They have it on symbols, logos, propaganda posters, but never really seem to be able to cultivate it properly, whats with that?
It’s an amusing contrast to the capitalist promise of a “chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” The communists offer a more basic promise: “you’ll be able to eat.”
I believe the presence of wheat and wheat-related symbology (e.g. the sickle on the old Soviet flag) are supposed to refer to farming in general – much the same way that the hammer in the old Soviet flag referred to industrial labor in general.
And what does that tell you about the precommunist governments in those places that makes a promise like that seem like a good one?
You’ll be able to eat… assuming you cooperate with us, otherwise you’ll have your teeth knocked out and electric cables attached to your scrotum and you won’t be very hungry after that.
Actually, the wheat and sickle represented agriculture in general which was considered one of the main parts of the economy, the hammer represented industry.
And they still never could successfully produce enough grain under the strictest communist regimes.
Yeah, it ironic that they could never really produce enough of the stuff even though this was their main priority.
So there were starving people before 1917? Hardly a news flash. Most amusingly, the Soviets kept offering the same promise for thirty or forty years after taking power, long after basic nutritional needs had been met in capitalist countries.
It’s not with Communists and wheat. It’s with Russians and wheat. Wheat is the main crop produced in Russia, and always was. Has been a dietary staple since forever ago. “Bread” and “food” are almost synonyms in Russian (like “rice” and “food” in Chinese, correct me if I’m wrong).
The Communists wanted a nice symbol that the folks would be able to relate to. The old symbols of power (like the two-headed eagle) did not cut it anymore. The religious ones (like St. George) were out of question as well…
I would like to assume that by “they” you meant the USSR/Soviet Bloc. If so, I would agree.
I would also like to assume that by saying “regimes” you were leaving out communes, kibutsim, etc.
colin