Before perestroika, the USSR was probably the most remarkable time in the life of Soviet citizens - the era of stagnation. Many people of the older generation now recall with nostalgia that time - not very well-fed, but almost carefree in comparison with today.
Instructions
Step 1
The "period of developed socialism", as the era of stagnation in the USSR was officially called, was not as carefree as many now think. Very low wages for the majority of the population and a shortage of high-quality consumer goods and foodstuffs added a very large fly in the ointment to the socialist barrel of honey.
Step 2
And yet there were many positive aspects to life in those years. First of all, life in the years of stagnation was very calm. There was no crime. That is, not that she was completely absent, but the press preferred to keep silent about her. Crime in the USSR, according to party ideologists, was considered a relic of the capitalist vulgarity. And many Soviet people readily believed in this. Indeed, it was almost safe to walk the city streets at night, and cases of bloody maniacs and other murderers were carefully hidden from society. For the same reason, there were "no" man-made disasters in the USSR either.
Step 3
And in the USSR, a lot was free.
Step 4
Medical care in the Soviet Union was absolutely free and medicines were very cheap. But it was very problematic to buy good, especially imported drugs.
Step 5
The Soviet education system was considered one of the best in the world. It was also free. But in order to enroll in a prestigious university, Soviet applicants had to either have high-ranking parents or give considerable bribes. And in the Central Asian republics, the system of bribes existed in almost all universities and was almost legalized.
Step 6
Free public housing prevailed in the USSR. However, there were also cooperative and private housing. Every Soviet citizen in need of better living conditions had the right to get an apartment free of charge. Another thing is that for this it was necessary to defend a long-term queue. Sometimes her term reached two decades. People who wanted to speed up this process joined housing cooperatives. But in order to build a cooperative apartment, it was necessary to pay for it several annual earnings of a simple engineer or teacher.
Step 7
The provision of the population with food in the Soviet Union was extremely uneven. The richest in terms of food were the cities of Moscow and Leningrad. A Moscow grocery store in stagnant years was considered good if fresh meat and poultry, 2-3 varieties of boiled sausage, a couple of varieties of freshly frozen fish, butter, sour cream, eggs, chocolates, beer and oranges were present on its counters. But in many stores, even in Moscow, products in such an assortment were available only at certain times of the day and not every day. In the Russian hinterland, the food situation was much worse: meat on coupons, sausage on holidays. But on the other hand, almost all of the products were of high quality and very cheap.
Step 8
Domestic manufactured goods were of extremely poor quality. Therefore, imports were held in high esteem. Imported things cost, often insanely expensive, but still were in crazy demand.
Step 9
Soviet ideologists, proving the superiority of the socialist system over the capitalist, constantly emphasized that in the West money decides everything, while in the USSR there are other, much greater human values. Indeed, money for the Soviet people was nothing compared to pull. The presence of useful connections, for example, in the spheres of trade and catering, opened up real access to socialist benefits.
