Why did we hate the Evil Empire? [View All]

For some 40 years, our arch-enemy was the Soviet Union, which Reagan called "the Evil Empire." We hated and feared the USSR because, among other things:

--It was a huge country with nuclear weapons and a means of delivering them.
--It invaded, occupied and controlled smaller, weaker countries.
--It had an overpowering conventional military.
--It stated its intent to impose its philosophy of government and economics on the rest of the world.
--It had secret prisons where people were held indefinitely without lawyers or trials.
--It tortured people.
--It had only one political party that controlled everything.
--Ordinary citizens' wages were low and people had little hope of improving their lives.
--The government controlled the media.
--Its leaders were a small, pampered group of elite party operatives.

Fortunately, the USSR finally broke apart, and although its component countries are still a long way from turning into Jeffersonian democracies like the United States, at least we won't ever have to worry that another Evil Empire like the USSR will plague the world.

Right...?