The Soviet emigration policy

[Unicorn]

What is your opinion of the Soviet emigration policy? A permission was required to leave the USSR. Despite full employment and excellent public services there were people who wished to move away. Often the motive was naked greed, the desire to make millions in capitalist countries with the help of the higher education they had obtained free in the excellent universities of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Jews (statistically a very well educated group) were particularly inclined to move to Israel. They were unofficially called "Refuseniks". After Gorbachev's reforms and the collapse of the USSR hundreds of thousands emigrated to Israel thereby strengthening the Zionist state and making living worse to Palestinian Arabs.

[lvl100]

What is your opinion of the Soviet emigration policy? A permission was required to leave the USSR. Despite full employment and excellent public services there were people who wished to move away. Often the motive was naked greed, the desire to make millions in capitalist countries with the help of the higher education they had obtained free in the excellent universities of the Soviet Union.

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Ah, the eternal idealisation of the former "socialist" countries. Almost was perfect but strangely there were still people (only greedy bastards who wanted to make millions, that is) who wanted to leave.

Its an undeniable fact that the life was decent and more fair than today, but clearly it was no Garden Of Eden.
Its in the human`s nature to search and hope for the best.


The Soviet Jews (statistically a very well educated group) were particularly inclined to move to Israel. They were unofficially called "Refuseniks". After Gorbachev's reforms and the collapse of the USSR hundreds of thousands emigrated to Israel thereby strengthening the Zionist state and making living worse to Palestinian Arabs Whats so curious about an ethnic group wanting to move to their own kin ?

[Nakidana]

During which period was that policy in effect and why was it implemented?

I'm against it though. If people want to leave the place they live then let them...all the more power to the people staying to develop the country.

[BIG BROTHER]

I don't see why the so called socialist states, restrict their people from leaving the country. I mean unless they leave in massive numbers, and cause labor shortage, I think is good if there are less people in the country. That way there is less scarcity.

And plus is if a socialist country, really considers itself to be a workers state then they should worry since the workers should be coming back from the capitalist hellholes(unless in reality they aren't)

[Pogue]

Often the motive was naked greed, the desire to make millions in capitalist countries with the help of the higher education they had obtained free in the excellent universities of the Soviet Union.



More often, the motivation was to flee the stifling authoritarianism of Stalin and those who followed him, and to have the freedom and right to express their opinions and enjoy civil liberties elsewhere.

[Unicorn]

Whats so curious about an ethnic group wanting to move to their own kin ?
Kin? If some nationalist Zionists want to move to their own "kin" why should a socialist state respect that wish? Shouldn't the state rather express solidarity with the Arab people, restrict emigration and educate those Zionist-minded individuals?

[Unicorn]

I don't see why the so called socialist states, restrict their people from leaving the country. I mean unless they leave in massive numbers, and cause labor shortage, I think is good if there are less people in the country. That way there is less scarcity.

And plus is if a socialist country, really considers itself to be a workers state then they should worry since the workers should be coming back from the capitalist hellholes(unless in reality they aren't)
They weren't workers. Usually they were highly educated experts and if they left the enormous investment on the education would be lost.

[lvl100]

Kin? If some nationalist Zionists want to move to their own "kin" why should a socialist state respect that wish? Shouldn't the state rather express solidarity with the Arab people, restrict emigration and educate those Zionist-minded individuals?

Nice. So all jews who wanted to leave were nationalist Zionists and future criminals.
Oh, too bad that Hitler didnt "educated" them earlier, isnt it ?



They weren't workers. Usually they were highly educated experts and if they left the enormous investment on the education would be lost.

First of all , the difficulties for leaving the country were for all, not only for rocket scientists. And they even didnt were the main component of people wanting to go.

Second, why a normal access to free school must mean geting a slave license ?

[Kwisatz Haderach]

The phenomenon of Brain Drain is common and well understood. Highly skilled professionals from poorer countries tend to migrate to richer countries, meaning that a chunk of the money invested by those poorer countries into higher education goes to waste.

As such, I think it's fully justified for a poorer country to forbid the emigration of university graduates unless they pay a fee to cover the expense of their free, state-provided university education, or unless they first work in their home country for a given number of years. Otherwise the poorer country is using its resources to help the economies of the richer countries - in the case of the Cold War, the USSR would be using funds to educate Western professionals.

[lvl100]

As such, I think it's fully justified for a poorer country to forbid the emigration of university graduates unless they pay a fee to cover the expense of their free, state-provided university education, or unless they first work in their home country for a given number of years. Otherwise the poorer country is using its resources to help the economies of the richer countries - in the case of the Cold War, the USSR would be using funds to educate Western professionals.

Unless country leaders pulled free money out of their ass, nothing is free. Not even the education.

What socialists did it was only a fair redistribution of wealth. But it still was the worker`s labor, worker`s taxes etc etc who created the "free" education.
So basicly, a student`s studies were paid already by his parents, by his grandparents, neiboughrs etc.


Also, how education can be called free, if it ties you to the land like a serf ?

Indeed , brain draining its a big problem even in our days, but love by force cant work. Either you create the conditions to be satisfied or you let him go.
Keeping by force in the system, it will mean just creating a new enemy of the system. And that`s a strategy who would never succeed on a long run.