During the Cold War, the overall sense was that the West was about freedom, about having a good time and being 'cool'. Not everything was politicized. In contrast, the communist world was seen as overly political, with ideology shaping and coloring just about everything. This was especially true of Stalinist USSR and China of the Cultural Revolution. So, while everything had to be Marxist-Leninist in the communist world, one could just take it cool and easy in the West. You could have pursue your idea of happiness and be left alone by the state, the commissars and activists. It's like