On an official state visit to his socialist brothers in Hungary, Leonid Brezhnyev, first secretary of the CPUSSR, open the window of his hotel room, and sees the sun rising in the east.
The sun greets him: "Welcome to Hungary, comrade first secretary! It is so nice to have you visiting us!" Brezhnyev thinks, "what a nice friendly country this is, where even the sun greets me!"
After his morning pre-lunch meetings are done, he returns to his hotel room just before noon. He opens the window, and the sun is still there. "Ah, there you are again, comrade first secretary, so nice that you are still with us!" Brezhnyev thinks, "this truly a marvelous friendly country!" Then he goes off to lunch and his afternoon meetings.
In the late afternoon, he returns to his hotel room, and opens the window. He sees the sun, but there is no reaction. He calls out to the nearly-setting sun, "aren't you going to greet me again?" The sun answers, "no way. I don't have to put with that crap now that I'm in the West."
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On a narrow, dangerous road out in the Hungarian countryside, a rich American drives way too fast in the Cadillac he had brought over to tour Europe. He takes the curve much faster than the car can handle, swerves off the road and into a massive tree. He is unhurt, but the car is totaled. He starts crying, thinking, "I had to work nine whole months to earn the money to buy that car!"
Soon, a West German comes speeding down the same road in his new Mercedes, also takes the curve way too fast, and slams into the tree and the wreck of the Cadillac. He, is unhurt as well, but the Mercedes is a total loss. He starts crying, saying, "I had to work fourteen months to earn the money to buy that car!"
Shortly after that, a Hungarian in his used Soviet-built LADA comes careening down the same road, takes the curve way too fast, and crashes into the wrecks of the other two cars. He crawls out, sits down next to the American and the West German, and starts to cry. "I had to work fifteen years to earn the money to buy that car!"
"FIFTEEN YEARS?" cry the American and the German together in amazement. "Why in the world did you buy such an expensive car?"
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At a world economic conference, the representative from the USA opened with the status of the average American. "In the USA, the average American earns $1500 a month. He needs $1200 a month to live on, and what he does with the other $300 is his business."
Next came the representative of the Soviet Union. "In the Soviet Union, the average Soviet citizen earns 162 rubles a month. He needs 160 rubles a month to live on, and what he does with the other two rubles is his business."
Then came the representative of the Hungarian People's Republic. "In Hungary, the average Hungarian earns 4000 Forint a month. He needs 8000 Forint to live on, and where he comes up with the other 4000 forint is his business."
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