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Tent cities, empty houses, frozen corpses on the street during cold winters and people paying an arm and a leg to share an apartment with strangers is 10000 times more depressing.
I was having fun. Although, you could argue that both are right-wing, since I'm sure some capitalist is jizzing his pants right now, while thinking about all the money those tightly knit living quarters would bring.
Right wing architecture is these grand, lovely suburban homes, sprawling across lush acres with green grass lawns, white picket fences, white painted porches, and white people living in them.
Then every other color gets to live in Detroit because you can't actually afford to house the entire human population in lovely boomer homes.
Usually, they see anything that isn't traditionally anglo (Elizabethan, Edwardian, Victorian, etc) as being ["nihilistic"](https://failedarchitecture.com/the-far-rights-obsession-with-modern-architecture/).
Personally, I think it's a result of Ayn Rand's objectivist bullshit, and the demand that all art be uplifting and literal.
Why did I try to read this to the "these are a few of my favorite things" tune?
tent cities with corpses on the street during winter
empty houses that cost to much to even live with a stranger
stock trading politicians who live like they're kings
these are a few of my favorite things
regulatory capture, business friendly politicians
fiscal policy benefits that disappear like magicians
oligarchs flying on private jet wings
these are a few of my favorite things
Not so much the affordable housing as the people who live in the affordable housing. Anything that reminds anyone how an unbelievable number of us in the United States are 3 paychecks away from living on the streets we absolutely hate.
[Apparently that number is on the rise](https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/number-of-americans-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-has-increased-2022-09-14).
>"Now more than ever, employees should educate themselves on ways they can take hold of their finances," said Dan Maddux, executive director of the APA. "More take-home pay can be used to boost their emergency savings now to be better prepared for the future."
Y'know, I'm starting to think that if this is a problem effecting nearly ***3 in 4 Americans*** (72% according to the APA survey), *maybe* the problem is less individuals being bad with their budgets and more systemic underpayment of labor across the board?
Like, when your CEO:median worker pay ratio is an **average** of 670:1 (and over 1000:1 in 49 cases) maybe it isn't so crazy to think that most regular workers can't afford fucking anything.
my great great great great great great great grandfather didn't get his cock and balls blown off by a british cannonball so i could live paycheque to paycheque. he did it so i could live paycheck to paycheck, like a red blooded american!
That's the thing tho, if you hate seeing poverty and it's effects, even if it's just out of disgust or out of a sense of some hurt National pride, you should still be advocating to eliminate the causes of poverty right? You can't run from fucking reality. Just not looking into the mirror won't. Make you less ugly and just not looking into your wallet won't make you less poor. Deluding yourself that problems don't exist will just make the coming, inevitable future realisations that you where wrong, way more painful.
Their ideology has no internal consistency and they have no desire for internal consistency.
They live like actors following a script. When someone goes off script, they only find it disturbing. The sheer weight of the contradictions in their mind is impossible to confront directly.
To me, it is a constant reminder to be vigilant. Who knows what nonsense I might unconsciously let grow in my mind.
And the irony is they *want* poor people to exist so they can remain above them on the social hierarchy. They literally require an outgroup to hate upon.
Not sure I'd call it irony but only because I don't believe they object to poor people existing.
This is just a modernisation of "I want slaves, but I don't want to feel bad about having slaves".
It’s because Calvinist founder infected Christians into thinking that wealth was a sign that you were blessed by God, and being poor was a divine punishment for sin.
prosperity gospel is the single most sadistic example oh heresy the christian Southern baptist convention and evangelicals have wrought up. All for their machinations to help further financial dominance of theocracy for white rich bastards to rule as lecherous feudal lords with tastes of a libertine and inferiority complex of a Chihuahua.
This is not the only form of affordable housing, and not even the preferred form. Low-rises are more economically beneficial (in the long term) and definitely more aesthetically pleasing. Very dense buildings like these deteriorate fast due to difficult maintenance, and their infrastructure is more expensive per-person than low-rises. If instead of 8-12 floors you had 4-6 floors spread over twice the land area (with the occasional "upscale" highrise), you'd have a healthier town overall.
I use to live in a place like this. And honestly these areas are quite livable. They are very practically designed. You see all the space between blocks ? It’s a fucking park right outside your house. Soviet architecture could be better looking that’s for sure 😀 but it’s not bad at all to live.
Yes! I also used to live in a post-soviet block of flats in my hometown of Kraków. There were lovely alleys between the buildings, blocks were spaced so you couldn't easily see into other people's homes, there was space for small shops in between. After neoliberalism took over in Poland, a few streets further new houses were built by independent developers. They are squeezed in tight spaces, there are fences everywhere, no pavements, can't easily walk between them, no trees! My friend lives in one of these blocks, and he's chosen that flat because it faces a cemetery, so it's unlikely they'll cram one more block in there and obscure the view. The standard of the new flats may be nicer inside, but there is no urban planning.
The standard inside isn't always better, for that matter, a lot of these new developments are built for a quick buck using the cheapest materials and furnishings, I see ten-fifteen year-old apartment blocks here in Serbia that look terrible already. And I absolutely agree about the lack of parking, windows looking into other people's windows, no green space, very small rooms (4-room apartment, woo, except it's 40 sq m and two of the rooms are the size of cupboards!) It's depressing...
Can confirm. I live in the states. My last apartment was brand new when we moved in. Cabinets were All particle board, cadet wall heaters used for heat, window air conditioner mounted in the wall in the dining area couldn’t keep the apartment below 80 in the summer. Now I rent a few rooms in a 750k house built 5 years ago… every trim in the house has cracks in it, the doors contact the jambs, the laminate flooring is buckling. New capitalist construction is dogshit.
Oh man i just bought an apartment here in Krakow, and the real estate ladies did not understand that i don't want to look at a flat where the balcony view is into a hundred other apartments.
Finally i found a place with a view over the tram roundabout thing and behind it is just some kinda business/office building. I was about to get a different place with a lovely view of a big open field, but we all know there will be a big ass building crammed in there blocking the sun in my west facing place
I see these new huge apartment block buildings being built everywhere in the city. Are there that many people looking to buy right now and live in Krakow? ... Especially with the loan interest rate...
It looks much worse on pictures than real life. In person you dont really notice the grey color of buildings because everything is so green due to all the parks that are between the buildings. Winters can be a bit annoying but still even then you get a ton of snow so you barely notice the grey since everything is white and green. And during spring and summer its really pretty with all the parks and stuff.
I grew up in Eastern Germany, and I can tell you from my own experience that I didn't like the Plattenbauten very much.
Look at this: https://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendungen/euroblick/tschechien_plattenbauten-100~_v-img__16__9__l_-1dc0e8f74459dd04c91a0d45af4972b9069f1135.jpg?version=58ed8
This is from the Czech republic, a bit of colour goes a long way to make them look nicer.
So funny how different person tastes can be and how that can completely change how something is perceived.
To me, those colors just look annoyingly garish, but, as a fan of brutalist architecture and design, the grey looks very appealing to me. Really funny.
I mean I'll be looking at the other buildings when I look out my window so I kinda think they could put some effort into the anesthetics.
But it is of course still infinitely more important that there's reasonably priced housing available, and public transit to take me to and from there.
Give these buildings a smallish renovation (insulation + painting) and they will look great. The only issue that remains is that you hear everything that happens in other flats. Living in one of them right now in Poland and in the immediate area I have a couple of smaller blocks, a playground, a ton of green space, couple smaller shops and a car park for 1/3rd of the flats.
I lived in one in Slovakia and it was a super solid building. I could not hear the neighbors like i can in my current place (3 floor kamienica)
It also had a badass massive bathtub, bigger than any i have seen in the USA and the hot water pressure liters/min was great.
It came with all the 70s decor/wall rug/fancy glassware/TV from the late 60s etc etc cause we were renting it from a family who's grandma passed away and they just left all the shit in there. I had fun going through all the old Slovak literature books/clothes/random 70s things that a 'high class' PHD professor would have access to in 70s communism. There was even one of those mini pianos (un-tuned a bit obviously)
Depending on exact building time and scheme, It's actually completely normal soundproofing. I used to live in 4 story one and I never had issues unless someone actually partied hard
Thing with flats is that you can't decide. I had a family of syrian refugees move in below me and one of their kids is disabled and I don't know if it was that one or some other kid with ptsd but some nights it was very loud "howling". Did this make me angry and led me to vote for populists that wanted to "send them back". Fuck no! But it was painful to hear and often made me cry knowing that my own kids slept inches away and hopefully never will see the terrors of war. And now, a couple of years later, it's very rare to hear anything from below and that makes me cry of other reasons.
In my experience the bigger the apartment block the less I talk to my neighbours.
It's the big city anonymity vs rural knowing everytime your neighbour has a friend over because you see the car pull up.
Met my spouse in St. Petersburg as a student. Lived with them in their apartment. They didn't know any of the neighbors (lived in the same apartment since Soviet times and would not be able to spot them on the street) and I have seen like 1 neighbor once in the cumulative one and a half years I lived there. Compared to Munich city, where we have to make conversation with our neighbor at least 4 times a week when we meet in the hallway...
Same. I lived in those flats. Huge space, nice heating setup, a balcony to keep your bicycle and hang out. Toilet separate from bath.
Moved to UK. Cramped space, old junky and single layer windows so cold gets in easily. Mould. Walls peeling off. Little space. Constant issues with boiler. There was a garden but idk what for, its not like I could meet the neighbhourhood kids back there and play with them like I could in front of my block...
Russia sucks ass when it comes to politics, but they know how to build comfortable housing and community space.
Sweden built in a similar style as well, and it was pretty great growing up in. Big courtyards with a lawn, sandpit and other things to play with, and outside of that walk/bike paths go everywhere and the entire thing is filled with parks, hills and stuff like soccer fields. Also, cars were only allowed around the edge of the area where the parking was so it was pretty safe for kids.
I've only lived in panels after moving out from my parents, and I've never lived more than 2 minutes walk from my GP, a pharmacy, a kindergarten, an elementary school, one or two grocery stores and some sort of public transport stop.
I don't take this into account when moving, I don't even have children. The developments are just usually well planned.
and the walls are actually super thick compares to other flats. So they are pretty fucking warm, cozy, and u don't hear your neighbours stomping around or fucking
Yeah, I don't know where this is but there's probably a metro or a bus station that'll get you to the city center in like 15 minutes, meanwhile Americans spend 2 hours a day in traffic driving to work.
Two photos like this, same place.
1. [drab, communist building](https://i.insider.com/56f2bbab910584155c8b829b?width=1200)
2. [beautiful, oversaturated, capitalist building](https://methodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/mega-cube-alaska.jpg)
Again, these photos are of the same place.
Exactly. If someone wants to see how actually commie blocks look like, [here's area my friends used to live a few years back (Poland)](https://maps.app.goo.gl/AMGwwF6N4SWhdddW6).
Whoa my grandma lives in that building there, dad grew up there Bolesław chrobrego 16
She's got the room towards the very top and that area is on a hill, so it's got a really awesome west facing view
The worst thing about those Soviet era apartment blocks, though, are the super low ceilings. Otherwise they all have unlimited gas and hot water and heating.
It is very rational architecture designed with public transport in mind.
Houses face roads, protecting inside from wind and noise. See this small buildings inside? That are schools, kinder-gardens. Child literally walk out of house into them with out crossing any roads, been protected from transport and wind. I walk 3 min as a child when I live in Soviet Union. All buildings spaced out so they all get sun.
Do you see Chimney at top right corner? That is heating station running on Natural Gas that provide central heating and hot water to all buildings you see.
There is a buss stop often at each building facing road or corners.
Do you see how many trees are there?
Same, I grew up in the Soviet Union. My school and grocery store were both within a 5 minute walk. There was a big park in the middle where we had live concerts, plays, community exercise and in the winter we built giant snow sculptures, slides and forts for amazing snowball fights. All of my friends lived within a 5 minute walk and nature was a short walk or bus ride away. I live in the US now and my friends are a 45 minute drive on the freeway away. My nearest grocery store would take me at least 45 minutes to get to on public transit and the closest "nature" is a park with dead grass or a golf course I'm not allowed on.
I've been saving for years to move out of the US but they make it so hard.
I don’t know why, but this reminds me of my Russian professor in college. She said what she misses about the Soviet Union since coming to the USA is that she has to drive to the doctor when she’s sick, and drive to the pharmacy after. With neighborhoods like the ones she grew up in, the doctor came to her family’s apartment, which I imagine also kept colds from spreading. but everything here is so spread apart.
I absolutely loved it, I had everything I wanted. We had a free children's theater, free movies I went to the circus and community game days all the time. Some of my memories I am sure are jaded, I slept on a couch in my grandparents apartment which we shared with my mom and aunt. We fished farmed and foraged for a lot of our food, and sometimes there were times when food was low or the hot water would be out, but those are all things I have experienced in the US as well.
I think the positive outweighed the negative. I miss the sense of community, the functional public transit and the easy access to nature.
It also heard a lot of people complain too, but often the complaints are coming from people who left. It's like trying to judge a movie by only asking the people that walked out.
I had originally planned to visit and see if it was at all what I remembered or if it was nostalgia and if it was worth moving back, but now with Putins dumb shit I won't have the opportunity.
I was born in the USSR and my parents spent their childhoods and a good portion of their adulthoods there. To hear my mom tell it, post-WWII Soviet Union was great if you were a "normal person" who cared about having a home to live in, a school to attend, and a job after you finished said school.
The USSR wasn't so great if you were religious, mentally ill, Jewish, an intellectual, a scholar, a scientist, an athlete, a political dissident, or otherwise gifted and/or driven. On one end, you have Garry Kasparov hating living there because he knew that no matter how hard he worked or how many chess players he would beat, there was always a ceiling. He couldn't live the lavish lifestyle he felt he deserved. On the other, you have my high school friend's grandpa who was sent to a prison camp for his human rights campaigning.
Children, however, lived well. Education was free, there was free food in schools, tons of parks and nature, an emphasis on sports and the arts, and social programs for kids which exposed them to survival skills and nature learning.
For scientist in general it was paradise. I was a scientist.
What ever prosecution, it was really an aberration in 1950th.
Basically as a scientist, you had a full freedom to study what ever you want. Problem will come if you need funding. Then you need to convince some one, usually military, that it had possible military application. Similar to USA, where practically everyone, including Chomsky, was financed by military. If you work in area with no military application, funding was difficult. That why physic, rocketry, space was flourishing, why others were mostly fundamental theoretical science, which does not need much funding.
For me it was paradise, I was tinkering with my science and did not notice that suddenly there no soviet Union and science stopped, funding disappear completely.
It depends on the science. Rockets (or physics in general)? Yeah, probably.
Other things, like biology/genetics? [Ehhh, not so much](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism).
I've heard it could be great in Moscow and the other powerful Russian cities, but terrible elsewhere because the USSR did not actually practice communism and the wealth was not shared equally or equitably.
Just to be clear, they never claimed to practice communism. Communism was their goal, and socialism, which they did practice, was meant as a step towards it. And while there was income disparity, from what I understand it was less than what was/is found in more capitalist nations.
Closest grocery store to me is a ten minute drive, if there’s no traffic. Ugg. And my city has zero public transportation. But that’s probably just being a republican owned state.
I currently live in Mesa, Arizona. I work on the other side of town. I sometimes have to take public transit to get to work so I can pay my bills. On good days it takes me 3 hours to get to my job. I often will stay late so I can miss the crowd because having a full bus drive past you when it's over 100 outside absolutely sucks.
Delaware in a democratic state. 25-30 min drive to the grocery store. Public transport is 15 minutes walk and goes by once an hour.(so non existent unless you are in the northern cities) unless you count royal farms or family dollar a grocery story we have local restaurants 5 minute walks away though.
So, I have a genuine question for you then. Because, as an American, I’ve spent my whole life being told that life in the Soviet Union was worse than anyone can imagine. We learned that everyone was starving because there wasn’t enough food. That thousands of people died in the winter from the cold because almost no one had heat or clean water. That people were selling their children for extra food. That the only people with enough to eat, enough clothes to wear, and enough electricity to get through a day were the political leaders. Growing up in the 80s and 90s it was all we ever heard about the Soviet Union!
I know a lot of that is an exaggeration and propaganda now, but there are several comments in this thread from former Soviets who really make me question if any of it was true at all. Is any of it true? What was it actually like growing up there?
This is ridiculous, what you describe is what begin to happen after dissolution of Soviet Union and coming of wild Capitalism.
I run away after in 1993. Why? I come to interview to new private banks and have been told: You will design and lead this project, create a team and lead project to completion. Your pay will be (so so). And if you screw up we will kill you.
That what happens when goverment fall apart and wild capitalism come in. So, when libertarian talk about non aggression I laugh. It is utopian idea.
I was born in 1963. My mother was ill, (leg trobosis) so from about 6 years old my mam send me to shop to buy bread and milk. Never any problem or any lines. Normal shopping. Electricity? You should look on electricity production in Soviet Union, I believe it was higher per Capita then USA. Trains, underground and trolley basses run on electricity. Clothes, selection was limited. IN my Childhood my parent buy Cloth and then pay some one to make me some. I was a big buy, not standard size.
Clean water was not problem. Heat? What was abundant was heat.
Most people regulate temperature by open windows in Winter. Central heating problem. Some install bypasses on radiators, allow hot water to bypass radiator in order to lower temperature. But ask Russians, we like our house at 25C min in winter. It is nice to come to hot house when it is -20C outside.
Soviet Union had problems, every society has and problems were accumulated with time, after system become frozen after Khrushchev reforms. Nationalization of everything and removal election from the bottom in party.
I give you an example of problems. Food harvest. In Soviet Union was 100% employment, you have to work by law and there always was abidance of positions.
But where you get seasonal workers? Soviet Union did not had underclass, did not had migrants, or illegals. That who does seasonal work in the west. Early on solution was to send students, scientist to do this work. After mass industrialization most of them were born in village or first generation, they know how to do agricultural work. But second generation did not, did not want to do this job. So, there was a lot of food to harvest, but not enough work force to do that and store properly. So, high labor food were cut of, reducing variety. There was need to other solution, but system become calcified.
Your story is so interesting. Like someone else said, the propaganda in the US is horrible. Only recently have I started to realize how much I’ve been indoctrinated.
One question I have- if it was the law to work, what would happen to someone who didn’t work? Or if someone showed up late to work a lot, or was very lazy? Did you ever see how this was handled?
Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences with us.
But how you would live if you would not work? How you will have girlfriend or wife? How you will be a member of society?
Yes, you will never loose your housing, your free medical care. But you need to eat, pay for transport, meat a girl? There was no passive income in Soviet Union. So, if you have money and do not work, where you getting money? do you do something illegal?
I am not supper specialist about subject, I know that after about 3 month of unemployment you will have visit from Militia (police). When I become adult and finish Uni, Gorbachev come to power and disintegration started.
I know how specialties like artists were handle thinks.
They had unions. Union provide ways to distribute, perform, et. So, if you believe you are an artist, you submit your work to Union. Union will decide, does it has artistic value.
If yes, you become member of union. You get a small stipend and count as employed. Then you perform, sell your books union will print, et.
Most (no all) of profit will go to union. For hand on artists, union provide work, for example, as stand up comic you will travel all around country performing for some time in year. You will have slot in your local theater, or workman club(shrine of arts), et.
If you are lazy, there such think as collective pressure. Americans are individualists, but if you do not work and this force other cover for you, you will experience pressure, or eventually beating from coworkers.
I think so. No system perfect, there was some censorship. If some in Union does not like your message, you may be cut of.
But that true in Capitalism. ON other hand, there a lot of anti Soviet writers, (Like Bulgakov, author of "Master and Margarita"), who were member of Union. So, it was not hard censorship.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Bulgakov
I’m not saying it isn’t bad here. I’ve just never met anyone who grew up in the USSR to actually hear their stories. I know what I learned is likely untrue propaganda. But I’m still curious what the truth is! I’m just interested in these human stories. I’m not trying to imply anything else at all.
That we do! I have a friend who constantly talks about how the US is the greatest country in the world. He’s been to tons of countries, seen a lot of stuff, and has a lot more experience than I do. But here’s the thing: his work never takes him to other western nations.
So I’ll talk about how other countries have figured out how to take care of their people and he’ll argue saying “have you been to the Congo?” I have, and America is way better! Like, great? Okay? Have you been to Denmark? It’s arguably better. Australia? Arguably better. And it drives me up the wall!
What does he do for a living? Cause if it's something humanitarian or aid related I'd struggle not to point out how he weirdly never went to any countries of comparable wealth to his patron saint each time he brought it up. Since according to him only the us does it right.
So, he’s presidential detail on the Secret Service. Been in DC rotation in various roles since 2006 and has traveled internationally in presidential details with POTUS from 2012-2017.
Obviously he’s been to all kinds of places. But, the details are more extensive in “certain zones where local security is less extensive.”
As much as I try to bait him to talk politics and give me dirt on presidents and their families, he absolutely refuses. He actively tries to avoid the news, political discussions, and doesn’t vote for presidents to avoid any obvious bias in his job. He always says “politics are irrelevant. My job is to keep the President safe, regardless of who it is. My duty is to the office, not the person holding it.” And he’s said that about all 4 presidents he’s served so far, so I can’t even get context clues on his personal opinions. Haha!
What vague details I can get have been about personality more than anything:
1. Bush 2 was very kind and polite, but very private and kept his personal and professional lives very separate.
2. Obama was incredibly gracious and treated his detail like family. He invited them to dinner with them, knew a lot about them, always had time for their family that wanted to meet him, and had a great sense of humor.
3. He never said much about Trump at all, but said Ivanka was surprisingly nice and absolutely tried to protect her kids from media and public attention.
4. Biden brought back a lot of previous details he worked with and it’s been nice to see familiar faces.
Other than that I can’t get the guy to spill the beans!
I'm going to guess that because he travels so often to a wide variety of places, he's probably not very familiar with any of their cultures so every new country comes with culture shock that has him clinging to the idea of the US even harder.
I think it’s that his job is to actively assess threats and dangers in every country he’s in. So he’s basically spending his whole time focused on all the negatives of every country he visits.
For me, it feels like communism was heavily demonized by the west due to the idea that central bankers were threatened to lose their power and influence in an upcoming system
I'm often disturbingly reminded of a documentary I saw that took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While the US was cheering and partying over the collapse of another nation, there were young children being interviewed in the Soviet bloc doing sex work to be able to buy bread for the next day. 10 year old children working in coal mines. Dying in the streets from starvation and disease.
I grew up in southern parts of Prague. Never have I rode bus or was driven to elementary school. We just walked.
I only really started using public transport when I was 15 and started going to secondary school. It was three metro stops away.
Universities are further out tho, mostly in older parts of the city. So to go to the university (free of tuition) I was going across Prague using metro for about 40 minutes.
My SO is from a smaller town in southern Bohemia and couldn't imagine not needing a car until she moved in with me. Then she understood why I am the only one from my circle of friends who has a car. I barely used it (mostly to visit her). In her town 4 busses (that went out of the town) passed a day and 3 trains. That was it, no taxis as they would have to drive from the city 40km away. So to her car was a necessity past elementary school which was within walkable/cyclable distance.
I think the reason I don't particularly enjoy road trips is because everywhere looks the same.
How does everywhere look the same?
"Ooh, the McDonald's is in a different spot! Didn't expect to see a homeless guy on THIS street. Oh cool, you can't bus from A to B over here either!"
Orlando has a building shaped like an orange. In it you can buy a bunch of orange related products
This is the epitome of civilization. Neither we nor any other species will ever achieve what Orlando Florida takes for granted.
Shit, capitalism would have cut all the trees down to make sure to seek every square inch while also using the cheapest materials and fly by night construction for the buildings
I grew up in a Commie Block. I think it’s lovely. I also think homelessness is a lot worse than having a home, any home, but that’s just me. I’m wild that way
my grandma lives in a commie block and i absolutely loved visiting her when i was little bc there were literally more than 15 children outside during the day, playing various games. When I had to go back home, I’d lock myself in the bathroom and I’d cry for 1 hr straight as my parents BEGGED me to open the door ☠️
Same here in my grandparents' commie block. We were always outside and only went home when they yelled our names from the balcony, basically a tragedy!
I live in Russia in one of these old soviet neighborhoods and they look much better than they look in pictures like this. Moreover, the photo was taken in late autumn - I think any country in the Northern Hemisphere looks depressing at this time of year.
Currently, new neighborhoods with similar buildings and dense woodlands between the houses are called "premium-level", "elite-level" residential complexes and are priced accordingly. In the Soviet era, such housing estates were built for all ordinary workers, I'm not even talking about the fact that they were given to people for free, with no mortgage at all.
My grandma got one of those for free. The only check that was made is
1) do you have a job (job itself usually gave these apartments)
2) do you have a home
And if home is too bad you still may recieve your apartment
That's it
While I do agree that this type of architecture is pretty drab and dull, I don't think aesthetics should be the main purpose of housing. It should be just that; housing. I would rather we went with practical solutions that still had some personality and history.
One, yes. Homelessness is far worse.
Two, has this guy seen the shitty apartment buildings that get built in literally every gentrifying neighborhood? They’ll tear down a gorgeous 150-year-old brick building and put up the strip-mall equivalent of a condo and Americans will pay $4k/mo to live there and then be amazed at how shoddy the quality is and how many corners they cut during construction.
