Re:How Vladimir Lenin Became a Mushroom (2017)
by the_grue on Sunday November 11, 2018 @05:54AM
(#18425823)
It sounds like you're trying to disprove an argument I never made. Let me be clear about this: there was no free speech in the USSR and you couldn't sound criticism publicly.
But some assume that the absence of free speech means that everyone is either brainwashed or so terrified they are afraid to speak their minds at home. I just had to point out this is not how it was in the late USSR.
Re:How Vladimir Lenin Became a Mushroom (2017)
by xattt on Sunday November 11, 2018 @11:04AM
(#18427006)
Dissidence was managed in the USSR. Individuals would be allowed to say enough things that would contribute to self-incrimination. When it was convenient for the party, the “debt” was called and individuals would then be held responsible for their actions.
And why would they (the KGB) have cared (about jokes)? The venting of steam, instead of letting it build up and affect change, would have to be invented if people didn't do it voluntarily. That kind of self-deprecating humour is all over our media these days, too, we love to bring up important subjects to channel them into harmless stuff, just because we can't pretend it's not there, but also not allow ourselves to actually see it and be serious in its presence.