Michael Parenti explaining why the US’ elites feared the historical example set by the October Revolution, led by Vladimir Lenin. For the first time in the history of the world, the great unwashed masses, took over an entire nation. What followed over the next few decades were dramatic improvements to peoples’ lives by every metric: In 1917, Russia was mostly illiterate and agrarian. By 1959, literacy exceeded 98%, and the USSR had one of the world’s most educated populations Life expectancy rose from roughly 32 years (1917) to the high-60s by the late 1950s, despite the devastation of World War 2. Industrial output (1913-1940): 🔹 Electricity 2 → 48 billion kWh (24×) 🔹 Steel 4.2 → 18.3 Mt (4×) 🔹 Coal 28.9 → 164.6 Mt (6×) By 1960 the USSR generated 290 billion kWh of electricity, second only to the United States. Doctors per 10,000 people increased from 14.6 in 1950 to 23.9 by 1965. Hospital beds increased from 57.7 to 96 per 10,000 people The urban population rose from 15% in 1917 to a majority by the early 1960s. GNP growth averaged 5–6 % per year in the 1950s, among the highest globally. Not to mention, the Soviet Union led the defeat of Nazi Germany and crushed fascism. Roughly 75% of all of Nazi Germany’s military deaths in World War 2 were at the hands of Stalin’s Red Army.