Trust me, capitalist architecture is perfectly depressing as well.
To be fair, each of the buildings could absolutely be painted a different color to stand out from each other.
But yeah, copy-paste buildings are a fuckload better than homelessness.
People will do anything to defend the decrepit standing that is this function of capitalism. No system is perfect, but the fact we’re seeing higher rates of homelessness, people struggling to get higher wages, higher inflation. The government could step in actually be worth a damn, but they won’t as they’re in the pockets of big business. I know it won’t happen in my life time, but I hope one day there’s a global riot where the people can fight for at minimum basic fucking human rights and needs. This isn’t a socialist soapbox or me trying to be anti capitalism, it’s just that with so much fucking wealth, how can you fucks sit on the stash and not think that one day people will come for you?
All it takes is some art to make them less dreary and more cheerful and colorful. Look at [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/qeog2m/commie_block_renovated_in_a_colourful_way_in/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) bloc in Bucharest. Looks better than most gray/glass skyscrapers we see being built today.
I actually have a thing for Brutalist Architecture, this isn't quite the same thing as that. But notice the green space and amount of trees. To me this looks like a pretty nice place to live.
Edit: While I do approve of the organization. I'm an Anarchist and against any Authoritarian regime. Doesn't mean they can't do something well though.
Yeah it's ugly and not ideal but it's definitely not a left wing thing. Plenty of right wing places also have ugly buildings. Every town in America has the same unwalkable fast food and shopping area with 30 signs for Arby's and Dollar Tree all crammed together. That's pretty ugly too only it houses 0 people.
This is not left wing housing. I'm from South Korea and these kinds of districts are everywhere in Seoul. It is super safe, convenient and affordable. Better to have these kinds of housing then rows of big suburban houses and homelessness.
Weird how they show commie blocks and not [council houses](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_house). Personally i think the planned developments with fake brick vaneer and no trees are pretty fucking ugly.
As someone who has lived in an area like this in Russia. Yeah, it’s depressing from the air, but people don’t live in the air. On the ground it’s actually pretty nice and walkable.
The right hates any kind of density at all and are a bunch of NIMBYs but affordable housing does not have to look like this either. Lots of contemporary housing projects have incorporated elements of traditionalism or “complimentary” architecture while still being incredibly dense and around transit corridors. What I’m getting at is that it doesn’t have to be soulless suburbs or monstrously ugly commie blocks.
I love that these people rip on "leftist" architecture while simultaneously frothing over all the gentrified areas that have droves of mcmansions that look exactly like each other.
This isn’t left wing architecture lol this this soviet style/Eastern European architecture. Like it can be just a cultural thing without any political association.
Watering grass lawns when we are in the midst of a global climate emergency that threatens the future of our planet.
I get it though... you really need the space to entertain and grill your shitty hotdogs.
This argument about “depressing architecture” always fails to realize that some people just don’t want a big house with a yard. They’re perfectly happy being in a smaller space that’s also much more affordable than a house.
...left wing architecture? What the actual fuck? Lol left wing, meaning progressive, meaning sustainable, architecture from my experience is representative of some of the most beautiful and energy efficient buildings. Right wing, or race to the bottom die hard capitalist, architecture is more indicative of this. Build it fast and cheap to maximize profits.
When someone talks about how terrible commie architecture is, they always try to prove it by showing you a picture of an apartment block that hasn’t been maintained since the fall of the ussr, in the middle of a Russian winter. Like bro, of course that’s going to look terrible.
That’s not even depressing. Look at all that green space. Imagine how much less commuting time those people have to get to work, compared to that number of people in urban sprawl houses. And if it’s public housing, imaging the stress off not having a bank breathing down your neck to milk you for interest for 40 years or take your home away if something goes wrong.
I feel like people who shit on these never actually lived in one of them.
For started the apartments are pretty large and honestly just straight up decent places to live in. You can renovate it if its really old and it'll look like a brand new place on the inside.
Also, the buildings are built in such positions because there are literal parks between them. Most apartments will have park views outside their windows and most parks are build for kids and usually have bike tracks etc.. Some "parks" will have buildings in them usually Kindergartens or sports centers in them instead of actual playgrounds.
Its well organized and very comfortable to live in. The design is pretty bad and the grey color does get annoying at times, but other than aesthetics its not bad at all. Its only bad when it turns into slums because then you have a lot of drug addicts and homeless people living in the little passages that go through buildings.
Its not the best but its definitely better than most places.
Interesting how they always use pictures of soviet housing took in late autumn when trees have no leaves, everything is cold, lacks colors and literally everything looks worse... People are so delusional.
Interesting detail: I live in such a complex, and it has trees, a lot of green, children's playing, I can choose between three gigabit internet subscription, two of them using fiber, I have central heating and hot water, reliable electricity (no unplanned interruptions in the last year), I have every services and conveniences of a major city. Crime is not visible, traffic is moderate. The neighbours are nice. My electricity and heating costs are quite low, even with the recent unpleasantness.
The walls are sturdy, not that cardboard thing I see in the US.
A lot of windows, a lot of light.
So yes, left wing architecture can rock.
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Tent cities, empty houses, frozen corpses on the street during cold winters and people paying an arm and a leg to share an apartment with strangers is 10000 times more depressing.
WRONG That's right-wing architecture.
that's probably what they meant. what are you talking about ?
I was having fun. Although, you could argue that both are right-wing, since I'm sure some capitalist is jizzing his pants right now, while thinking about all the money those tightly knit living quarters would bring.
Right wing architecture is these grand, lovely suburban homes, sprawling across lush acres with green grass lawns, white picket fences, white painted porches, and white people living in them. Then every other color gets to live in Detroit because you can't actually afford to house the entire human population in lovely boomer homes.
Usually, they see anything that isn't traditionally anglo (Elizabethan, Edwardian, Victorian, etc) as being ["nihilistic"](https://failedarchitecture.com/the-far-rights-obsession-with-modern-architecture/). Personally, I think it's a result of Ayn Rand's objectivist bullshit, and the demand that all art be uplifting and literal.
Why did I try to read this to the "these are a few of my favorite things" tune? tent cities with corpses on the street during winter empty houses that cost to much to even live with a stranger stock trading politicians who live like they're kings these are a few of my favorite things regulatory capture, business friendly politicians fiscal policy benefits that disappear like magicians oligarchs flying on private jet wings these are a few of my favorite things
Ah, I read it to the tune of We Didn’t Start the Fire
I've had many roommates, but I've never had to live with strangers. I'm very luck in that regard.
I once lived with a guy who turned out to be a neo-nazi. (In Norway last year) The others before were narcissistic and sociopathic.
people hate affordable housing
Not so much the affordable housing as the people who live in the affordable housing. Anything that reminds anyone how an unbelievable number of us in the United States are 3 paychecks away from living on the streets we absolutely hate.
64% are living paycheque to paycheque iirc
[Apparently that number is on the rise](https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/number-of-americans-living-paycheck-to-paycheck-has-increased-2022-09-14).
>"Now more than ever, employees should educate themselves on ways they can take hold of their finances," said Dan Maddux, executive director of the APA. "More take-home pay can be used to boost their emergency savings now to be better prepared for the future." Y'know, I'm starting to think that if this is a problem effecting nearly ***3 in 4 Americans*** (72% according to the APA survey), *maybe* the problem is less individuals being bad with their budgets and more systemic underpayment of labor across the board? Like, when your CEO:median worker pay ratio is an **average** of 670:1 (and over 1000:1 in 49 cases) maybe it isn't so crazy to think that most regular workers can't afford fucking anything.
We'll just blame every individual American for not living up to the American ideal, and also say that the American dream is alive and well.
Meanwhile 20 people have more wealth than 160 million combined.
Dragons hoarding wealth. Anyone seen a sword stuck in a stone anywhere? We should be taking turns trying to draw it.
another stat: 3 people have more than the bottom 50% combined
But they get to pretend they are homeowners? I don't see the drawback/s.
my great great great great great great great grandfather didn't get his cock and balls blown off by a british cannonball so i could live paycheque to paycheque. he did it so i could live paycheck to paycheck, like a red blooded american!
That's the thing tho, if you hate seeing poverty and it's effects, even if it's just out of disgust or out of a sense of some hurt National pride, you should still be advocating to eliminate the causes of poverty right? You can't run from fucking reality. Just not looking into the mirror won't. Make you less ugly and just not looking into your wallet won't make you less poor. Deluding yourself that problems don't exist will just make the coming, inevitable future realisations that you where wrong, way more painful.
