What was GOOD about Soviet Communism?
Having traveled to a few Marxist-Leninist and Maoist states, I noticed a lot of things. Going to the USSR with a Church Group in the 1980s, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in the 1990s, and Cuba in the early 2000s - I was able to talk with locals, and get a feel for life in a Communist state.
Most people were sick of it - they wanted choices and they wanted freedom of expression. They also knew that with those things came the dog-eat-dog world of Capitalism. Ideally, all of them, every single last one of them, wanted something in between.
Just as every Empire or State can be capable of horrific things, there can also be some good - even if small. I still say the only thing that was good about the Third Reich was Albert Speer. The Stalinist USSR had a few more good things, but it also had a few more bad things. I think Stalin killed 10 for every 1 Hitler killed.
However, the Moscow Subway system? That has to be seen to be believed. You really got the idea that it was a palace of the people.
So, in looking at the good things under Communism, here's a few I can think of.
- Gazirovannya Voda Machines. These things were great - you paid like one ruble for plain mineral water, 3 rubles for flavored mineral water. They all had a communal cup that for some reason, was never stolen. If you were afraid of catching germs from another comrade, you didn't have to worry: the cup would clean itself after use.
- Ampelmännchen: East German Pedestrian Walk Lights. Seriously, how can these not be cool? These were all over East Germany, and just looked so much more friendly than the generic 'walk dude.' Even more bizarre knowing these came not just from Germany, but Communist East Germany.
- Soviet Guitars. I love my Tonika and you can have it when you pull it from my cold dead fingers! This Tonika was supposed to be a Fender Telecaster. I don't see it....
- Soviet Architecture. Just like Albert Speer being the only good thing about Nazi Germany, Communist buildings were pretty cool too. They totally ran with the whole 'Sputnik Style.' Here's a few more cool creations:
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Oh, and the constructivist propaganda art rocked.
How can you not like a guy who pounds his shoe on the podium?
"I enjoy being in America: it's fun, you know, because you have so many things we never had in Russia — like warning shots."
"In Russia we only had two TV channels. Channel One was propaganda. Channel Two consisted of a KGB officer telling you: Turn back at once to Channel One."
"In America you have American Express Card, 'Don't leave home without it'. We have Russian Express Card, 'Don't leave home'."
"The first time I went to a restaurant, they asked me 'How many in your party?' and I said 'Six hundred million'."
(Well, actually they did, but they kept their mouths shut, and didn't have
television or radio stations....almost paradise!-- 
)
Constantly? 
even though they invented it to get us to waste all our time. 
The tank that broke Hitler's back.
And the IL-2 Sturmovik, the Airplane that helped.
