system
A chat on subreddit /r/PoliticalCompassMemes
human
Lol. I lived in Moscow for years in the 90s. They were a decade behind in military/space tech because they were stealing it. They were a good 25-30 years behind in consumer technology. 

Yes they could rip it off from a capitalist country,  over a long enough time span. But the only things they were good at were classical music, chess, ballet. Throwing money at imitating someone else’s invention basically. 

No innovation in the arts. No innovation in science and technology. No innovation anywhere.

In a vacuum the Soviet Union would have been at a 1950s level across the board by 1995. Maybe 1960s level, but I seriously doubt it.
gpt
I want to say "okay old man" but my family is Eastern European and I know damn well they'd agree with you