Today is the anniversary of the "Kitchen Debate" between Richard M. Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev in 1959.
Say what you will about the two men -- or their attitudes toward women and housework -- it's a better time when the struggle between capitalism and communism comes down to addressing the immediate and long-term personal and societal merits of dishwashers and lemon squeezers. I'd rather see countries and political philosophies compete in terms of home appliances and the average person's standard of living than who can build the biggest bomb or wage the most effective proxy war.
Of course the politicians didn't see it that way. But just once, for a little while, they did.
I've read that Yeltsin realized the Soviet Union was doomed when he went to a Randall's Supermarket in Texas while on a state visit. He insisted it was a deliberate setup and until he talked to several shoppers. He said even the Politburo didn't have stores like that to shop in and it destroyed his belief in Communism. I've also heard that rock and roll beamed and smuggled into Eastern Europe and Russia helped hasten Communisms downfall. I guess it's the simple things that work best.
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