The Impoverishment of Socialism

Timothy Birdnow

An article in the Federalist discusses how an American grocery store helped win the Cold War .

From the article:

On Sept. 16, 1989, Boris Yeltsin was a newly elected member of the Soviet Parliament visiting the United States. Following a scheduled visit to Johnson Space Center, Yeltsin and a small entourage made an unscheduled stop at a Randalls grocery store in Clear Lake, a suburb of Houston. He was amazed by the aisles of food and stocked shelves, a sharp contrast to the breadlines and empty columns he was accustomed to in Russia.

Yeltsin, who had a reputation as a reformer and populist, "roamed the aisles of Randall’s nodding his head in amazement,” wroteStefanie Asin, a Houston Chronicle reporter. He marveled at free cheese samples, fresh fish and produce, and freezers packed full of pudding pops. Along the way, Yeltsin chatted up customers and store workers: "How much does this cost? Do you need special education to manage a supermarket? Are all American stores like this?”

Yeltsin was a member of the Politburo and Russia’s upper political crust, yet he’d never seen anything like the offerings of this little American grocery store."Even the Politburo doesn’t have this choice. Not even Mr. Gorbachev,” Yeltsin said.

Yeltsin was horrified to realize how poor socialism had made his country.

Poor and inefficient.

When I was in college my Russian teacher - a Soviet defector - spoke of grocery stores. Seems it took the better part of a day to shop.

You had to wait in line to get in. Once inside the stores were divided into multiple departments, and you didn't just go to a shelf and pick something up,but rather you waited in line to ask the department clerk for an item. IF they had anything at all, that is! You bought it regardless of what was available because you could  trade with neighbors for stuff you needed.

At any rate, you stood in line, received a bill from the clerk, then went to the checkout and paid. Your bill was makrkd "paid" and you went back into the department line to actually get your item. You had to do this over and over, for meat, produce, canned goods, dry goods, etc. Of course, usually there was only one selection if that in each department.

I remember reading about some Russian hockey players who had defected. The first day one of these players went into a store he gasped, grabbed a cart and began piling everything into it. He couldn't believe that the stuff would be there the next day!

Yeah; socialism is WONDERFUL!

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 10:31 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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