I agree with you on this; Russian system collapsed, no denying. But then it was the system that collapsed and not the technology per se. It is not that Russian technology was incapable of bringing out something competitive in the Western market, it did not because it did not have to; communist Russia never believed in the free economy and trade. If the Russians could send their cosmonauts in the space, designed world's larges and heaviest helicopters and airplanes, fielded world's largest and deadliest subs, they could very well employ the same or related technologies for building luxurious cars or Levi's jeans.
You can divorce technology from the political/social system from which it came, but that would be a superficial defense of the Soviet system.
Is commercial space travel available in the West ? No. What that mean is that when it is about highly dangerous and esoteric technologies, such as space travel, the government will be the best executor of those technologies. It has the power to either attract or coerce the finest minds in the country to a particular endeavor and it is the final decision maker on economic allocation to make possible the goals. The US Moon landing program, for example.
When it is about technology, the best indicator of a country's progress is the scope of technology -- in general -- to benefit the common people. This is where the microwave oven is so fine an example of the failure of the Soviet system.
1) Is EM radiation a dangerous and esoteric technology ? Hardly. In some specialized situations, yes.
2) Is the manipulation of EM radiation a dangerous and esoteric technology ? Hardly. In some specialized situations, yes.
So let us expand the 2nd question.
1) Is the effect of EM radiation on substances unknown ? No. Scientists knew those behaviors for decades.
2) Is the effect of EM radiation on biological organisms unknown in the Soviet Union ? No. Soviet scientists knew those behaviors for decades.
Then why did the microwave oven came from the West instead of the Soviet Union ? Is it a lack of material to make the physical structure that is the casing for the device ? Of course not. Aluminum and glass are plentiful in communist countries. Is electronics unknown in the Soviet Union ? Absurd question. Of course the Soviets knew of electronics and they were quite good at it.
Here are the general engineering issues for the microwave oven...
1) EM radiation must be contained.
2) EM radiation must be of a safe frequency.
3) EM radiation containment must be absolute, meaning no leaks above a certain threshold allowed. This is for safety for humans and to minimize interference to other electronics.
4) Customer want to see their food. It does not matter if the food is visible cannot help heating it up any faster, people just have a quirk of wanting to see their food under cooking.
5) There must be a timing mechanism to automatically turn off the EM radiation.
6) There must be different power level to compensate for different food density, such as meat from liquid.
NONE of these items are technologically beyond Soviet minds. Item 4 is interesting. Glass is the obvious choice, but then plain glass would allow EM radiation to pass through, violating item 3. The solution: Insert a metal grill/mesh where the gaps between the wires are less than the operating EM freq.
Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: Notes on the Troubleshooting and Repair of Microwave Ovens
There *is* a wire mesh embedded in the glass panel. Since the holes in the mesh are much much smaller than the wavelength of the 2.45 GHz microwaves (about 5 inches or 12.5 cm), it is essentially opaque to microwaves and essentially all the energy is reflected back into the oven cavity.
The boasting/defense of Soviet intellectual might is useless in the face of consumer demands for making their lives easier, and those demands are relentless. If your political/social system cannot meet those demands, your system is an abject failure compare to the one that can -- for its people. When a technology is taken for granted by the people, like the microwave oven or the telephone or the internal combustion engine have, the technology is an utter success. In other words, the political/social system must provide the necessary environment to where technology can serve the people in complete anonymity.
This is why the Soviet system failed, the free market capitalist system succeeded, and the socialist system lies somewhere in the middle.
But UK wasn't even a democracy till the late 19th century, well after the steam engine. 
Do people stop thinking without democracy? 
And what is democracy? Rule of the elite few? Do people really have power to change their gov? UK saw the largest demonstration in its history against the Iraq war with 0 effect on lunny bare faced balir. 
