American Socialist Discovers Harsh Reality of Life in Soviet Union (1933-37) // "Behind the Urals"
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Text taken from "Behind the Urals" by John Scott (1942)
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By АлександрВ.И., CC BY 3.0, commons.wikime...
By Thomas Taylor Hammond (1920-1993) - University of Virginia Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (www.virginia.edu/creees), CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikime...
By RIA Novosti archive, image 35522 / Yuriy Ivanov / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
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By RIA Novosti archive, image 799927 / Vitaliy Arutjunov / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikime...
By Aleksandr Zykov from Russia - Magnitogorsk, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikime...
By Pöllö - Own work, CC BY 3.0, commons.wikime...
Imagine if the History Channel had content of this quality.
They used to, but those days are long gone. The almighty dollar is more important to them than integrity. Everyone needs money, and it makes sense to do things to make money. But when you completely sell out, that's when it's a problem.
Yeah, not fucking Pawn Stars and that Ancient Aliens shit
@@JBGARINGAN I think no one works there. They pushed the re-run button and left 🤷♂️
When I was a kid history channel was more like this but it's basically always been propaganda
th-cam.com/video/6lOyaw7yjMQ/w-d-xo.html
"That's it, no work for me here. I am going to USSR. Surely they'll have something for me to do"
Soviets: "Oh you'll get work. All the work you'd ever want"
*Laughs in Russian*
Хахахахаха...
People make stupid decisions when they can't feed themselves
@@joshelguapo5563 he was a college student in the 30s. Bet he had no issue with starvation. Most likely, he came from a well-to-do family, with means.
@@finejustgivemeaname during the great depression? Having to learn a trade? It's possible but not likely
@@joshelguapo5563 he was moving to a land where he didn’t speak the language. Learning a trade would be a necessity. It’s kinda hard to be a knowledge worker when you don’t speak the language. But, I’m speculating.
As soon as I heared Magnitogorsk I thought "you my guy is going to have a bad time".
I was thinking about Magnitogorsk from TNO ruled by Mikhail Lysenko the Soviet Mad scientist of the Urals
@@vernedictb.valentine2057 and in TNO is surrounded by NKVD, SS, slaves etc
The Gary, Indiana of the Soviet Union
...This guy knows his Magnitogorsk.
Haha *THAT* Magnitogorsk isn’t from our timeline
“Something seem to be wrong in America.” It was the Great Depression
The great communist experiment with FDR.....15 years of poverty leading to global war.
@@johngalt6838 what experiment? USA faked up big time giving credits to everyone, than realising that they destroyed not only their economic system, but whole Europe
Yah, and Obama is largely credited with ending the great recession... 🤢
There has never been a time where there WASN'T 'something wrong with America'...its a feature of the system not a bug...when you have a system of diverse ideas, goals, and cultural norms things will never feel 'complete' or 'whole'.
@@fortusvictus8297 I had to read that three times. Profound and true. Right now we have a party that is in open war against dessent. As you say, a cornerstone of our system.
*In Soviet Russia, we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.*
I remember that saying. We also said "they can't pay us as little, as little we can work."
Went from illiterate agricultural state to industrial superpower in the time it takes you to go from shitting your diapers to graduating high school, but ya they totally “pretended to work”
@@elchapojunior3091 you realize that's a saying the workers themselves used
@@beaudaniel1370 I know man, all of the infrastructure, military comparable to the U.S., and rebuilding an entire country after being obliterated by the Nazis all happened with the wave of a wand. Not to mention Russia has an economy that still isn’t comparable to that of the Soviet era
@@elchapojunior3091 How much blood was spilled, how many families destroyed, building it? Millions of lives lost unnecessarily due to paranoia of one man. Was it all really worth it?
It's odd how enthusiastic this guy is, this sounds like a horrible life but he still tries to see the bright side.
Imagine if he treated New York with that optimism.
@@EndsleyIV Impossible. NYC is even worse than USSR.
@@MirzaAhmed89 u sound crazy
@@MirzaAhmed89 that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
@@EndsleyIV um, he did state he went to New York for work, but no work. It was the depression at that time.
"In America, you have work...In Soviet Russia, work have you..."
in america, you have community, in soviet russia, community have you
Cue the "but wage slave" comments
lol, Im not a fan of communism, but do you really think that doesnt apply to capitalism as well?
Lol you’re not wrong
I lived in socialism for 30 years. Be happy it is history. It was a bad life
I respect him immensely for actually going and working an actual factory job and not opting for an easy life. Steel Mills and the like are still today very very difficult jobs and one can imagine back then, they were even still more difficult and filled with hardship. Regardless of my personal opinions on the USSR, there's something inherently depressing about seeing bright idealism meet the grit of reality. Another fantastic upload.
Working in one is terribly difficult but he was building one. Regardless, building one with over an inch of ice on your work....
I do as well. Communist college kids these days that have never worked a trade in their lives unironically calling themselves workers of the world and living in conditions that are luxurious compared to that of actual soviet times. This guy actually went there and made a go of it and learned the truth first hand. Can't fault him for trying.
@BlackFlag714how?
He didnt have the option for an easy life in the first place. In general if you werent the son of someone important in the Soviet Union or got a lot of luck your life was pretty miserable.
I respect that he didn't just take the word of some politician or guru.
He sought out the truth & in the end he found it.
If only we all could be so lucky as to find the truth I'm what we seek.
And in 1939 he himself was purged...for his excessive enthusiasm in purging.
Mike M pure insanity..
@@anteeko Political doctrine is insanity. Along with the politicians who support it. And, by extension, the people who support the politicians.
Insanity is how you know the socialists are near.
@@julioperez8324 Towering intellectuals with fabulous ideas on how best to spend money that belongs to other people.
"Ironic he could save others from purging but not himself"
There is a similar account by French singer Yves Montand (that once was Marilyn Monroe's lover).
Once a staunch socialist, he came back absolutely appaled from a tour behind the iron curtain, after seeing the bleak reality of sovietic life.
@@SMGJohn
Sure, yes, the jump to industrialization from an agrarian society has a cost. Nobody would argue that point- hell, look at modern India and China, Vietnam to a lesser extent- they're dealing with the same problems that Western countries did when they began industrializing. But there might be just a teensy little bit of a fucking difference between industrial accidents here and there due to lackluster/nonexisent safety regulations/equipment and the Secret Police massacring this or that village, starving out ethnic groups suspected of being dissidents, etc. To say nothing of the other oppressive tactics these regimes employed, such as censorship- partly for what they imagined to be the good of the people, but mostly because shitty regimes can't weather honest observation, much less direct critique aimed at them.
I'd also like to point out the absurdity of lampooning "Capitalism" (really Britain and America) for it's imperialism, whilst making scant mention of that very same expansionism that the USSR participated in- both on the level of conquering nations, as well as their policy of "Russification". And really, let's not even get into China, who are to this day engaged in a slow, steady campaign of repression and ethnic cleansing of the Uyghurs and Tibetans, having already pacified and Hanified the Manchurians. They also engage in de-facto economic imperialism in Africa today, on a level that would make the old European powers blush.