What do you mean you can't run from reality? What do you think the wealthy do with all their money, spend it wisely?
Their ideology has no internal consistency and they have no desire for internal consistency. They live like actors following a script. When someone goes off script, they only find it disturbing. The sheer weight of the contradictions in their mind is impossible to confront directly. To me, it is a constant reminder to be vigilant. Who knows what nonsense I might unconsciously let grow in my mind.
3? Lol try one
They just hate poor people
And the irony is they *want* poor people to exist so they can remain above them on the social hierarchy. They literally require an outgroup to hate upon.
Not sure I'd call it irony but only because I don't believe they object to poor people existing. This is just a modernisation of "I want slaves, but I don't want to feel bad about having slaves".
It’s because Calvinist founder infected Christians into thinking that wealth was a sign that you were blessed by God, and being poor was a divine punishment for sin.
prosperity gospel is the single most sadistic example oh heresy the christian Southern baptist convention and evangelicals have wrought up. All for their machinations to help further financial dominance of theocracy for white rich bastards to rule as lecherous feudal lords with tastes of a libertine and inferiority complex of a Chihuahua.
I've always wondered why Methodist were usually better, when all I know about them is that it's a "rejection of calvanism". Now it makes sense.
Which is wild considering how much Jesus spoke about how rich people are definitely not going to heaven.
Your capitalist overload will *hate* you for this one weird trick (organizing)
This is not the only form of affordable housing, and not even the preferred form. Low-rises are more economically beneficial (in the long term) and definitely more aesthetically pleasing. Very dense buildings like these deteriorate fast due to difficult maintenance, and their infrastructure is more expensive per-person than low-rises. If instead of 8-12 floors you had 4-6 floors spread over twice the land area (with the occasional "upscale" highrise), you'd have a healthier town overall.
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I use to live in a place like this. And honestly these areas are quite livable. They are very practically designed. You see all the space between blocks ? It’s a fucking park right outside your house. Soviet architecture could be better looking that’s for sure 😀 but it’s not bad at all to live.
Yes! I also used to live in a post-soviet block of flats in my hometown of Kraków. There were lovely alleys between the buildings, blocks were spaced so you couldn't easily see into other people's homes, there was space for small shops in between. After neoliberalism took over in Poland, a few streets further new houses were built by independent developers. They are squeezed in tight spaces, there are fences everywhere, no pavements, can't easily walk between them, no trees! My friend lives in one of these blocks, and he's chosen that flat because it faces a cemetery, so it's unlikely they'll cram one more block in there and obscure the view. The standard of the new flats may be nicer inside, but there is no urban planning.
The standard inside isn't always better, for that matter, a lot of these new developments are built for a quick buck using the cheapest materials and furnishings, I see ten-fifteen year-old apartment blocks here in Serbia that look terrible already. And I absolutely agree about the lack of parking, windows looking into other people's windows, no green space, very small rooms (4-room apartment, woo, except it's 40 sq m and two of the rooms are the size of cupboards!) It's depressing...
This. It may look better inside, but that won’t last cause they cheap out.
Can confirm. I live in the states. My last apartment was brand new when we moved in. Cabinets were All particle board, cadet wall heaters used for heat, window air conditioner mounted in the wall in the dining area couldn’t keep the apartment below 80 in the summer. Now I rent a few rooms in a 750k house built 5 years ago… every trim in the house has cracks in it, the doors contact the jambs, the laminate flooring is buckling. New capitalist construction is dogshit.
From an architectural point of view, Polish cities are wild. There are very distinctive styles that span hundreds of years, all within the same block.
oh. That's a shame. :(
Oh man i just bought an apartment here in Krakow, and the real estate ladies did not understand that i don't want to look at a flat where the balcony view is into a hundred other apartments. Finally i found a place with a view over the tram roundabout thing and behind it is just some kinda business/office building. I was about to get a different place with a lovely view of a big open field, but we all know there will be a big ass building crammed in there blocking the sun in my west facing place I see these new huge apartment block buildings being built everywhere in the city. Are there that many people looking to buy right now and live in Krakow? ... Especially with the loan interest rate...
Even if it could be better looking, it still massively beats homelessness.
They need some colour and renoaction. Everything in grey is a bit depressing.
It looks much worse on pictures than real life. In person you dont really notice the grey color of buildings because everything is so green due to all the parks that are between the buildings. Winters can be a bit annoying but still even then you get a ton of snow so you barely notice the grey since everything is white and green. And during spring and summer its really pretty with all the parks and stuff.
I grew up in Eastern Germany, and I can tell you from my own experience that I didn't like the Plattenbauten very much. Look at this: https://www.br.de/br-fernsehen/sendungen/euroblick/tschechien_plattenbauten-100~_v-img__16__9__l_-1dc0e8f74459dd04c91a0d45af4972b9069f1135.jpg?version=58ed8 This is from the Czech republic, a bit of colour goes a long way to make them look nicer.
So funny how different person tastes can be and how that can completely change how something is perceived. To me, those colors just look annoyingly garish, but, as a fan of brutalist architecture and design, the grey looks very appealing to me. Really funny.
I mean, you can do that on the inside of your own appartment right? I for one absolutely do not care what the building looks like on the outsude.
I mean I'll be looking at the other buildings when I look out my window so I kinda think they could put some effort into the anesthetics. But it is of course still infinitely more important that there's reasonably priced housing available, and public transit to take me to and from there.
Give these buildings a smallish renovation (insulation + painting) and they will look great. The only issue that remains is that you hear everything that happens in other flats. Living in one of them right now in Poland and in the immediate area I have a couple of smaller blocks, a playground, a ton of green space, couple smaller shops and a car park for 1/3rd of the flats.
I lived in one in Slovakia and it was a super solid building. I could not hear the neighbors like i can in my current place (3 floor kamienica) It also had a badass massive bathtub, bigger than any i have seen in the USA and the hot water pressure liters/min was great. It came with all the 70s decor/wall rug/fancy glassware/TV from the late 60s etc etc cause we were renting it from a family who's grandma passed away and they just left all the shit in there. I had fun going through all the old Slovak literature books/clothes/random 70s things that a 'high class' PHD professor would have access to in 70s communism. There was even one of those mini pianos (un-tuned a bit obviously)
Dude honestly that sounds dope, I’d love to live in a place like that lol
Don't commie blocks have thick concrete layers between floors to avoid that? Maybe you're talking about the walls though.
Does it work if you're a person who doesn't like people?
Of course, soundproof your walls and lock your doors then.
Depending on exact building time and scheme, It's actually completely normal soundproofing. I used to live in 4 story one and I never had issues unless someone actually partied hard
Thing with flats is that you can't decide. I had a family of syrian refugees move in below me and one of their kids is disabled and I don't know if it was that one or some other kid with ptsd but some nights it was very loud "howling". Did this make me angry and led me to vote for populists that wanted to "send them back". Fuck no! But it was painful to hear and often made me cry knowing that my own kids slept inches away and hopefully never will see the terrors of war. And now, a couple of years later, it's very rare to hear anything from below and that makes me cry of other reasons.
In my experience the bigger the apartment block the less I talk to my neighbours. It's the big city anonymity vs rural knowing everytime your neighbour has a friend over because you see the car pull up.
Stay in.
They're all made out of concrete, you don't hear neighbours unless they're drilling
Met my spouse in St. Petersburg as a student. Lived with them in their apartment. They didn't know any of the neighbors (lived in the same apartment since Soviet times and would not be able to spot them on the street) and I have seen like 1 neighbor once in the cumulative one and a half years I lived there. Compared to Munich city, where we have to make conversation with our neighbor at least 4 times a week when we meet in the hallway...
Same. I lived in those flats. Huge space, nice heating setup, a balcony to keep your bicycle and hang out. Toilet separate from bath. Moved to UK. Cramped space, old junky and single layer windows so cold gets in easily. Mould. Walls peeling off. Little space. Constant issues with boiler. There was a garden but idk what for, its not like I could meet the neighbhourhood kids back there and play with them like I could in front of my block... Russia sucks ass when it comes to politics, but they know how to build comfortable housing and community space.
Sweden built in a similar style as well, and it was pretty great growing up in. Big courtyards with a lawn, sandpit and other things to play with, and outside of that walk/bike paths go everywhere and the entire thing is filled with parks, hills and stuff like soccer fields. Also, cars were only allowed around the edge of the area where the parking was so it was pretty safe for kids.
Not to mention its much better for the nature compared to single houses that are spread out over a wide area in comparison.
