• El Barto@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Ok. Thanks. And what sources did you use to assert that? I’m not being pedantic or contrarian. It’s just that if I type “did communism improve people’s lives in the USSR and Cuba?” I don’t know if I can trust the answers (whether yes or no.)

    • Cowbee [he/him]
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      9 months ago

      Literacy rates by country: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate

      Life expectancy (looks like the US overtook Cuba as of 2021, likely due to the COVID problems within Cuba and the blockade against them): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

      Life expectancy of Russia over time (note WWII as a significant dip): https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041395/life-expectancy-russia-all-time/

      Again, I’m not at all a Marxist-Leninist, I’m more of an Anarchist. I think we need to learn from what did and did not work.

      • El Barto@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Thanks, man. I’m a pursuer of the truth, even if it challenges my own deep-rooted beliefs, so this is helpful.

        One more question: what is it with those nations being overtly oppressive of its people? Would it be a coincidence and have nothing to do with communism? Or is it that authoritarian regimes somehow like the idea to promote communism so they get the people’s support?

        • Cowbee [he/him]
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          9 months ago

          A mix of reasons, a little of A, a little of B, a little of C. Generally, with the Soviet Democratic structure, the upper level Soviets weren’t as accountable to the masses as the ones below, leading to corruption in the Politburo. At the local level, things were fairly democratic, but the higher up you go the less the citizens can influence you directly.