His thoughts set the whole mechanism of Soviet life in motion. Glorification of a leader is common technique used in dictatorships to ensure that citizens are faithful and committed to the government in power. In the early 1920s and 30s people of the USSR were expected to vote publicly by raising their hands. This caused a very low voter turnout so a secret ballot system was instilled. All candidates (if their was more than one) were selected by the communist party, so the voting was quite meaningless since it lacked the element of real choice. Officials manipulated counts to make voter turnout appear higher than it actually was, and if one were to disagree with the choices listed on the ballot they were to mark the ballot publicly and be subject to the wrath of the secret police. The lack of accountability in the USSR was so shocking that anyone who observed it and still lives will be emotionally scarred forever. The great purge from 1936 - 1939, began with few show trials that symbolized fair justice but never provided enough real evidence to base a conviction on. These trials were for members of the government who had supposedly plotted against Joseph Stalin. Following these trials, the secret police purged all institutions (education, media, government) of possible threats to the communist party, and sent millions of people to forced labour camps. When this horror came to an end in 1939 it was too late for the millions of people who died, completely innocent of any crime. It is true that Stalins reign enabled many people to learn to read and write, but at what cost? If they were not killed in a labour camp, the point of having employability skills seems faint when every adult after 1938 was required to have a labour book. Without a labour book one could not be employed, and once a person way employed their labor book was kept with the employer. This way employees could not easily change jobs. Developing employability skills if you a...
