They weren't, but it's still a pretty big contrast between the 60s (which started of course in 1953) and even the mid-late 70s. The problems didn't start with Gorbachev
this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2025
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To add to what others have already said:
There's that declassified CIA report which says Soviet citizens ate or at least had access to more calories than their US counterparts by the 1980s.
Then there's the fact that housing was effectively free.
This documentary might help paint a picture even if it's not your main source of statistics and such: The Human Face of Russia (1984) - society and everyday life in the 1980s USSR
The filmmakers are from Australia and they go to various places in the Soviet Union asking people about typical quality of life questions like price of rent, bus fare, work, having a look at farms, etc.
Universal Healthcare, something no American has ever known.
I really don't get my buddy who said he'd like to move to the US. Although after a short discussion he admitted it'd be a horrible place to live long-term. I think that propaganda in media a lot of us consumed since childhood romanticized this horrible country. It took me like two, three years to unlearn this bs and good associations to see the US for what it is lol...
The US is a great place to live… if you’re already wealthy. Everyone else? Not so much.