addicts.
Second worst thing was huffing the stuff (butane, toluene, gasoline). I believe this doesn't need any sort of introduction. The usage of this stuff flourished after USSR collapsed in 1991 and affected a lot of children. One of my personal childhood memories was 12yo girl with the packet of toluene-containing glue "Moment" in her hand selling herself to some taxi driver while periodically huffing from the packet. Right in the city center near the Central station. (Latvia, Riga, year 1994, true story, no exaggerations). A lot of places in my home district been literally covered up with the packets containing dry glue. I believe somewhere deep in Russia things got much worse, but to me it was too much to know already. I'd like to highlight that these crime remains and will remain unpunished. Allegedly there were no responsible persons. Of course, we don't have a stats collected on how many children perished or got disabled because of this during the years of 1987-1998. But I have a reason to believe that estimate might be well more than 200k during that period (counting the whole ex USSR territory). Soviet traditions of hiding the truth outlived the soviet union, so no one has info about the actual numbers.
Also there was a gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) so again, with enough knowledge sodium oxybutyrate could be prepared.
And of course weed, hash and most notably- "himka" and milk. These are all cannabis products. Himka was basically the low THC weed enriched with the acetone extract of the same low THC weed. So was the milk- it was prepared using a lot of low THC weed boiled in milk thus concentrating THC. The results been unpredictable you could easily get sick cause of concentration too high (luckily, it was harmless). Good hash and weed have been available only for the advanced people, so the majority of plebos just kept using the low quality extracts. There was a group of people called "frolic milk guys" (veselie molochniki) who've been scanning the rural areas for any signs of feral weed to prepare their extracts.
Alcohol in combination with benzos (which is popular even now, but luckily not specific to [ex]USSR countries. This combination created a group of very specific people to avoid.
The worst possible truth about the drug usage in USSSR is that for majority of people it was not possible to obtain any sort of commonly used drugs (like amphetamine, cocaine, good hash, xts, psychedelics and so on) because of import restrictions, closed borders, legal madness, low income and some other cultural reasons. So people just used what was available. And now I hope you have info on what actually was available.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
This is such a cute video! Could not resist to watch it to the end. Personally, I could NEVER drink instant coffee. I get vacuum packed, espresso ground Cafe BUSTELO.
But I don’t drink it as espresso, always make cappuccino (with unsweetened organic soy milk) and no sugar.
Btw, I don’t use soy milk for environmental or political reasons. And I don’t leave out the sugar for health reasons.
Simply prefer the taste. When it’s really good coffee, no need to bury it in sugar. Just add a little soy milk to offset the bitterness.
Wonderful show, by the way. I visited Russia back in early 2000s a couple times as a tourist, Moscow and another city further north, forget the name. Love the food, nice people, and great beer. ☕️
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Bananas in Kiev? I lived in Kiev from 1960 to 1977, and I don't remember ever seeing bananas for sale there.
My father used to bring me one banana when he came back from his frequent business trips (komandirovka) to Moscow. If he could find them there. If not, he'd bring an orange or a tangerine. But I loved bananas the most. I remember thinking, "If I could have all the bananas I want..."
So when I came to the US in 1977, I pressed hard on banana-eating. It turned out, one can eat too many, and get tired of them.
Happy memories connected with summer vacations in villages Boyarka, Pukhovka and Letki near Kiev. Lots of nature. Bird watching. Fishing. Mushroom-hunting. Islands on a river where no one lived.
Lots of my happy memories are connected with travel. Including sanatorium "Utes" (former house of Princes Gagarin) in Crimea, cities like Suzdal, Rostov the Great, Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, or the time we suddenly discovered a ruined castle in the middle of nowhere in Belarus.
Another happy memory was getting -- GETTING!!! -- a subscription for 6-volume "Life of Animals." Oh, what pleasure when one doesn't just go and buy what one wants, but through luck, effort or connections GETS!!! it.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
OK, time for my Russian Jewish joke, albeit from the Jewish viewpoint. Rabinovich is being harassed by the local police and brought in. He as asked to show papers, and he does as requested. The officer reads the papers and asks, "So Jew, where were you born?" Rabinovich replies, "St.Petersburg." The officer then asks, "So where do you live now?" Rabinovich replies, "Leningrad." The officer getting a little frustrated seeing that Rabinovich is not bothered at all by his questioning, raises his voice and asks, "So Jew, where do you plan to die?!?" Rabinovich coldly replies, "St.Petersburg."
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Hi Sergei: I hear in many of your videos about the Communist Party and apparatchiks. In the Chernobyl miniseries, Boris Shcherbina was on the Central Committee, so how did Shcherbina get there without changing jobs? How does a Soviet citizen become an apparatchik? In America many children say: “one day I want to be the President of the United States”. Did children in the USSR say: “one day I want to be on the Central Committee” ? In the USSR everyone was supposed to be equal, so they told ordinary workers not to change jobs, but the apparatchiks must have changed jobs. So, it seems like there were "two" systems, one for ordinary citizens and one for apparatchiks? And in your Chernobyl video you said the Communist Party members were getting their children away from Kiev, because of the radiation, but the ordinary citizens went to the parade on May 9, 1986. So, what was this apparatchik class and how did an ordinary Soviet citizen become an apparatchik?
I just found your channel a few weeks ago. The content is amazing, I have learned so much!
Thanks!!!
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
I enjoy your videos and perspectives. I have a degree in International Relations, and as such, I am very concerned still about the possibility of nuclear war, nuclear accidents, sabotage and terrorism. There are over 400 nuclear power plants world wide; Some of which are more than 30 years old and are not maintained. The world has 15,000 nuclear weapons. The U.S. about 6,500, plus 20,000 plutonium pits, and 4,000 fusion secondary stages ready to be put into devices. The U.S. replaces 80 plutonium pits per year. And even IF the world somehow manages to dismantle all nuclear weapons and ban them internationally, there will always be the problems of verification and mistrust. That technology has been invented, cannot be uninvented, and there will always be those that will seek nuclear technology for their own ends. Therefore, mankind finds its self in a very troubling dilemma. For no matter what we do, the risks and chances for catastrophe seems inevitable. But I do believe we must still try none the less.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Those telegrams of Lenin were "recovered" from the Soviet archives by Boris Yeltsin and his friends in the fascist Pamyat organization after the capitalist restoration. Some of the letters and telegrams of Lenin had already been removed because they contradicted what Stalin said about Lenin and about Lenin's comrade-in-arms Trotsky, of whom Lenin said (paraphrasing), "After Trotsky abandoned trying to win over the Old Menshevik luminaries [such as Plekhanov] and joined the Bolsheviks, there was no better communist." Trotsky had up until then played an independent role outside both the Menshevik parties and the Bolshevik Party. It's amazing to me that Lenin's "The Tasks of the Proletariat in the Present Revolution" [1] wasn't purged from the archives and libraries, because it contains Lenin's April Theses, which repudiate the political basis of Stalin's Theory of Socialism in One Country and especially Stalin's Thesis of The Two-Stage Revolution (which is not surprising since Lenin based his geopolitical views at that time on the insights of his work «Imperialism: Capitalism's Highest Stage», which he wrote in 1916). And, besides that, the "Tasks" calls for "All Power to the Soviets!", whereas Stalin's Constitution of 1936 removed all effective independent power from the Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies. Leon Trotsky was the first, even before Hannah Arendt, to characterize Stalin's USSR as a totalitarian society. [2] This latter work also contains Trotsky's repudiation of the Theory of Bureaucratic Collectivism (a "third way" between capitalism and socialism), which was fictionalized by George Orwell in his novel «1984» as "The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism".
[1] https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/apr/04.htm [2] https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1939/09/ussr-war.htm
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
“Laid up” usually means the ship was brought into port, and removed from service, it however remained on the Navy’s book or “register”, and therefore was not broken up for scrap, or sunk as a target ship during training exercises. This can also be referred to as “mothballing” the ship.
Generally speaking most navies of the world have ships that are laid up that are held in reserve in case they are needed for a large scale conflict, if one were to arise. Ships that are too old, too worn out, or considered tactically obsolete will be “stricken from the register” and either broken up for scrap (which can be recycled and used for the construction of new military or naval equipment and ships, or used for target practice in naval training exercises, where more modern naval ships will sink the obsolete vessel, which is used as the “enemy” vessel in said exercise.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
@UshankaShow - Thank you! You are right, it is ironic that "'Soviet Life' wasn't available in the Soviet Union."
Living in the U.S., I could read both sides. For example, I could compare "Soviet Military Power" from the U.S. Defense Dept., against "Whence the Threat to Peace?" published and printed in the USSR. One of my college friends, who was studying Russian, had the original "Whence the Threat to Peace?" in Russian. I presume that "Soviet Military Power" would have been illegal to distribute in the USSR, although interesting to many Soviet citizens, even though it contained no information kept secret in the USA.
I didn't know about "America" magazine, but "Life" magazine or "National Geographic" could have served as well, if available in Russian. Happy Holidays!
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
I've known about the KGB, NKVD and CHEKA, for decades. I'm weird, I actually read books. I know my commies and nazis better than 95% of Americans. It's why I despise socialism and other utopian schemes, because they don't work out well, and the political animals "crack down" on dissent. They turn their ideologies into a form of religious cultism. You're either with them, or they'll punish you. Our current government is basically a complicated mess of overlapping departments intent on one thing: justifying their continuance, thereby keeping the cushy government job and pension. I will give you one guess who I favor as President - (clue: I hate jackasses). Sincerely yours, DastardLeeBastard, future Ruler of Earth and the Solar System. Oh, I forgot. Buwhahahahaha. You are henceforth commanded to Have a Nice Day. Or else.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Urbanisation to increase industrial output. Both parents working in factories. Less children as a result, coupled with smaller 1 and 2 bedroom apartments in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. All of these things mean that most of the industrial world abandoned baking bread at home. An exception to this was the USA and Canada to a lesser extent, simply because they were still expanding agriculture whilst industrialising so had larger families in the countryside and suburbs.
You are correct that the low price of bread, especially compared with the cost of flour, put an end to home baking. It makes only sense if you're baking for a family of 8 plus farm workers to bake at home and the Communists wanted steel not grain.
My wife's experience in Bulgaria was the same as the USSR. Apart from the gypsy community which I guess the Communists didn't care about, every single family only had two children, except if they had difficulties, in which case they may onl have had one child. ONLY TWO! My wife knew of not a single three child family where there weren't twins. Utterly incredible.
There were even collective kitchens in Bulgaria where you could send your children to bring cooked dinner home so that the parents could work longer in the factories. They were good quality, heavily subsidised and hence very popular despite the Bulgarian agricultural sector being large, but again very, very inefficient. How it was possible to fail at farming in Bulgaria is beyond me as it is the perfect land for agriculture, but the collective farms were a complete disaster.
I just found your channel. Have you talked about collective kitchens, which have no parallel in the West as far as I know, or small family sizes, which is a worldwide phenomena, but was accelerated by Communism? These may be great subjects for videos.
All the best from not very sunny Scotland. 👍
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Make a video about conscription. Have you served in the army? If not you, probably your father, cousins, friends, did. I would also liked a video about politics, I mean, elections, democracy etc. And a video about foods, music, films, bars, clubs, discos.
Ah and a video about sports and another for motorsports. What have you studied? What your parents did after the collapse? I mean work, house.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Hmmm, so we'll just say 35 rubles a month then. Alright, so that's about 17% of total income in a month that you got to keep after expenses. About the same as America when you factor in our expenses, plus groceries. So then based on that, we can damn near directly compare how long it took to save for these things. In the 70's, from a quick Google search, the car cost 5,500 rubles. Which means on a 35 ruble a month budget, it'd take 13 years just to save up for one. Where as here with expenses (including groceries taking the yearly salary down to $8,400 a year), it'd only take about 3 years to save up for a Chevy Impala.
So then yeah, there's no comparison. The expenses zapped the same percentage of money away from people in both countries, and in America, you can get a basic (but better) car in just under 1/4 the time (even if there wasn't a waiting list, just in the time it takes to save up alone). No contest. America, even in a recession, is better than the USSR at about the time it peaked.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
"I start sounding like Bernie Sanders". What? Making sense? You may have your opinion and you may have your experiences, but there is no debate on those issues of education, health, and work, the USSR got it right, and we in the US got nearly everything wrong.
"everything costs money...someone has to pay for it...idk where the money came from, maybe it came from our paychecks because we got paid very little". Of course it came from your paychecks; it came from your labor. That's what Communism _is_: work for free, get everything you need free. Why does everyone want to become a shithead capitalist who wants to have more than they deserve, and no you nor I are not better than anyone else, don't lie to yourself, and exploit those who they deem to be less than your all mighty ego. I don't relate at all. To you or to my country. Because you seem pretty bothered about sharing. You do realize in non socialist or communist states, there is a genuine corruption of the government and of private businesses, where in communism its suspected because of the lack of transparency? Yeah I know i'm preaching to a guy who lived it, I get the irony..but to be honest, I don't think you understand what you had. Hows healthcare and education now under capitalism? See that is one experience I can speak to. The grass looked a hell of a lot greener is what I'm saying. A famine sounds a hell of a lot better than the government abducting and raping people to try and master mind control.(Project MK-Ultra, declassified by the CIA, google it, it's real) It sounds a hell of a lot better than our country test nuking in to open streams, accidentally murdering and poisoning millions of people, then covering it up and lying about it for decades until someone finally has a conscience, then they get money and those responsible get a metal for "progressing the nation towards """""peace"""""". It's outrageous. Stalin would have executed those monsters, we REWARD them.(again this was projects Trinity, and Manhattan, thanks US gov, really)
I digress because this isn't really about America, I'm sure the UK and France have their own stories to share, the problem is what replaced the USSR as the new superpowers and leaders of the world. The USSR was awesome, and when you compare its successes and its flaws to today's superpowers, their successes outweigh ours in innovation, military responsibility, and world accomplishments; the respective state's failures are either parallel or in many cases, we come up worse.
Remember kids, Chernobyl was an accident, Hawaii was on purpose.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Love your presentation, Sergei!
I don't smoke myself either but in my younger days I smoked a pipe, and an occasional cigarette, including specialty ones made by Nat Sherman. These were more top drawer, the grade of tobacco was better and if you stopped smoking briefly, the cigarette would invariably go out.
With most cigarettes made today, they will continue to burn if you take a pause, but this is due to a chemical that is craftily added, so that you're bound to smoke even more cigarettes and hence, the tobacco companies grow richer; as we grow sicker! Actually though, the use of tobacco is relatively harmless as long as it's kept in moderation.
And yes, I agree about women smokong! They spend exorbitant amounts of money each year on makeup, to try to appear more enticing, even going so far as to miss meals to instead use that money to buy lipstick or mascara for instance, but then they smoke like Pittsburgh chimneys, thereby permanently ruining their beautiful voices that God gave them!
Very soon, their voices resemble that of the verbal emissions of a laryngitic crow; or bacon sizzling in a pan!
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Yeah, that’s completely messed up - messed up for the workers. As a worker, you have to pay for food, housing, transportation - damn near everything except healthcare, which itself is outrageously overpriced - out of your after-tax income. Businesses, on the other hand, get the exorbitant privilege of being able to deduct the enterprise equivalent of all of these basic necessities, and many more. For instance, I’m a restaurant manager and there’s literally not a single day that goes by that I don’t see multiple decadent personal dinners that obviously have nothing to do with business being paid for with business credit cards and no doubt being written off as a business expense.
Not to mention the fact that most large capitalist corporations pay little to no taxes whatsoever; Amazon, for instance, paid exactly zero in federal income taxes on $11.2 billion in profits this year, and despite consuming tens of billions of dollars in government services.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Great video!!
As far as asking locals what they earn, you are correct that wouldn’t be polite in the us, and maybe it also wasn’t polite when you described it. However; it is somewhat understandable because the tourists would be very curious about the economic system of the time. For example today all of your videos about prices, cost of living, available merchandise for sale are very interesting. This is because Americans are very curious about monetary issues for the common man. (I personally can’t get enough of your money and price videos). So this would account for the intense curiosity about money and wages of the tourists of the time. Also, if any of the “tourists” were working for the us government collecting information for the cia or any other government agency , then asking local people about wages would be of great importance because it could indicate quality of life of the workers, as well as profitability of the farms, and these overall economic health indicators would help the us government to gauge the fitness of their adversary as well as the dedication of the people and thus demonstrate the overall fighting strength of them and their potential for social unrest like revolution or major political changes.
There was a famous incident of the same kind where Khrushchev (I think) came to town (American city )and demanded his staff go to the supermarkets in the area and discover the prices of common things such as hamburger meat and eggs, bread, etc for exactly the same reasons I stated.
Thank you again for an amazing video!!👍👍👍
Ps we love price and money videos!!!
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Fascinating stuff. Thank you (спасиба) As a first generation American, my father came here from Latvia, I've always been interested all of this. my heritage is somewhat unique if only in the span of years. My father was born in 1889 and after witnessing his parents' public hanging, escaped in 1906 at age 16 with his 5 year old sister in tow, eventually - meaning my info is very spotty - arriving at Ellis Island in New York Harbor. He was married - first wife apparently died of cancer** - and in 1939 at age 50 he married my mother, who was then 22. I was their second child, born in 1954, when he was 65 and she was 37 - was an "accident" you might say, because they wrongly assumed he was "firing blanks". ;-). They remained married (though their age difference was scandalous in 1939) for 37 years until his passing at age 87 in 1976 when I was 22 and my mother was 59. She remained unmarried until her passing in 1996 at 79, but I'm thankful she was able to meet the first of my two daughters born in 1995 when I was 41 and ironically married to my younger wife. Now in 2019, I'll be 65 this year. So that's quite the span for only two generations. By the way, his family name was Tomnovich, but he changed it to Lindeman as an uncle of his that had immigrated early had done. That uncle I have never found, though I did have a chance to travel from the west coast to NYC to meet her before she passed back in the 80's.
I hope that wasn't too boring. Though I've written these facts down, and many other memories for my kids, I enjoy recalling the chronology because I feel it's fairly unique. Cheers. Subbed and looking forward to more.
спасиба
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
The biggest city is usually the capital, but not always. There are some exceptions. Off the top of my head, I can think of: Canada (Ottawa, not Toronto), Switzerland (Bern, not Zurich), West Germany (before reunification: Bonn, not Hamburg), Australia (Canberra, not Sydney), India (New Delhi, not Mumbai), Brazil (Brasilia, not Sao Paolo or Rio), South Africa (Cape Town/Pretoria/Bloemfontein, not Johannesburg), Nigeria (Abuja, not Lagos), and Ivory Coast (Yamoussoukro, not Abidjan). There may be others. I just can't think of them.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
@UshankaShow Thanks for your detailed answer, and it's a shame that other people have joined our dialogue with unpleasant remarks.
The example of my accomodation is admittedly an extreme one as it's London. For less money I can get a 2 bedroomed appartment or small house in other parts of the country, and after other bills it would work out about the same as what I'm paying now i.e. 50% of my income. There's a massive disparity in housing prices here in the UK. Thankfully I will be able to move in a few months as I am about to start a work from home job, so there's no need for me to stay in London.
But back to the figures you responded with for groceries. If I'm careful with spending I can do this on £200 per month, which is 1/8th or 12.5% of my income after tax. This is because I cook from basic ingredients instead of buying ready meals or ultra processed food, funnily enough recently I've been making things like Soljanka (East German version), kotelety (from half and half pork and beef mince), potatoes etc. I often do spend more though as I like to cook Japanese, Korean or Moroccan food, or treat myself to a steak now and then. But based on that my groceries in the USSR would have cost 5 x 12.5% which is 62.5%, add 5% for rent and that's 67.5%. At present it's 50% for rent plus 12.5% for food so maybe yes I'm a bit better off, I certainly will be when I've moved to more spacious accomodation (will still be 62.5% for rent plus groceries).
I know that in some former socialist/communist countries there are people who say that it was better because of subsidised rents etc. Especially in the former GDR (East Germany) where there is a thing called ''Ostalgie''.
BUT and it's a big but...the bottom line is that they practically imprisoned their citizens, behind walls & fences with minefields, armed guards who shot people attempting to escape etc. Also as a German speaker I've been able to watch documentaries about general life in the GDR. I love my coffee and that was often unobtainable there, or it was stretched with other things like cereal, so it would have been a nightmare for me lol. Also even though I'm enjoying experimenting with cooking and eating typical meals from the GDR/USSR and Poland (plenty of Polish shops near me), I would get bored if that was all I had access too and am thankful that I can get ingredients to cook pretty much any cuisine I like.
Conclusion: both systems have their pros and cons but overall freedom is more important that subsidised rents, guaranteed jobs etc. so overall I wouldn't have liked to live under a Communist regime.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Okay, I have to say something because it really bothers me that so many people misuse a certain term which you did as well in this video and that is "pow wow". I'm 50% Native American (Navajo) and I've known what a pow wow is from a very early age. A pow wow is a gathering, but it's not for brainstorming, not for decision making or problem solving, it's not a meeting of the minds, etc. And this how most people use this term. A pow wow is actually a celebration, or essentially it's a party. There's traditional music, costumes, dancing, food, often vendors selling traditional Native artwork, jewelry, etc. I do like your videos though, but I just wanted to clarify what a pow wow really is. BTW, I've been to Russia once and I took 3 semesters of Russian back in my college years.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Ahh, Belomorkanal, 4mgs of nicotine in an inch of tobacco! I love Belomorkanal so much. I get a carton every year at Christmas, and ration them through the year, having one on occasion instead of my usual American Spirit Unfiltered King Size. I'm an unapologetic hedonist, I love tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis. Smoking is not for everyone, and I would not encourage anyone to try it unless they find the idea of inhaling burning plant matter, and the smell of tobacco appealing, but God I love it. The smell, the taste, the buzz, the way the smoke twists, and curls, and slowly drifts away, it's so beautiful. I'm sorry you don't enjoy it, Sergei, but that is for the best. You are the example people should follow, not me. I know what I am, and as long as it has taken me to reconcile my nature, I can't justify changing to be an example for others, but I can be an example of what not to do. Don't smoke tobacco, or cannabis, and don't drink kids... more smoke, and booze for me that way, and when demand goes down, prices shortly follow. So please, everyone, follow comrade Sergei's example!
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Hello Sergei - as you know, I am a latecomer to both YouTube and, in particular to your channel. I see that you have sometimes chosen to collect a few similarly themed both with this topic and in several others. I hadn't realised this to begin with, so in Part 1 where you discuss specifically the death of your grandpa, although I was interested in the events leading up to his death, at the time of it and surrounding it, I was also disappointed I was not gonna hear all about the other things around Soviet funerals.
Happily, it turns out Part 1 was part of a trilogy! I really enjoyed especially Part 3 and in particular, how the traditions were influenced by the Orthodox Church - and no doubt how the Orthodox Church and its traditions were no doubt influenced in turn by the people and their old ways!
Ooh! Nearly forgot! By coincidence you happened to touch on one of my areas of expertise when you spoke about the Shabashniki! Please excuse my English spelling but at least it shows I have been paying attention to my Russian lessons!!😂 I adored the idea of the little "orchestra" (you probably meant quartet or quintet or perhaps band - and by the way, I deduced it might be that from when you later described someone playing "the tube"😂😂 I don't say at you, but that did make me laugh! Your English is SO good, you hardly ever make any mistakes but the big brass instrument is called the tuba - whereas a pipe - like the pipe that takes waste water from the kitchen sink or the shower to the sewage system - or oil or gas from one place to the other - is a tube😂😂❤❤❤) - such a great idea of a little musical accompaniment as the body is brought from the home to the car waiting outside (which may also be parked several hundred feet away to allow for a mini procession to take place.... I found that rather touching) Anyway around that time you told us of a particular tune that was always played and you described it as the Mendelssohn Funeral March - now Sergei, who am I to tell you that you're mistaken? Well, not me cos you might not be! Mendelssohn did indeed write quite a well known Funeral March (more than one in fact although the Opus 62 No.3 is better known than the others) and it might very well be that the tune you were thinking of - and which you told us was played EVERY time at the transferring of the body from home to the cemetery - WAS a Mendelssohnn Funeral March. BUT - if in fact you were meaning the music that you edited into the background of the explanation you were giving to us for that part of the video, that is the CHOPIN Marche Funèbre! It was originally a stand-alone piece but the composer was fed up that his publisher issued it with no fee to Chopin himself so he composed three other movements to make a four movement piano sonata - the No 2 in B Flat Minor No.35 - of which the third movement is the almost cartoonishly well known Funeral March😂 I hope that helps!❤
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Did you say "The jolly '90s"? I've never heard the phrase, I don't have the book, so I wasn't really clear on what you were saying. The captions don't speak "Sergei" either ;-)
I'm not complaining, you just said to say something. I can't even remember what it was...
I only made it as far as Google so far.
I don't know how many people in the US know the names of the airports in Moscow or how many there are. I think I understood what it was but it's not really that important. I do know about Aeroflot, and also Lot (Polish airways, for the rest of you) But just because I'm a weirdo. I don't know how to pronounce the name of that other airport in Moscow that starts with D. I have only heard one person say it and they always say it so fast. It's not important. Some of us Americans are not so good at Russian. (Yesterday somebody said that they heard that Spanish was spoken faster than any language in the world but I might argue that I think it's Polish. Then again, they might be right. Who knows.)
Your narration makes me feel like I am going somewhere. And also that you are a good writer (because, like young Sergei, it takes a while to scrape up the money to actually buy the book. This month I bought a t-shirt dress that cost $20 so I could throw something over my head when I go out to do some emergency thing for the ducks - because our fence is not that high and the neighbors can see)
Now I'm going to snuggle up in my bed and try not to interrupt myself listening to the rest of this. (Maybe I could just listen to it twice and then I wouldn't interrupt for anything? I almost stopped to ask how you got to Moscow but thankfully before I could do that, you got right to it.)
So far it is all fascinating. So far, being probably like 7 minutes. I used to watch things on YouTube a lot faster before I started commenting on them. On the other hand, commenting is good for the algorithm they say. And I believe it because someone I'm subscribed to but haven't watched in a long time - they posted the other day about having epilepsy, so of course a zillion people commented and their video floated right up into my suggestions. Some other people I am subscribed to, I'm going to have to hunt down, because I haven't watched them in a while so it's my fault.)
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
To be honest, racism is everywhere, some places less, some places more. I have met not just racist amongst white people, I met racist amongst black caribbean people (due to politics in west indies between browns/South-Asians and blacks), racist amongst Arab people (alot of migrant workers in oil rich Arab countries are Brown South-Asian), racist & bigotry amongst South-Asians (being a Muslim minority South-Asian face discrimination from South-Asian Hindus primarily also the Muslim community has adopted caste bs from South-Asian Hindus when it comes to marriages). Secondly if you are Brown and Black, you should be the best person in your host country that you are living in, I see some Brown and Black guys committing crimes in White majority countries, and when they get busted, they cry racism and play the race card GTFOH with that bs. I see some Brown dudes due to gender segregation and sexism in home countries act really creepy with White women in the countries they migrate too, putting a bad name on the rest of us good Brown dudes. Also, if you are Brown, Black, East-Asian, yes you should demand equality, but you don't deserve special priviledge just because of your race. That's stupid. No race should have more priviledges than the other.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
After watching this, one could easily say that people enjoy some aspects of private enterprise, while also seeing the benefits of implementing social and common ownership. Here in the USA, we could use more economic planning that puts people first. It's just so obvious how many US billionaires contribute little back to the country, but how they sure love to take from the people.
I feel that in order for humanity to survive in the future we won't have a choice, but to plan certain industries. There's some commodities that are human needs that should be held in common or socially owned like: infrastructure, food, natural resources, land, and there are others that should not be like: designer clothes, certain media devices, or "in other words" commodities that people generally want, but don't really need to survive.
This is why anyone should clearly see Social Democracy as our best bet. It provides a mixed economy so everyone can enjoy their lives the way they want.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Just ran across your channel yesterday Sergei… fascinating insight. As a former American soldier stationed in West Germany in the early 1980’s, we always wondered what it was like on the other side of the barbed wire.. we never thought we’d fight one another, because of the nukes and M.A.D… my only contact with a Russian soldier was walking to the BX in Frankfurt am Main, we were passing the dental office, and passed a car with SMLM plates parked out front.. a Russian soldier was sitting inside the car at attention with his big hat on.. we walked by and waved to him.. he never looked directly at us, but he did smile.. what do ya know.. he’s like us! I absolutely love the photos and videos, I know a lot of them are yours personally ,are they all yours, or a collection? And you knew the ethnicity of the individuals by their names, here, it’s not so much by name, as by sight, or language, and even then…….There was one photo in particular I saw yesterday of the teacher, she had a passioned look in her face pointing to a boy with his hand raised.. was curious to the subject that was on the board being taught..
subbed.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
This guy clearly left the ussr when he was a young child!@!! He clearly doesn't appreciate the friendliness of capitalism , and the nostalgia of communism , together with efficiency of socialism. Man he is just a awful human being who is blonde as well. Like are you kidding me? Soviets don't even have blondes ,if your born blonde in Soviet union you would be sacrificed to please the honor Stalin, and there parents would be awarded the Russian shield of defending Soviets because blondes are German award. because u most likely were German if you were blonde , by decree 19111 by the ppl commissar , and in turn the there parents would receive a congressional medal of honor for the killing of another communist pig. So what is this Ushanka even talking about he wouldn't have been allowed to even live , so I think he was really sweedish, pretending to be a soviet . God ! Its not like he has shown us picture clearly showing a young man riding bikes , hanging with his family in Ukraine, or pictures of his mom , dad and bobushkas at there dachas . Or like this guy even knows anything about the soviet system together with the capitalist system. Taking pictures with a black kid !! Come on no soviet would do that he is Sweedish . Hshahahaha. You fools!!
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Sergei that "little boba joke" is also a classic "pepito" joke in Mexico and it goes like this:
The teacher asks the children at a fifth grade class if they have any questions and Pepito raises his hand and asks the teacher: Teacher, three women are eating ice cream cones, one bites it, one licks it and one sucks it, Which of these women is the one that's married?
The teacher looks at Pepito and says unsure: the one that bites it? and Pepito answers: no teacher, the one with the ring.
