The Progressive Side Of Soviet Revolutionary Art

Say what you will about the evils of communism, there was an undeniable progressiveness about the professed ideals of the movement that resonate with me to this day.

Here's a selection of my favourite Soviet revolutionary posters. They make one's heart swell with idealism. Tell me if you disagree.

(Click on a picture to expand.)

Poster exhorting youth to study
("The challenge is to study!")

"Glory to Soviet students!"

"All roads are open - Choose!"
(The textbooks shown are those of physics, literature, history, mathematics, social sciences and chemistry)

Notice how boys and girls are treated equally.

"I will be a chemist!" A girl and her teacher

The romance of rockets and space exploration

Role model Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space
("Glory to the first cosmonaut Gagarin!")

Catch 'em young - Children with a rocket
("Happy New Year, guys!")

"The rocket models made by students lead to real ones"
(Note the cool space station in the background)

More on the "Space is cool" theme - Youth and rockets
("In the 20th century, rockets rush to the stars, trains leave for the land of exploits")

International Women's Day

Women of the revolution, including an engineer and a farmer

The ideal communist says "Nyet!" to alcohol

Religion - The little girl is stretching her arm towards school ("Shkola"), while the old babushka is pulling her by the hair towards the church

Water, Water, Everywhere

I found this really good "infographic" on the net. Click on it to expand.

The diagram refers to a coming crisis of drinking water for a large part of the world's population, but paradoxically, this picture gives me a lot of hope - because it shows that we're nowhere near the end of our potential supply of water! We're currently able to access 1% of the world's supply of freshwater, which in turn is just 2.5% of all the water in the world. There's plenty more where what we have today came from.

Technology is all that stands in the way of our being able to tap into the remainder, and there are a zillion technological ways to skin this cat. One simple idea that has been around for decades is desalination. Economics is the only practical barrier to desalination, and a large part of this is the cost of energy per unit of water processed. Again and again, it comes back to energy. Now, I believe the world is on the cusp of an energy revolution, so with cheap and plentiful energy, many more things will become possible. Safe drinking water for all will be just one of them.