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Originally Posted by Ustwo
I know you won't get the ponit, but very few people go back to slavery willingly SF.
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Under Breshnev things were not so bad as to be called slavery. True, there was political oppression, and the media was not free... but people had jobs, and food, and adequate medical care... Russia had an international standing, the Mafiya was kept in check... Khruschev once said "what is the point of communism if the people cannot have sausage" and "You can't put Marxist theory in your soup"... the social liberalisation that capitalism has brought has in effect made the Mafiya the de facto rulers of many area's, concentrated the wealth of the country in even fewer and even more corrupt hands, Russians feel frequently humiliated by Russia's reduced international standing, hunger is widespread, joblessness and homelessness is rife, people cannot get medical care anymore - so, what use is a free media, an some degree of greater equality of opportunity when you have nothing to eat and your child cant get medical treatment?
Under the dictatorship of the party, people knew where they stood, basic needs were met, and while society was culturally opressed and stifling, the rule of law was upheld, people had jobs, the talented could still rise up the party structure... now only a very few enjoy wealth, while foriegn speculators and the Maffiya enjoy Russia's great natural wealth. Communism offered safety, a sense of national unity and pride, a greater equality... people in Russia were not slaves, or even serfs - they did not have full freedom, but they had security and food and shelter. How is a starving man free - what does the freedom mean if there is not enough to eat?
The market has not made life better for ordinary Russians, they have suffered hugely at the unfettered violence of the invisible hands - if the democratic control of the market is still impossible, then at least the state control of it can ensure the basic needs of the people are met, Russia could once again become a genuine player in world politics, the people could know security and safety.
I honestly believe the majority of Russians feel things are worse for them now than before the capitalist revolution.