In My Opinion, which is not saying much in ths case. I just have this hypothesis that the well-educated peoples of the former SU have seen that both real socialism and capitalism just serve the interests of the same nomenclatura, with capitalism coming off a little worse bec it lets all the global raiders in. Chris Doss's post on the 26th (RUSSIAN MENTALITY: UNCERTAINTY AND FATALISM) shows most Russians don't want to participate in bandit capitalism, preferring to remain poor and clean. They favor social solidarity rather than unbridled self-interest. They want the state to step in and give them jobs. The Pravda article sees these as symptoms of the psychological trauma caused by the collapse of the SU and the persistence of atavistic attitudes. I don't see what claiming one's right to work has to do with psychology or atavism.
Hakki
-----------------
I ya otvechayu etimi slovami:
Yeah, I found that article interesting -- not that I didn't know people's general attitudes already, since 90% of the people I regularly associate with are either Russian or from elsewhere in the CIS, but it was interesting to see it quantified.
I was amused reading it because, on virtually every occasion the writer cited a particular opinion as showing something negative (like not liking rich people), I was reminded why I like Russia so much. It's very easy to be a lefty here. 70% of the population will agree with you. :) "Free-market democracy" is a contradiction in terms in Russia -- the demos is very much against the agora.
Unfortunately, your average Russian citizen has very little political power. Though Putin, freakishly for a Russian leader, is very attentive to his popularity rating. Which is one of the reasons people like him.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal