I was born in the Soviet Union during its dying years 
back then everyone knew the system was corrupt, inefficient and basically a pile of bullshit and thankfully it all fell apart.<p>I still remember having to queue hours to get bread from bakery, and not seeing toilet paper, milk or meat for some time...
Anyone who wants to go back to those days is insane imho :(<p>My parents and older generation of relatives mostly watch Russian news and entertainment channels via satellite, and the unashamed propaganda and brainwashing is incredible to behold, whats worse is how my parents&#x2F;relatives believe everything they hear even if it is absolutely absurd or borderline conspiracy crazy.<p>We often argue nowadays about the direction Russia has taken, but usually the arguments end once i ask &quot;where would you want your grand children to grow up, here in the western Europe or back home&quot;, that&#x27;s when they go quiet.<p>They truly believe that Putin is some sort of a genius (ignoring the rise in oil prices that helped him) and this is actually downright scary :( at least in the Soviet days people didn&#x27;t buy the propaganda, now a lot of people seem to actually believe all they hear and see, and live under a sort of a massive reality distortion field where the world is out to destroy Russia and its people.<p>aside: interestingly enough back then the collapse of USSR was partly prompted by low oil prices and a stupid war with Islamists, fast forward 30+ years and economy is even more reliant on resource extraction and Putin is boldly marching into another quagmire