Even including famine, and the mass starvations in soviet prisons during World War II (when the Nazis took Ukraine, the USSR’s breadbasket), life expectancy doubled in the USSR compared to pre-socialist levels:
Literacy rates went from 20-30% to 99.9%, healthcare and education were made free and dramatically expanded, and Russia itself went from semi-feudal to space in half a century. Socialism was an incredible success, even if there were flaws and struggles along the way.
Even including famine, and the mass starvations in soviet prisons during World War II (when the Nazis took Ukraine, the USSR’s breadbasket), life expectancy doubled in the USSR compared to pre-socialist levels:
Literacy rates went from 20-30% to 99.9%, healthcare and education were made free and dramatically expanded, and Russia itself went from semi-feudal to space in half a century. Socialism was an incredible success, even if there were flaws and struggles along the way.