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Comment by hrhrhrhrhr | Hacker News Reader

People in USSR were kept inside against their will and were used as a forced labor. They absolutely earned their wealth, not the nomenklatura.

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Money is representation of value within a society, but it only has value within that society - and to the extent it can be traded abroad. The value is protected by the legal system, by the army, facilitated by the roads, bridges and infrastructure. Just because you get a "dollar" or "ruble" in exchange for work doesn't intrinsically mean that you are owed anything. That obligation comes from the system in which you, your employer and your fellow countryfolk coexist and cooperate.

You cannot divorce one from the other.

[edit] (They earned units that they could exchange immediately or at some future time. Whether or not that amounted to wealth is based on what those units could or did turn into at the point of measure within the framework of the society in which they exist.)

Eh. Obviously we need governments for game theoretic reasons. We need soldiers because other people have soldiers, we need governments because other people have governments. But in practice the government is often a huge bully. The fact that we can't spend money we make within these systems without getting snooped on for every transactions stinks. And, guess what, rich people and billionaires are not subject to the same limitations. So yes, while we need a government, there is a tension between individual autonomy and the government, and methods of exercising autonomy outside of the government's ability to count beans and snoop on you are just fine in my book.

Forced labour is pushing it, at least for the general population. They were paid, had vacations and other "benefits", and could change jobs. If those are your criteria for forced labour, wait until you hear of countries with healthcare tied to the employer, and close to zero employee protections.

But yes, they were kept inside the country, which is a separate issue.

My criteria for forced labor is being criminally charged for refusing to work.

Arguing with commies on the internet is a waste of time. The goal posts are always changing.

> forced labor

Yes, that’s exactly why people who actually lived there now regret its collapse. The younger the person, the more they were oppressed by the KGB.

Keep telling yourself that. My grandparents just died. They hated the USSR for stealing their best years from them. They didn't even get to travel until they were in their 50s.

It’s not a question of anecdata, but statistics. I’m sorry for your loss, but you can’t argue there’re many-many people who regret USSR is no more. Just look at the polls.

Here's the thing. I don't care about their opinion. The USSR was evil. Collaborators get no sympathy from me. They could be the majority and I'd still want to overthrow that system of government. It's anti freedom.

That’s very thought-through and rational. /s

You are too emotional to properly debate anything on cryptocurrencies, I'm sorry to say but it feels like you need to grow up, at least emotionally.

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