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by uwagar 1641 days ago
what was the rationale?
2 comments

People were not supposed to see how people actually live in the "west" since quality of life was much higher even in other soviet block countries.
Not enough KGB officers to tail them.

/s

There was multitude of reasons but the main ones were what you needed to have a good standing in the society[0] and the need to control every aspect of that society. People who would see a (even a little) better living could start asking questions. One could say that was a result of fear.

[0] the article provides one such example:

> Because of Dmitry’s active involvement in the communist youth groups, when he was 15, his school sent him to the Pioneer summer camp in Nordhausen near Erfurt in East Germany.