This is also probably the reason for my life-long fascination with Stalinist Russia, the personality of Stalin, the terrors, the gulags, the fear penetrating every aspect of every person's life. I've probably read more on the subject than any non-academic in the U.S. Why? Because everyone was forced to say that everything is wonderful when in reality the opposite was the case. No one could tell the truth or say any truth to others. The punishments for not so doing were the harshest in the world. I was raised having to say how wonderful and happy everything was, when of course at some level I knew it was anything but. My parents weren't Communists but the family could have fit into Stalin's domain with ease.