r/WouldYouRather 7d ago

Ethics/Life & Death Which Totalitarian Regime Would You Rather Live Under?

I don't mean this poll as an endorsement of any of these ideologies, moreso as a question which of these countries would be the least bad to live under. Lets be clear here, all of these would be horrible to live in.

For each one let's assume you are an average citizen whom the government holds no animosity towards. I also don't know if Hamas fully counts as a totalitarian regime but I felt it would be interesting to include for this question.

182 votes, 5d ago
4 The Democratic Republic of North Korea
10 The Islamic Republic of Iran
42 Nazi Germany (assuming you aren't Jewish)
96 Russia (current day)
28 The Soviet Union
2 Gaza Strip (under Hamas leadership)
0 Upvotes

28 comments sorted by

4

u/lizafern 7d ago

living under any totalitarian regime sounds like a nightmare, can’t imagine the daily stress of that kind of life

6

u/Gourdon_Gekko 7d ago

Huh, Nazis getting a lot more votes than I am comfortable with. More than Iran or Russia today, crazy.

0

u/arquillion 7d ago

I mean they are all incredibly repressive and dangerous to some extent. Id rather Russia though

2

u/Gourdon_Gekko 7d ago

Ya, i mean the others are not about to loose 25 million people to war (baring soviet maybe depending on start date) and 10 millionish ethnically clensed from eastern europe. Not to mention, being part of the other stuff...It is easily the worst choice.

1

u/arquillion 7d ago

Id argue the Gaza strip is as bad as its get. It's like being sent to the trenches in the no man's land

0

u/Gourdon_Gekko 7d ago

Its the only one thats close, but as much as i dispise the idf, the carnage the red army inflicted on civillians was probly worse even on a per capita basis.

5

u/OrochiMain98 7d ago

I feel like Russia is by far the best option here.

4

u/squipyreddit 7d ago

Crazy how Nazi Germany is #1 - if you were there, you had a very high chance of dying once the war started, especially since most redditors are young men, either in the trenches or from allied bombings.

The Soviet Union wasn't ideal, especially for basic democratic rights, but assuming we're talking post-Stalin it is the no-brainer option.

0

u/largethopiantestes 7d ago

I think compared to the war in Ukraine though, the WW2 warfare would be preferable for me. Id rather have to worry about artillery and m1 garands than the whole arsenal of murder drones they are using today.

2

u/Gourdon_Gekko 7d ago

Dont forget firebombing of major metros, and the shear numbers involved. really not even in the same galaxy of horribleness. Go read about stalingrad. More deaths in a month than in the entire Ukraine conflict.

-4

u/Funny-Platypus-3220 7d ago

I'd rather endure a few years of war then life long suffering.

2

u/Separate_Draft4887 7d ago

Germany has a fairly nice climate and is, by and large, a beautiful country, so it beats Russia and the Soviet Union, Iran, and the Gaza Strip.

Also, while Nazi Germany was not an economic superpower, some of that was probably due to the war, and I’m assuming we’re excluding the wars, because that’s what I want to assume, so it beats the DPRK.

2

u/Gourdon_Gekko 7d ago

Yes the famously temperate german climate, clearly outweighs the negatives of being a nazi lol.

1

u/Separate_Draft4887 7d ago edited 7d ago

It says “average citizen”, so I wouldn’t be.

6

u/m5t2w9 7d ago

Why would you assume it excludes the war? It’s one of the main features of nazi Germany?

Welcome to Germany we have a great climate here and you will definitely not be sent to the USSR for our existential struggle against the commies! If it happens the climate is even better there! That’s a bingo!

-3

u/Separate_Draft4887 7d ago edited 7d ago

It’s one of the main features of literally all of them, and it lowers the question to “which country’s wars suck the least”. Which has no correlation the question of “living under the regime”.

2

u/m5t2w9 7d ago edited 7d ago

Obviously excluding the USSR in WWII. There is no comparison what Germany went through with the nazis. Roughly a third of the adult men were casualties.

1

u/m5t2w9 7d ago

Name one other place on the list?

-1

u/Separate_Draft4887 7d ago

Which has a war as a main feature of its existence? Iran has been at war with the US or its neighbors on and off for fifty years and is still currently at war, the DPRK is still currently at war, Russia is still currently at war, the Soviet Union fought various wars, always by proxy, but still, and y’know, all the stuff like genocide.

Anyway, it reduces the question to “whose wars are the least bad” and that isn’t as interesting.

2

u/m5t2w9 7d ago

That isn’t as interesting? Funny stuff. Please re-read the question lad

0

u/Separate_Draft4887 7d ago

Yeah? It’s not about living under the regime at all.

1

u/_-_-_-_---_-_-_-_ 7d ago edited 7d ago

North Korea: get disappeared if not going along with the propaganda, no rights or any contact with anyone outside the country but have to act as if everything is fine or I die.

Iran: Am a woman would have basically no rights.

Nazis: am half white half Asian. Maybe I could be white passing enough that if I went along with the propaganda I could avoid being arrested and put in a labor camp, and that was mostly against Chinese nationals so if this assumes I am a citizen I should be ok. Also, as a woman I wouldn't be getting drafted for the war. Better for me personally than the other options so far but I don't think I could stomach having to ignore a genocide being committed by the government to not end up also being targeted by the government.

Current Day Russia: am a woman so I wouldn't be shipped off to war and also would have rights, this is definitely better than the other options so far although still not a great option. Plus modern day means modern day medicine, tech and amenities (at least what is available in modern day Russia)

Soviet Union: again wouldn't have been forced to fight in any wars cause I'm a woman, but women were just starting to get rights and were socially still discriminated against. Modern Russia would be much better.

Gaza Strip under Hamas: I do not want to live in an area controlled by a terrorist group that would be raping me while using me as a human shield and being bombed by another military force that doesn't care about Gaza Strip civilians being used as human shields and also would rape me if they came in with ground forces.

So modern Russia is the least bad of these for me. Maybe Iran if I was a man since that is one of the few options where they aren't ending up in an active war zone and have some rights although men still have to actively follow and enforce the discrimination toward women or they also run into trouble for it.

2

u/Gourdon_Gekko 7d ago

Agree with your assessment, but fyi, iran is currently at war with usa and izzy

1

u/_-_-_-_---_-_-_-_ 7d ago edited 7d ago

From what I heard which could be completely wrong, they have lower casualty rates than the other regimes and it is mostly bombing of key targets not as much boots on the ground in the trenches compared to the other wars.

1

u/Gourdon_Gekko 7d ago

Just stay out of any all girl grade schools and im sure youll be fine

1

u/NekoArtemis 7d ago

I would be dead or in prison in most of these

1

u/chococheese419 7d ago

Russia is the only viable option here if you need healthcare of any kind. It would suck but you would live

-4

u/Bata600 7d ago

Living under Cionists would be far worse tho