Retailer Bag

Photo Credit: Evgeny Feldman
Photo Credit: Evgeny Feldman

The above photo appeared originally on the Mashable website post entitled A Glowing Russia Resurrects Soviet-Era Parade After Crimea Conquest.

When scrolling the post, i stopped at the photo where this old lady is proudly wearing a t-shirt showing in the background the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin and on the front the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev but also at the same time carrying a BILLA bag, a European supermarket chain originating from Austria.

A contradiction. [Difference Between Communism and Capitalism]

When younger, this same lady had to wait for hours to buy a product from a retail store, a block of cheese, some bananas or cigarettes, this is the kind of stories I used to hear when I was a kid about the Soviet block when we used to enjoy living in a free market and had the chance to buy anything we want as long as we had the money for it.

Nowadays she can visit any retailer in Russia to buy anything she likes without having to wait, except at the check-outs, but the question is, can she afford it?

I also remember a Slovak friend, telling me once over a dinner in Bratislava, “when i was a kid during communism, i used to spend time with my friends dreaming about what we might be possibly missing on what is behind those mountains, and now all i have to do is to drive behind those mountains for a dinner or some shopping or anything else”, and what is behind those mountains is Austria.

If you ever visit Russia, you will easily realize on the streets, that it will be hard for the communist system to have its come back, but nevertheless, some have the right to dream about it (what is called Democracy).

And if anyone can translate what the t-shirt of this old lady in the photo is saying , that would be great.

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