Proving yet again how out of touch the publication can be, the October 12 issue of Newsweek seriously asked the question: "Was Russia Better Off Red?"
The "Back Story" page of the magazine featured a graphic comparing life
under communism to now and bizarrely asserted: "Since the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has seen an increase in oligarchs and
Louis Vuitton outlets. But by many other measures, Russians are worse off."
Yes, despite the fact that 20 million people were murdered in Soviet
Russia, this unsigned feature in Newsweek contrasted the crime rate
under communism, the number of hospitals and the total number of
cinemas (among other factors) to those in the country today. Sadly,
there are only 1,510 movie theaters today. Under the brutal repression
of communism, however, there were 2,337.
(JPG image, via a scan, that matches the full size [1] of the Newsweek page and so is readable.)
For sources, Newsweek cited the Food and Agriculture Organization,
the International Labour Organization, National Statistical Office of
Federation, UNESCO and the World Health Organization. The publication
didn't explain why readers are supposed to assume that the original
communist numbers are accurate.
Other statistics compared: Population, life expectancy at birth,
divorces, diseases, agricultural land (in acres), forest land (in
acres) and alcohol consumption. All of these, according to Newsweek,
were better under some undated time of communism.
The magazine did not ask: Are more people being sent to the gulag or murdered now than they were under communism?
Newsweek's Web site [2] no
longer includes most of the printed magazine and so this page is not
online. But, readers can find it on page 62 of the October 12 edition
- or click on the jpg link above for a scanned image.
The magazine's tone seems reminiscent of Mike Wallace on the
February 11, 1990 edition of 60 Minutes. The co-anchor famously
declared, "Many Soviets viewing the current chaos and nationalist
unrest under Gorbachev look back almost longingly to the era of brutal
order under Stalin." And of course, conservatives will recall this
headline from the New York Times:
A Gulag Breeds Rage, Yes, but Also Serenity
- New York Times story on last Soviet political prisoners being released, February 12, 1992.
- Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.