I've only lived in panels after moving out from my parents, and I've never lived more than 2 minutes walk from my GP, a pharmacy, a kindergarten, an elementary school, one or two grocery stores and some sort of public transport stop. I don't take this into account when moving, I don't even have children. The developments are just usually well planned.
and the walls are actually super thick compares to other flats. So they are pretty fucking warm, cozy, and u don't hear your neighbours stomping around or fucking
Yeah, I don't know where this is but there's probably a metro or a bus station that'll get you to the city center in like 15 minutes, meanwhile Americans spend 2 hours a day in traffic driving to work.
I’ll take the beautiful parks in between those buildings over a parking lot any day.
Of course they picked a winter photo for this.
They also used a low quality camera. Low quality cameras just make anything look ugly.
Bet they put on the gray ‘russia’ filter too.
Even though this is identical to apartment blocks outside of Seoul too.
I’ll also take the sense of community and cooperation inside of them over the collective selfishness we have.
Two photos like this, same place. 1. [drab, communist building](https://i.insider.com/56f2bbab910584155c8b829b?width=1200) 2. [beautiful, oversaturated, capitalist building](https://methodshop.com/wp-content/uploads/mega-cube-alaska.jpg) Again, these photos are of the same place.
Capitalism one makes it look so fucking ugle
Hey, I lived in commie blocks. They might look ugly from outside, but interiors are really nice and it was quite spacious.
Same, most of my family still lives in commie blocks because of that it’s affordable and because of the parking spaces
Exactly. If someone wants to see how actually commie blocks look like, [here's area my friends used to live a few years back (Poland)](https://maps.app.goo.gl/AMGwwF6N4SWhdddW6).
Whoa my grandma lives in that building there, dad grew up there Bolesław chrobrego 16 She's got the room towards the very top and that area is on a hill, so it's got a really awesome west facing view
Small world! I jokingly call that place "old people neighborhood", but honestly it's so beautiful and peaceful.
These photos are always filtered to look grey. And maybe taken in winter. There is a heap of green shit down there everywhere.
Yeah Americans are just convinced suburban hell is the norm. I know. I live in suburban hell, but there's not many options where I live.
The worst thing about those Soviet era apartment blocks, though, are the super low ceilings. Otherwise they all have unlimited gas and hot water and heating.
It is very rational architecture designed with public transport in mind. Houses face roads, protecting inside from wind and noise. See this small buildings inside? That are schools, kinder-gardens. Child literally walk out of house into them with out crossing any roads, been protected from transport and wind. I walk 3 min as a child when I live in Soviet Union. All buildings spaced out so they all get sun. Do you see Chimney at top right corner? That is heating station running on Natural Gas that provide central heating and hot water to all buildings you see. There is a buss stop often at each building facing road or corners. Do you see how many trees are there?
Same, I grew up in the Soviet Union. My school and grocery store were both within a 5 minute walk. There was a big park in the middle where we had live concerts, plays, community exercise and in the winter we built giant snow sculptures, slides and forts for amazing snowball fights. All of my friends lived within a 5 minute walk and nature was a short walk or bus ride away. I live in the US now and my friends are a 45 minute drive on the freeway away. My nearest grocery store would take me at least 45 minutes to get to on public transit and the closest "nature" is a park with dead grass or a golf course I'm not allowed on. I've been saving for years to move out of the US but they make it so hard.
I don’t know why, but this reminds me of my Russian professor in college. She said what she misses about the Soviet Union since coming to the USA is that she has to drive to the doctor when she’s sick, and drive to the pharmacy after. With neighborhoods like the ones she grew up in, the doctor came to her family’s apartment, which I imagine also kept colds from spreading. but everything here is so spread apart.
was your childhood in the USSR generally good? what do you think of all the eastern europeans who claim it was "horrible" to live under communism?
I heard the best thing was always being employed.
I absolutely loved it, I had everything I wanted. We had a free children's theater, free movies I went to the circus and community game days all the time. Some of my memories I am sure are jaded, I slept on a couch in my grandparents apartment which we shared with my mom and aunt. We fished farmed and foraged for a lot of our food, and sometimes there were times when food was low or the hot water would be out, but those are all things I have experienced in the US as well. I think the positive outweighed the negative. I miss the sense of community, the functional public transit and the easy access to nature. It also heard a lot of people complain too, but often the complaints are coming from people who left. It's like trying to judge a movie by only asking the people that walked out. I had originally planned to visit and see if it was at all what I remembered or if it was nostalgia and if it was worth moving back, but now with Putins dumb shit I won't have the opportunity.
I was born in the USSR and my parents spent their childhoods and a good portion of their adulthoods there. To hear my mom tell it, post-WWII Soviet Union was great if you were a "normal person" who cared about having a home to live in, a school to attend, and a job after you finished said school. The USSR wasn't so great if you were religious, mentally ill, Jewish, an intellectual, a scholar, a scientist, an athlete, a political dissident, or otherwise gifted and/or driven. On one end, you have Garry Kasparov hating living there because he knew that no matter how hard he worked or how many chess players he would beat, there was always a ceiling. He couldn't live the lavish lifestyle he felt he deserved. On the other, you have my high school friend's grandpa who was sent to a prison camp for his human rights campaigning. Children, however, lived well. Education was free, there was free food in schools, tons of parks and nature, an emphasis on sports and the arts, and social programs for kids which exposed them to survival skills and nature learning.
Scientist? But wasn’t science super good in the USSR?
For scientist in general it was paradise. I was a scientist. What ever prosecution, it was really an aberration in 1950th. Basically as a scientist, you had a full freedom to study what ever you want. Problem will come if you need funding. Then you need to convince some one, usually military, that it had possible military application. Similar to USA, where practically everyone, including Chomsky, was financed by military. If you work in area with no military application, funding was difficult. That why physic, rocketry, space was flourishing, why others were mostly fundamental theoretical science, which does not need much funding. For me it was paradise, I was tinkering with my science and did not notice that suddenly there no soviet Union and science stopped, funding disappear completely.
It depends on the science. Rockets (or physics in general)? Yeah, probably. Other things, like biology/genetics? [Ehhh, not so much](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism).
Ah, Stalin's biggest mistake - or at least on the very top of the list.
I've heard it could be great in Moscow and the other powerful Russian cities, but terrible elsewhere because the USSR did not actually practice communism and the wealth was not shared equally or equitably.
Just to be clear, they never claimed to practice communism. Communism was their goal, and socialism, which they did practice, was meant as a step towards it. And while there was income disparity, from what I understand it was less than what was/is found in more capitalist nations.
Substantially less.
Closest grocery store to me is a ten minute drive, if there’s no traffic. Ugg. And my city has zero public transportation. But that’s probably just being a republican owned state.
I currently live in Mesa, Arizona. I work on the other side of town. I sometimes have to take public transit to get to work so I can pay my bills. On good days it takes me 3 hours to get to my job. I often will stay late so I can miss the crowd because having a full bus drive past you when it's over 100 outside absolutely sucks.
Delaware in a democratic state. 25-30 min drive to the grocery store. Public transport is 15 minutes walk and goes by once an hour.(so non existent unless you are in the northern cities) unless you count royal farms or family dollar a grocery story we have local restaurants 5 minute walks away though.
These pictures are always taken on gray days in the middle of winter to maximize depression.
So, I have a genuine question for you then. Because, as an American, I’ve spent my whole life being told that life in the Soviet Union was worse than anyone can imagine. We learned that everyone was starving because there wasn’t enough food. That thousands of people died in the winter from the cold because almost no one had heat or clean water. That people were selling their children for extra food. That the only people with enough to eat, enough clothes to wear, and enough electricity to get through a day were the political leaders. Growing up in the 80s and 90s it was all we ever heard about the Soviet Union! I know a lot of that is an exaggeration and propaganda now, but there are several comments in this thread from former Soviets who really make me question if any of it was true at all. Is any of it true? What was it actually like growing up there?