Pepe is the nickname for adults named John, and "Pepito" is its spanish diminutive meaning "little jhonny" for kids under 15/16, sometimes older for family members like mom or dad who still call their son "Pepito" at 30, but again that's mom and dad, and grandma and grandpa, etc. for you.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Hello Sergei. My name is Iván Sáenz, I am from Costa Rica. I studied in the ussr from 1984 to 1990. I studied эвм speciality. In Vladimir, at vladimirskoe politechnicheskii institut. When I was in 2nd year of carrer, I met some russian guys from a духовая оркестра, I played saxophone with them, so I was in every soviet parade in Vladimir. 1 , 9 may, the day of the revolution , русская зима, and other. In 1988, the russian guys created a group called корпус м. I played drumset witn them. We played in the diskoteka parties at the institut. We even recorded some songs in tape ! I was in a черный кофе concert in Vladimir in 1989. Such a great band. Still remember the bass solo. Have a nice day.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Yes, Tito liked beautiful women and made no excuses about it. He liked the company of female movies stars, both European and American. There is a very famous picture of Tito with Elizabeth Taylor. Tito also had a huge collection of fine cars, including Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Cadillac, etc. Rolex wristwatches, expensive German and Japanese cameras. He loved to go hunting, and owned a large collect of custom made sporting guns...English, German, American, etc. Tito was the communist who lived like a king. The former 'communist' Yugoslavia was popular tourist destination for famous/rich people. I visited' Yugoslavia for the first time when I was a 12 year old boy, the year was 1976. It was an eyeopening experience. The beaches were full of topless women from Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, etc. The place was a curious mix of Western Europe and the Eastern bloc. You could see incongruous sights like a brand new Mercedes driving down a street full of Khrushchev style apartment buildings. It's really too bad that it broke up.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Yugoslavian communist-era joke - God decided to take a vacation, so he leaves Heaven for a short trip down to Earth. While God was on vacation, Tito (Yugoslavian president) died. When God returned from vacation, at Heaven's Gate he saw Saint Peter hogtied and gagged with a squad of Yugoslavian Soldiers guarding the Gate. When he tried to enter the Guards stopped him, saying "You cannot enter, this is now the residence of Marshal Tito. He said, "Look, I'm God, creator of Heaven and Earth, what do you mean I cannot enter?" One of the Guards answered, "you cannot enter, because, No1 You were not a participant of People's Liberation War, No2 You are not a Member of the Communist Party, and No3 Technically, you don't exist!"
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Its funny that guy who installed Tito in Yugoslavia on his own tanks (without Red Army, Partisans would never won the Battle for Serbia), hated him so much:) Tito was Stalin believer and follower as Pravda Vostoka can show, even split of 1948 was caused because of Stalin's paranoia. What is even funnier, all of the cartoons portrayed Tito accurately as he was. 5:13 cartoon shows Tito as fascist dictator, because he helped Greek Partisans in Greek Civil War against Stalin's wishes. 6:44 Yugoslav elections cartoon. Here is not quite clear what they were targeting. We had "elections" in autumn 1945 to "choose" between one party, when People's Front, surprisingly, won. Even with one party election, which killed Yugoslav Monarchy, most people choose not to vote for the Party. Many of them were executed afterwards. But, this cartoon was from 1951, that's time of Goli Otok, time of inter-communist purges, where all the party members (and quite few who were not) who were suspected to be loyal to Stalin were sent to barren island of Goli Otok, many never to return. 9:22 Rankovic, who was known as the First Policemen of Yugoslavia was in charge of this purges. Also, he was in charge of many killings of Yugoslav dissidents across the world. His power grow so much, that Tito had to sack him at Brioni Congress, in late 60ies. 13:38 With this new Constitution, Tito will become President for Life, before he was a Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Sergei , I can't help but make a comparison of this video and the videos about abandoned American Shopping Malls. Of course, there is a big difference between the two in many respects. They are similar though in respects to nostalgia. Your nostalgia is better than ours though. It's much more intimate. I mean, who the hell cares really, about a company that peddled cheap crap.
Funny that you mention that there was a "witches house". We had the same thing where I grew up. There was a small house with a lot of junk around it, that was at a distance from the road, that everyone had to drive p-ast to get to a main road. It was known as the "witches House". Don't know anything else about it or what became of it. It was a ways back from the road, had a lot of rusted junk in the yard. It was a small, very small house.
I understand the sad nostalgia, and mystery, that this video portrays. One remembers their presence, and sometimes a presence with a lot of vitality...but...they are gone.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
I'm Brazilian and I loved your video! Years ago, a Hungarian immigrant living in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, recorded a very nice video talking about the reception of the soap opera "Escrava Isaura" in her country. Here is the link > https://youtu.be/OBRRqs1zdkM?si=2AzKG-vFvG4OOE_i
In this other video we can see some of the dubbing of the soap opera "Escrava Isaura", originally recorded in Brazilian Portuguese. > https://youtu.be/Ls6c5_GR__w?si=BjV2hDB4DAu9zWMX
In this other report, shown on Ukrainian TV, there is an interview with actress Lucélia Santos, Isaura's interpreter, who at the time was on a tour of Eastern Europe > https://youtu.be/_HwK3YzOeKs?si=-OWeqJGjH6CRjUq4
In this other report, an approach to the success of Lucélia Santos, this time shown on TV in the United States > https://youtu.be/ha5F2rukQNo?si=iWIXhdbF0xkUAUkm
I have to say that, as a Brazilian, I am fascinated by the success history of the soap opera "Escrava Isaura". It was the first Brazilian television work to be exported to other countries and I believe it was even more successful abroad than in its own country of origin.
Lucélia Santos says that she was a beginning and unknown actress and that she became instantly famous after portraying Isaura. This actress, however, played few roles on Brazilian television after Escrava Isaura. Very involved in the fight to claim image rights for her appearance as an actress in television productions, Lucélia Santos ended up being cut from the cast of soap operas and series by directors and owners of TV channels.
Regarding A Escrava Isaura, it is a classic story of Brazilian literary romanticism. In short, it is about the search for freedom. Something that, despite the apparently silly narrative constructed by the soap opera, reflects a universal and latent desire in all people.
The classic opening of the soap opera Escrava Isaura, which you mentioned in the video (https://youtu.be/dG8I-VV3Amc?si=IfjCj6IIlDjhjGOx ) features the song "Retirantes", performed by Dorival Caymmi. Its lyrics are as follows:
The song > https://youtu.be/5UQrp3pUiik?si=Z8iMDvCyrHSYowLb
"Lerê, lerê, lerê, lerê, lerê (2x)
Black life is hard, it's hard like what
Black life is hard, it's hard like what
I want to die at night, kill myself in ambush
I want to die from a flogging if you, black woman, leave me
(...)
My love, I'm leaving, on this earth I will die
One day I won't see you again, I'll never see you again
Lerê, lerê, lerê, lerê, lerê, lerê"
The song is a kind of lament from a black man in the condition of a slave who is separated from his love. He sings begging for death. Despite being sad, like many samba-canção lyrics, it presents a captivating and happy melody.
I want to say that I was very happy with your video and curious about more stories about Brazilian TV productions shown in Russia.
My greetings, directly from the city of Curitiba, affectionately nicknamed "Brazilian Russia" for the cold it gets here during the winter, haha.
🇧🇷
;)
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
This general outline of training the young reminds me of my rearing in Texas. My dad taught me in handguns, rifles, sharpshooting and reloading ammo, and as a former inmate of Texas jail, I'm familiar with the whole butt cheeks thing, lol I laughed so hard at the med Dr lmao. I'd love to see the video you discussed, and I have some NASA/RSA documents and signatures from high staff in the Russian collaboration with MIR and ISS. Btw, I have binged 12 hours of only your content. Your Russian is beautiful and gives me less intimidating feelings than I thought when I wanted to learn Russian with my astronaut dad, before their trip to Moscow. Would you be interested in this plethora of autographed NASA photos and awards featuring the amazing female cosmonauts, her name was Anna, we took her to the rodeo and they all had a great time! I'd love to know who sent my mom a blessing on her award, it says, Vicki, "From all Russians, Be Happy!!" I too was a Putin fan in the beginning. I have evidence that they were in Ukraine as I have decorations she purchased, but she emptied all her suitcases and packed them full of stoli and furs lol but when they came to the rodeo, they were really lovely and I am glad to find a positive content for education and awareness. I'm a bit crushing on the huge glasses and messy hair lol
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
There are people that grow sorrel in the US, but I have never made a soup of it. There are more than one kind, the kind that he mentions is the kind we put in salads. The other kind is not as tangy, it is red veined sorrel, which is more of what we would use in a soup. In the US there are many seed companies that sell the seed for sorrel, and sometimes you can find it for sale as a plant at a nursery/greenhouse. Baker Creek or rareseeds.com could help you, if they do not have it in their catalog, they may still have the seeds for it, or could send you to a different seed company.
The tough meat you stated, that had to be cooked for a long, long time, is what we call a pot roast. In the US we put that kind of meat in a slow-cook, or called a crock-pot, uses less electricity than a 220 stove, a 110 electric plug uses less electricity, and one can then cook the meat for several hours without running up their electric bill. We call them crock-pot recipes, or crock-pot cookbooks, but what you have in your video is the basics for a beef stew, or called a pot-roast. We cook the meat for a long time, then the last 30-40 minutes we then add in the potatoes, onions, and sometimes celery. Different recipes use different spices, some women use a bay leaf as spice, or just salt and pepper. We serve it with corn bread, or biscuits, possibly just toast or crackers if we don't want to have to cook the bread, we don't like to cook either (ha!)....
The soups you have in the video look like they would taste good. Thanks for sharing it, I learned something new today.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Very interesting video, Sergei! 👍 The question over one's ethnicity becomes rather complicated for immigrants. (I doubt most folks with no experience in living as an immigrant would easily understand.) In some ways, they are in a limbo. I feel the same way, although, in my case, I was born and grew up in South Korea, then have been living in the US since then, thus my take on "which ethnic group do I belong to" is going to be different from that of yours.
Something that I have realized over many years: one's ethnicity actually consists of two distinct components--i.e., a) biological/material overlap; (b) cultural overlap. Consequently, I do not like the term "Korean-American", let alone "Asian-American". They are nothing more than legal convenience, insofar as I am concerned.
I would rather like to describe myself as the following: "Someone who was born in South Korea and grew up for 11 years, then immigrated to the US while holding a US citizenship." So, I do not like both terms --"Korean" and "American"--because I face significant cultural gaps in both the US and South Korea. More specifically, there are many characteristics in both cultures that I have grown up to dislike. I think this cultural distance has a lot to do with the way I experienced my teenage years--i.e., there were not that many Korean immigrants around me outside my home and the church my family attended, my English language ability was poor, and, as a result, I made very few friends.
