Soviet History Fall 14 Comments

Curious that the Russians would blacklist entire bands instead of individual songs… Not all of AC/DC is violence and neofascism, and not all of Tina Turner’s songs are about sex. I wonder if this is still an attempt to control what people listen to but in a roundabout, indirect manner.

Sometimes I wonder what people were thinking at the time, especially the Russian political leaders. It only seems logical that with the increased flow of Western goods into the bloc that the people would soon crave democracy and communism would fall. Were they that desperate to keep public support, or had they resigned themselves to the fact that their rule was coming to an end?

It surprises me that the Russians did not learn from the American Prohibition. Americans brewed their own alcohol at home, organized crime rose, etc. It seems like there needs to be a grassroots temperance movement, instead of outlawing alcohol, in order to get people to stop drinking. Convince people drinking is bad, they’ll stop. Take their alcohol away, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it.

Nice post. It only seems fitting that local leaders themselves would disregard this law and devise ways to get around it. I would probably be suspect of any town in Russia referring to itself as a “sober town”.

Good take on the demise of the Soviet Union. My post was pretty similar and I agree with you that it was really a combination of things that led to the collapse, notably glasnost and perestroika. These policies created kind of the perfect storm for a public outcry from the Soviet citizens themselves.

That video with the drone is really cool. Chernobyl represents one of those situations where we’re still figuring out how bad the effects are. Sure there are claims about understanding radiation, but who really knows how long it will be until people can live there again? (excluding the Babushkas of course)

This has a lot of great information about Russia’s healthcare. Personally, I had no idea how bad things got following the collapse. The stark decrease in life expectancy from 1991 to 1994 seems almost unreal given the technology available.

I have to agree. When there is a will, there is a way. Ironically, Gorbachev was trying to impose restrictions on alcohol while lifting restrictions in other areas.

Interesting post. This reminds of the scene in the movie Lord of War when the Soviet Union collapses and the gun-dealer main character goes to a bunch of former Soviet Republics and buys all their Soviet military equipment for Western dollars now that the USSR meant nothing.

That picture of the banned rock groups is awesome. Banning Van Halen for “anti-Soviet propaganda” is just too good. It’s a problem when your government is intimidated by Van Halen.