Post-totalitarian State Research Articles

Status i funkcje rosyjskiej inteligencji w społeczeństwie posttotalitarnym

Status and Functions of the Russian Intelligentsia in Post-totalitarian Society Transition from totalitarian to post-totalitarian type of society requires profound changes not only within institutional frames but also in the mentality of a society. In the case of Russia it is not the matter of coming back to the civil society mechanisms but creating them from anew, as the kind of citizen – state relations had not been spread to the whole society before the Soviet Union times. Intelligentsia could be an agent of the changes towards post-totalitarian state and social order. In this paper questions about the intelligentsia’s status and role in the Russian society were posed. The idea of civil society coined in the times of the Decembrist was confronted with the mobilized type of governing. Intelligentsia, as perceived by the Russian society and experts on the one hand and its selfportrait on the other hand were discussed. An important question concerned the role of the Russian political opposition as the intelligentsia’s ethos continuation. The conclusions were that the intelligentsia repeats the pattern which was first developed at the beginning of the 19th century: its idealistic members are ready to struggle for the common good but without common social support. The status of intelligentsia is perceived as high if about education and morality, but it diminishes when its leadership is concerned. In the Russian post-totalitarian society the state is still an agent to be followed. It takes Russians towards totalitarianism.

The Problem of Subject and Subjectivity in Psychological and Pedagogical Sciences in the Context of Training Future Teachers

The article analyzes the multimodality of approaches to the concept of subjectivity of a primary school teacher in Ukrainian education. The purpose of the article is how to determine the well-established traditional (mostly destructive) and promising directions for the development of the doctrine of subjectivity in the Ukrainian psychological and pedagogical discourse against the background of historical and current experience. We identified a number of contradictions in the qualification of this phenomenon, the stability of traditional approaches and the avoidance of interdisciplinary neurophysiological and pedagogical understanding of the problem in Ukraine. We also found out that the ideas of Ukrainian scientists are of an expressive dual nature: they are divided into sociocentric representations of the subject as an indicator of the social level and nature-centered (subjectivity as an innate permanent resource for self-development). We also made some comments on the use of traditional and innovative ideas of subjectivity in the educational process. The greatest drawback of the Ukrainian scientific discourse is the lack of consideration of neurophysiological patterns in the understanding of subjectivity. Nevertheless, the maximum use of such ideas outlines the prospects for a new stage in the development of psychological and pedagogical science in Ukraine. The international contribution of the article lies in the re-inventory of views on the subjectivity of the post-totalitarian state against the background of world trends. This will allow countries that have little experience in transforming education, psychology and sociology (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, etc.) not to formally adopt the experience of Western democracies, but also to acquire constructive traditions in their own discourse.

The motive of the disease in the history of literature and culture of the post-totalitarian states of Central and Eastern Europe

The article is dedicated to the issues considered during the international conference “The motive of the disease in the history of literature and culture of post-totalitarian states of Central and Eastern Europe”, which took place on November 6, 2020. The main topics of the speakers were focused on the disease as a weakness in the literature, the trauma of loss, the theme of illness and healing in world literature from its beginning to the present, including the periods of Kyiv Rus, Renaissance, Baroque and Modernism and the traumatic experience in the narratives of the Holodomor, Ukrainian women’s prose and the ability of Ukrainian sacred and decorative, as well as modern women’s art to visualize the disease and help artists overcome their injuries.

Promoting Perspective Transformation in Post-Totalitarian Societies

This article explores both the prerequisites and barriers of perspective transformation in the context of two Eastern European societies as examples of post-totalitarian states. Although personal cognitive development is considered as an outcome of perspective transformation, I will demonstrate that certain manifestations of cognitive development as well as autonomous thinking are rather preconditions for engaging in the critical reflection and rational discourse necessary for perspective transformation. These manifestations cannot be taken for granted in societies with a long and still vivid tradition of totalitarianism.

