Via Scoop.it – Foreign Affairs
Russians replaced half of their corrupt parliament with 30% old style communists and 20% brown-red nationalists… And some call this progress… This excellent The Economist analysis say it as it is: Russia is stuck between the past and the present, its only belief being money, power, and bureaucracy. “In particular, the intelligentsia—the engine of Soviet collapse—was caught unprepared. When their “hopeless cause” became reality, it quickly transpired that the country lacked a responsible elite able and willing to create new institutions. The Soviet past and its institutions were never properly examined; instead, everything Soviet became a subject of ridicule. The very word “Soviet” was shortened to sovok, which in Russian means “dustpan”. In fact, says Mr Gudkov of Levada, this self-mockery was not a reasoned rejection of the Soviet system; it was playful and flippant. Sidelined by years of state paternalism and excluded from politics, most people did not want to take responsibility for the country’s affairs.”
Via www.economist.com
