These are the so-called “archetypes” – deep and stable structures of
the collective subconscious that define the sum total of the
original characteristics of a nation. Long before the Bolshevik
takeover, Russian mentality displayed the following features:
-
Statism and the acceptance of the priority of the interests of
the state over those of the individual
-
Deification
of power and longing for a “strong hand”
-
Paternalism
-
Ambivalence and suspiciousness toward the West
-
Messianism
-
Collectivism
and solidarity taken to the point of denying interests of the
individual
-
Negative
attitudes to social inequality
-
Poor ability
of self-organization
-
Longing for a
mobilizing philosophical idea
-
Negative
attitudes to private ownership
-
Dogmatism, asceticism, and the ability to bear suffering and
sacrifices
-
Searching
for truth and justice
-
Disrespect of
laws
-
Radicalism
and inclination to extremes
|
When speaking of
“Soviet” mentality, it is important to bear in mind that the above
basic national archetypes were to a great extent adapted,
assimilated, and used by Communist ideology. Indeed, the Communist
Party would hardly have been able to run Soviet society successfully
for so many decades if its policies had gone always against the
grain of these basic mental characteristics.
Many of the
traditional characteristics, such as statism, imperial mentality,
and collectivism, were “ideologized” and incorporated into the
system of Soviet propaganda. Even the Communist claim that the USSR
showed the way to a luminous future of humankind was a reflection of
the traditional Russian messianism.
Thus, Soviet mentality was a result of the adaptation of Russian
traditional mentality to Communist dogmas. The Soviet value system
was in many ways grafted onto the traditional pre-Soviet one. Both
value systems rejected Western values. This is one of the chief
reasons why the transformation of the contemporary Russian mass
consciousness toward democratic and pro-market principles has been
so slow and painful.
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