Even among Koreans, I noticed that there were significant cultural barriers. For example, I would have easier time getting acquainted with Koreans who were born and raised in the US compared to the mainland Koreans. Meanwhile, I would have easier time getting acquainted with Whites who were immigrants themselves compared to the homegrown American Whites. Overall, as time passed, cultural overlap seems deserve more weight than biological/material overlap.
I might sound rather anal about ethnicity, but I have been living as an immigrant, meaning I will always belong to a minority group which means I am going to watch ethnic relations with critical eyes. This is a price immigrants must pay as part of their survival.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Small correction - you use term "proof" in a "percent" sense (2:15 and further on) while in fact 1° (proof) concentration equals 0.5%. Thus 40% (v/v or ABV) vodka would be 80° (proof) US (but 70° in UK, and don't ask me why).
According to Omnicalculator website,
The proof ... date[s] back to 16th century England, where liquors were taxed based on their alcohol content. They were tested in the following way: a pellet of gunpowder was soaked in a spirit, and if it could still burn afterward, the spirit was deemed above proof and taxed higher than ordinary.
which I find hard to believe, because all that water still contained there would dissolve potassium nitrate (one of the component of a black powder) and probably turned the whole thing into some goo.
Accidently, 50% or 100° pure ethanol is the point from which onward you can actually set the whole mixture on fire (may slightly vary depending on its temperature), at that was set as 100° in US... but 87.5° in UK...?
Anyway, down with imperialism, and while at it down with all its quirky and illogical units of "imperial system". Also, while "pshenichnaya" stands for "wheat-y", in US (AFAIK) all "made from grains" spirits are referred to as "grain vodka".
EDIT: only after posting this comment I found an earlier one addressing the issue.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Thank you Sergei. In CSSR, we had Soviet canned fish, incl. uzene sproty (very common) and morskaja kapusta. Soviet matches with printed price of 1 kop. - different than our matches, and very popular with kids to make explosives because one didn't need a box to light Soviet matches. We also had Lada/Zhiguli cars, simple and durable, and Moskvich cars. Our police "verejna bezpecnost" and taxi used Volha cars. The waiting list for cars was maybe two to three years in 1980s. And small electronics, calculators, gun toys, and electronic game "Nu pogodi" (for 250 Kcs). And books, incl. books in English printed in USSR, and a lot of World War II movies, cartoons, and fairy tales (I am trying to find one about Kostej Nesmrtelny) (a ticket was 1 Kcs, compare to other movies 3 Kcs), and since 1988 a Soviet TV as a "third channel". And, of course, the entire Prague metro system was Soviet designed and made. Also, thank you for INTERKOSMOS and taking Vladimir Remek to space. Remek was the first cosmo/astronaut from a country other than USSR or USA. Not many people know that.
2
-
2
-
2
-
OK, I'll be honest. The place where I grew up in the middle east was a city called Abu Dhabi. Yes yes, it has all that money and what not, but I was the child of a working class family, so we usually lived in some of the older buildings. But from what I recall...
The Stalinka style apartment... I don't remember seeing anything like it.
The Khruschavka apartments, where you had to squeeze through everywhere... I actually saw these style of apartments in Dhaka Bangladesh, as I am a Bangladeshi passport holder (born in Middle east does not necessarily grant you citizenship, if you're not arab by lineage). Yes, it was those apartment buildings with no elevators, 5 floors high, bland looking, no AC, and hallways so narrow, you had to walk sideways everywhere.
Surprisingly, in Abu Dhabi, the newer smaller buildings, many of them look like khruschavka, but modernized. These ones have central AC and an elevator. But all of them are the same height.
But, I recall seeing buildings that were even 2 floors high (before it got demolished for something better).
And... when it came to brezhnevki style housing... OMG, in the early to mid 90s, they were EVERYWHERE in Abu Dhabi. The newer buildings of course were much fancier and slowly replaced the old style buildings, but in areas where the working class usually lived, looking at the pictures, they were colored different, but holy crap they looked like buildings in abu dhabi, many of them. And then, you had what I call, super brezhnev buildings.
You had a small shopping complex at the bottom, and then on top of that, you had 6 buildings surrounding the edges of the shopping complex, on the edge of the structure. Between the 6 buildings, you had a small communal playground. The 6 buildings were all identical. (Look at pictures of the Pick'N'Save building in Abu Dhabi from early to mid 90s).
You even had curved quarter-circle shaped brezhnevki buildings, lol.
But as the late 80s early 90s rolled on, Abu Dhabi got really good at designing buildings. For example, the phone company of the city was located in a building literally shaped like a cordless phone. Big offices and important people worked in a building shaped like a rocket, we called it the rocket building. etc etc.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Испорченный телефон, а? Я и не пытался высказать сомнение. Я конечно смотрел ваш материал, где вы показали эту нестандартную для СССР бутылку. Интересно какого вкуса будет эта водка? Если вас интересует, то чтобы убедиться в качестве водки, последние грамм десять на дне стаканюры пейте совсем медленно. Ну совсем. И тогда вам резко шибанут в нос все подлые масла и вы ощутите поганый привкус всего, что должно быть в водке только в малых дозах. Пару таких сравнительных анализов и вы будете представлять себе уровень качества той или иной водяры. Нефтяная "Московская" в этом отношении была жуткой. Почти что самогон. Если вам нужна тема — надеюсь вы извините за непрошенный совет — то попробуйте сделать передачку о традиции самогона. Опять же сюда хорошо дополнят проблемы с нехваткой сахара и дрожжей или то, как бухали даже брагу, от которой на время отнимались ноги. АГА. На полчаса, насколько я помню, или около того.. Можно вставить кусочек из "Зелёного фургона" (желательно из старого фильма, с Тарапунькой.) и т.д.
Всего хорошего.
Вениамин
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
I thank you for your answer, if you give me one by the way. Also, I given your channel the plug to all of my real, existing friends and the ones who happen to be into history, and more explicitly, Russian/Soviet history, have told me that they really like and enjoy it because it gives them that real human perspective that you can only get from someone who actually lived it. That is obviously so very different and in a way more valuable, than a book, no matter wonderfully written and researched by someone who may have lived among his Soviet student or maybe even Soviet teacher/professor counterparts for a month. As you know that doesn't really provide an honest account of the life of the average Soviet citizen, be they male or female. Again, many thanks from me to you in taking the time to share your experiences which, as an amateur historian of Russian/Soviet history, find to be so incredibly valuable.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Cool stories. Here is mine. At the time I lived in north-eastern Romania, about 300km south of Kiev. I was 16 years old, in 10th grade.
We were not told officially that something had happened until about 2 weeks later, so even later than you were told. I know about the wired radio speakers, they had tried to introduce that system in Romania in the 1960s but it failed and by the 1980s they were all gone except for schools and public buildings, most of them not being functional even there. But we did have short-wave receivers, and every evening my father, mother and myself were staying around the VEF206 receiver to listen to Radio Free Europe, hoping to find a less jammed band. That's how most Romanians found out, either directly from illegal Western transmissions or from word of mouth.
The whole population started getting restless, and then they decided to tell us. I guess a big factor for the delay must have been pondering whether the release of information wouldn't trigger a military invasion, Prague having happened not long in the past at that point (18 years previously). After 2 weeks they started passing iodine pills around.
About the iodine I agree they could have done a better job on the series. Especially since iodine-131 is not the only radioactive iodine released, smaller quantities of iodine-125 also occurred, and the concern with this one is that it's longer lived (60 days vs 8 days) so it persisted longer than the 131.
As for me, at the time of the accident I happened to be confined indoors in my parent's apartment because a week before I had broken my leg playing soccer and had a big plaster cast on my leg. I was kinda lucky in this way. To this day I joke that my left leg is the least irradiated part of my body.
The spike in thyroid cancer is a real concern. My wife, who at the time lived in the same town (but we hadn't met yet), developed thyroid cancer 10 years ago. Fortunately they found it early, she had surgery and she's OK. I haven't got any thyroid problems myself... yet. The delay in getting us iodine pills until 2 weeks later, when most of the radioactive iodine had already decayed, likely contributed to that.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Not around yet, but got to planet earth sometime later. Got to hear horror stories from the nuns running my catholic school... you know the usual if you had a bored, strict nun as a teacher 🙄 in yesteryears, if your not Catholic ask your friends who went to Catholic School and boy! Will they have some stories good enough for Halloween 🎃.
But anyway, same at home. Russia was some horrible, cold country were people were hungry, lived like animals, had to share one bathroom per apartment building and if you complained you were cold or hungry they would send you to Siberia and shoot you or leave you outside to freeze to death, etc, etc. The typical stories passed around a Comunistphobic Latin America, but no one spoke about Pinochet or the Argentinan Junta or the missing South Americans. And FYI: everyone in Latin America, except Pinochet who got a bribe from Tatcher, cheered Argentinans. I saw a piece from US News (NBC I think) who interviewed scared Falklanders who were required to learn Spanish pronto by the Argentinan Army which turned their parliamentary home rule British Overseas Territory into a military camp with old people fed by neighbors who risked arrest by going out against stay at home orders.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Very interesting video! To be honest, at the core it sounds a lot like how tv here in the Netherlands used to be until what, the late 80s I think, despite our two countries’ obvious differences.
There were three main stations, all public, meaning they had to adhere to a set of government requirements, such as having sufficient members to make broadcasting worth it. These channels are still here today under a different name, but really they were just called Netherlands 1, 2 and 3. They mostly broadcast news, sports, and some early amusement programmes, as well as some childrens shows. Commercials were around, but the viewer would constantly be reminded when a commercial block was about to start or finish. No sudden interuptions or anything.
During the day there was next to nothing on television. It wasn’t until 1993 that daytime hours would be actively used for broadcasting by commercial stations, which at that point had only been around for about 4 or 5 years.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Unfortunately, I did believe the propaganda told to us in the US as a kid and young teen, and was sure that all the people in the USSR lived in total misery, and that the USSR was going to kill us all with nuclear war. Thanks, Sergei, for showing us many examples of the positives and negatives of your life experience in Soviet Ukraine, and the fall of the Soviet Union, and what life in Ukraine is like today (well, prior to Russia’s invasion…) Your channel is a great help to people like me (I’m a similar age to you) to see what it was like to live there. I always enjoy learning about what the average citizen’s lives were like during interesting time periods in interesting places, much more so than what wars happened when and who was fighting each other, etc. In the US, we knew very little about life for the average person living in the USSR or Eastern Europe, and saw nothing but bread lines, people who looked miserable, and who had no freedoms. Some of that is true…and is true in the US as well. We certainly have a significant number of sad, hungry people and people who are not allowed the same freedoms as others are. I also appreciate your knowledge and ability to explain what is happening with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in an honest and informed way. My best wishes for the safety of your family and all the citizens of Ukraine. I am amazed at their ability to fight and defend their country with such strength and determination. I admire them a lot, and hope this travesty ends quickly with Ukraine being free and independent (and in the EU and NATO so they don’t have to put up with this crap anymore!)
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
"Let's treat them at least as good as the Armenians" - and you respond "That's anti-semitism right there!" - the cure for antisemitism was just another form of antisemitism. Sergei you've perservered through and retained the wherewithal to share your experience to so many people. Personally, I think retaining your sense of humor played a big part in that :). lol
Your video makes me think the Soviet Union had pursuid doubling down on authoritarianism, aggressive militancy, and cult of personality to solve issues during Brezhnev's reign. It's interesting too, because that's actually a departure from Kruschev, who, as I gather had some positive liberalizing tendancies (I mean, compared to Stalinism it's not too hard). This doubling down had run out of rope, it didn't work, and the Soviet Union was at a critical point likely even exercebated by the policy of the last 20 or so years. ANYTHING would be better, so why not do it right? I think it's pretty cool to see a smart guy just lay it all out, admitting the culpability of the Soviet Union regardless of it's propaganda, but also - and I do feel this when I learn about this stuff - let's take responsibility and just DO THE RIGHT THING NO EXCEPTION. Any tendancies towards oppressiveness or authoritariansim - LET IT GO, essentially. It is super fascinating.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Yes. Banned. The Author Boris Pasternak, wrote this novel. I'd say the Mark of a Man is who goes to his Funeral. Google Boris Pasternak, and you will see the people who attended his funeral, in spite of Soviet Government. Then watch the movie, I hope you do: Quite a sad contrast. This film is available on Google Play. Then you can educate us! Why? For those Americans without shortwave radios (and that was most of them, then and even today) this would be their only contact with Russian Literature, let alone books or poetry. Even in an "Open" Country, you didn't have easy access, simply not readily available. To say that Americans form opinions of foreigners based one one movie would be an understatement, but in this case, many times? True, I think. Maybe we all do... So the opportunity for someone in your position, from there, now here, who has never viewed the film...AND for us your Audience, represents quite an interesting opportunity to learn.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Love this video, comrade! I really enjoy seeing these dishes I've never heard of, and I'm seeing some parallels with what I grew up with:
1. Kascha (I'm probably spelling it completely wrong) - really reminds me of Cream of Wheat and simialr hot cereals we used to have occasionally.
2. I've heard of sorrel, but never had it. Like you say not common in the U.S. Rhubarb is probably the closest thing we have in the U.S.
3. Pea soup - but with potatoes?! What's not to love?
4. There's nothing wrong with old milk cattle. Braise just about any meat long enough, and it's edible. I wouldn't boil it, but still - you can make even old milk cows tasty if you know how to handle it.
5. Some of those sausages look like American hot dogs. And some more like bratwurst or knockwurst. But sausage is pretty much all good, no matter where it's from (I just recently discovered chả lụa and I'm low-key in love with it).
6. Fried eggs with sala sounds heavenly. And mashed potatoes is definitely something a lot of people from all over are familiar with. Can't go wrong there. Same with the pelmini - no American equivalent I can think of, but most Americans know the very similar pierogis or various Asian dumplings (jaiozi, gyoza, mandu). And, the mushroom "pierogis" (can't spell the Russian name, will spare myself the humiliation of failing badly)
7. Those of us who live in a heavily Hispanic area (I grew up in south Texas) are also familiar with arroz con pollo - rice with chicken. The pics of buckwheat baked (?) with chicken is very much the same sort of dish in spirit. And I agree with you that buckwheat is quite underrated - barley is probably more common here (and even then not that common).
8. If you don't like red sauce on pasta, maybe you'd like vodka sauce or even something like cacio y pepe as a change of pace?
9. Cabbage salad is what we would call cole slaw. Olivye sounds sort of like our potato salad and ham salad hooked up and had a baby together (not saying that's bad, either)!
Thoroughly enjoyed this video - looking forward to watching the videos about Soviet cafeterias, bread, and grocery shopping next!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
I am from Bulgaria, stealing at work during socialism was a national sport. My Grandfather's garage is still full of tools from his factory, and they simply refuse to break. The state had eyes and ears everywhere, it could easily stop that practice but it deliberately did not and turned a blind eye. But cases of grand theft of public property were severely punished. The Soviet bloc did a lot to secure housing, jobs, public health, education, its economy could easily build a space rocket but failed to provide simple household gadgets, tools and daily consumables. That is why people had to find a way to solve that riddle, the problem was not money - a variety of goods were scarce or simply missing from the market. I think this was a negligible problem - now in the capitalist heaven we have an owner on the top who has to build a mansion, needs a private jet, bentley, etc, the value the workers used to steal was ten times less, that is why the state allowed it.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Besides history, geography was a big ideological subject in our school. Our geography teacher was a superintendent of teachers (zavuch), so she was between the school principal and teachers, and also a high-ranking Party member. She was horrible. But she brought a lot of politics into the class.
Our 5th-7th grade math teacher was not a senior anything, but she would often go on a tangent and start talking about politics.
These two (geography and math teachers) were the biggest antisemites in my education.
But the strongest polit. indoctrination classes were Russian and Ukrainian literature. Our Russian lit. teacher was also the leader of our class (klassnyj rukovoditel). She was tough, but a master in her own way. She would weave seamlessly between literature, culture and history of the time, and politics. Much much later I realized that she actually was not really pro-Soviet at all, but had to lead the students in the "right" direction.
I don't remember much of Ukrainian lit., except that our teacher would often come to class very angry (probably because of something happening in her personal life) and let it out on students. But of course, we were taught that the Soviet government was the embodiment of all the wishes and dreams of Taras Shevchenko (a very powerful but very bitter poet) and other Ukrainian writers.
Literature classes were to a large degree responsible for what Germans call "bildung" (stanovlenie lichnosti) -- not education, but upbringing, formation of character. Literature taught about love and hate, strength and weakness, dedication, honesty, mental strength, and of course Love for Motherland.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@UshankaShow again, interesting (and surprising, or me. I'm glad to hear that Ukrainian wasn't totally marginalised. It seems some of the dynamics and attitudes regarding Ukrainians and Russian have similarities and echos here in Wales with Welsh and English (though there are many differences too, not least Ukrainian being a much bigger language in terms of speakers etc). But we also have proud Welsh people who don't speak Welsh but, identify as Welsh and want independence for Wales.
I remember a programme on S4C, the Welsh language TV channel about 1990 about Ukraine and Rukh and the conclusion of the program in terms of views of Ukrainians on it, was that Ukraine was behind Lithuania and the Baltic and would not leave USSR. I'm glad Ukrainian is gaining in prestige.
It must be great to be a part of the Slavic speaking world where you know you can travel over a huge expense of land, nations and cultures, and although all Slavic languages are different, one can also communicate and quite easily settle in another Slavic country if your home language is Russian, Slovene or Slovak.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Push the envelope.. Серега, спасибо тебе огромное.. Еле смог обнаружить значение этого выражения. Теперь запомню его навсегда, благодаря твоим интересным выпускам.. Мой Английский заметно пошёл в гору с момента, когда я начал смотреть ушанку.. Это реальное и бесценное учебное пособие для русскоговорящих, желающих улучшить свой разговорный , до момента наступления стадии общения с носителями.. Благодарен тебе за твой ВЗГЛЯД, который, кстати, помог мне узнать очень много нового, в том числе моментов, связанных с нашим историческим наследием, надёжно скрывающим неприкрытую ложь.. Благодпрен тебе.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Well three years on i hope its been remonetised😄
I do find these clips fascinating - and in this one "the words are killing me today" made me laugh but your "Aleutian Islands" was perfectly said and you earlier i think you queried something like "the odd ones/time" something like that which again was exactly right..
I may be wrong - although your video reinforced the impression - but it seems to me that Russians are quite jealous and/or resentful? Obviously three years have passed since this was posted and things have happened but my thought process started at Euromaidan in Nov 2013. I strongly feel that a) Ukrainians have always (since 1922) kept that spark of independence which I dont get that same impression with all the others - Tajikistan, Turkmenistan etc. Maybe Georgia and Armenia have a little of it? But when you look at the incredible collective reaction that just said "NO" (we are not putting up with Yanukovych not signing - moreover, having had this incredible running battle with Putin's Berkut - even live bullets - they just refused to lie down. Even the very, very determined effort those women made in Iran recently, ultimately came to nothing but the Ukrainians, jeece aleece, they would not lie down.
As I said, maybe there has always been that latent resistance just waiting for the spark to ignite it? Anyway they won, although Putin was very sly indeed, kind of just quickly moving on Crimea while everyone was still distracted by Euromaidan and the aftermath. Not at the time, I admit - but certainly as we heard more and more from the start of the new invasion last Feb - it is evident that Putin is cunning and sneaky - and a coward. Which should have been obvious as all bullies are cowards.....he rather snatch Crimea by stealth, while Ukraine was looking the other way and still licking its wounds. Very sneaky indeed.
Putin over the years we have seen him on the news, he has come across in slightly different ways over the years - for a start, I well remember Medvedev taking over as President and literally guffawing at how not just thin - but nonexistent and transparent the ruse was - that arrangement fooled no one and seeing the feckless puppy dog Dimon, running around after Prime Minister Putin was laughable! In those days, Putin was at his peak - cold, ruthless, psychotic, murdering bastard. He oozed menace and no wonder everyone was afraid of him. To an extent, they still are - but i would argue that's mostly because there is so much mistrust - and Putin has engineered it so carefully to ensure that all the second layer people below him are utterly dependent in him. Yet objectively he has lost that vicious edge - it's been replaced far more with a sort of sullen, sulky, resentful spite - i think he absolutely hated the Ukrainians resistance back at the end of '13 - i really feel he was affronted. Like all bullies and cowards, he is not secure in himself (his VERY ordinary background i think still bugs him to this day - he is certainly no little Moscow prince or St Petersburg "Ancien Régime" aristocrat. Yet it is clear he had pretentions of being Tsar and he knows people know it and secretly snigger about it - so that has eroded him personally and made him ever more self conscious, neurotic and suspicious - and it shows. He now feels that not only does he want to keep hold of power - he knows probably he needs to. He knows he's now really at risk, physically, without that army of personal bodyguards and he only keeps them by staying president....
