Oh, my point wasn’t that they were treated WELL, especially not considering the arbitrary nature of the Soviet state apparatus. My point is that the Soviets, as a society, considered those to be prestigious and worthy careers, and pronounced that very loudly. Like how the US culturally puts a high value on military veterans in reaction to the horrific behavior towards troops returning from Vietnam, making respect for modern veterans essential in decent society, but practically speaking, the government still treats them like shit. By contrast, the modern Russian Federation doesn’t give a single good goddamn about engineers and scientists, and often actively scorns them.
The nice words and shit treatment are hypocritical, but as anyone who’s ever been scorned for their choice of career will tell you, it’s still better than shite words and shit treatment.
Oh, my point wasn’t that they were treated WELL, especially not considering the arbitrary nature of the Soviet state apparatus. My point is that the Soviets, as a society, considered those to be prestigious and worthy careers, and pronounced that very loudly. Like how the US culturally puts a high value on military veterans in reaction to the horrific behavior towards troops returning from Vietnam, making respect for modern veterans essential in decent society, but practically speaking, the government still treats them like shit. By contrast, the modern Russian Federation doesn’t give a single good goddamn about engineers and scientists, and often actively scorns them.
The nice words and shit treatment are hypocritical, but as anyone who’s ever been scorned for their choice of career will tell you, it’s still better than shite words and shit treatment.