Meanwhile in the Soviet Union…
JOKE OF THE WEEK, 13 Sep 2010
Dietrich Fischer – TRANSCEND Media Service
Stalin claimed he was the greatest philosopher of all times. In Moscow in the early 1950s, the following joke circulated among physicists, who have some disdain for chemists: A store in Moscow sells brains. Someone went and asked, “How much is a kilo of a physicist’s brain?” “Ten rubles,” the storekeeper replied. “And how much is a chemist’s brain?” “Thirty rubles a kilo.” “How about a philosopher’s brain?” “Hundred rubles a kilo.” “Why so expensive?” “Well,” the storekeeper replied, “just imagine how many philosophers we need to get a kilo of brain!”
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During the great depression, two German workers considered emigrating into the workers’ paradise, the Soviet Union. But they were not sure if what they have heard was true or only propaganda. So they decided that one of them would go first, and write to his friend how it really was over there. If he could write freely without censorship, he would write in blue ink. But if the mail was censured and he could not tell the truth, he would write with green ink. His friend was anxiously waiting for the letter. Finally, after three months, a letter arrived, written in blue ink. It said, “My dear friend, it is wonderful here. I urge you to come and join me at once. Every worker has a housemaid, a washing machine, and a car, and you get two months vacations and a fabulous salary. The stores are packed full of goods, everything you could only imagine. The only thing they don’t sell here is green ink.”
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 13 Sep 2010.
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