Actually, Fiona, it is not true. I and all immigrants from former SU who came here share similar stories of barely conceived contempt; it is a common knowledge that unexpectedly large number of Americans do not differentiate between those of us with firm anti-Soviet, pro-capitalist and enthusiastically American principles, and the people and system we ran from. In any slight conflict – say, debate with a neighbor over dividing strip of grass, or an altercation in a subway car with a crazed bum – these close-to-surface convictions immediately come out. Somebody will hiss “commie” at you, or scream “go back to Russia!”. The image in collective American mind, generally, is formed by insanely stupid suspense movies and sensational press: first that comes to mouth of an average co-worker (an educated engineer or architect, mind you, not a garbage collector) when they hear my accent and learn that live in Brooklyn is “or, yes, Brighton Beach! Russian Mafia! Borcsht! KGB!” It was funny first 10 times, but I’m hearing it for over 17 years.
In workplace situations people tend to follow decorum, but here on internet the impulses come unchecked. I’ll talk about my own experience, but I read about the same things on LiveJournal every day. So, the favorite “argument” from opponents in any discussion is to call me a comrade, or a “natasha”, or even “communist Russian bitch”. There is a woman who actually set up a fake blogspot blog with stolen part of my URL, where she mixes up all things Soviet, as she understands them, to “mock” me – Stalin, Tolstoy, russian names (Boris and Natasha), etc. She actually thinks herself very clever and probably a comedic genius; and the reaction from her possee confirms it – and these are Californian leftists, btw. There is also a guy who proclaimed in all seriousness that since my blog is bilingual, I must be not only a communist, but a KGB spy at that. He was very proud for unmasking me. In recent thread @neoneocon some lunatic “recognized” where my argument (for uselessness of sociological studies measuring happiness) is coming from – why, I was indoctrinated in Gulags of my youth, of course! Here, on this very blog, I was enlightened that my atheism, surely, comes from my childhood brainwashing in SU. An online fellow libertarian friend who had known me and my views for 3 years all of a sudden equaled me with leftism of Ayers and Obama – I can’t explain it with anything other than deep-seated distrust to people of my origin.
I can go on and on.
Funniest part is that general Americans’ vision of SU is so schematic and black/white, it never enters their mind that the terms they use just like a senseless labels mean something very different to ex-SU citizens. They don’t understand, for example, that communists circa 1980 were not the same as communists of 1936. That to become a member of the Party for millions of people was just a career move, not an ideological statement: there was NO other party in the country for 80 years! And if you wanted to become a manager of any sort, even on the lowest steps of ladder, your best bet was send in an application. Yes, you’d be required to sit at the meetings and sometimes to do a lip-service to official line, and engage in double speak, but there was no other way for the ambitious. That hundreds of millions habitually called each other “comrade” giving the meaning not a 1/100th of a thought. There are numerous other realities of life in SU, all shades of gray, that average American does not understand. And that would be absolutely fine, nobody expects them to do otherwise – if they wouldn’t harbor this broad-brush indiscriminate hatred that comes out at the slightest [often wrongly perceived] provocation.

For some reason, I never heard of the same attitude towards expats from PR of China, or Poles, or newcomers from any other Eastern Bloc country. As if the whole populace of Poland consist of nobody but members of Solidarity Unions and as if for 50+ years Bulgaria, Jugoslavia or Vietnam were not run by local party and trade union members.

No, Fiona, average Russian during Reagan era didn’t feel him/herself a prisoner. People lead their lives as an average American does: worrying mostly about money, and family and meeting with friends and listening to music and telling jokes. It’s just the money was sparse, political jokes could bring you much unpleasantness, and it was impossible to buy an apartment legally. Actually, it was more dangerous to joke if you were member of nomenklatura or intelligentsia – you had more to lose, not necessarily materially. And that most of the dissidents were members of privileged class. But that, and thousand other Soviet realities is too complicated for an average American to understand.
What am I saying, “average American”…look at Condi Rice and her Russian thesis! Look at “Slavic” departments in most of the universities of this country!

Actually, Tatyana, it is true- having studied Russian before and during the Reagan era, I know that is exactly what most Americans thought of Russians, (not the nomenklatura or the intelligensia, but the average Russian man in the street) who did not get to go on trips to Europe or perform in the Olympics.

It is also what I found to be true in living in Moscow years later chatting in parks with other dog owners – a lot of Russians who never hated Americans and coped with great terpenyia the onslaughts of their government.

If you would care examine the evidence then you will find that Jonathan is right – Iranians are not noted even now for particular anti-Americanism and even anti-Zionism. The fact that they are driven out to demonstrate is irrelevant. That never happened in the Soviet Union? Did those meetings that denounced American imperialism mean that the people actually thought so? Of course not, and not that many people in the West believed it.

A silly remark, but perhaps it should be attributed to ignorance. In America at the time of Reagan, no one thought that the ordinary Soviet or Russian people were an “evil empire”; the remark was about the rulers. The ordinary people, we thought of as almost like prisoners in a giant jail; they were the first and most victims of the evil emperors.

-2 million in streets may not have been there voluntarily, or may have been bribed to attend, as I assume is typical in dictatorships.

-Iranians aren’t noted for anti-American or anti-Israel sentiments. Iran was friendly with Israel before 1979, for example. Iran is ethnically and religiously diverse, and I think it’s unwise to lump general popular sentiment with that of the Islamists. Also, I think it’s likely that Iran fits the pattern of anti-American dictatorships whose people are generally pro-American.

-I think it’s a good principle to make hostile dictators personally accountable. Ahmadinejad doesn’t care if thousands of innocent Iranians are killed, but the possibility that he will end up hanging from a lamp post might have good effects on his behavior and on that of prospective dictators elsewhere.

I really think you should re-read some of the comments about World War II and what Soviet soldiers did or did not do. Equally, you should try to find out about the help many Westerners, including Reagan and people around him gave Soviet dissidents of every shape and size. The reason there is an outcry whenever there are threats to boycoott, say, all Israeli academics is because even if you disagree with the government you should not extend that to the people. Nobody ever did that with the Soviet Union or does now with Russia or China.

So yes, we do support anyone who wants freedom and democracy and no, we do not necessarily know what they mean by that. What do Russians mean when they say they want freedom and democracy? Hard to tell when you look at the country, isn’t it.

I don’t remember anybody here differentiating between Soviet citizens and the regime when discussing the end of WWII and Soviet contribution; the whole country was painted black with broad brush. Also, there was no differentiation when Reagan talked about “Evil Empire”. Why attitude to Iranians should be different?

What do you think the overlap would be?

I’d guess no more than 20%, probably less.

Their shouts of “freedom and democracy now!” (what do they mean by democracy, I wonder) are interspersed with “Allahu Akbar”. Their faces, shedding crocodile tears, are painted in green.

I’m ashamed of western “humanists”, supporting the “oppressed people of Iran”. How stupid the world could be?

this link indicates the growing world-wide support for those fighting the regime in Iran. Manyh on the far left, as usual, blame the CIA and/or the Zionists for the chaos, but then that is hardly true of liberals, conservatives, libertarians…as they say:there is no accounting for, explanation of or justification for what the rulers in Iran are doing to the people in the streets. The videos in the link above show the support pouring out for the people of Iran.