>The entire argument was whether USA can be compared to USSR. To me this is ridiculous. Nonsense.

It's all relative, my dear Albert (as mr. Marić used to say to his son-in-law). The standard of living was incomparable, and the system of internal passports and other ways that power over a citizen was exercised was just despicable. But at the same time (I mean literally - in the same years), you may have had just as much/little freedom and/or standard if you were of the wrong color, or politically wrong-minded in the US. And that was during the years when capitalism was pampering the populus, because it had competition in socialism on that market of ideas. Now that it doesn't, see those liberties gradually eroded, standard not going up since eighties...

But I was comparing foreign policies. Both empires were propping up friendly regimes within their spheres of interest, both were aiding movements in other countries, both were spying on each other and the rest of the world, they even met each other in safe houses, secret conferences, when selling weapons, or when fighting wars by proxy. And yeah, they both had great words to use when explaining why do they do all that.

>I think it is your absolute right to criticize the US-government policies. I do it too with my vote (I vote in every local, state, and national elections); this is my way of changing what I don't like or make policies that I like to stay.

I don't believe that the voting has any point nowadays. The advertising techniques have gone just too far, and, anyway, even if the ones you want get elected, they will be blackmailed into reverting one third of the promises they made to you, will fail to do anything about another third, and may do the remaining third in such a watered down way, riddled with various holes and exceptions, that it won't resemble much of what they promised. And then even so, you only liked maybe one half of their package - the other half can't disappoint you.