Neither Western Nor Soviet: The New Russian

Westerners like to count their money, Soviets used to shout slogans, while today's Russians value "justice" and "private dignity" above all else.This, in a nutshell, is how 2,468 city and village dwellers across Russia saw it when in March they answered a recently released poll by the Public Opinion Foundation.The Moscow-based foundation asked respondents which of a list of 37 "values" they considered to be Soviet, which they saw as Western and which they themselves believed to be most important.The result indicates that in the eyes of many, a Westerner is not a Soviet and a Soviet is not a Russian -- but that does not make a Russian into a Westerner.According to a summary of the survey published by the Interfax news agency, those polled distinguished sharply between Soviet and Western values, endorsing more "Soviet" than "Western" ones as their own. But in what could be seen as a pointed comment on the times, they adopted neither set wholeheartedly.The top three Soviet values identified were "atheism," "enthusiasm" and "guarantees of social rights."The top three Western values were "enterprise," "wealth" and "efficiency."By contrast, the respondents themselves most valued "justice," "private dignity" and "diligence."The poll also shed light on the political outlook of many Russians. According to respondents, Soviet man is ideological and statist, valuing "struggle" and "supremacy of state interests over private ones."Westerners value the "profitability of labor" and the "inviolability of private ownership," always keeping their eye on the bottom line.But it was uniquely the Russian soul that respondents viewed as valuing "unselfishness" and "equality before the law."One leading sociologist, however, at first glance took the poll's results with a grain of salt."It surprises me a little, because I think mass consciousness here is moving closer to that of the West," said Nuzgar Betaneli, a sociologist with the Center for Parliamentarianism who researches cultural values.He said differences between Westerners and people brought up under the Soviet regime were mainly "external," linked to "concrete reactions to a particular situation.""But when we talk about values," he said, "Soviets and Westerners are more similar than dissimilar -- fortunately.""You see what success Western melodramas have had in Russia," Betaneli added. "Mass culture does exist, and it has no borders."Though he said he would have to read the entire survey to judge it fully, Betaneli said based on the Interfax report that the poll's 37 choices had probably blurred its results, because polls that offer more than 12 choices confuse people. In spite of Betaneli's views, Russians polled hewed closer to what they considered Soviet values than to ideas they perceived as Western.Only one value that the respondents judged Western, namely "professionalism," made it into their own top 10.The respondents borrowed four values from the Soviet top 10: "sense of duty," "education," "hospitality" and "guarantees of social rights."Still, the Soviet value of "struggle" was omitted -- rejecting in one fell swoop, perhaps, the concepts of: class struggle; the struggle of the former Soviet Union against the Western world; and the supreme struggle to build socialism.The only value recognized as both Western and Soviet was "labor discipline."But, apparently, neither Soviet paeans to the glory of labor nor the West's exhortations to a new capitalist order could convince Russians that blind dedication to work discipline in and of itself is essential. "Labor discipline" did not make their top 10 list.So why was "diligence" No. 3? Perhaps it's all in the phrasing, which smacks neither of Soviet nor Western ideology.Rank "Western" values "Soviet" values Respondents' Values 1 Enterprise Atheism Justice 2 Wealth Enthusiasm Private dignity 3 Efficiency Guarantees of Diligence  social rights 4 Inviolability Supremacy of Sense of duty of private ownership state interests 5 Profitability Struggle Education of labor 6 Freedom of choice Sense of duty Hospitality 7 Professionalism Patience Professionalism 8 Noninterference Labor discipline Equality of citizens before of the state the law in private life  9 Labor discipline Education Guarantees of social rights 10 Guarantees of Hospitality Unselfishness political rights Source: Interfax / Public Opinion Foundation