This week I have been in Norwich taking part in the annual Russian Summer School. Norwich is a new venue for the event, which until this year was held at Essex University. All was well, apart from noisy and dark sleeping accommodation. Over the years I have put up with some pretty dreadful conditions in order to keep my Russian language going. One expects this in Russia, but not in Norwich! It will be a Bed and Breakfast for me next year I think!
One of the teachers, a Russian woman, was keen to counter the bad impression that we currently receive from the media with regard to the Medved'ev/Putin government. People in Russia, she claimed are much better off than they were in the Yeltsin years, and money is now being spent on new social measures such as encouraging mothers to have more children to try to counter the poor demographic outlook for the country. The Government continues to be very popular. Western Style Democracy, she argues, may not necessarily be ‘right’ for Russia where the people have always been used to autocratic government . (The Russians call this ‘silnyi ruki’ or ‘firm hands’)
In the short term she may be right. People in Russia are currently more cheerful and on the whole better off than they were. All the same I cannot help feeling that a huge opportunity is being lost in the country. Government finances have been massively enhanced by the increase in revenue from oil and also to some extent agricultural products. However the lack of a proper rule of law in the country continues to be a fatal flaw. Corruption is widespread and so life continues for most Russians as it always has- bribes must be paid for everything.
Additionally what passes for a democratic system is in fact a complete sham. It is almost impossible for any party other than Putin’s to get into power. This is more or less alright while things are going well and the government is relatively benign. It would be naive however to believe that this can last forever.
The language and culture of the country remain fascinating, despite the fact that the current situation is not particularly attractive. I do sometimes wonder however whether I should give up on the Russians and concentrate on my French instead.