And don't get me started on your comment about disproportionate wealth in Capitalist societies. While I agree it's an issue, it was hardly any different in any other Communist state. It's a bit different now in China, but they're barely even Communist at this point. You know why? Because they couldn't make it work. They had to make a choice between economic stagnation and economic growth, and they chose the latter option. It's probably the only reason the CCP is still in power, rather than collapsing or being overthrown.
Why don't we just be more honest? Governance is butchery. Governance at the level of a superpower is a goddamned sausage factory, no matter who is in charge, what they call themselves, or how they organize their economies. Given this fact, the only thing left to ponder is this: what does each provide to the common citizen? Would a communist rather be in a capitalist country, or otherwise? For all of South Korea's ills, it's the North Koreans who are willing to risk life and limb to escape to the South, rather than the other way around. It's Cubans making improvised rafts and braving miles of shark-infested waters to get to America, not the other way around.
Bear in mind, I'm not even a staunch advocate of Capitalism. I am in opposition to Liberal Capitalism, as well as Communism. But the world is run by materialists, unfortunately, be they historical materialists or the money grubbing shitheels calling themselves bankers, shareholders, "people", etc. in the West, and if these are my only options, I'm going to choose the side that, for the moment, has no intention of putting me in a camp for sharing the wrong memes, and can, outside of the odd natural disaster, keep the lights on.
@@foodconnoisseur9321 "no has been killed in the name of capitalism" - source trust me bro
TheZappan...I had no idea about Yves, and now I'm disgusted! What can be expected from the French, though? I lived in Communism and fled with my parents when I was 16 and can't believe people had any positive opinions about this system. You couldn't leave your country, at least mine (I don't believe Soviets had any success in procuring their passports - people didn't have those, except for the fat pigs in the Politburo and the devout Communists). I know, I ran on...
@@foodconnoisseur9321
Well seeing how the author deletes my comments probably because _MUUH SOCIALISM BAD CAUSE DISNEY TOLD ME SO_ mentality.
Nice of you to quote black book of Communism which was debunked by Conservative historians, ironic for you.
@@oni2538
I am not going to waste too much time on this since author of video deletes my comments so I will keep it short.
Secret police going around killing people is a myth which is never proven, you should have merry times trying to prove it with facts.
I dunno how British Corporations mass murdered 500 million Indians over 200 years is the same as USSR invading Poland in the 20s to reclaim Russian territory, what a strawman argument.
Also China restored Capitalism in 1976, another fallacy in your argument.
0.001% of world population owning 80% of wealth is totally the same as richest men of USSR who could barely afford the most expensive cars, yes yes very good comparison.
Oh government is evil bla bla bla same right wing conspiracy because you cannot understand how Capitalism is screwing you over and how the Capitalist state is literally a tool of Capitalists, its hilarious.
Oh those 1000 North Koreans who defected in course of 20 years out of 26 million people, totally says how terrible the country is, lets just forget how many Americans leave USA each day.
Also lets just pretend embargoes does not exist on Cuba and DPRK because they DARE to be different and independent free of Goldman sachs banking systems, how DARE THEY!!!
Capitalism is Capitalism, you trying to fix Capitalism by doing more Capitalism is literally what the Nazis did in the 30s, oh our economy is falling apart! Lets PRIVATISE IT ALL! Oh shit we need labours? Lets use SLAVE LABOUR
There literal evidence that America planned to build concentration camps and utilise slave labour because their economy is falling apart, slave labour is what we call in economics for dead weight. Costs more than it yields, always.
Well, his first mistake was thinking New York = America
Hey, decades ago it wasnt entirely shit. Big emphasis on entirely tho
Wisconsin had lots of jobs and still does but he somehow ended up in NYC?? Hmm.. I suppose UW back then were teaching the same shit they're teaching millenials now and gave Tony Evers the election this past cycle..
Karl Marx made the same mistake.
"The New York City publishers won't print my book! Capitalism is evil!"
In all seriousness, I wonder what this world would look like had a US publisher printed his works and be done with it. I doubt it would have been as intense an ideology clash, instead straight up war of conquests of old.
@@mfspectacular
It's always been sh77. Look up Tammany Hall and read the laundry list of investigations against it.
New York has always been a corrupt Democrat-run hellhole.
@@manictiger youre preaching to choir telling me this. Being born & raised there, im well aware of the city's long history of dumb fuckery. Leaches off the rest of ny state. Glad to be out og there
My grandparents were also unemployed off and on during the depression- I wonder why they didn’t think to go to the Soviet Union. “You’ll own nothing and be happy”
I've heard that you only vote for Socialism once.
"You'll own nothing and be happy"
- western capitalists of the world economic forum.
@@brandonbarnette5407 "nuh uh, the great reset is not real capitalism, it's communism bro!"
- retarded westerner coping about their new ruling class
@@MaxwellsWitch well it sure as hell ain’t free market capitalism
@@MaxwellsWitch
Neofeudalists.
Weird how the dude just casually mentions his brother got killed
Welcome to Soviet Russia, you either accepted it or you were next up against the wall.
Its stranger that he had a M1 Garand.
The destruction of family as such, and of family is a big part of the idea of marxism, so it's not surprising. One of the heroes promoted in soviet primary schools was a boy named Pavlik Morozov, whose achievement was to snitch on his father to the authorities.
@@laurengaskell2098 yes, and was killed by his family in retribution and made a hero of the state. If I recall correctly, Stalin privately despised him and said "the little bastard" got what he deserved. Nice.
@@zanizone3617 And nobody of these idiots above in the thread know trues story.... *facepalm Oh. My. God. How can you know what Stalin privately though about this poor boy??? Yes. Poor boy. Because his only crime was to collaborate his mother's testimony at the trial against her husband, who was a criminal and his own family abuser. Wow! Little sneaky snitch didn't stitch and already trial?!?! :D Yes. Because two peasant who were caught with false documents reported on Trofim Morozov and not because of Pavel Morozov. Btw the trial even rejected to use Pavel as a confirmation to Tatiana's testimony. The judge considered Pavlik too small and suspected that his mother could manipulate him. Horrible story really. At least Trofim's criminal degenerate relatives were punished. So Stalin couldn't say this because he knew about him from real criminal case and not from fantasies like you. Canonization of Pavlik has nothing to do with the criminal case.
BTW and if even "saint Pavlik" and real Pavlik were same thing and he really snitched on his bad father so what? He could only want to protect mother, brother and himself from "dad" who didn't stop beating even after he left them. Also interesting... When a cop or a politician don't snitch on his relatives and even help them to do some business it is a corruption, mafia thing and crime. When others don' t a snitch it's called beautiful family values.
"no work for me in USA"
"i learned a trade before going to USSR"
Maybe he would get a job in USA if he had a trade?
This was during the 30's, my guy. Haven't you ever heard of the Great Depression?
