this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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Life expectancy rose before the end because that's when the USSR focused on curbing the rampant alcoholism, which causes cardiovascular diseases (the notable weakpoint in the USSRs healthcare system and a major reason why life expectancy failed to rise further under the USSR). This wasn't a temporary stall, that wouldn't last that long, there's systemic reasons for it. The USSR lagged behind quite significantly compared to its capitalist peers.
The skyrocketing problems the USSR experienced post-dissolution are obviously triggered by the switch, but it becomes hard to argue that capitalism as a system caused it, since capitalist peers don't actively suffer the same issues, and Russia since its recovery doesn't either (as it is still very much a capitalist world power). It's clear the switch was bad (horridly mismanaged), but the final result is that life expectancy rose above what the USSR ever achieved, finally reaching an on-par status with its peers.
To be clear, I'm not arguing that socialism couldn't achieve this, or that capitalism is the better system or anything. But I am challenging the assumption that capitalism is the cause of a lowered life expectancy, since the graph you presented didn't exactly support that statement (given that under capitalism Russia's life expectancy rose well above what the USSR ever managed).