this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2024
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If you're talking about communism in the USSR, people having "nothing to strive for" and being "depressed and drunk" were definitely not the primary issues. That's a seriously uninformed and sophomoric position, and you should read up on history a bit if you're curious. There were serious issues relating to central planning that were the cause of the famines, their military logistics issues, and corruption at the local level. Not to mention the various internal and external conflicts that plagued the USSR. These did not relate to some vague notion of people being unmotivated, depressed, or drunk.
Bonus historical fact: Russia's rampant alcoholism has roots in the Czarist period where the Czar decided who could distill and sell alcohol. At various points, this meant aristocrats only and then a state monopoly. During the czarist period, vodka sales to Russians made up like 20% of the state's income - so the czarist state had a vested interest in maintaining the demand for vodka. During the communist period, the government tried to ban or limit vodka production and consumption numerous times (decreased worker productivity, made people bad parents, etc) - but that went about as well as prohibition has gone in other parts of the world.
Why do we call it a sophomoric opinion or attitude? Why not a freshmanic opinion or attitude? After all a sophomore has at least one more year of university than a freshman.
Not sure if this is why, but I would say that a sophomore is much more annoying because they have that one year. It's like when you talk to a person who just took their first university level psychology course, and suddenly they think they can diagnose everyone they meet.
A "Freshman" attitude might be more one of respectful learning.
I literally just made that up, but it sounds right.
Sophomore literally comes from "wise fool" in greek. Sophos = wisdom, moros = foolish
It's like both sides forget that free market socialism exists too.
Have you ever considered questioning that some of the things you learned about the USSR, when we were literally calling them the "evil empire," and were in a constant state of existential dread over the possibility of nuclear war, might have been propaganda? And that maybe some of these things are worth further investigation? Especially when they sound that absurd?
I dunno, just a thought.