My Great Grandpa was a master carpenter and brick layer in the early 1930s and even he couldn’t find work
@@deadmeme8011 i mean the U.S. didn't* kill 4 million of it's own people
What job?
what is a welder going to do when there is nothing to weld?
@@therideneverends1697 He could weld up the "crack of dawn" - sorry, old welders joke...
John Scott was lucky that he didnt end in a Gulag, like many of his fellow Americans who immigrated to the Soviet Union. Many other socialists who immigrated to the Soviet Union ended in Gulags.
Yeah - kind of like how modern America throws its own political dissidents in prisons on ridiculous charges.
So what?
@90 / 90 more like Americans dont exactly have a lot of room to criticize soviet penal systems given the absolute horrors going on in their own backyards at this very moment.
@@herpderp728 like they tried to impeach Trump? XD
@@herpderp728 No they definitely do, there is a huge difference in what you're talking about and soviet penal systems. That's what a democracy is about, you can criticize anything.
I’m a pressure welder in Canada ( piping and vessels and everything else) and hearing the working conditions is heartbreaking.
Pembroke Ontario 🇨🇦🕶
The only sane comment in this whole section.
Knowing he went voluntarily, must give you a good chuckle, however.
@@connycontainer9459 awww, you like the gulag? Yes, you do….
@@connycontainer9459 A
In Voices of The Past, History teaches YOU!
This is better than school
It's not wrong.
That's the whole point of history, and that's why it's so precious :)
fucking perfect
brillliant
My parents were born and raised in Albanian communism - one of the harshest in the world. They saw a lot of purges but didn’t get caught up in any of them as they were mostly high ranking people.
Soviet one was mostly high ranking too
Albania was pretty harsh especially with its suppression of religion. Suppression of religious freedom is one of the greatest flaws of the policies of 20th century socialists
You mean they were informers or enablers of the purges
ah rank and privilege, corner stone of communism.
Not a jab at you or your family. Just enjoying the irony that in almost every communist nation some people are more equal than others.
So they complied. Did they feel for those who didn’t?
Boyyy if I haven't met a lot of pro soviets who, when critiqued, just deflect by pointing out the same shortcomings of the west. As if critiquing the ussr is being pro capitalist. Absolutely dichotomy mindset
Me: I think the Gulags were a horrible crime against humanity
Tankie: Well what about the Us prison industrial complex that’s also bad right
Me: Yes that to is bad
@@jackotaco5054 catalonia had them too
I don't know if you watch the video, but someone brought up a similar argument to him in the book while living in the USSR according to the author.
Or maybe all materialist systems have very similar flaws?
Not a single westerners was stupid enough to cross the border in the East to get to a "better life". Despite all the anti-west and anti-capitalist leftist propaganda, even the useful idiots and their indoctrinated pupils knew deep inside that "equality for all" means in reality just prison life.
This guy learned a very big lesson about fantasy vs. reality. He's just lucky he wasn't in Russia when the Nazis invaded.
He was lucky he wasn't in the Soviet Union when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed and both Fascists and Communists were allies.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_Pact
@@wolfgangkranek376 The only reason the Bolsheviks didn't invade the rest of Europe was because of fascists and the National Socialists whose political strategies and policies were later adopted by the previously heavily capitalist Western nations. Of course, they also kept the Soviets at bay with their pact so you have fascists to thank for this. Now I know, it sucks to be born in both those regimes but you would much rather be born into a mature nationalistic country with moral citizens than a banana republic with relatives who can be bought out with bread and potatoes.
@@rohanbansal2324 Maybe for a short period of time. But think about this: Every single fascist regime that existed crippled the economy in the long run.
And the "high moral" standards where only for the average citizens, not the leadership.
The dude was in fucking Urals he wasn't at risk of Nazis killing him jfc
@@Warsie Although he could easily have been conscripted and sent to the front lines. The Soviets were desperate enough they were throwing all the soldiers they could into the fray.
This dude left cause he couldn't find a job, but found a job before he left? Dufus
@David Vazquez yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what would have happened.
@David Vazquez What I was thinking, but it WAS 1931 during the Great Depression, so maybe not so easy. Still, had he stuck around a few more years he would have seen a much better version of socialism, the New Deal, come about in America and could have been part of the CCC or any other public works project. In the USSR, at least, they needed as many workers as possible in the rapid industrialization.
@David Vazquez you do realize that this was way before both job training and education was made mandatory, right? Like the trope before all the automotive jobs left the US was that you could leave school, get a job at the auto plant and be setup for life.
@David Vazquez it was not a job it was an apprenticeship
all the work none of the pay
That's because none of this is true
There are those on twitter with a young Stalin display picture and a list of flags in their bio dreaming of life in those days, I wonder how long would they have survived then and there.
@Jack Meoff mfw 70% of venezuela is in the private sector
@@bespit6654 All the big corporations are state owned
I'm sorry but my friend was actually born a male then discovered he was actually an fema....shot fired.....dead.
In all honesty, it would be. ill have a soy..... shot fired..... dead.
@John Smith Surprisingly, yeah.
They would bitch and whine and end up in a gulag.
And imagine, we still have “highly educated” people who think that this is the way.
Because those "highly educated" people believe they will be part of the elite. The communist elite in the former Soviet Union had special stores where they could shop. They didn't have to suffer under the system. The same is true in NK today.
@@janesawyer3495 They are mistaken. When the shortages happen the people stuck in ghettos in the literal shadows of towers filled with hyper wealth will come for them.
Riots and revolutions travel on foot, and they are so very close to the madness.
SJWs
Socialist dont want to be socialist in actual socialist countries. They only want to be socialist in capitalist countries.
@@janesawyer3495 👍 you are 💯 right... but ordinary folks that keep voting for socialism don’t understand this that they are being played by elite
Perhaps the most honest and authentic description of that period I’ve seen in English - nothing is made up, not even exaggerated. Very well written and detailed observation that offers no opinion for the listeners giving each room for making one’s own mind. Details are just priceless, he so precisely communicates the mentality and the mood that explains how it was even possible.
Hm, funny that everybody who was calling this channel “Communist Propaganda” during the Ilf and Petrov videos are now conspicuously silent.
🤣
yeah, it was silly, ilf and petrov even tried to shed some light or be overly obvious in their praises in soviet union in their book to wink at the audience a little, sadly, it was lost on the comment section there
anyone who is familiar with the book can atest this, voices of the past left out most propagandistic material, and focused on descriptions and accounts
ilf and petrovs other work even tried to point out or reform some things in soviet union thru satire, but it is also good to view their perceptions with the grain of salt, while their work was written after holodomor, it is notable that they wouldnt exactly have the knowledge of many of repressions, and even if they had, they were still somewhat party loyalist and first and foremost bolsheviks, not socialists in marxist sense,
it doesnt help they were reporters for pravda under stalinism either
THE CHANNEL IS COMMUNIST PROPEGANDA!!!!!!!!! (Just kidding I'm joking)
@LordMacKarl I honestly, genuinely, can hardly believe somebody would actually try to defend the point of the channel being Communist propaganda. I do appreciate that you’re being polite, it’s always nice to disagree with someone online, *without* it devolving into name calling, but still. Relating the text of a historical source does not make someone a communist, anymore than relating the text of Mein Kampf would make someone a nazi. They’re telling history from the biased perspective of the author, whether that perspective be two members of the Soviet semi-elite on tour throughout what they see as the decadent USA, or an idealistic American who sees his dreams crushed as he moves to Russia.
