The choices Americans make about the products they use in their homes can seem trivial in comparison to matters like violent crime, diseases, and war. Yet, these choices are in fact very important. Consider the days of the Cold War when Americans were thankful that they could make many choices in this regard while the average person in the Soviet Union was limited to inferior conditions, scarcity, and limited choices.

Indeed, in the waning days of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin, who would become the leader of the Russia government after the Soviet Union breakup, marveled at the wide selection of items available for sale at a grocery store in Clear Lake, Texas near Johnson Space Center, which he had visited. The choices Americans had clearly provided them with an advantage.

“Even the Politburo doesn’t have this choice. Not even Mr. Gorbachev,” remarked Yeltsin. Then — in 1989 — Mikhail Gorbachev was........

© Eurasia Review