Did They Ask Nothing?

Judging from what has filtered out to the general public regarding their reports, one would say that these leaders never attempted to seek first‑hand knowledge of the living conditions of the Russians and other subjugated peoples. They did not see the endless lines forming in the pre‑dawn cold in front of the butcher shops, bakeries and pharmacies in expectation of poor and scarce merchandise whose acquisition is fought over as if it were alms. They did not observe the poor in rags. They did not notice the complete lack of freedom afflicting every citizen. They were not impressed with the dejection and general silence of a population afraid even to speak through fear of police brutality against suspects.

Did these communist supporters in the various nations of the Free World ever question the Soviet leadership about the reason behind so much police supervision if the regime was really so popular? And if this was not the case, did they ask why the regime was so unpopular, since it spent such enormous amounts on propaganda to persuade Westerners that the Russians had finally found a system of perfect social justice in a bountiful paradise capable of satisfying everyone?