There were more comments claiming these pro communist allegation comments than actual pro communist allegations on that video. You people are so sensitive it's hilarious.
I read this book in college for my Soviet History class. It was intriguing. I think our professor was a Soviet sympathizer and used this as a best possible resource to compel us towards the "successes" of the early Soviet Union. At the end of our assigned reading our professor told us that John Scott had been secretly sending information to the US government. The interesting thing about John Scott was that his father, Scott Nearing, was an Assistant Professor at the Wharton Business School at UPenn. Scott Nearing was fired for espousing Socialist and Marxist ideas in the classroom and later encouraged his son to travel to the Soviet Union.
"You ask for a job so we give you a job. Now you still want to get paid?"
Stepping over the party line? That's a purgin'
Banditry? That's a purgin'
Purgin? Oh you better believe, that's a purgin'.
Kulack?
Straight to the purge
Reminds me of the "there's a tax for that" meme
“Bismarck ALWAYS had a Walpole.”
..... wait
Doctor? That's a purging, great leader will never be sick!
Colombian writers Gabriel Garcia Marquez travelled with a group of friends around the Eastern Bloc and we're also disappointed,one of the them fell a sleep while they were traveling by car, when he woke up he said: I had this horrible nightmare, That Socialism was not what we expected
Eastern bloc was practicing communism NOT socialism
@@jeffsamuels2539 Uh...
@@PerpetualSmile they are very different economic systems
@@jeffsamuels2539 Oh Be Quiet Communism And Socialism Mean The Same Thing Communism Is A Political Theory Dervied From Karl Marx, Advocating Class War And Leading To A Society In Which All Property Is Publicy Owned And Each Person Works Is Paid According To They're Abilities And Needs All Property Is Basically Owned By The State Private Property Is Abolished Under Communism!!!!!!! Socialism Means A Political Theory And Economic Theory Of Social Organization Which Advocates For The Means Of Production, Distribution, And Exchange Should Be Owned Or Regulated By The Community As A Whole In Other Words All Private Property Is Abolished And The State Owns Everything From Factories, To Small Shops Everything Is Owned By The State!!!!!!! Both Communism And Socialism Mean The Same Thing!!!!!! Both Communism And Socialism Are Both Evil Wicked Ideologies!!!!!!!! Capitalism Is Superior To Communism And Socialism!!!!!!! I'm A Right Wing Conservative And A Huge Anti-Communist As Well!!!!! Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin Killed Millions of Innocent People In The Soviet Union And In The Ukraine, Mao Zedong Killed Millions Of Innocent People In China 🇨🇳, Ho Chi Minh Killed Millions of Innocent People In North Vietnam 🇻🇳 Later Vietnam 🇻🇳, Fidel Castro Killed Millions of Innocent People In Cuba 🇨🇺, Dainel Ortega Killed Millions of Innocent People In Nicaragua 🇳🇮 During The Nicaraguan Civil War In The 1980s!!!!!! To This Day Ortega Is Killing Millions Of Innocent People!!!!!! Venezuelan Socialist Dictator Hugo Chavez Killed Millions of Innocent People In Venezuela 🇻🇪 As Well As Nicolas Maduro Has Killed Millions of Innocent People In Venezuela 🇻🇪 To This Day He's Still Killing Millions of Innocent People!!!!!!!!
@@sebastianguevara3615 yeah I know. But just cause you say communism is socialism doesn’t mean you’re correct. I’m an educator. My passion is in the information, not being emotional 🥲. 🤷🏿♂️
"In soviet Russia, the harsh reality of life discovers you"
In Russia*
"Wore only one suit until it disintegrated."
Man, what a dream...
“I couldn’t find a job in the US so I resolved to go to The Soviet Union”
“On advice of my parrents, I learned a trade as a welders apprentice before going and got my welders certificate”
?????????
Bro that’s a job right there
No it isn't, it's a qualification
@@harriffanconshertini8804 He could have used it to easily get work building any number of New Deal construction projects. Maybe the Hoover Dam, the Triborough Bridge, the TVA Dams, the Golden Gate Bridge, or any number of other things we built then.
@@harriffanconshertini8804 never in history have welders/metal workers been in a position where they couldn't find work. The dude just wanted to go to the soviet union and larp.
@@harriffanconshertini8804 I'm guessing you've never actually worked a blue collar job
The guy was just toxic copium
yup they feared and mistrusted those who could live without assistance... farmers and homesteaders
Isn't that always the way of socialism? Anyone who dont need daddy government is a baddy.
@@JohnGalt916 No, the way of socialism is everyone putting resources together to make shure everyones needs are met.
@@therideneverends1697 And failing horribly at it.
@@Roadwarior2 Just because the first show had flaws doesent mean you dont take notes for a better sequal
@@therideneverends1697I think we all saw enough when the first show killed tens of millions of people.
It's fascinating how the hope of the few americans turns rapidly into suspition and finally ends in fear.
You made me think, suspicion. Yes, there is no sense to English spelling.
What’s the goal of this comment? Is this good praxis?
@@tedking6790 My goal was to poke fun at myself for having to think about what the correct spelling of 'suspicion' is, and to make fun of English spelling which is more historical than phonetic. BTW you made me look up 'praxis'.
socialism sounds like great idea, until it becomes reality and you have to live in it
@@jrt818 +rep
The brutality of socialism is only apparent to the believer of socialism when it comes for them.
Nope, plenty of socialists recognize the authoritarian nature of the Soviet Union. Socialism is a principle, not a specific type of govenment.
@@sataniccabal4276 Yes, a principal that leads to the soviet union then and the Chinese communist party today. Never works, never will work.
@@sataniccabal4276 of course socialism is just an idea. But when that idea becomes the dominant party in government, it leads to totalitarianism.
Always with the stupid excuses. Socialists are like the woman who keeps coming back to the abusive husband.
@Awawawa CM All socialism is useless crap.
That was one of the best chosen and produced records on this topic. I’m still amazed by how candid the writer was about his life in Russia.
Idealism always gets crushed in the face of reality.
The funny part is how he refuses to believe that Stalin himself was the one signing the death sentences.
To be fair, the NKVD got out of control and tried to overthrow the country when Stalin died.
A lot of what we know about Stalin and the Soviets have only really come to light since the fall of the USSR in 1991. Before then, it's police state tightly controlled all information, both good and bad.
Is it possible to see a document signed by Stalin on the murder of any People?
