20 years without the USSR: the views of another generation

According to the latest poll of the Public Opinion Foundation, 59% of Russian citizens regret the break-up of the USSR. This means that for 20 years most of the Russian population still haven’t accepted the new political reality and want to get “back to the USSR.” As for the age of those interviewed, it seems most of them belong to the generation that lived in the Soviet Union.

Aspiring to return to the Soviet era is not really understandable. All the advantages of the Soviet past can be achieved in the current political and economic system of Russia. Many disadvantages of modern Russia have their roots in Russian Empire. Why should anyone return to the past if a better future can be built? On the other hand, there was a strong ideology and the notion of “Peoples friendship” in the USSR. However, we cannot reconstruct Soviet ideology in modern times.

Moreover, there is a the psychological aspect. The Soviet years were the years of many people's youth. Imperfect economic and administrative systems pale into insignificance.  Nevertheless, yearning for Soviet times is very popular today among young people of the former Soviet republics. Is this just a trend or a deep understanding of Soviet ideology?

The best sources of information about these tendencies are social networks. People establish groups where they share their views on the Soviet past, discuss the major achievements of the USSR and search for common features in the development of modern Russia.

When we talk to with people from other former Soviet republics, we still feel common characteristics of our behaviour and views, we have no linguo-ethnic barrier. However, we are aware of differences, as if an invisible border has already separated us from each other. Will the next generation preserve the ties which bound the peoples of 15 republics once upon a time?

Julia Yakusheva. Exclusively to VK