Crossroads and Pitfalls of the Transition Period

The theme of the crisis of Russian society continues to occupy a leading place in our publications. However, the economic woes clearly felt by all have meant that discussions have been predominantly, if not exclusively, concerned with the economic component of the crisis. The reasons for the failures in this sphere are often sought in subjective weaknesses, in our habitual revealing of the "sources of evil," whether these be specific persons (Yeltsin and Gaidar, Chernomyrdin and Zaveriukha, Khasbulatov and Rutskoi), entire groups (the "nomenklatura" the "red—browns," the "agrarians," the "democrats," the "monetarists"), or external forces ("imperialists," "freemasons"), and so on. Accordingly, the solutions to the crisis are also quite simple: one need only replace an "incorrect" program with a "correct" one, remove the "sources of evil" and "agents of influence" from power, then all the problems will resolve themselves (by spring or fall, in a year or two, depending directly on the temperament of the particular healer of society and inversely on the degree to which he is informed).