@@OffGridInvestorhere's the issue though, this was during the purge, a byproduct of the five year plan. This was Stalin in his prime, you have more than a decade of his rule left after 1939.
@@OffGridInvestorthe nkvd thought they could steal control after the war because of the percieved weakness of the other party members after stalins death. Didn't count on zhukov though. The army was extremely loyal to him.
_"you'll own nothing and be happy"_
World economic forum
So say the neo Nazis of the World Economic Forum like Klaus Schwab.
@Paladin Kray nope actually that's from the world economic forum bud but it's been quoted by many people
Talmudic prophecies premeditated into the diabolical reality before the world...
@Nigger Man commies and Nazis are twin brothers.
I used to travel around a lot when I was younger. I looked down on the Southern, uncouth people of my childhood. I eventually came around and found peace in the town I grew up in. There's no place like home.
I feel this so much, about where I grew up. Thought people were ignorant and dumb and old-fashioned and looked down on them for eating foods that aren't mainstream American, and our funky local comedians and our funky non-mainstream music ... all of it. In fact for years I'd never tell anyone where I grew up. Now, well, I take it all back. It's one of the least American places in America and I can't wait to retire there.
That's likely going to be my direction as well. I've lived from sea to shining sea but may go back to the South to retire.
Simple people are often best.
Why do you refer to them as uncouth?
@@greggeverman5578 wow, this is verging on insulting.
I guess this guy's parents really believed in letting him learn the hard.
Yeah. And he said that his parents did not value material things. I think I'm paraphrasing. So he had nutty parents who could not properly guide him.
@@nancyjeffries9053 Blows my mind that anyone would say that someone who does not value material possessions is nutty. That literally makes anyone who believes in just about any religion or their teachings, any monk, any philosopher, all the minimalists, all of them are nutty eh?
But you, running out to buy the 10th TV on black friday as you trample over a crowd to get it first, the one with 27 pairs of shoes in 32 colors that match your 15 hats, you are completely rational and not nutty eh?
I am not pro communism and think people should be able to own whatever they want.
But the love of material possessions absolutely is the downfall of our American society. Just a new form of slavery with different slave masters keeping you under their thumb.
his father was a socialist. scott nearing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Nearing
No, they were gung ho commies themselves.
@Awawawa CM no, they were worse, they were communists.
This guy ended up developing a really dim view of the Soviet Union. I suppose it's understandable.
you know if i was in charge it would be perfect
The gulag and starvation stuff was probably just a misunderstanding of some sort.
He didn't anticipate such massive corruption - because he didn't know the Communists wrote the book on corruption - everyone tries to get as high as possible in the govt so they can steal as much as possible. That's how became so wealthy after the fall of Communism.
its the only view that is correct, communism doesn't work, socialism is communism
@@007kingifrit You are kinda special kid, aren't you?
Glad the young man made it through. He strikes me as the type Solzhenitsyn said would literally be in the gulag and still insisting there must have been a mistake, they couldn’t have possibly meant to take him and the error will be sorted out any moment and he’d be released.
Yes, it happened that they were sent to the camps by mistake, and there were cases when innocent convicts were released. What is the problem?
You underestimate how common it was, especially during times of political and social unrest for people to get sent off to camps and prisons despite being innocent. This was often resolved by a relative's letter to the authorities. Yes, people could be released just like that.
I'd love to hear a personal account on nazi germany. Fantastic video!
Good idea
I heard it was great!
If you were germanic
Yeah that is a bad idea considering how youtube has shut down channels just for talking about it mate
@@cahallo5964 That's sad... as someone who would have been killed by the Nazis at least three times over, I want a damn video on Nazi Germany!
@@ediodimacaroni no, not even then...
The prize of fast-achieved industrialization seems to have been terrible in every country. I highly recommend "Peasants, Rebels, and Outcastes: The Underside of Modern Japan" by Mikiso Hane, exposing how these miserable conditions and high human cost also happened in Japan during the Taishō and Shōwa eras.
except without that industrialization of the urals at magnitogorsk and other cities in the east the soviet union would have lost the war
Sure, also the case with those in England and Germany as well. But those in England, Germany, and Japan had freedom to quit, to return to their previous life in the countryside, and, above all, to live without fear of persecution (i.e. the purge).
@@ihl0700677525 Sometimes female workers were accepted after paying their family in advace X number of their salaries, vastly depreciated but peasant families had never dealt with liquid money. Once at the mill they were prohibited to quit or even write to their relatives and many died there
And of course, Japan abducted thousands of Koreans from their"protectorate", for slave labor in Japan's coal and iron mining. They were the grandfathers of the zainichi. Prisioners were also forced to death through labor
@@ihl0700677525 ......well, in theory anyway. I suppose it's much like low-wage workers in the US today have the freedom to quit their work, and to take up any sort of life they wish. Except in practical terms they absolutely don't. This condition seems to be universal, however. Capitalist, communist, there will always be people to rig the game.
I'd love something from the American frontier, maybe from the journals of Lewis and Clark?
Read Blood Meridian by Cormac Mcarthy.
There's also "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose
@@RPfau1 Okay, nerd.
@@RPfau1 Stephen Ambrose was a plagiarist and a hack. He literally plagiarized entire pages from actual historians and authors. No one figured it out until after he died, though.
“Scouting on Two Continents” by Russel Burnham, “Journals” by Jedediah Smith”, Autobiography of Kit Carson & Davy Crockett. Those are excellent for getting a feel of frontier life and dangers
“No need for material possessions” yeah I bet.
_"You’ll own nothing And you’ll be happy."_ -World Economic Forum
Until he realized it wasn't a choice.
@@manictiger Since when did Stalin become a mutualist?
I wonder how the men in USSR attracted pretty gals without having any material possession...? I need to know this.. as I'm a man of "still not having any material possession... ✌️
@@mridulkanti1995 looks and charm which you don’t have either 😂
The hero of this story...the brother who picked up a rifle and fought.
I feel if every citizen had the balls to go down shooting like the brother (and if they all had access to guns), authoritarian regimes like those in WWII would not go as far as they did.
Its why Americans have such love for the 2nd. Those in the US who attack the 2nd, have no understanding of history or have authoritarian ideals.
Amen.
@@ALiBi212x I love how people have this magical believe that one day poff authoritarian regime pop up they are slowly cultivated and start with popular consent and slowly move away from that but always flood everyone with propaganda.
@@ETuss713 Agree
My man is improving the accents, honestly you're very good at imitating an American one, even if at times some of your original British accent comes through
I'm not convinced, he needs more work
@@rejvaik00 I didn't say he's perfect, I said that his original coems through at times
@@Overlord99762 hence why I said I'm not convinced he needs more work
"Tell me, how is it being de-kulakized?"
"Hm, well, that's a hell of a question!"
The scariest part of this is how the Russian at the end still believed. He believed that liberties that were taken would be given back "as soon as.....". The ends justify to means to ALL ideologues.
