Friday, November 15, 2019

The Blessings of Capitalism

In the middle of the night a woman screams and jumps out of bed, eyes filled with terror. Her startled husband watches her rush into the bathroom and open the medicine cabinet. She then dashes to the kitchen and inspects the inside of the refrigerator. Finally, she flings open a window and gazes out onto the street below their apartment. She takes a deep breath and returns to bed.

"What's wrong with you?" her husband says. "What happened?" 

"I had a terrible nightmare," she says. "I dreamed that we had the medicine we needed, that our refrigerator was full of food, and that the streets outside were safe and clean."

"How is that a nightmare?"

The woman shakes her head and shudders. "I thought the Communists were back in power."

This is a joke told in many East European languages.

Source: Kristen R. Ghodsee, Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism - And Other Arguments For Economic Independence, (Nation Books, 2018) pps. 12-13

No comments: