From: ftsam@acad3.alaska.edu (Sergei Maurits)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet
Subject: Re: Liberal Moscow daily attacked by fascist group (UPI)
Date: 16 Oct 92 21:09:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: acad3.1992Oct16.130947.1
Organization: University of Alaska Fairbanks

In article <1992Oct15.213916.60307@watson.ibm.com>, bil@burka..aix.kingston.ibm
.com (Igor Belchinskiy) writes:

> In article <1bgb5jINNpgt@agate.berkeley.edu> muh@physics10 
(Yury M. Mukharsky) writes:

>>In article <1992Oct13.174404.1@acad3.alaska.edu> ftsam@acad3.alaska.edu 

(Sergei Maurits) writes:

SM:
>>>IMHO, the real topic in Russia now is a mood of silent majority. Patricia has
>>>a gut feeling for it  ...

YM:
>>Well, her article was interesting, and is conformed by some others, but
>>I'm still not sure it reflect mood of silent majority. 

IB: 
> It doesn't. Once upon a time the queen asked "Why all this people
> want bread so desperately? I don't like bread and don't eat it at all -
> only one piece sometimes with turtle soup".
> 
> I can believe that Moscow is very pleasant now for a person with dollars.

      It aways been true for forigners. Now it gradually cames true for ANY
      person with money (since dollars can be freely change back and forth,
      I prefer to speak in more general terms). And an attempt to accumulate
      some is not a crime anymore if you don't use a gun as a tool, isn't it?
      Even if someone particular prefers dollars.

      You are nostalgic about 64kop./$1 exchange rate and guarded shops for
      forigners? Remember: vodka s vintom, da "Bereza" s mentom ...
 
> But don't forget ice-cream price in wood roubles and mean salary.

      Mean salary always wasn't a valid criteria for living standards in ex-SU.
      How do you think, why the joke "Chtob tu zhil na odnu zarplatu" gain a
      popularity of a new proverb?

      What I know for sure is nobody donates ice-cream production now exept
      customers. Since ice-cream vendors are among survivers in post-Communist
      Russia, the price is affordable for substantial amount of buyers. 

> Children (their parents, if to be more specific) can't afford
> to buy candy or ice-cream (it's not my speculation, it's real fact). 
> Kids don't see candy (if you would be lucky you may find soubean-chocolate
> candy for 200 rbl/kg - may cost more now)

      Mentioned goodes were unaffordable during a major part of gloriuos 75 
      years for overwhelming majority of "new historical community - Soviet
      people" or weren't available in rural areas as close as 200 km to Moscow
      and/or other big cities. Realization of different scenarios depended upon
      a direction of Pary "general line" at the particular moment. I can't
      consider the everyday-economics unification of 15-25M citizens of 
      Moscow, SPb so on with the other parts of the country as a catastrophic
      event.

> When meat cans from "western food help" were
> distributed in school - kids opened and ate them the very same
> moment they received one.

      I know another story: 7th grade student (14 yr.old boy, my friend's son)
      got a gumanitarian aid parcel, sold the contents through the second hand
      goodes shop (English for komissionnuj?) and invested money in his
      classmate's vendor business. 
     
      Initial capital gaining is not a pleasent process in any country. BTW, my
      American friend told me how her family use the kitchen-garden to survive
      the Great Depression. It is her brother's swimming-pool now at the very
      same place.

> PS angle of view in this case is similar to that of rich NAPman from twenties.

      Is it time for neo- collectivization and industrialization? I ne pora li
      valutu sdat'? Valutu sdavali, a !!! 


                               <some deletions>

>>>-Serega, AK
> 
> 	-igor, AK-76, MIG-23

      Studno, lejtenant! AK-74 oruzhie nazyvaetsya. Ne pora li na sbory, a?
      Anyway, to avoid any confusion,

      Serega, AK 99775-1040
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