Re: a perfectly good communist country
>Funnily though, Hungary is again kind of a dictatorship these days, but on the far right end of the scale...
Hungary was arguably fascist before WW2 and was one of the countries that invaded Russia in 1941. This had two consequences. One was that their left-wing intellectuals were suppressed and many fled to countries like Russia. The other was what when the Red Army pushed the invaders out they were left with the problem of finding and installing a friendly government. Hungary became communist and quite likely not a vary practical communist society. The fundamental nature of the people and their culture didn't change, though, regardless of what political system they're using.
The Cold War wasn't a heap o' fun for people living in the UK, either. It was literally an "unsinkable aircraft carrier'. Complaining would get you into trouble -- you won't get locked up or anything silly like that (unless absolutely necessary**) but you'd find things like your job prospects surprisingly constrained.
(**The name "Julian Assange" ring a bell?)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
