Putin wishes Soviet Union had not collapsed

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Like hating gays, missing the Soviet Union is very popular in Russia.

I truly adore your uninformed takes on geopolitical events and opinions.

He's not wrong. You don't have to be a communist to miss the USSR, as many in Russia tend to look back at the Soviet Union as the pinnacle of the country's power and influence.

Beside, there was a chance for the USSR to continue as a non-communist entity (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Sovereign_States), as Gorbachev and his allies fully realized the system had failed. However, the August Coup and its fallout ended such hopes.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

As I said before, the Soviet Union was the most humane state in history.

Dude, you're not even trying anymore.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

What people should understand being a "communist" during the USSR was not so much a paragon of ideological commitment rather than commitment to the regime. And those who joined the party didn't necessarily join because of ideas. Actually most were joining to move up within the system. I'm from a country that was operating under such system and believe me, I know many people who partake in said system that way.

He's been saying this for almost 20 years.

He doesn't miss the communism... he misses the union/territory, and the superpower status.

This, though I would assume he certainly values the authoritarian nature of Soviet-era communism.

He is a KGB man after all. It's the "organs" mentality.

We're talking about long traditions of Russian authoritarianism, be it under the tsars, Bolsheviks or Putin.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Well duh. For the Average Joe who lives in Russia, the Soviet system meant a working healthcare system, employment, and a retirement he could look forward to. The breakup and the resulting economic collapse definitely took a toll on the populace.

Just look at this graph. Only in 2012/2014 did Russian male life expectancy reach the level it was at during the 1980s:

The transformation was especially messy and, may I say, brutal in the former Soviet countries. There were quite serious problems in Poland or Czechoslovakia as well, but not to that extend. Russia basically became a grab for rising oligarchs.

Another factor was the specific distribution of industries in the USSR, like cotton being grown in Uzbekistan, but processing being done in Russia. It wasn't a big deal when there was one big Soviet country, but after the breakup.... you do see my point, don't you? Just like with the Crimean mess. Crimea was a part of Russia up until 50s when Khrutschev arbitrarily decided to transfer it to the Ukrainian SSR (Soviet leaders were renowned for making arbitrary borders. Stalin was perhaps the greatest geographic troll in history). Not a big deal, still the same country... until it fell apart.

For all naive romanticizing of the "glorious past" we can see why so many people feel that nostalgia.