RUSSIA'S ROAD TO OZ: UTOPIAN REFORM VS. MODERN REALITY
In: Dissent: a journal devoted to radical ideas and the values of socialism and democracy, S. 307-312
ISSN: 0012-3846
POST-SOVIET REFORM IN RUSSIA HAS BEEN INSPIRED LESS BY PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS THAN BY IDEOLOGY. MOTIVATED BY A DESIRE TO REPUDIATE ALL THAT THE SOVIET UNION STOOD FOR AND BY A SIMPLISTIC FAITH IN FREE MARKET CAPITALISM, RUSSIA'S WOULD-BE REFORMERS ARE IGNORING VALUABLE LESSONS BOTH FROM THE SOVIET PAST (SUCH AS SOVIET SUCCESSES IN MODERNIZATION, EDUCATION, AND TECHNOLOGY) AND FROM THE COMPLEX SYSTEM KNOWN AS "THE WEST." AS SUCH, THEY HAVE PLUNGED INTO DISRUPTIVE REARRANGEMENTS WITHOUT ADDRESSING MORE FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS AND ISSUES. THE RESULT IS CRIME, CORRUPTION, MASS IMPOVERISHMENT, AND A BLEAK FUTURE.