A communist leader visited NASA and saw super-technological rockets that could reach the moon, but wasn't impressed.

However, when he walked into a random supermarket in Texas, he couldn't believe his eyes.

This isn't a joke, much less a story about supermarkets.

This is the most important economic lesson of the 20th century—a lesson every student should understand before graduating.

Because what surprised Boris Yeltsin should terrify him about what we're losing.

In 1989, Boris Yeltsin, leader of Soviet Russia, visited the United States.

First stop: NASA. Rockets that could reach the Moon.

Space technology that dazzled the world. Yeltsin's reaction? Mildly interested.

Second stop: A random grocery store in Texas.

Stocked shelves. Endless options. Fresh produce from all over the planet. Yeltsin couldn't believe his eyes.

This ordinary store had more food than the special stores reserved for the Communist Party elites in his country.

On the plane home, Yeltsin was dejected. He couldn't stop thinking about those shelves.

About what his people were eating. About what he'd been told his whole life.

Everything he believed about socialism had crumbled in a supermarket aisle.

Consider what this means:

The leader of a superpower was more impressed by supermarket logistics than space technology.

Why? Because in his country, the government controlled food distribution. And it was failing catastrophically.

Yeltsin realized something that shook his worldview:

It's not that the government wasn't trying hard enough. It's that when the government controls everything, nothing works!

But when people are free to solve problems? Magic happens.

Take a look around you today:

✅ You can order food from any country with a click ✅ Grocery stores stock over 40,000 different products ✅ Supply chains that stretch across the globe function perfectly

None of this happened because bureaucrats planned it.

Meanwhile, in countries that still adhere to Yeltsin's old beliefs:

❌ Cuba: Food rationing and empty shelves ❌ Venezuela: People eating garbage to survive ❌ North Korea: Chronic malnutrition

Same ideology. Same results. Every time!

Here's what your teachers won't tell you:

Supporting the free market doesn't mean "letting evil persist." It's about unleashing human creativity to solve problems government bureaucrats can't even imagine.

Every time someone says "the government should control this," remember Yeltsin's face in that supermarket.

Remember what happens when political control replaces economic freedom.

Remember that prosperity isn't guaranteed—it's earned.