[p2p-research] People happier under Soviet-styled socialism?

[Ryan Lanham]

I have met many people who lived under authoritarian regimes in Poland,
USSR, Romania (now family members) and other Comecon countries.  To the one
they all said the former system destroyed lives, hope and any sense of
fairness.  I've never heard any variance from that story, myself.

That said, clearly many were left behind.  Now they are starting to hate and
seeth with anger--just as whites in the Southern US did after the advent of
civil rights.  I must admit it is a bit frightening to have seen the EU
parliament turn so sharply to the right.  Nationalism and hate seem to be
alive and well in Europe just at the time the US seems to be moving away
from those trends for the first time in a long while.

I would contend it isn't capitalism or neoliberalism, but social collapse
caused by bankrupt governments and corruption that causes few services to
reach the needy.  Development was the necessary answer to tractor factories
building machines no one wants and cities relying on one industry.
Capitalism of one sort or another was the only way out of that.  Government
failed people in the transitions, but the governments were so bankrupted by
sloppy socialism that I'm not sure what alternative could have been used.
In addition, given the strong reliance on the state, there were no civil
society entities to rely upon.

Ryan




On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 1:35 AM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:

> I'm not really surprised, having spent many years holidaying in Romania,
> where my parents built unofficial relations over the years ...
>
> Yes, the state was hateful, but 'average' people could ignore it to a great
> degree and lived there lives not working very hard, with time for family and
> friendships, and all kinds of unofficial exchange networks ...
>
> I think the article is misleading as it uses democracy as a yardstick,but
> that's not the issue, capitalism is, especially the brand that replaced the
> system, i.e. neoliberal shock therapy.
>
> Let's not forget Russia lost 15 years a life expectancy in a decade, a
> dramatic decline in living standards, with a wholesale abandonment of the
> safety net well below European welfare standards ... At the same time, there
> was a straight looting of state property, while on a local level, mafia
> organizations took over ...
>
> It's only in the last few years that things have picked up ...
>
> This being said, if you were young and dynamic, and hated the old system,
> then the new could be experienced as a liberation, as long as it was working
> for you (but see in east germany for very dissatisfied youth turning to the
> extreme right)
>
> I'm also surmising that some countries, especially those that had strong
> civil societies before  the stalinist takeovers, did better in their
> adjustments, i.e. the baltic states, poland, czechia,
>
> Michel
>
>   On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 4:20 AM, Ryan Lanham <rlanham1963 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>>   http://www.labspaces.net/97978/Are_socialists_happier_than_capitalists_
>>
>> It may have something to do with where you start, and then where you test,
>> but even still, I am frankly surprised.
>>
>> Ryan
>>
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