(1/2) (by /u/flesh_eating_turtle Hello comrades, I figured it would be helpful to have a bunch of useful studies and sources all in one place, so people would have a useful resource for debating right-wingers and reactionaries. Most of them are from neutral or outright anti-communist sources, to counter any claims of “commie propaganda”. I’ve divided them up by category.

Quality of Life Under Socialism / Economic Performance of Socialism

• American Journal of Public Health | Economic Development, Political-Economic System, and the Physical Quality of Life
  • Study using World Bank data, which found that socialist countries had a higher quality of life than capitalist countries when controlling for level of economic development. Quality of life was measured using criteria such as life expectancy, literacy, daily calorie consumption per capita, access to higher education, housing, etc.
• International Journal of Health Services | Has Socialism Failed? An Analysis of Health Indicators Under Socialism
  • Study by Vicente Navarro, Professor of Health and Public Policy at Johns Hopkins University, which found that “contrary to dominant ideology, socialism and socialist forces have been, for the most part, better able to improve health conditions than have capitalism and capitalist forces.” It also states that “the evidence presented in this article shows that the historical experience of socialism has not been one of failure. To the contrary: it has been, for the most part, more successful than capitalism in improving the health conditions of the world’s populations.”
• University of Oxford | A Reassessment of the Soviet Industrial Revolution
  • Professor of Economic History, Robert C. Allen, states that “the Soviet economy performed well,” remarking that it achieved “high rates of capital accumulation, rapid GDP growth, and rising per capita consumption even in the 1930’s,” and that “recent research shows that the standard of living also increased briskly.” Also states that “This success would not have occurred without the 1917 revolution or the planned development of state owned industry.” A longer version of this work was published in book form by the Princeton University Press:
    • Princeton University Press | Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution
• Williams College | Reassessing the Standard of Living in the Soviet Union: An Analysis Using Archival and Anthropometric Data
  • Detailed analysis of living standards in the USSR, which found that the Soviet Union achieved “Remarkably large and rapid improvements in child height, adult stature and infant mortality,” using this data to state that “significant improvements likely occurred in the nutrition, sanitary practices, and public health infrastructure.” Also states that “the physical growth record of the Soviet population compares favorably with that of other European countries at a similar level of development in this period.” Finally, states that “The conventional measures of GNP growth and household consumption indicate a long, uninterrupted upward climb in the Soviet standard of living from 1928 to 1985; even Western estimates of these measures support this view, albeit at a slower rate of growth than the Soviet measures.”
• Slavic Review (Cambridge University Press) | The Great Leap Upwards: Anthropometric Data and Indicators of Crises and Secular Change in Soviet Welfare Levels, 1880-1960
  • Study demonstrating the steady increase in quality of life during the Soviet period (including under Stalin). Includes the fact that Soviet life expectancy grew faster than any other nation recorded at the time.
• Population Studies | An Exploration of China’s Mortality Decline Under Mao: A Provincial Analysis, 1950-1980
  • Researchers from Stanford University and the National Bureau of Economic Research state that “China’s growth in life expectancy at birth from 35–40 years in 1949 to 65.5 years in 1980 is among the most rapid sustained increases in documented global history.” They attribute this primarily to Mao’s socialist policies, which increased access to healthcare, education, and nutrition.
• Harvard University | Perspectives on the Economic and Human Development of India and China
  • In-depth comparison of the world’s two largest countries by population, one of which is socialist, and the other capitalist. Includes a detailed analysis of China under Mao Zedong, concluding that “the accomplishments relating to education, healthcare, land reforms, and social change in the pre-reform [Maoist] period made significantly positive contributions to the achievements of the post-reform period.” It describes Maoist China’s “remarkable reduction in chronic undernourishment,” stating that “casual processes through which the reduction of undernourishment was achieved involved extensive state action including redistributive policies, nutritional support, and of course health care.”
    • Also includes some important remarks related to starvation in each country, saying “it is important to note that despite the gigantic size of excess mortality in the Chinese famine, the extra mortality in India from regular deprivation in normal times vastly overshadows the former… India seems to manage to fill its cupboard with more skeletons every eight years than China put there in its years of shame.”
• CIA (Freedom of Information Act) | The Nutrient Content of the Soviet Food Supply
  • Detailed CIA report, stating that the Soviet diet was remarkably similar (and in some ways healthier) than the American diet.
• Oxfam America | Cuba: Social Policy at the Crossroads
  • Detailed report on the achievements of the Cuban revolution, including the immense improvements to healthcare, education, and food security after the revolution.
• UNICEF | Cuba Has Better Literacy Rate, Life Expectancy, and Prenatal Care than the United States
  • Statistics compiled on the official UNICEF website, showing that Cuba’s life expectancy and literacy rate are higher than those of the USA, and Cuba has a lower percentage of babies born with low birthweight (5.2%) than the USA (8.28% according to the CDC). Low birthweight can be an indicator of many problems, from poor nutrition to fetal disorders and stress during pregnancy; Cuba’s better statistic here is a major quality of life indicator.
• Food and Agricultural Organization (United Nations) | Report on Nutrition in Cuba
  • According to the FAO, Cuba’s “remarkably low percentages of child malnutrition put Cuba at the forefront of developing countries.”
• World Food Program USA (United Nations) | Cuba Has “Largely Eliminated Hunger and Poverty”
  • USA branch of the World Food Program (the food-assistance branch of the United Nations) claims that Cuba’s “comprehensive social protection programs” have helped to drastically reduce hunger in Cuba. This is especially impressive when Cuba is compared to other developing countries, and considering the decades of economic blockade.
• World Health Organization (United Nations) | Cuba First Country in the World to Eliminate Mother-to-Child HIV Transmissions
  • Self-explanatory. This is an amazing healthcare achievement, and proves that innovation is not exclusive to capitalism; far from it, as no capitalist nation has yet achieved this feat.
• OnCubaNews | Cuba Starts Giving Out Free HIV-Preventative Pill
  • Cuba has begun free distribution of a pill which reduces the chance of HIV infection by as much as 90%.
• Food and Agricultural Organization (United Nations) | Soviet vs. USA Calorie Consumption
  • Chart showing per capita calorie consumption in the USA and USSR over time, according to the FAO.

“Communism is All About Dictatorship!”

• American Historical Review | Victims of the Soviet Penal System in the Pre-War Years: A First Approach on the Basis of Archival Evidence
  • Study published in the most prestigious historical journal in America, which found that the total amount of gulag prisoners was far lower than previously estimated. Also states that “The frequent assertion that most of the camp prisoners were ‘political’ also seems not to be true.” The study found that between 12% and 33% of camp prisoners were imprisoned for political offenses, with the rest convicted of legitimate crimes. This is corroborated by the following source as well.
• CIA (Freedom of Information Act) | Report on Soviet Gulags
  • Report from the CIA which found some interesting things about the gulags, including that between 65% and 95% of prisoners (depending on the camp) were imprisoned for genuine crimes (such as theft, murder, rape, etc.) rather than political offenses.