I'm from the former Soviet Union. Republicans don't know what "socialism" is.

I'm Russian-born. I moved to the United States in the 90s, and one of the few things that has consistently stunned me about American politics is the extent to which people here genuinely think that this country is less capitalistic than the rest of the OECD.<br><br>If you want to see what "socialism" really is, leave your city and go to a small village for a day. The difference, aesthetically and culturally, is jarring. The smallest village is going to have an historic collective farm. It's going to look like the 1960s fell on top of it and didn't get up. Every single sign in the town is going to be from the Soviet era. There will be no private businesses, and everyone in town will work at the collective farm. If they're lucky, they might have a few shops selling food, possibly a restaurant if they're really lucky. You will not find this in any European country, even in the ones that are the closest to being socialist like Germany or Sweden. Even in the biggest cities, it's not unusual to see Soviet-era high rises.<br><br>Similarly, if you talk to people from countries that were part of the Soviet bloc, or even people from parts of Western Europe who were there at the time, they will tell you that the USSR was a radically differnt place from what you have here. When people here talk about whether or not Obama or Sanders or Biden are "socialists," they have no idea what they're talking about.<br><br>I don't know if this is the best chamber to post this in, but you guys seem like you'd be the most receptive to this information. If you think this would be a good addition to a different chamber, please let me know.