Reminds me a rumor Soviet Citizens had. They thought Stalin would disband forced communal farms after WW2. Why? Because you don't need to work that hard if the war is over or something like that.
@@JustAsPlanned1 Yikes. That's heartbreaking.
@@JustAsPlanned1 Nobody gives up power voluntarily.
I will dare to say my Grandfathers life in Mexico at the same time was way better than the soviets , not rich but had a house a truck abundant food for 6 kids work all year as a construction worker, couple pigs all year his own tools and they always kept a cellar with a couple tequila and brandy bottles.
He didn’t even go to elementary but he always warned me If Mexico was like Cuba we wouldn’t even have this ( which I guess he considered a very humble lifestyle) sounds very abundant compared to the Communist Countries.
Even sounds abundant compared to what some western workers get now.
@Ilfat It was, and socialism will always fail into eternity
@Ilfat Who ever mentioned McDonalds ?
So if you don’t like McDonald’s and Amazon you have the liberty to go elsewhere unlike your totalitarian states where there’s no liberty of anything.
It’s never going to work , it will always fail miserably and people will always find their way into a free market
@Ilfat LOL everyone knows that’s total BS 😂😂
@@hugojaime9565🤨
Imagine leaving America to voluntarily go to the Soviet Union 😂😂😂
Now, we have Joe Biden and Big Tech. The Soviet Union came to us ! Lol
There are people who want to think the US to become the soviet union.
Yeah, being jobless and homeless in the USA is much better.
@@han3wmanwukong125 we're pretty close
i wish all our commie wantabees would go try it on somewhere else. maybe then they would understand how nice it is to get something for your hard work. and how much it sucks to work for nothing.
I was born in Czechoslovakia. Twice "freed" by Soviet union. Even now, more than 30 years after the revolution I can sense the old times in both Czech republic and Slovakia.
The reality is that living in the Soviet Union was harsh the entire time.
It was a recently industrialized nation. A third world country if you will.
This is 20 years after Russia was a hellhole with most of the population as serf farmers, living short, essentially medieval lives of utter misery, servitude to the wealthy. The level of food production was so low due to the extreme poverty of the peasants that famines were a frequent occurrence. The wealthy boyars who controlled those serfs had no interest in spending the money they made on things like school or medicine for the peasants, and they treated them very badly. I personally K ow family of a woman who was a serf to a serf mother and a boyar father. The father's family were so mad at him for marrying a serf that at Christmas time they had him over for dinner and made his wife and children stand outside in the cold. This is what I meant by a medieval society. When the government took the side of those oppressed masses of people, development was the immediate goal. The economy boomed in a way that was totally unprecedented. They had basically forced the transition of their society from the 1400s with cities in the 1800s super fast into the 20th century in like 15 years when this guy was there. You have to expect this is going to create huge problems, but the level of development created way higher living standards for the average person. That grandma I mentioned earlier who had to stand in the snow as a peasant girl in winter became a factory worker, hurt herself, and was educated for free to become a surgeon. A surgeon, at University, for free! And this was a woman the 1920s. How common was that in the free democratic west, think about it. That guy in the video, the Central Asian guy who had never seen a staircase or a roof, do you think if he had stayed a herdsman living on a steppe under the rule of a literal Khan (they were really really bad dudes) his life would have been better? If one of the frequent droughts occured across the steppes, he would have probably starved to death along with his family and hundreds of thousands of others. This was the knife edge that pre-industrial Russia stood on, agriculturally speaking. Those people benefitted immeasurably from the improvements made to the agricultural system by the Soviet union. There was the horrendous famine of the mid 1930s of course, and other smaller famines, but they ended. They had been a staple of life in that region for hundreds of years, until the society run by the people for their own economic benefit solved the problem. The regime was definitely heavy handed and made terrible mistakes at multiple points, but in terms of economic development and the development of the quality of life of ordinary people, whether you like it or not there were tremendous benefits of the prewar soviet economy. It was the largest economic growth in all of human history until it was beaten by China in the late 20th century. Totally eclipsed any of the western powers, mostly because they developed over hundreds of years (with the help of the plundering of the globe)
Excellent summary, thanks for the very incited contribution
Yeah, because Russia was totally not an imperialist power looting everything it could. Read up on their "liberation" of Poland
'Then, later in life, I heard of some fella named Pol Pot and his Year Zero being implemented in Kampuchea. Now I can go where people are one. Now I can to go where they get things done. I gave it a crack and, coincidentally, received several upside my head.'
@Oh Kinawa 'It wasn't real Communism!'
@Oh Kinawa whatever you say tankie
👌
@Oh Kinawa Tankie cope is real
@Oh Kinawa Lmao they were supported by the PRC to counter vietnam lol
Learning actual history is basically the opposite of watching a documentary.
This one is actually very accurate and very telling on what, how, and why. I wish there were more films like that and less of Cold War propaganda that is exaggerated out of control and so easily debunked.
@@markhorrocks7605 The challenges the west faced were organic, being that the new technologies created new problems that were both unforeseeable and unavoidable, like rapid surges of rural populations into cities creating overcrowding. What Russia experienced, and also China, was the Communist government enslaving everyone and murdering everyone who complained. Not quite the same thing..Also, they never really evolved out of that since their governments are still doing the same thing..Communism is a slavery system.
Him: “I can’t get work as a journalist!”
*learns a useful trade, welding*
Me: “oh thank goodness, now he can find work anywhere in Ameri-“
Him: “THEN I SET OUT FOR COMMUNIST RUSSIA”
17:43: And that was the birth of Russian "Whataboutism"
I disagree. His Argument was proven wrong pretty decisively, but it wasn't whataboutist. He was arguing that even the united states took a century after their revolution to become "the land of the free". The marxist-leninists were convinced, that it would take such an amount of time and hard work to transform their society into a truly equal one. This is the great narrative to justify everything that happened. "We're working towards it, comrades. So our children can live our dream. Endure all this horror for their future."
And one has to grant them, only marxist-leninist countries managed to fully industrialize feudal societies in one or even less than one generation. A feat that was deemed impossible before. The human cost was of course unspeakable.
And of course, that "its gonna be tough now, but we are building something for future generations"-narrative is a christmas gift for authoritarian actors. I would go so far that it wasn't coopted but outright created for that purpose. It is the secular equivalent of "don't speak out or you'll go to hell" and "do this and you'll go to paradise".
If anything, that argument is a misunderstanding of how american society and mentality works, through the lense of a soviet revolutionary.
@@tomitiustritus6672 america was always more free than the soviet union, always
@@007kingifrit Then why does the USA have the highest Incarcerated people In the developed world in it’s privatized prisons? And also the highest income inequality in the developed world as well as the most expensive healthcare in the developed world. And lock immigrant children in cages and torture them? Must be from all that “freedom” huh.
@@200131356 what would you do leave them with people who may or may not be their parents that's child trafficking waiting to happen we have to keep them in one area and they are not entitled to live here to begin with
@@spartanx9293 Um, well for starters not put them in a concentration camp and cages and expose them to inhumane conditions would be a start lol. Like I seriously cant believe your asking this question.
