I have always thought it was all his pun on: "Under capitalism, a man exploits a man. Under socialism, it's the other way around!" But I may have been mistaken.
That’s a real possibility, as that Russian (or Polish, depending on who you ask) joke had been making the rounds for almost 30 years when Smirnoff moved to the US in 1977.
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/unde...