(Historical and sociological article)

Of course, anyone who is even slightly interested in history knows that those people who do it, to put it mildly, whitewash the truth. Let’s take a look at why some people so dream of returning to the USSR.

How many people miss the USSR?

Of course, personal experience is great, but I will not beat around the bush and refer to statistics. Let’s consider the results of surveys of the sociological group “Rating.”

As of 2022, a record low rate of those who are nostalgic for the USSR was recorded, namely 11%. It is good that the percentage of the population that lacks the USSR is constantly decreasing. Thus, in 2010, 46% of Ukrainians missed the USSR, in 2013 – 41%, in 2014 – 33%, and in 2015 – already 31%.

It is interesting that in Russia since 2010, the number of people who are nostalgic for the USSR, on the contrary, has been increasing. For example, in 2010, 55% of Russians missed the Soviet Union, and now it is already 63%.

This can be considered one of the turning points for understanding who is moving to the futureб and who is moving to the past.

Who are they, these 11% of Ukrainians who still miss the USSR? Statistics say that most of them are Russian-speaking people over the age of 51, living in the eastern or southern regions.

Nostalgia for the USSR is cemented most by the language factor. Just think, 28% of the surveyed exclusively Russian-speaking Ukrainians regret the collapse of the USSR. This is almost twice as many as Ukrainian-speaking and bilingual Ukrainians combined. But every cloud has a silver lining. Now you have one more argument to prove that language matters.

But why are people still nostalgic for a dead country? I found several reasons.

Reason 1: Duckling syndrome

Duckling syndrome is a psychological feature that is common to many people. It consists in the fact that a person, regardless of the circumstances, considers his first experience to be the best.

Let’s do an experiment. Try to remember your childhood. For most people, it is associated with an easy and carefree period of life. However, if you think a little more, it turns out that childhood is always traumatic to one degree or another. Children do not know how this world works, so they have to overcome many challenges. At the same time, they are completely dependent on adults, who are always ready to scold them for an accidental mistake. Over time, insults for a bad grade or kicks for a broken meat grinder are forgotten, and we remember only a happy and carefree childhood.

It is the same with nostalgia for the USSR. Let’s remember, people over 50 are the most nostalgic. They remember ice cream cheap as chips, but have already forgotten the queues for it. Now they can buy any ice cream (including the cheapest, which in percentage terms will cost as much as the legendary Soviet ice cream), while then they could only buy one. However, they only remember the ice cream and how they ate it when they were young, naive and happy.

But if nostalgia for the USSR had only this reason, only the 40+ category would miss it, because younger people simply cannot remember that country. So this is not the only reason for nostalgia.

Reason 2: Double bottom in Soviet propaganda

Usually, in the propaganda works of the times of the USSR, direct and clear images are presented that evoke a clear emotion. When consuming such a product, a person does not need to think too much. At first glance, it may seem that the work contains only useful instructions. However, it is easy to hide the necessary messages that affect the subconscious. This makes Soviet production dangerous.

For this, the artistic current of socialist realism was even invented, which glorified the Communist Party.

Reason 3: Russian propaganda

Do you remember that, according to statistics, the majority of the population nostalgic for the USSR speaks exclusively Russian? Guess what kind of content such people like to consume. That’s right, Russian. The times of the USSR are the period when Russia held under its power the largest number of territories in its entire history. It is not at all surprising that the return of the USSR became the national idea of ​​the Russian government. So nostalgia for the USSR and its glorification became an important part of both internal and external propaganda.

Reason 4: Laziness

Independence gave us freedom, but freedom is also a responsibility. There is no longer a clear system that will tell you what to do and how to think. Therefore, people who are too lazy to make decisions on the back foot. Instead of cheap matches, the raw materials for the manufacture of which were mined by 13-year-old children of enemies of the people in concentration camps, there is a variety of matches of different prices and quality. There is no free housing anymore, but there is an opportunity to choose a job with a different salary depending on competence and desire and to buy the house you want. However, some would be more comfortable in the red cage, where everything is clear and understandable, as long as everything is done according to the rules of the party.

So now we understand why people are nostalgic for the scoop, so we can try to convince people that it wasn’t better before.