Worldwide Knit in Public Week on June, 2024: Why is communism bad

Worldwide Knit in Public Week 2024. World Wide Knit In Public Week — Reckless Knitting Historically it was World Wide Knit in Public Day, but now it's a week!

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Why is communism bad??

My wife was born and raised in the Soviet Union (Ukraine) and lived there until age 35. She can tell you exactly how it is different. She had graduated college before Ukraine became independent and it only recently (2005) became truly independent and is still not a completely free market society, but much better. Here are some of her experiences...

Men, when they reached age 21 were allowed to apply for an apartment (no private single family homes existed). They would wait a year or more and then were given a one room apartment about the size of a typical American bedroom. It may or may not have a toilet. Women lived with parents until they got married, then lived with their husband in a one room apartment which may or may not have a toilet. (many apartments shared toilets) You did not choose the apartment, you were told where it was, that is where you lived. If they had children, they could apply for a 2 room apartment.

Education was free, all the way through college, but you did not choose your education, the governemnt chose based on your abilities and aptitudes. My wife was chosen to major in literature and was chosen to be a teacher. She would be paid $150 per MONTH for teaching. She had to join communist party organizations. Young Pioneers for the younger children and the Komsomol for older children. There was NO choice, you had to join these organizations and go to their activities (indoctrination)

My wife stood in line for hours and hours to receive bread or butter or vegetables at low qulaity government owned grocery stores. Her mother would wait in line at another store for other items. Nearly every day because they had only a tiny refrigerator and could not stock up on groceries. 1/2 cucumber and some sour cream was for breakfast. Soup and a potato was "dinner" (lunch) and maybe some cheese if they could get it and bread. She ate maybe 1 kg of meat per month, maybe. If you buy a "quarter pounder" at McDonalds you are eating in one sandwich the amount of meat she might have in a week.

They did not have a car, didn't dream of ever owning one. She had 2 pairs of socks, one pair of shoes, one pair of boots for winter and one coat, very heavy for cold weather. One pair of pants, 2 skirts and four sweaters (she had so many sweaters because she knitted them herself)

They had "free" medical care from the government but there were few doctors practicing legally. If you really wanted a doctor you had to "know one" and pay cash for them to come to your "flat" or you could go to hers (almost all doctors were women)

Hot water, heat, elevators, reliable electricity, fucntioning appliances were all rare and unreliable. If an apartment had 2 rooms, only one would have heat.

You could not work and make anything and sell it. You would go to prison if caught (except for some small amount of farm products farmers were allowed to sell in public markets)

Everything was in short supply and very poor quality. Food, clothes, medicine, appliances. No travel to other countries without special permission. No moving to a new home. No changing jobs without permission.

Do you get the picture? And this was in a large city. In small rural areas, life was REALLY grim. I had to convince her with photos that even though I live in a rural area, I have electricity, a toilet, a kitchen inside the house and other "luxuries"

Things now in Ukraine are much better, still not perfect and still not the same as here, but much better. I lived there are worked there for 2 years and I promise you, my wife LAUGHS at troubles that make Americans cry like babies.

She now has the excessive amount of 8 pairs of shoes! She owns and drives a car, but to this day will not throw away a crumb of food!

THAT is what you can expect from communism.

Also on this date Saturday, June 1, 2024...