[kafkaesq]

Even people closer to the regime believed they had a good life because they received bananas and oranges before every Christmas...

People who work in elite tiers in the U.S., e.g. finance, tend to have a similar mentality. Granted they get a bit more thrown at them in the way of trinkets (e.g. a nice condo or house, rather than a basket of oranges) in exchange for keeping their heads down and not rocking the boat. And they don't have to worry about getting shot or sent to a labor camp (or more commonly, banned from professional employment) specifically. But the basic mentality is basically the same.

[Shivetya]

in the US I can buy the same Coca Cola that Buffet and Gates can. I can many of the same products they can, drive to same places, and for the most part shop where they do.

the difference between capitalist societies and dictatorships, communist regimes, and the like is, the majority of that the powerful have access to the every man does as well. there is no restriction from buying as much as you can afford. there is no one saying you need to wait for your turn to buy food or what brands you can buy.

so, no we don't have anything in common with these people described. we just don't have the ability to really conceive how much of the world had to live and even today have to live. Oh sure we can say "I understand" but we really don't. if we did we would realize how much of what we rant about is so truly meaningless

[kafkaesq]

In the US I can buy the same Coca Cola that Buffet and Gates can.

But access to health care, or (in many neighborhoods) even reasonably nutritious food and safe drinking water - that's quite another matter.

[vkou]

First of all, the capitalist-communist and repressive-free political axes have little to do with eachother. Setting that aside...

> the difference between capitalist societies and dictatorships, communist regimes, and the like is, the majority of that the powerful have access to the every man does as well. there is no restriction from buying as much as you can afford. there is no one saying you need to wait for your turn to buy food or what brands you can buy.

No, that's the difference between a society with scarcity and one without. Rationing has existed in the West, too - outside of war time.

The difference between a communist society and a capitalist one is who owns the means of production, and how the economic profits from it are distributed.

The Communist Party of the USSR owned the means of production, but distributed the profits from it incredibly unequally. [1] (For decades, the party promised that communism would be reached Soon(tm). And we just need everyone to work hard for a few more years...)

Capitalists (And, to a smaller extent, people with 401Ks) of the USA own the means of production, and distribute the profits from it incredibly unequally. (While telling half the population that they too are going to be wealthy. Just work hard for a few more years... And vote Republican - because taxes and regulation and foreigners are the reason they are poor.)

The reason you can buy Coca-Cola at 7-11 is because the USA produces more then enough staples. Were there a serious, long-term food shortage, you'd see ration cards[2] being implemented before you could say 'But, markets!'

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkhoz

> In a kolkhoz, a member received a share of the farm's product and profit according to the number of days worked, whereas a sovkhoz employed salaried workers. In practice, most kolkhozy did not pay their "members" in cash at all. In 1946, 30 percent of kolkhozy paid no cash for labor at all, 10.6 paid no grain, and 73.2 percent paid 500 grams of grain or less per day worked.[5] In addition the kolkhoz was required to sell its grain crop and other products to the State at fixed prices. These were set by Soviet government very low, and the difference between what the State paid the farm and what the State charged consumers represented a major source of income for the Soviet government.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odd%E2%80%93even_rationing#U.S...

[albertgoeswoof]

Um, not really.