PEN-L message, Why did USSR fall

Chris Doss

> ^^^^

> Charles B. : The standard of living in the SU was higher than most countries

> in the world, no ? The standard of living fell after the fall.

Yes. But they weren't comparing their living standards with those of Chinese or Africans. They were comparing them with the West.

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Well, comparing them with an exaggerated image of _U.S._ living standards. In actual fact, the SU did not "fail" economically,in the sense that there were no famines or homeless or severe economic crisis. The illusion regarding the living standards of the West and U.S. contributed to a _political_ fall.

> Who ,exactly, overturned the old system ? They weren't claiming that they

> were doing it to raise living standards.

Yeltsin _did_ claim he was doing it to raise living standards. Yeltsin was very popular in 1989-1992.

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CB: I recall him claiming to bring "democracy".

At any rate, in _fact_ , living standards went down with Yeltsin, so if "economic failure" was the rationale, Yeltsin should have been ousted. However, a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie had been instituted, preventing return to a socialist government.

The USSR was dissolved by part of the Soviet elite in order to get rid of Gorbachev. The dissolution of the USSR is different from the dissolution of the Soviet system, and the various republics have taken very different paths of development post-1991

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CB: In terms of the fall of the SU, I'm talking about both the fall of the "system" and the dissolution of multinational state that was the USSR. For purposes of this thread , what is the significance of the distinction you are making ?