Oi, where are all those people who were calling Voices of the Past commies for the "Soviet Russian brothers tour of America" series? I hope anyone who felt that way understands how silly a knee-jerk estimation of a groups characters is to make
+1
@@lolwalullalullol912 you're not wrong. Any extreme is usually a bad thing imo
@@lolwalullalullol912 _"US levels of capitalism are dangerous"_
The *irony* of saying that in *American website,* using *American browser* running on *American OS,* with *American chip,* on (probably) American device. Probably while sipping your coffee in an American café.
*You* are one of those billion people called "consumers" who make this "level of capitalism" possible. Lol.
You are *enjoying* the product of that level of capitalism.
@@ihl0700677525 You don't understand democracy.
@@deadby15 Democracy? You mean the ability to choose between Bing and Google, or Apple and Dell, or Ford and GM, or McDonald's and Burger King, or whatever?
You can *vote* with your wallet on *any issues, anywhere, anytime.*
Can your "democracy" do that? Or your democracy is this farce consist of an unending repetition of politicians selling their BS, get elected, and nothing change till the next election?
This program is a good contrast to the "Soviet Tourists in America 1936 series based on two Pravda columnists who took a coast-to coast driving tour across the country
I think it's genuinely fascinating to hear a close observer's perspective of the USSR.
If the Soviet Union is a villainous power it's a tragic villain. It was founded with arguably the best of intentions and many seemed to truly believe in its utopian ideal. But from stories like these it's clear that suspicion, oppression, and heartlessness ran all the way through its leadership, and that ordinary people suffered and died in the face of that.
No decent human being will go to the lengths that are required to obtain that kind of power.
When the whole capitalist world wants to destroy you, your heart hardens
@@Zaytsev167The West never tried to destroy Soviet Russia what on Earth are you talking about?
Russian communism was hardly different than Facism in practice. Russian communists never actually implemented global socialism, they created an Empire. Nothing more. They never tolerated any communist leadership that did not answer to Moskow.
@@Smokey298 The Civil War before 1922 and the Cold War? An attempt to destroy socialist regimes around the world
I remember as a child my grandparents and parents talking about their lives before the war, jobs were few and far between, a doller bill looked the size of a horse blanket and scarce as rain in a Texas Summer. Yet somehow they managed to survive, even if it was bread and soup lines for many, they pulled in their belts and helped each other out. I remember reading about Mack Huges Life of a Hashknife Cowboy in Northern Arizona during the Great Depression, he said" We never noticed the economic depression as we never had much to begin with, we had our horses, doller a day and sometimes three hot when we could get it, we never went hungry"! The 1930 was hard for everyone, hardest for some than others, Stalins five year plan to industrializ the nationg gave rise to the HOLDOMOR of the Ukrain, forced collectivization to feed the cities and induries.....yet as we hear in this documentation there was no bread to be had! So where did all the grain go? Export? to who? Germany had hyper inflation, France and the other european countries had their oun grain supply, America had it´s own bread basket. So much todays wanna bee socialist do not know about.....maybe because they have never really been hungry. Every Pain Has It´s Scream - A Full Belly Remains Silent.
The grass is always greener, but when you get there it all you got to eat.
1:28 - If Leonardo Di Caprio were to play Lenin.
That sounds like an amazing movie idea. Leo could pull it off.
@@Pampersnoot I'm still hoping for Beach 2
I recommend the Netflix series, Trotsky. I appreciate the casting of the early Bolshevik leaders in that series, including Lenin. Lol, Leo would have to shave his head to play the role (bald caps look absurd), but based on his performances as Monsieur Candy and Jordon Belfort in particular, I can see him as a formidable Lenin. If we get something in the vein of Death of Stalin, but directed by Tarantino, BAM this red blooded American would jump in line to see a film about his political opposite HA!
Oh my god, somebody has to make a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio as Lenin.
Nah that would be a terrible thing
“I’m going to the ussr, there is plenty of work!”
“Oh,there work alright, more than you think you can.”
“Laughs maniacally in Russian”.
>Voluntarily leaves the U.S. for the Soviet Union
>Ends up forced to work in a prison steel plant
Lol, lmao even.
Your channel is like Audible, but history. It's actually great. Thanks!! :)
Of course they didn’t know that they don’t realize how lucky they are to live here or Europe
Capitalism isn't perfect, but it's the best system for people's to gain opportunity into the middle class. I grew up really poor, no status, people use picked on me never owning name brand shoes in public school. I once was laughed at, because the only car I could afford had no back glass, the people called me trailer trash. Today I have a Business Degree, own a home and never chasing money. I drive a Range Rover... It's how you live and balance ones budget. Work hard, examine your current life and drive forward towards personal growth and change. I wish everyone here peace and happiness. Great video
Here in USA or another country?
Eugene Lyons was a communist and journalist who was assigned to the USSR as a correspondent. He even interviewed Stalin in his infamous "the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated". He saw first hand the absolute insanity of Soviet Communism, of the growing paranoia and inefficiencies (his wife almost died while in the care of soviet doctors who were more concerned about following paperwork then the Hippocratic oath), and saw just how bleak and hopeless the lives of people forced to be soviet slaves were.
Everyone should read his books, Assignment in Utopia and Worker's Paradise Lost.
Anyone who still call themselves a Marxist and a Communist should be in prison. They are a danger to everyone.
This comment section is going to go well
@What authoritarian communists are the same threat as christian nationalist
@What that's just like your opinion man
I love you.
OH YEAH YEAH
@@warriormasterdeath7093 oh yeah yeah
Fascinating video as always votp, I hope these firsthand accounts of soviet life continues.
Your American accent is getting pretty decent.
I only watch this channel occasionally, so I forgot he wasn’t American before I read your comment.
Where is he from?
@@finnleason6916 His accent sounds English.
@Iron Gamer right but as non-americans we cant really tell. also in the 30's didnt some americans have a slightly hybrid american/british accent? trans-atlantic accent i think it's called. this sounds a bit like that
@Iron Gamer fair enough
Yep, that's how the older generation describes it as well. This channel is something I haven't seen for a while though. People portray things as a struggle of logic and feelings, but the informative side of youtube is filled with very simple feelings working with very basic logic to give an aesthetic of something real. With this you actually have to imagine. There's your whole life in each word, you're just not thinking about it, but you can if you ever need
These videos are always so fascinating and so well put together. They're awesome, always. Without exception. Thank you! ☝️😎👌
This guy would be a reddit user today
Ironically, at the time Scott still believed that the Soviet efforts and that "it was worthwhile to shed blood, sweat, and tears" to lay "the foundations for a new society farther along the road of human progress than anything in the West; a society which would guarantee its people not only personal freedom but absolute economic security." He still believed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was "the source of initiative and energy which drove work forward." It was only after writing the first manuscript of what would become the book and he watched the purges intensify that he began to doubt, saying "Unless the Party is restored to at least some of its former position as a leading force in the country and permitted to propagate certain basic socialist principles, there will be no cement to prevent demoralization and breakdown, no ideology to act as a religion or faith for youth."