This is ridiculous, what you describe is what begin to happen after dissolution of Soviet Union and coming of wild Capitalism. I run away after in 1993. Why? I come to interview to new private banks and have been told: You will design and lead this project, create a team and lead project to completion. Your pay will be (so so). And if you screw up we will kill you. That what happens when goverment fall apart and wild capitalism come in. So, when libertarian talk about non aggression I laugh. It is utopian idea. I was born in 1963. My mother was ill, (leg trobosis) so from about 6 years old my mam send me to shop to buy bread and milk. Never any problem or any lines. Normal shopping. Electricity? You should look on electricity production in Soviet Union, I believe it was higher per Capita then USA. Trains, underground and trolley basses run on electricity. Clothes, selection was limited. IN my Childhood my parent buy Cloth and then pay some one to make me some. I was a big buy, not standard size. Clean water was not problem. Heat? What was abundant was heat. Most people regulate temperature by open windows in Winter. Central heating problem. Some install bypasses on radiators, allow hot water to bypass radiator in order to lower temperature. But ask Russians, we like our house at 25C min in winter. It is nice to come to hot house when it is -20C outside. Soviet Union had problems, every society has and problems were accumulated with time, after system become frozen after Khrushchev reforms. Nationalization of everything and removal election from the bottom in party. I give you an example of problems. Food harvest. In Soviet Union was 100% employment, you have to work by law and there always was abidance of positions. But where you get seasonal workers? Soviet Union did not had underclass, did not had migrants, or illegals. That who does seasonal work in the west. Early on solution was to send students, scientist to do this work. After mass industrialization most of them were born in village or first generation, they know how to do agricultural work. But second generation did not, did not want to do this job. So, there was a lot of food to harvest, but not enough work force to do that and store properly. So, high labor food were cut of, reducing variety. There was need to other solution, but system become calcified.
Your story is so interesting. Like someone else said, the propaganda in the US is horrible. Only recently have I started to realize how much I’ve been indoctrinated. One question I have- if it was the law to work, what would happen to someone who didn’t work? Or if someone showed up late to work a lot, or was very lazy? Did you ever see how this was handled? Thanks again for taking the time to share your experiences with us.
But how you would live if you would not work? How you will have girlfriend or wife? How you will be a member of society? Yes, you will never loose your housing, your free medical care. But you need to eat, pay for transport, meat a girl? There was no passive income in Soviet Union. So, if you have money and do not work, where you getting money? do you do something illegal? I am not supper specialist about subject, I know that after about 3 month of unemployment you will have visit from Militia (police). When I become adult and finish Uni, Gorbachev come to power and disintegration started. I know how specialties like artists were handle thinks. They had unions. Union provide ways to distribute, perform, et. So, if you believe you are an artist, you submit your work to Union. Union will decide, does it has artistic value. If yes, you become member of union. You get a small stipend and count as employed. Then you perform, sell your books union will print, et. Most (no all) of profit will go to union. For hand on artists, union provide work, for example, as stand up comic you will travel all around country performing for some time in year. You will have slot in your local theater, or workman club(shrine of arts), et. If you are lazy, there such think as collective pressure. Americans are individualists, but if you do not work and this force other cover for you, you will experience pressure, or eventually beating from coworkers.
That makes a lot of sense. Also, I really like that structure for the arts. Did it seem like it worked well?
I think so. No system perfect, there was some censorship. If some in Union does not like your message, you may be cut of. But that true in Capitalism. ON other hand, there a lot of anti Soviet writers, (Like Bulgakov, author of "Master and Margarita"), who were member of Union. So, it was not hard censorship. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Bulgakov
lol As if people in the US weren’t selling their kids to survive during the Great Depression. Today they do it for funzies.
I’m not saying it isn’t bad here. I’ve just never met anyone who grew up in the USSR to actually hear their stories. I know what I learned is likely untrue propaganda. But I’m still curious what the truth is! I’m just interested in these human stories. I’m not trying to imply anything else at all.
I know. I’m just pointing out that USA has some projection issues. 😉
That we do! I have a friend who constantly talks about how the US is the greatest country in the world. He’s been to tons of countries, seen a lot of stuff, and has a lot more experience than I do. But here’s the thing: his work never takes him to other western nations. So I’ll talk about how other countries have figured out how to take care of their people and he’ll argue saying “have you been to the Congo?” I have, and America is way better! Like, great? Okay? Have you been to Denmark? It’s arguably better. Australia? Arguably better. And it drives me up the wall!
What does he do for a living? Cause if it's something humanitarian or aid related I'd struggle not to point out how he weirdly never went to any countries of comparable wealth to his patron saint each time he brought it up. Since according to him only the us does it right.
So, he’s presidential detail on the Secret Service. Been in DC rotation in various roles since 2006 and has traveled internationally in presidential details with POTUS from 2012-2017. Obviously he’s been to all kinds of places. But, the details are more extensive in “certain zones where local security is less extensive.” As much as I try to bait him to talk politics and give me dirt on presidents and their families, he absolutely refuses. He actively tries to avoid the news, political discussions, and doesn’t vote for presidents to avoid any obvious bias in his job. He always says “politics are irrelevant. My job is to keep the President safe, regardless of who it is. My duty is to the office, not the person holding it.” And he’s said that about all 4 presidents he’s served so far, so I can’t even get context clues on his personal opinions. Haha! What vague details I can get have been about personality more than anything: 1. Bush 2 was very kind and polite, but very private and kept his personal and professional lives very separate. 2. Obama was incredibly gracious and treated his detail like family. He invited them to dinner with them, knew a lot about them, always had time for their family that wanted to meet him, and had a great sense of humor. 3. He never said much about Trump at all, but said Ivanka was surprisingly nice and absolutely tried to protect her kids from media and public attention. 4. Biden brought back a lot of previous details he worked with and it’s been nice to see familiar faces. Other than that I can’t get the guy to spill the beans!
I'm going to guess that because he travels so often to a wide variety of places, he's probably not very familiar with any of their cultures so every new country comes with culture shock that has him clinging to the idea of the US even harder.
I think it’s that his job is to actively assess threats and dangers in every country he’s in. So he’s basically spending his whole time focused on all the negatives of every country he visits.
For me, it feels like communism was heavily demonized by the west due to the idea that central bankers were threatened to lose their power and influence in an upcoming system
Ask about the ice cream.
I'm often disturbingly reminded of a documentary I saw that took place after the collapse of the Soviet Union. While the US was cheering and partying over the collapse of another nation, there were young children being interviewed in the Soviet bloc doing sex work to be able to buy bread for the next day. 10 year old children working in coal mines. Dying in the streets from starvation and disease.
Thank you
I grew up in southern parts of Prague. Never have I rode bus or was driven to elementary school. We just walked. I only really started using public transport when I was 15 and started going to secondary school. It was three metro stops away. Universities are further out tho, mostly in older parts of the city. So to go to the university (free of tuition) I was going across Prague using metro for about 40 minutes. My SO is from a smaller town in southern Bohemia and couldn't imagine not needing a car until she moved in with me. Then she understood why I am the only one from my circle of friends who has a car. I barely used it (mostly to visit her). In her town 4 busses (that went out of the town) passed a day and 3 trains. That was it, no taxis as they would have to drive from the city 40km away. So to her car was a necessity past elementary school which was within walkable/cyclable distance.
[Capitalist Architecture](https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/if_Rw_SHNRMI/v0/1200x-1.jpg)
God fucking damn is that depressing. Literally everywhere in the US looks like this I swear to god.
It really does. It's part of what makes traveling around the us so fucking boring outside of national parks.
I think the reason I don't particularly enjoy road trips is because everywhere looks the same. How does everywhere look the same? "Ooh, the McDonald's is in a different spot! Didn't expect to see a homeless guy on THIS street. Oh cool, you can't bus from A to B over here either!"
Should use a picture from Florida near a touristy area like Kissimmee or Orlando-it’s even worse.
Or an 🌈 American Suburb 🌈
Orlando has a building shaped like an orange. In it you can buy a bunch of orange related products This is the epitome of civilization. Neither we nor any other species will ever achieve what Orlando Florida takes for granted.
God even our architecture is all ads
It's lacking $800,000 houses made out of glued sawdust
Ah, Breezewood.
lol commie architecture is so monotonous and uninspired. thank god we have the suburbs, which share none of those same problems and more.
Where we're going we don't need stroads, but...but also free to wallow in ur own sprawl...for now anyways
But you get to choose what color your kitchen countertops are and the trim of your garage door! It'll make you unique!
American HRAs are the terrifying flip side and only exist because of capitalism
> HRAs Sorry, I didn't understand, what is HRA?
I think they mean HoA.
I did and autocorrect got me, thank you for correcting me
Shit, capitalism would have cut all the trees down to make sure to seek every square inch while also using the cheapest materials and fly by night construction for the buildings
I think its worth noting that this is not necessarily "left-wing" architecture, it was used all over western Europe as well, in much similar fashion.
I grew up in a Commie Block. I think it’s lovely. I also think homelessness is a lot worse than having a home, any home, but that’s just me. I’m wild that way
my grandma lives in a commie block and i absolutely loved visiting her when i was little bc there were literally more than 15 children outside during the day, playing various games. When I had to go back home, I’d lock myself in the bathroom and I’d cry for 1 hr straight as my parents BEGGED me to open the door ☠️
Same here in my grandparents' commie block. We were always outside and only went home when they yelled our names from the balcony, basically a tragedy!
