Unjustified Optimism?

*I wrote this about a month ago, and I think my opinion has changed since. Another blog to follow.

I may be overstepping my boundaries and making assumptions that are beyond my knowledge in writing what I am about to write, but I am an observer and these are my observations.
When it comes to political life, most Russians have a pessimistic streak and a general attitude of hopelessness, which is invariably self-fulfilling. Granted, I hail from the upper-middle class in “the land of the free”, so my outlook on political life is likely to be a bit sunnier than that of the general world population. Still, I believe in the efficacy of peoples, even peoples inured to corruption and mismanagement at the highest administrative levels.
Vladimir Putin, the prime minister of Russia, is often charged with holding dictatorial power. This may be the case, and there are certainly shady things that have happened on his watch, but I don’t think that he is the main problem. Corruption is widespread in Russia and it takes many forms. From the lowliest power monger to the highest officials, the practice of greasing palms is pervasive.
Corruption is always the product of a poorly structured bureaucracy, and in the case of Russia, it is a legacy of the Soviet system, which was notorious for its lack of accountability. Perhaps the mindset that fermented in the days of despotism under forced conformity when dissent carried a death penalty still lingers in the Russian subconscious; perhaps a society used to a strong authoritarian will always want for that paternalistic power.
But, even in Soviet times there were plenty of dissenting voices and they became muffled less as time went on and the Soviet Union liberalized. Dissent under Stalin was not tolerated, but things lightened up a lot under Khrushchev and certainly under Gorbachev. There is a general human tendency to resist oppression and the voices of people like Pasternak, Akhmatova, and Solzhenitsyn still found expression in spite of Soviet censorship (in later years anyway). As far as I know, which is not very much, there is not much serious talk inside the country about the problems of modern Russia, at least not talk with the purpose of bringing about change. What is going on?
Maybe there is a fear factor, what with the suspicious deaths of Anna Politkovskaya, shot in an elevator, and Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned with radioactive material in London. The recent decision to extend the prison sentence on trumped up charges of oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky who funded anti-Putin campaigns, does not instill trust in the legal system. Not to mention the two reporters who were savagely beaten a few months ago after they covered a controversial highway construction story.
It may be the case that many Russians think fatalistically, but fatalism is not “ingrained” in Russian culture as many claim. Recall, if you will, that Russia was the scene of the most dramatic and comprehensive political movement of the twentieth century, if not the history of civilization. It was here that a centuries old imperial system was toppled and with it the nascent roots of international capital in the country. An entirely new societal structure was adopted. Of course, we can see now that this was a misguided attempt, but it was not an attempt made by complacent fatalists. The mood of the time, 1905-1917, was of hope. 1905 brought the first signs of change: a semi-representative Duma and a constitution. February 1917 brought the end of dynastic Russia. October, unfortunately, brought the Bolsheviks. Still, the civil war that followed was fueled by ideology and a hope of establishing a better Russia.
What Russia needs is a change in attitude. My Russian friend said this about change in Russia: “you can’t turn shit into candy.”
That may be true, but you aren’t dealing with shit, you are dealing with a country; a country with one of the most vibrant and diverse cultures on the planet that values education. It is a country that has produced some of the most brilliant artists, authors, and scientists in history and which has tremendous potential for growth. All it takes to create change is a shift in attitude. From that, everything else will follow.