Another optimistic tragedy

Софья Венгерова, кафедра международной журналистики, 13 марта 2012

Every time I dare to confess to a foreigner that I’m Russian, I hear the same old questions. These questions are repeated again and again and it seems to me, that few things about post-Soviet Russia are really to be clarified once and forever.

So you are standing in front of me, my dear imaginary American friend, so gullible when watching BBC programs about Soviet Union and Russian Federation. And your first question is, as usual, “Are there still communists in power?”. The answer is no. No more real communists here, twenty years after the fall of Soviet Union. I would say that I sincerely wish there were, because this would mean more pluralism in the country. But after the soviet period the reputation of Communist party was so much tarnished, that no way would they ever obtain any real support or real power. The only way out for them is to burn the remnants of Lenin publicly and thus abdicate from all the legacy of soviet period, and then start their story from the completely new page. Since the ideas of Marxism are still popular, such renovated party could probably bring the period of landslide victories of “United Russia” party to the end. But these are just the dreams…

You seem to be surprised, but then you frown and ask: “Well, isn’t Putin authoritarian leader? He’s former KGB-officer, am I right?” Yes, you are right. Though for most people this is not something to be ashamed of. All in all, the opinion of millions of people who deeply believe that he’s the right guy for this country is perhaps more important than the opinion of right-movements sponsored by Soros fund. For most foreigners the word “authoritarian” automatically means “a bad ruler”. Pleased to tell you, that’s not always the case. Even though in terms of democracy we are most likely to be back to square one soon, that bothers just few people in Russia.

Your blue naïve eyes become even rounder, and then you recall the last BBC emission about soviet way of life. “So what about the product deficit?” That is another thing that has changed completely during the last twenty years. You will find the same opulence in the flats of well-to-do Russians as in the houses of wealthy Americans, and almost the same abundance of products of different kind in our shops as in the mall in your beloved Connecticut. You will, nevertheless, be surprised by the fact that everything will be sufficiently more expensive (“How can these Levi’s jeans cost a fortune? I can by them ten times cheaper in NYC!”), but it’s obviously better than nothing.

After you get these answers, you normally relax and become if not a staunch fan of Russia, then at least sure of its optimistic future. And that’s when I leave you with this belief and never tell you that future of Russia, if it’s going to happen, is not likely to be happy at all. That our educational system that came from the soviet cradle and used to be really good is now being transformed into a weird monster of russo-american origin. That our “innovative project” is stillborn. That youngsters are desperately seeking for any opportunity to escape their motherland and find another sweet home abroad. These things as well as many others are not to be told you, simply because of the rudiments of patriotism inside of me, but this is another side of truth about Russia. Russia twenty years after the fall of Soviet Union, that is now lost and gone forever.