In at least one way, life in the former Soviet Union was remarkably easy. If something went wrong, Soviet citizens always had somebody, – other than themselves – to blame. The Communist party really was at fault…A capitalistic society, with its meritocratic pretensions, does not offer the the same excuses for poor performance. When we fail under capitalism, we are led to think, rightly or wrongly, that we just weren’t as good as our competitors.