...also, going back to him being a cold hearted psychopath - which he absolutely is - the hardest thing for me to understand (especially, as I said, in the light of the unequivocal reaction of the Ukrainians against Russian influence - against Putin's influence) is why Russian people dont see what Putin is - he so manifestly could not care less about anyone apart from himself - even his closest colleagues he only tolerates and "keeps sweet" (with bargefulls of money stolen from mother Russia herself) as he has to - even he knows he couldn't do it all by himself. Trust me, even our most ruthless, egotistical maniac Head of State - King Henry VIII - while you might believe he cut off his wives' heads and fought with the Pope purely out of personal whim and interest - well, yes he was motivated by self interest but always did it by the book - with the assent of Parliament and using the due processes of law. Although of course, exactly like Putin uses those same institutions, we all know no Minister or Judge would ever dare go against him! But the point is still valid - by the book.
That said, even Putin gave up trying to pretend he was against corruption at least a decade ago... and this is why i just dont get ordinary Russians. I read a few months back that a third of the population still have outdoor toilets!! I mean if that is not a sign of withholding from the people the investment in them which is so overdue, I dont know what is. Instead, he uses that tired old tactic of blaming everyone else - especially Americans. But all I see is a sullen teenager, determined it's "not his fault" and pointing accusatory fingers at the West - and in doing so he comes across as so bitter and resentful especially as his paranoia has gone into overdrive. He has so CLEARLY got a doppelganger who fools no one - it's embarrassing. I think that's one of the reasons he never looks at the internet and demands paper copies of computerised reports. He KNOWS he's just built on sand.
Anyway, what we are currently seeing is a man going through an agonisingly slow car crash - i just don't get either how he does not see he is doomed although it is arguable that now he's got this far, he's got nothing else to lose....
It is a tragedy for Russia - and inconvenient for the rest of the world as heating the house, filling the car and eating now costs a fortune thanks to the war's impact on the wider world.... i just hope that eventually Russians awake from their sleepwalk they have been in for the last 30 years - i hope we oneday see them appreciate just what a gift Gorby was - and Uncle Boris - and how they have been right royally shafted by Putin. The West is not their enemy - as you know - Putin has just shamefully used that as a cover to continue his venal life of being a Capo dei tutti di capi (a boss of bosses - a godfather)....
Anyway love your show!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
This is human thing. I worked many diff jobs in US and everyone does it: they jack pencils pens, stationary, paper pads, toilet paper rolls from the /janitors supplies closet for the bathrooms, paper towels, coffee packets, stamps. I worked for sears logistics for years, everyone stole bedframes, mattresses, fridgeratoes, microwaves, teevees etc. Everyone does it.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Hi Sergei , in June 1990, soviet nuclear engineer Grigori Medvedev published an article in the U.S Weekly "Nucleonics Week" refering to more than ten serious accidents happening at soviet nuclear power stations between 1957 and 1985. All of which were kept secret as all nuclear power related matters where categorized as being matters of national security. Especially the Leningrad-1 nuclear power station which was almost identical to Chernobyl NPP had a substantial history of serious accidents.
In this article , he also mentioned the incident at Chernobyl Unit 1 in 1982. He worked for seven years at Chernobyl and was mainly invovled in the construction of Unit 5 which was never finished because of the disaster at Unit 4. Here is a list of accidents he named in the article :
Sept. 1957. The now well-known explosion of a liquid high-level waste tank at the Kyshtym defense reprocessing complex near Chelyabinsk. Large areas of land remain off-limits for decades.
May 7, 1966. Power excursion in the 62-MW prototype BWR at Melekess. A health physicist and a shift supervisor are irradiated. The chain reaction stops when two sacks of boric acid (boron) are thrown on the reactor.
1964-1979. Frequent destruction of fuel assemblies at Beloyarsk-1 (108 MS). Operating staff are irradiated during repairs to the core.
Jan. 7, 1974. Explosion of a reinforced concrete tank containing radioactive gases at Leningrad-1.
February 6, 1974. Explosion of the tertiary circuit at Leningrad-1 from hydraulic shocks induced by violent boiling. Three persons dead. Release into the environment of highly radioactive water containing filter wastes.
Oct. 1975. Local core melt at Leningrad-1. A day later, over 1.5 million curies are released through the stack.
1977. Half of the fuel assemblies melt at Beloyarsk-2 (200 MW). Irradiation of staff during repairs, which last a year.
December 31, 1978. Fire at Beloyarsk-2 caused by the collapse of the turbine building roof. The control cable is completely burned and the reactor cannot be controlled. Eight people are irradiated while trying to inject coolant into the reactor.
Sept. 1982. Partial core melt at Chernobyl-1 following an incorrect action by operating staff. Release of radioactive material into the industrial zone and the city of Pripyat; irradiation of staff involved in repairing the core.
Oct. 1982. Explosion of the generator of Armenia-1 (VVER-440), setting fire to the turbine building. The operating staff manages to keep the coolant flowing, and a team from the faraway sister plant at Kola arrives by airplane to help the Armenia operators save the reactor core.
June 27, 1985. Accident at Balakovo-1 (VVER-1000) during initial startup, when the pressurizer relief valve opens suddenly and steam at 300 degrees C is sprayed into staff work areas. Fourteen people die. The accident is laid to errors on the part of inexperienced, nervous operating staff.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
In the 1970's, tipping in the restaurant was 10%, then it became 15%, the for the fancy restaurants, it was 5% for the captain and 15% for the waiter, and ordinary restaurants 18%. Now many want 20 or more. With sales tax, even if rich people spend more, they will likely incur less as a proportion of their income (with a some exceptions). With income tax, it is possible to implement a progressive system. Romney having 15% is to be expected because a large part of his income is long-term capital gains (including the special provision in which a fund manager gets the benefit of the investor income being long-term CG). Trump taxes is likely to be complicated and wildly fluctuating because his income is dominated by discrete deals as opposed to recurring or steady recurring , as in salary. It is said that the net income of low income is essentially negative with credits, but even when I was low income, I had no credits and paid the low rate.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
From Florida here. Cream of Wheat dry cereal to cook is probably similar to semolina. You didn't eat oatmeal? Maybe that was a Scottish/English thing. Americans eat a LOT of oatmeal in winter. Cheese and flour dumplings would be like Italian gnocchi. We Pennsylvania Germans eat apple butter on top of cottage cheese, on the plate or on a slice of bread. As American kids we would use our brown bag all week. We'd fold up the bag, bring it home and Mom would use it all that week. My Mom was very economical. When we were elementary school age in the 1950s we had metal lunch boxes with small thermoses. Mom would make hot soup for the thermos bottle. And we'd buy a small bottle of milk at school. Mother would make us a sandwich and soup, celery and carrots or perhaps a pickle, and a piece of fruit and a sweet for dessert, like a cookie or a cupcake. Washed down with milk, all eaten fast in half an hour. I didn't like cooking either but I did it to feed the family. Now with us being retired, my husband does all the cooking because he enjoys it. I clean up the kitchen at the end of the day. Yes, husband is Jewish so we LOVE borscht with sour cream on top. Love cabbage soup too, sweet and sour with raisins.....OMG very good. Yes, we have split pea soup with bacon in it. Geez, now you are making me hungry. Yes, Pennsylvania Germans like my family were meat and potatoes people too. Plus a vegetable and that was dinner. My Mom had about ten different ways to make potatoes. We LOVE potato pierogies or cheese ones too. Yep, we eat cabbage salad but use vinegar and sugar to make it sweet and sour. With some carrots, celery and a green bell pepper, plus celery seed.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
From the way that more than one look alike photo has been sent from viewers for everyone's amusement we can see how the outward demonstration of genetic inheritances in a given region might produce a large population with look alikes around almost every corner. Some time ago I was often confused with another man in my town for many years. From these facts we can also remember to be careful not to jump to too quick of conclusions about the faces we see in pictures, film, or walking on a sidewalk. I myself, when I put on the right beard, look like Comrade Lenin (the not always sweet little guy), or, I did, I have pictures, before I got older than he ever did. I think it helped that no one ever shot me.
My first interests in Russian life was got from the "Soviet Life" made for America magazine given away every year in the "International" building of the Oklahoma State Fair - It was in the late 1960's. I read about the wonderful life of the Soviet workers, their wonderful healthcare, their vacations at beautiful state sponsored resorts, and even an article about the trial of an embezzler in the office staff of a Soviet factory. Its really great to have the study of Soviet life rounded out now, with intimate first hand details, on this wonderful Ushanka Show.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@UshankaShow So it was the high level Soviet Apparatchiks, that got the absolute best, in Soviet society. I was wondering if you could do a show, on how they lived. The private/"special," bars, restaurants, stores, sanitariums, etc., that the top level of the Communist party, got to enjoyed. I am also interested in the Soviet Limos. Lastly, there was a resort (which is still operational today) which had a meeting, that ended the Soviet Union. I think we all, would enjoy to learn more about it. If you ever visit Miami Beach, I would love to meet you, for lunch. Great shows, keep up your great work, George!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
What you seem to forget is that:
a) getting propiska was not that hard. You didn't have to marry, it could be given by anyone.
b) USSR was a big country. Most regions were under populated, but still essential for its development. If everybody could just go where they wanted, a lot of smaller towns would get depopulated, while big cities would overpopulated. USSR did spend resources on building infrastructure in even most remote area's. The government specifically created jobs in order develop certain regions.
Now there is more 'freedom' in Russia, so it faces the problem of small towns/villages dying out, because all the people and jobs move to bigger cities. A lot of small villages and towns just don't fit in the free market. People had to be accounted for, and that's not a bad thing.