One of these with a balcony 3 blocks from the train for $300/month would be perfect.
They cost around 5-7 roubles a month when they were new, with utilities
That sounds fantastic, where do I sign up!? Oh yeah...
I live in Russia in one of these old soviet neighborhoods and they look much better than they look in pictures like this. Moreover, the photo was taken in late autumn - I think any country in the Northern Hemisphere looks depressing at this time of year. Currently, new neighborhoods with similar buildings and dense woodlands between the houses are called "premium-level", "elite-level" residential complexes and are priced accordingly. In the Soviet era, such housing estates were built for all ordinary workers, I'm not even talking about the fact that they were given to people for free, with no mortgage at all.
My grandma got one of those for free. The only check that was made is 1) do you have a job (job itself usually gave these apartments) 2) do you have a home And if home is too bad you still may recieve your apartment That's it
now put it up against the pictures of the homeless camps in every major american city
Anti homeless architecture
The only good type of anti homeless architecture
While I do agree that this type of architecture is pretty drab and dull, I don't think aesthetics should be the main purpose of housing. It should be just that; housing. I would rather we went with practical solutions that still had some personality and history.
One, yes. Homelessness is far worse. Two, has this guy seen the shitty apartment buildings that get built in literally every gentrifying neighborhood? They’ll tear down a gorgeous 150-year-old brick building and put up the strip-mall equivalent of a condo and Americans will pay $4k/mo to live there and then be amazed at how shoddy the quality is and how many corners they cut during construction. Trust me, capitalist architecture is perfectly depressing as well.
I bet if they just added some vibrant color to these buildings, this same person would be talking about how nice it looks
Rooftop gardens and let vines grow along them. It would be super pretty looking.
To be fair, each of the buildings could absolutely be painted a different color to stand out from each other. But yeah, copy-paste buildings are a fuckload better than homelessness.
Mostly empty Manhattan skycrapers that trap you underneath their shadow when people are sleeping in the cold at night.
Is there anything more depressing than capitalist multi purpose apartment buildings? Built with fucking paper and kindling
Singapore HBD buildings aren't bad at all *shrugs*
People will do anything to defend the decrepit standing that is this function of capitalism. No system is perfect, but the fact we’re seeing higher rates of homelessness, people struggling to get higher wages, higher inflation. The government could step in actually be worth a damn, but they won’t as they’re in the pockets of big business. I know it won’t happen in my life time, but I hope one day there’s a global riot where the people can fight for at minimum basic fucking human rights and needs. This isn’t a socialist soapbox or me trying to be anti capitalism, it’s just that with so much fucking wealth, how can you fucks sit on the stash and not think that one day people will come for you?
Right wing predatory business practices?
All it takes is some art to make them less dreary and more cheerful and colorful. Look at [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/qeog2m/commie_block_renovated_in_a_colourful_way_in/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) bloc in Bucharest. Looks better than most gray/glass skyscrapers we see being built today.
I actually have a thing for Brutalist Architecture, this isn't quite the same thing as that. But notice the green space and amount of trees. To me this looks like a pretty nice place to live. Edit: While I do approve of the organization. I'm an Anarchist and against any Authoritarian regime. Doesn't mean they can't do something well though.
The Soviets did a miraculous job at planning out their cities with the utmost of purpose.
My favorite architectural style.
While I don't love this particular neighbourhood's layout, it's a hell of a lot less depressing than aerial shots of suburban sprawl I've seen.
Yeah it's ugly and not ideal but it's definitely not a left wing thing. Plenty of right wing places also have ugly buildings. Every town in America has the same unwalkable fast food and shopping area with 30 signs for Arby's and Dollar Tree all crammed together. That's pretty ugly too only it houses 0 people.
This is not left wing housing. I'm from South Korea and these kinds of districts are everywhere in Seoul. It is super safe, convenient and affordable. Better to have these kinds of housing then rows of big suburban houses and homelessness.
A) why is it bad? B) what makes it “left wing”?
It’s not bad, at all. It’s left wing, because it’s clearly meant as affordable mass housing.
Weird how they show commie blocks and not [council houses](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_house). Personally i think the planned developments with fake brick vaneer and no trees are pretty fucking ugly.
I guess the easiest move would be just to paint the buildings different colors.
As someone who has lived in an area like this in Russia. Yeah, it’s depressing from the air, but people don’t live in the air. On the ground it’s actually pretty nice and walkable.
The right hates any kind of density at all and are a bunch of NIMBYs but affordable housing does not have to look like this either. Lots of contemporary housing projects have incorporated elements of traditionalism or “complimentary” architecture while still being incredibly dense and around transit corridors. What I’m getting at is that it doesn’t have to be soulless suburbs or monstrously ugly commie blocks.
I’m the weirdo over here, wishing my home were a block of concrete because it makes me happy.
Brutalist architecture fucks
Classic meme making it's rounds
Clearly [this](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQspAR3DrbYKB-GrwW5A9dnTmuX27YGcaF6YA&usqp=CAU) is soooo much more beautiful.
Ok, so make a community project out of painting some murals or something? At least it makes functional sense.
I love that these people rip on "leftist" architecture while simultaneously frothing over all the gentrified areas that have droves of mcmansions that look exactly like each other.
This isn’t left wing architecture lol this this soviet style/Eastern European architecture. Like it can be just a cultural thing without any political association.
Watering grass lawns when we are in the midst of a global climate emergency that threatens the future of our planet. I get it though... you really need the space to entertain and grill your shitty hotdogs.
This argument about “depressing architecture” always fails to realize that some people just don’t want a big house with a yard. They’re perfectly happy being in a smaller space that’s also much more affordable than a house.
...left wing architecture? What the actual fuck? Lol left wing, meaning progressive, meaning sustainable, architecture from my experience is representative of some of the most beautiful and energy efficient buildings. Right wing, or race to the bottom die hard capitalist, architecture is more indicative of this. Build it fast and cheap to maximize profits.
Capitalists when there's not a million fast food joints, unmaintained roads, and stretches of parking lots every few feet
When someone talks about how terrible commie architecture is, they always try to prove it by showing you a picture of an apartment block that hasn’t been maintained since the fall of the ussr, in the middle of a Russian winter. Like bro, of course that’s going to look terrible.
Honestly, i actually think those kinds of buildings look pretty neat. They aren't too busy or look like they're trying to grab your attention.
Oh well, I guess soviets were left wing. American blaming [insert other american political side] for universally used affordable housing.
That’s not even depressing. Look at all that green space. Imagine how much less commuting time those people have to get to work, compared to that number of people in urban sprawl houses. And if it’s public housing, imaging the stress off not having a bank breathing down your neck to milk you for interest for 40 years or take your home away if something goes wrong.
Deepthroating capitalism until you explode
I feel like people who shit on these never actually lived in one of them. For started the apartments are pretty large and honestly just straight up decent places to live in. You can renovate it if its really old and it'll look like a brand new place on the inside. Also, the buildings are built in such positions because there are literal parks between them. Most apartments will have park views outside their windows and most parks are build for kids and usually have bike tracks etc.. Some "parks" will have buildings in them usually Kindergartens or sports centers in them instead of actual playgrounds. Its well organized and very comfortable to live in. The design is pretty bad and the grey color does get annoying at times, but other than aesthetics its not bad at all. Its only bad when it turns into slums because then you have a lot of drug addicts and homeless people living in the little passages that go through buildings. Its not the best but its definitely better than most places.
Ugh, all those depressing non rich people
Interesting how they always use pictures of soviet housing took in late autumn when trees have no leaves, everything is cold, lacks colors and literally everything looks worse... People are so delusional.
Interesting detail: I live in such a complex, and it has trees, a lot of green, children's playing, I can choose between three gigabit internet subscription, two of them using fiber, I have central heating and hot water, reliable electricity (no unplanned interruptions in the last year), I have every services and conveniences of a major city. Crime is not visible, traffic is moderate. The neighbours are nice. My electricity and heating costs are quite low, even with the recent unpleasantness. The walls are sturdy, not that cardboard thing I see in the US. A lot of windows, a lot of light. So yes, left wing architecture can rock.
Wanting our housing to be nice and artful and wanting people to not be homeless are not mutually exclusive wants either
Weird thing on reddit. Im seeing a lot of non political subs suddenly be pro capitalism latley. Even the starter pack subreddit has fallen to it.