Russian politics - Book Report/Review Example

Russian politics David Satter’s book ‘it was a long time ago, and it never happened’ attempts at exploring the moral and spiritual breakdown of Russian Society. The author reckons that Russia has never owned to its pervasive human rights violation past that accompanied its drive to build communism. Contemplating on his own visits to Russia, Satter investigates the various dimensions of Russian society such as textbooks, national monuments, and the election of Vladmir Putin, with a look at its past. The book locates the country’s failure in fully appreciating the value of the individual or citizen in contrast to the nation’s objectives. Using Satter’s book as a background, this paper will seek to provide opinion over the politics of Russia’s post Soviet Union. Question 1 Russia and its people fail to face up to the country’s tragic totalitarian past under the communist era. Satter argues that the nation has refused to face the ultimate moral depravity of its soviet past, which includes its most savage display in Joseph Stalin’s terror. The country, he states, cannot hope to progress until it admits to its Soviet past. For a long time, the Russian people have accepted the notion that the country’s objectives should bear priority over their individual values. The government has denied the inherent value of its citizens and the populace has become forced to accept this notion. The government has re-wrote the country’s totalitarian soviet-era history in textbooks that paint Stalin as an excellent manager (Satter 98). Many citizens view the Soviet Union as a time of security and solidity, when most had jobs and got taken care of by the government and the union perceives as all powerful through its victories in World War II. This hides the truth from the young generation. Post-soviet Russia has never felt guilty of the crimes committed by its past regimes. Most ordinary Russians also quickly forgot the anger they held against the country’s past totalitarian regime. They focused on life’s possibilities after the tide of free-market reforms wiped away their savings and jobs. The citizens of the country are not interested in uncovering the past as any attempt only evokes irritation. Question 2 Social engineering refers to attempts aimed at influencing popular beliefs and social behaviors on a wide scale. These attempts can be by the government, private groups, and or media. In the early 20th century, the government of the Soviet Union engaged on a campaign to alter the behavior and patterns of its citizens. They intended to create a new soviet culture and the new soviet man through books, newspapers, mass relocations, films and architectural design tactics. The soviet era social engineering proved to be a terrible experiment because of the cost of lives it brought on the people of the Union. Social engineering allowed for the marriage of absolute power and absolute ideology resulting in an unrestrained government. By emphasizing on social engineering, the Soviet Union connived to oversee a dictatorship over the poor and helpless in a bid to impose itself on the people. This resulted in mass relocations, man-made famines, extrajudicial killings, genocide, mass murder, forced labor, and bloody terrorism that caused huge suffering to the people (Satter 298). The soviet era social engineering resulted in the deaths of over 20 million people, according to Satter’s estimation. The soviet era survived for a long period because of a central integrating institution that was its one omnipresent communist political party. The Soviet Union also rewarded handsomely its supporters. The era also lasted for long because of the coercive capacity of the government. The division among the non-Russian people colonies within the union also meant that they could not unite and fight against the union. Constant propaganda from the governments and a measured economic improvement post-Stalin era enabled it to survive further. Question 3 The leaders and the people of Russia should both be held accountable for the nation’s state. The leaders should be held accountable as their communist policies led the nation through its worst history during the Soviet era. The decision to implement social engineering which effected Totalitarian rule solely lays on the Soviet era leaders. They created a propaganda fueled nation that was extremist in its operations. They ensured the suffering of their people trough forced labor, mass and extra judicial killings, as well as man-made famine. Satter points to the fact that Putin’s leadership has maneuvered to portray Stalin as a good leader through history books yet the reverse is true. The people of Russia should also be accountable for their nations undoing as they have placed the nation’s values ahead of their individual human rights value. they have allowed themselves to become fed with the propaganda instituted by the nation’s government, which in effect has denied them fundamental rights. Satter notes that the passive nature of the Russian people and the impunity of state officials have colluded to create a situation where an exceptionally low value gets attached to human life (Satter 154). Satter further comments that many Russians have preferred nationalist delusions over serious contemplation about their country’s future. Question 4 The people of present day Russian society are unsure of the kind of society they desire. The country’s liberal opposition has gotten nowhere with its calls for human rights, political freedoms and freedom of speech. The people still live in the past soviet era which had little regard for human rights. The great authors of the nation’s literature have failed to view their country objectively. They treat the country as too sacred to be placed under their objective view. The people are also passive and have allowed the government to dictate the type of society they would live in. their mindset has remained similar to that which was prevalent in the Soviet era. The new post-communist Russia, Satter notes, is still influenced by the psychology of the communist experience (Satter 301). The mindset of Russians is still deeply set within the Soviet era that they may fail to recognize the importance of a western style democracy that advocates for human rights. Until the old communist ideology is categorically condemned and denounced, then it is likely that the attitudes of present day Russian people will still be stuck in the old communist experience. Present-day Russian society is still characterized by autocratic rule under the KGB’s operation led by Putin. Autocratic rule is a deep seated tradition in Russian society. Question 5 It is vital that Russians expose the ‘crimes’ of the soviet period. According to Satter, this is the only way through which the nation can have better hope for its future (Satter 302). Russians have to restore the dignity of their fellow countrymen who recklessly lost their lives during the Soviet era under the totalitarian regimes that existed. The failure to honor such victims and speak against those crimes offers breeding ground for the opening of unhealed wounds. It also creates a state of laxity where successive governments may commit such crimes knowingly because they do not fear any repercussions whatsoever from its people. The failure to condemn the crimes committed in the Soviet era provide basis for the justification of the soviet regimes, the activities of the KGB, and the national leadership under Joseph Stalin. The glorification of the soviet era also serves to feed delusions to the young generation who are forced to live under pretense that they are in a great country when indeed they are not. Question 6 We do not expect much from Russians and their political leaders under political engineering. There are very many countries that have instituted political changes in their government systems with much success from previous totalitarian regimes. Germany as an example has acted to correct the mistake of the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler to become a leading nation in the globe. They managed to correct the past mistakes of the country’s leadership and people by facing up to and condemning the crimes committed under Nazi rule. Russians and their political leaders should stop concealing the truths behind the Soviet era and set up a reconciliatory tone with their past. It might be a slow and painful process, but the rewards for the country’s hopeful future would be worth it. Works Cited Satter, David. It Was a Long Time Ago, and It Never Happened Anyway: Russia and the Communist Past. London: Yale University Press, 2011. Read More