Thread:Pr1s0n3r0fl1f3666/@comment-681745-20130203184824/@comment-80.243.6.234-20130204125324

(Note: the exact points stated in the article were based on my relatives' accounts of living in the Soviet Union.)

I think what Pr1s0n3r0fl1f3666 was talking about is that, while communism certainly had its fair share of flaws, the people (at least those who weren't persecuted for anything) who lived in communist nations were shocked to lose their economical and social stability (near lack of unemployment, free quality education and universal health care, economical equality...) they had during communist/socialist parties' rule. Especially as, in many cases, the markets weren't ready to turn free -- as a result, salaries dropped, unemployment rose, social programs got canceled. And, while in large cities, such problems weren't as noticable, the smaller cities and villages got hit a lot harder. As well as some smaller Soviet republics, which still haven't reached their Soviet-era GDP.)

(Sad fact: nowadays, the U.S. is topping the incarceration rate list, and is even comparable to the worst years of Stalin's rule in the USSR at that ).