| − | Aleksey Kosygin became Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] was made First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964. In 1971, Brezhnev rose to become "first among equals" in a collective leadership. The Brezhnev era is known as the Years of Stagnation, while the collective [[Marxist]] leadership continue manufacture and export of conventional weapons to "oppressed" malcontents globally will the stated aim to overthrow [[bourgeois]] and [[imperialist]] governments worldwide while sacrificing domestic economic development. Living standards scarcely improved while free market and profit motive remained banned. Corruption, the [[blackmarket]], and an unholy alliance between the [[KGB]] and local [[mafia]] who smuggled and traded in foreign goods flourished. The communist corruption of society, culture, and government engendered in this era survived the collapse of the communist government into modern times in fraudulent accounting practices, bribery, kickbacks, and tax evasion being commonplace and considered necessary to survive. | + | Aleksey Kosygin became Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] was made First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964. In 1971, Brezhnev rose to become "first among equals" in a collective leadership. |
| | + | The Brezhnev era is known as the Years of Stagnation, while the collective [[Marxist]] leadership continued the manufacture and export of conventional weapons to "oppressed" malcontents globally with the stated aim of overthrowing [[bourgeois]] and [[imperialist]] governments worldwide, while sacrificing domestic economic development. Living standards scarcely improved while the [[free market]] and profit motive remained banned. Corruption, the [[blackmarket]], and an unholy alliance between the [[KGB]] and local [[mafia]], who smuggled and traded in foreign goods, flourished. The communist corruption of society, culture, and government engendered in this era has survived into modern times through fraudulent accounting practices, bribery, kickbacks, and tax evasion being commonplace and considered necessary to survive. |