When East Meets West: The 1959 American Exhibit in Moscow

[Quence]

The Soviets had an exhibit in New York. Far more Russians visited the American exhibit in Moscow than Americans visited the Soviet exhibit.

One of the American exhibiters fell in love with a Russian girl in Moscow. She was quite pretty….as you’ll see.

 

[Schnookums]

Far more Russians visited the American exhibit in Moscow

why do you think this is? in my humble opinion, people are flawed, they want far more than they need. despite its flaws, the divide between poor and rich wasn't like it is in the US.

 

[Quence]

why do you think this is?

It was because of the same reason that most of the world would like to immigrate to the US: America offers the possibility of a much higher standard of living and the rule of law.

in my humble opinion, people are flawed, they want far more than they need. despite its flaws, the divide between poor and rich wasn't like it is in the US.

Except that communist governments have massively failed everywhere they’ve been implemented. Most people don’t want to live in a society where merit has no bearing on success.

 

[Schnookums]

It was because of the same reason that most of the world would like to immigrate to the US: America offers the possibility of a much higher standard of living and the rule of law.

the US has better living standards because of its leverage on the world stage, not because it is the best. the US happily crushes democracies and supports dictatorships when it benefits the US.

Except that communist governments have massively failed everywhere they’ve been implemented.

that means nothing.

the first automobiles sucked. but eventually they improved. currently electric vehicles are lacking, but that doesn't mean they won't be far improved in 50 years.

Most people don’t want to live in a society where merit has no bearing on success.

Musk is worth $351 billion, Bezos is worth $238 billion, Ellison is worth $221 billion and Zuckerberg is worth $172 billion. you are telling me these people are all rich because of merit?

 

[Quence]

the US has better living standards because of its leverage on the world stage, not because it is the best. the US happily crushes democracies and supports dictatorships when it benefits the US.

Nonsense. The Soviet Union was the communist analogue to America’s capitalist experiment. It’s people were ALWAYS much poorer than Americans. They lived miserable lives and had to wait in long lines for basic necessities such as bread and meat. The communist system was worse when measured by almost any metric.

that means nothing.

It means everything. Is Russia now communist? Nope. Is China communist? No. Is Cuba communist? Yes, but it can’t afford to provide reliable electricity to its people. Nothing about Cuba has improved over time.

Musk is worth $351 billion, Bezos is worth $238 billion, Ellison is worth $221 billion and Zuckerberg is worth $172 billion. you are telling me these people are all rich because of merit?

First of all, you’re referring to those people’s PAPER wealth - their stock holdings. That is not their liquid wealth which is considerably lower.

But yes, all of them with the possible exception of Zuck earned their wealth. In communist countries, who were ALWAYS the wealthiest people? It was the people who were the highest in the communist political hierarchy. They didn’t have any special talents. Once they got some political power they looted the country while everyone else lived like peasants.