His prediction would prove all too accurate.
I love how the American accent isnt totally there yet. But the attempt is much appreciated for the immersion
Thank you so much for this video! It is very interesting to know the memories of real participants in the events!
Wow, such a small channel for such quality content!
This guy ends up working for the OSS, then the CIA... Wild
What?
finejustgivemeaname he did, he ended up writing for time too
@@jamesbay115 interesting
Not wild. He was a spy.
@@hajanejdjsms you think, before he left for Russia, or after his experience? Do you think it’s why he initially went, or a result of his experience?
Really phenomenal video. Immersive, compelling, informative. Subscribed.
"Democracy is a very bad form of government, But all the other forms are much worse "--- W. S.Churchill
"The state is at best a necessary evil, at worst an intolerable one" -thomas paine
"The world is my country all its people my brothers and sisters and my religion is to do good to them." -thomas paine
"I meant the moral to be that revolutions only effect a radical improvement when the masses are alert and know how to chuck out their leaders as soon as the latter have done their job..........If people think I am defending the status quo, that is, I think, because they have grown pessimistic and assume that there is no alternative except dictatorship or laissez-faire capitalism." - George Orwell (about Animal Farm)
Ironic given that England wasn't a democracy
Beautifully written, beautifully narrated.
Who are the people who dislike this kind of stuff? Like, which bit do you not like? That someone is bringing history to life? Or the delicious irony that he has a British accent? Seriously, there's nothing to dislike.
Communists dislike. There are still people out there who are sympathizers of communism and don't believe the Soviet Union was evil, they deny existence of gulags the same way other people are Holocaust deniers. In London I met several people from "Stalin Society", those people believe Stalin was a great leader and wasn't at all responsible for mass murders and they don't accept any historical facts. I'm from Eastern Europe and I was genuinely shocked how many people in the West are ignorant about crimes of communism.
@@miqx1977 fellow eastern European here who came to the UK to uni and was also shocked at how popular socialism here is among people of my age. I just can't get it. they would not listen to me or other person of Eastern European / post-soviet background. In London I see sticker ads of Marx fan walking tours, my uni has really active communists societies. Honestly, it's very scary for me to see.
@@laurengaskell2098 Why the hell should they trust you? Are you absolute unbiased judge and ultimate truth speaker? If you are really from there than you should know that in Eastern Europe a lot of people who remember that socialist time only positively. Even in Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovenia(the most prosperous countries in EE). Of course, they are biased retarded boomers and brainwashed soyboy-zoomers if they think that there was a paradise and everything was fine in old times. And they are sensible beautiful unbiased people if they think that there was real hell and everything that could be bad was bad in the old times. XD
Yeah, you claim to have absolute truth and are right when everybody else is wrong. So you are not better than "biased and brainwashed commies".
@@m7ray Chill a bit, ok? it's just youtube comments. Of course I am no better than any "commie" and of course I am aware that there are old people who like SU and I never call elder generation "boomers", but experience of my family under SU was awful and I am just speaking about it just like those who are praising life under SU. And frankly among elderly people I know no one wants SU back, but ofc its a question of what circle you are in.
one could just as easily point to the (even worse) crimes of capitalism but most of you would ignore them (bengal famine,right wing death squads etc.)
Hmm.. he couldn't find a job; but didn't learn a valuable trade until he wanted to try the USSR.
If you still want to know more, try reading a book called “black on red”, it’s about Black-American engineer who immigrated to the early USSR. It can be eyeopening
"Confessions of an young leftist idiot" should be the title of this ever relevant piece of writing...
He was pretty intelligent judging by the way he wrote, significantly better than yours.
He was intelligent and had integrity enough to actually go and try it. Though I think he would agree that he was an idiot before he went to Russia.
Did he ever convert it never said that in the vid
I would say Naive than an idiot. You can only get an idea of something you learn about not from experience.
If you can't read Marx and figure out it is bullshit your brain is smooth.
This should be sent to all Antifa members and extreme Communist leftists.
This video was incredible! I learned a lot! Thank you!
Thank you for this video! It showed a really rare perspective one usually won’t know of.
This what JOE BIDGEN AND THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS WANT TO DO
@@destinysoblivion3268 JOE BIDGEN
@@Bobelponge123 you’re entitled to your opinion but I do wonder what is your basis for saying that
What I immediately find odd is that this man went to New York for work and couldn’t find any. Then he learned a trade and joined a union. Did I miss something? Was he not employed in his field of study? He still had a problem finding work after learning a trade and joining a union? I’m only a minute and a half in and I clearly see where this is going - it takes perspective to appreciate and value what you’ve been offered your whole life
I've never been a fan of the soviet union but Ive always enjoyed seeing stories of day to day life of the people living there because it wasn't a hell hole as you had to live as best you could. Some people I've met said things weren't too bad but for others it was. I enjoy these historical accounts.
I think it really depended the most on the decade on which is being discussed of the USSR.
It was absolutely a hell hole lol are you nuts?
@@namenameson9065 depends it was unless you absolutely followed the rules and never said shit about the party
@@berniekatzroy But there were no rules, or at least the rules changed so much or were so ambiguous that no one knew what the rules were. The oppression was total and constant. Any slight could be punished. Kind of like Big Tech, an Obama government program by the way. Very Communist! Will our comments be censored? We never know. We will often never find out.
@@namenameson9065 sometimes I wonder if they are especially now a days where most comment sections have a rule set now
Who's watching this after seeing the "Soviet Tourist Describes American Life"?
More people need to see this.
Going to Siberia in the 30's???? Who would have though a frozen wasteland industrialising very quickly wouldn't be very pretty
Young socialist, he was naive and eager to find his dream
@@cardenasr.2898 I mean, there is certainly a difference between being a realist and being idealistic. The kind of conditions he saw in the USSR were reminiscent of any developing nation, rising standards of living, but full of hard and dangerous work. It's really not the best place to integrate considering Russian and american cultures were always so different and with such different expectations and ideas on life.
While i despise communism, you have to respect someone who search for his dreams.
@@danger_floof Most countries probably didn’t suffer the same purges and whatnot, however.
@@jakew7982 Well, the purges had to do with party members and bureaucrats. The purge was quite a "democratic" thing, since citizens played a huge role in getting lower tier bureaucrats purged.
17:38 shows just how brainwashed some people were/are. Wow.
And that's trapped in the regime, we have others in a free country equally or even more indoctrinated
What? Facts!
A surprising number of Americans went to the Soviet Union during the depression. Some 300 families went to build a Ford plant from scratch in Russia. Vicktor Herman's story th-cam.com/video/eF32ZrVy8Kk/w-d-xo.html "Coming out of the ice" in 1982 is the story of the Herman, he was only supposed to be there for three years. I think it took him 30 to get back to Detroit, with a ten year hiatus in the Gulag.