The ex-Soviets I've talked to about this pretty unanimously relate that they were raised to think the USSR was the best country on earth, just like we are in the US. They also tend to agree that life here is way, way better. In other words, just because we both had to recite a Pledge of Allegiance every morning doesn't mean we both had exile, mass murder, man-made famines, etc., on the same scale.

Just because some country in the past had it worse doesn't mean our country now doesn't have massive structural issues. A republic requires the trust of its people to function properly, and the fact that this trust is nearly gone in America should be worrying to everyone.

Ah yes, The Gulag Archipelago