So thats where you lefty side comes from
seeing the bosses exploit the masses at an early age
I was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain! Aged 17 or so. I got UK Positive Vetted though when I was in the nuclear industry so they never found out. I was young and idealistic!
I was truly smitten by the Soviet Union in my youth, they had inside toilets when we didn't, and heating and hot water. Only later I found out all that came at a price. When I finally visited I knew about the samizdat undercurrents and disharmoony that ran beneath. Still, a laudable plan, ruined by greed like everywhere else in the world, and the SU was never communist, it was socialist, merely on the road to true communism. My mrs is an actual Soviet (with three Degrees!)
Been to Russia after several times and it's worse than it was under Soviet times for me, infra has hardly changed, Putin is a dictator, you have to pay for petrol before you can pump it, you cant take bags into shops or supermarkets, have to put them in a locker and there's security guys to make you do it.
Still love the place though!