Two Systems

The difference between America and the Soviet Union can be seen in one simple juxtaposition.

In the United States, my father, who had been a lieutenant in the Soviet Army because everyone had to serve, got a job at JPL/NASA with security clearance. This was possible because the Supreme Court ruled in Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong that immigrants from nations hostile to the United States could not be discriminated against for government jobs.

In the Soviet Union, my dad's best friend was told by the KGB that getting a job at JPL proved my father was working for the CIA. How else could he have gotten such a top-secret government job after coming from the Soviet Union?

And this, in essence, is the difference between communism and capitalism.

In one country, jobs could be earned by merit.

In the other, they were obtained through personal connections, political loyalty, and back doors.