USSR government wasn't dumb (unless we are talking about Perestroika), it had a very good reason for making the decisions. 26 years after the collapse a lot of problems Russia now faces were already dealt with in USSR. (decline of population for instance).
c) you could MOVE freely, it just wasn't that easy to STAY. And is it much easier in USA for example? Let's say you want to move from LA to NY - sure you have the freedom, but if you have nowhere to stay, so most people still can't do it. In fact, people traveled probably more in USSR then they do now in modern Russia.
For instance, my mother war born in Soviet Ukraine, then moved with her mother to the far east of Siberia. Then went back to Ukraine for university. Then moved to St-Petersburg, while going to Odessa to visit family from time to time. Students could pick universities from any part of USSR and move there for their studies. Komandirovka was very common in USSR.
This is also the reason why most people of post-USSR share the same mentality - they just moved a lot, especially during their student years.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@UshankaShow я тут посчитал с учётом квартплаты. Что-то стало лучше, что-то хуже, а в общем осталось примерно на том же уровне.
Хлеб:
134×0,9/0,16 = 753 булки
13000×0,5/15 = 433 булки
Стало хуже.
Сахар:
134×0,9÷0,94=128 кг
13.000×0,5÷22=295 кг
Стало лучше.
Докторская колбаса:
134×0,9÷2,2=55 кг
13.000×0,5÷170=38 кг
Стало хуже.
Рис:
134×0,9÷0,88=137 кг
13.000×0,5÷18=361 кг
Стало лучше.
Гречка:
134×0,9÷0,56=215 кг
13.000×0,5÷34=191 кг
Стало хуже.
Свинина:
134×0,9÷2,1=57 кг
13.000×0,5÷110=59 кг
Осталась на том же уровне.
Яйца:
134×0,9÷0,11=1096 шт
13.000×0,5÷3,2=2031 шт
Стало лучше.
Водка:
134×0,9÷2,87=42 шт
13.000×0,5÷90=72
Стало лучше.
Пиво:
134×0,9÷0,37=326 шт
13.000×0,5÷26=250 шт
Стало хуже.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
The Chinese allowance of capitalist economics seemed at first to me like they were going for a transitional thing similar to the Soviet N.E.P, but, now, hey... The revolution is in danger. Oh. Whatever, the Chinese (capitalists) have sure played the greed of the American ruling class against them, by sucking up so much industrial capacity and production when the Americans bosses gutted American manufacturing as a way to finally crush the national influence of America's labor unions. I think whatever China turns out as, they understand that to be an independent nation they have to have the industrial and technological capacity to produce the military force required to fend off invasion, because you fall to the bigger fish if you don't. And, maybe they'll expand their sphere of influence here and there...
Stalin and the soviets of the 1920's understood this too, hence the 5 Year Plans, and all that messy polluting hurry to get industrial... Which if they had not done, perhaps the swastika would fly over Moscow, Paris, etc. today.
China too understands real politik.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Well put simply,if you lived in a USSR city,owning a car was a waste of time money and effort..It was just NOT necessary. Public transport in USSR cities was well organised indeed..If you lived in rural areas well then a car was more necessary..There were quite a few different makes and models,and they were unsophisticated but solid and reliable..like western cars the designs were sometimes not so good,and certain models had certain weaknesses..The USSR driving test was so hard you had to practically be a mechanic to pass it,you were expected to be able to maintain and repair the car yourself,support infrastructure for cars was limited to say the least..people who had cars often took them to the garage/motor pool at their place of employment if there was one,and got the mechanic there to service it..parts were always in short supply,..windscreen wipers were often stolen,and drivers would remove them after parking the car..Another thing about the USSR was that you couldnt "just take off in your car" on a whim..It was a planned economy,and you needed permission to go places,there was no touring setup,with motels,gas stations,highways and roadside diners like Route 66...as well in winter it was practically impossible to drive intercity..People flew by plane Aeroflot,had quite cheap fares..Many countries that have good public transport also have less car ownership. Here in Sydney Australia,I dont have a car,nor would I need or want one..I can get about very effectively,at low cost,via bus,train or tram..If I need to travel long distance,coach and domestic air travel are better value..1200kms takes about 2 hours by plane,and about $100..by car it takes all day stressful driving and costs more in fuel...
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Excellent video. Will view other of your vids and likely subscribe.
Two excellent books by two western journalists in the mid-70s described ordinary life in Soviet Russia during their year+ tours in Moscow. Westerners would be surprised if not shocked to learn what Russians dealt with on an everyday basis during that time-frame. Empty food shelves and long queues leading to an unannounced product not visible from the street. Very often, citizens would join the end of a queue only to learn, after much wasted time in line, that the item was, either, something they didn't need/want or that the vendor was, now, out of stock of whatever was being sold.
Manufacturers were rewarded by production weight; tons mattered. What is the heaviest item in a car to be manufactured? An engine block, an engine block with no accompanying parts! Produced in the thousands to meet or exceed quotas, engine blocks were stored in the open, rusting away, with no chance of being used. However, the lowly windshield wipers were not produced in the needed quantities because, ... well because their lack-luster production weights didn't make a boss look good. Windshield wipers were in such a demand that they would be stolen off of vehicles whose owners failed to secure them, stored normally in their glove boxes. It would be comical to witness Russians pulling their vehicles to the side of roads during an unexpected rain, retrieving their windshield wipers from their glove boxes, hopping out into the rain to attach their windshield wiper to their wiper bases while swearing at the clouds except that, ... you were having to do the same.
There were a lot anecdotes such the two mentioned above in these two books. Unfortunately, they are out of print. But I was able to purchase one from an online reseller. The name of the books are: "The Russians" and "Russia". If you are unable to purchase one, try ordering through your local library. They are informative and, somewhat, comical.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Sergey, in the USSR there was no private property as such, period! All propery was or state owned, or personally owned, which basically was the same, like "state owned, trusted to a person". It could be expropriated, confiscated, or just taken by the state at any time, with or without any reason, and with little or no compensation whatsoever. Learned it in 1984, на уроке "Основы Советского Государства", в восьмом классе.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Sergei, it is interesting that you say you do not want to talk while getting a haircut. I understand, because I have that mentality when I am getting a massage. I know sometimes when women get a massage by a professional, they just want to talk and gossip, but for me, I want to say nothing. So I understand what you mean, in general. However, being an American... well, the male barbershop is a place where men can just simple speak whatever is on there mind and not be judged. When I was living in Flint, Michigan there was a cool barbershop like this (it still exists) in the basement of a tattoo parlor and, yeah, guys just go there and we can talk about whatever we want... maybe in different places people will be offended but here, it's ok. There is a movie called "barbershop" that really explains this point.
Now that I am living in SPB, things are just a little bit different. Парикмахерская, well, first I should say it is very difficult to say this word correctly. second, yeah, now it is more popular for these places to be just for me... but most of them still do things that I think is for women. For example, they will give you coffee and then offer to wash you hair... well, I don't care if a guy is just cutting my hair... but why would I want a guy to wash my hair, and his fingers are touching my scalp... ha, no thanks! But I have found a few places that are more like the barbershops that I am used to, typically these guys are from the "stan" countries
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Wow! The Old Khotabysh! I saw this, dubbed in French, at my town's Municipal Library's projection room when I was about 8, 1965 or 1966 because I'm certain this was before the '67 Middle-East war and the '68 Prague repression and the subsequent Western students' rioting spree.
My very stern, right-wing Republican and nevertheless inordinately competent Primary School teacher, Mrs. Dreyer, had taken her class to see a Soviet movie, courtesy of the equally Conservative city council!
The fact that I remember it after all these years seems to indicate that I enjoyed it very much!
If there was, however, a Marxist message in the film, I failed to detect it, although my political senses at that age were still a tad under-developed...
I told my Dad about it when he came back from work in the evening, but perhaps he was too tired to fly into a rage and just let out a "oh well".
I'd love to see this kid movie again, preferably subtitled in a language I can read with a fake Russian accent!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
I have to tell you a few things.
First, I love this channel and information. I can find propaganda from the west or USSR anywhere, it's not even a challenge. It's very difficult to find information from people that actually have their boots on the ground, that would be people that lived the actual experience vs some fairy tale.
There are so many "fanboys" of communism of the USSR that it's scary. I've seen as much nonsense from them on youtube as you can imagine. We could just start with the Stalin lovers that claim the Holomodor never happened and the "few thousand comrades" that died during his era (yes, these morons believe he was a saint and the west blew this up to something way larger than it was) was all due to Yezhov. They actually scare the hell out of me, mostly for how intellectually dishonest they are.
Lastly, the US is not even close to a truly modern society. This county continues to persecute and jail the wrong criminals, we continue to spend too much money on "national defense" (it's corporate defense) to name a few of the issues. However, if you can get past the warts, we still have a pretty solid society of people and if you don't invade the citizens space they will treat you very well. So yes, the US has issues, but I don't need an internal passport, I don't need permission to go outside the country and I can criticize the government without fear of being jailed. I have never worried, ever and I'm 58 years old about anything that I've wanted to eat unless I couldn't afford it...and that's more of a want than a need.
I will also tell you that the poor of the US didn't really grow up that much different than the poor of the USSR, the real difference to me is the entire population of the USSR outside of the "party" and military were poor, where in the US you could take yourself into the middle class within a generation of immigration, if you made that choice. You know, it's about decisions and the ability to see your environment, and the will to make sacrifice to overcome.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
My guesses:
1. They arrived several days ago, because a spider has already spun a web between the tent and the tree.
2. Looks like they rowed a boat (or boats) to the campsite.
3. They are close to the village, or at least close enough to a chicken farm.
4. & 5. These are related because it depends on how shadows look like on the ground in Russia at a time when they are going camping; I would think that because most of Russia is pretty far north, that the shadows would never be that short like when the sun is directly overhead. So I think it is noontime, they are preparing for lunch, and the sun is toward the south, and the wind is blowing the campfire from the south to the north. Also IMO watermelon is more of an after-lunch food rather than a dinner food.
6. & 7 I'm guessing that Kolya is packing up his bag because he just completed his on-duty shift yesterday. If that is correct, then Kolya is packing up his bag, Vasya looks like he has a tripod in his bag so he is probably the photographer, Petya is cooking, so Alex is the one hidden behind the bushes with the net catching butterflies.
8. Impossible to tell from a black and white picture, but maybe they're flying a red flag for May Day (May 1)? It seems a bit early to be camping at that time (Is the weather warm enough? Are schools in session?) but that's the only hint I have to go on.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1