Was It Jokes That Defeated Communism?
‘What is the difference between communism and capitalism?’ ‘Capitalism is the exploitation of man by man; communism is the exact opposite.’
While the title is mostly tongue-in-cheek, it’s no doubt that jokes played an important role in Soviet society. I’d heard a lot of these from professors during courses taught on Soviet history, but I still think it would be worth reading Ben Lewis’s book, Hammer & Tickle: A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, if not for the unique historical perspective, then at least for the jokes.
(Via 3 Quarks Daily.)