ПОСТТОТАЛИТАРНЫЙ СИНДРОМ В УКРАИНЕ

Actual continuity-true to identify the origins of the problems of modern Ukraine that will yelp socіal renewal and further progress.The problems of modern Ukraine, societies related to the posttotalitarian state, are analysed in the article. Process of transformation of the totalitarian mode in democratic runs into the row of problems: economic, defiant dissatisfaction of population; by the danger of recoil in the past from - for the presences of radical political forces; aspiring to national or to territorial sovereignty, from - after multinational composition of population; influences of other states, defeat sovereignty of Ukraine.

ІДЕНТИЧНІСТЬ ЯКФЕНОМЕН ЕПОХИ ПОСТМОДЕРНУ

This article has analyzed the influence of postmodern practices on the development and functioning of nation states, their culture and identity. It is shown that postmodernism is largely determined by the processes of globalization as the current defining civilizational progress, the content of which is the growing interconnection and interdependence of national economies, political and socio-cultural systems, as well as the identity of universalistic practices of regulating the activity of subjects of world-system relations in different spheres of being. It was found that one of the problematic consequences of postmodernism is the radical transformation of traditional structures and principles of self-identification, both collective and personal wherever they happen, and whatever the institutional, cultural layers of society and patterns of behavior affect people. Close coexistence and even interpenetration of completely different, sometimes mutually exclusive, and sometimes simply disjointed value scales lead to total relativization of everything and everybody when even personal and collective identities lose the quality of metaphysical constants and are perceived as an unfinished project. That is why a person of the postmodern age is deprived of self-certainty. Therefore, there is a great need to rethink the content and consequences of postmodern practices of blurring traditional identities and the emergence of new ones, the role of the state in preserving and protecting the values, contents, ideals, cultural models and language that shape and reproduce the nation. It is concluded that in post-totalitarian states of the European space (including Ukraine), processes of globalization and post-modern practices create two opposite tendencies. On the one hand, globalization unifies, internalizes and westernizes all aspects of society. On the other hand, in the way of bringing the elements of modern democracy into the life of the post-totalitarian state, globalization stimulates the processes of cultural and spiritual revival and the desire to form the collective «We», affirm its identity and individuality through consolidation around a common history, language, culture, values and orientations, life strategies. In Ukraine, it is also a consolidation of the efforts of all its citizens to repel Russian aggression, protect the sovereignty and independence of the state, integrate into European and Euro-Atlantic structures, achieve well-being for all citizens. Ukraine, as the newest unfinished civilization project, has all prospectives of avoiding the pitfalls of both «melting pot» and multiculturalism, as well as postmodern problems, since most of them have not yet attained a broad realization in its territory.

ІДЕНТИЧНІСТЬ ЯКФЕНОМЕН ЕПОХИ ПОСТМОДЕРНУ

This article has analyzed the influence of postmodern practices on the development and functioning of nation states, their culture and identity. It is shown that postmodernism is largely determined by the processes of globalization as the current defining civilizational progress, the content of which is the growing interconnection and interdependence of national economies, political and socio-cultural systems, as well as the identity of universalistic practices of regulating the activity of subjects of world-system relations in different spheres of being. It was found that one of the problematic consequences of postmodernism is the radical transformation of traditional structures and principles of self-identification, both collective and personal wherever they happen, and whatever the institutional, cultural layers of society and patterns of behavior affect people. Close coexistence and even interpenetration of completely different, sometimes mutually exclusive, and sometimes simply disjointed value scales lead to total relativization of everything and everybody when even personal and collective identities lose the quality of metaphysical constants and are perceived as an unfinished project. That is why a person of the postmodern age is deprived of self-certainty. Therefore, there is a great need to rethink the content and consequences of postmodern practices of blurring traditional identities and the emergence of new ones, the role of the state in preserving and protecting the values, contents, ideals, cultural models and language that shape and reproduce the nation. It is concluded that in post-totalitarian states of the European space (including Ukraine), processes of globalization and post-modern practices create two opposite tendencies. On the one hand, globalization unifies, internalizes and westernizes all aspects of society. On the other hand, in the way of bringing the elements of modern democracy into the life of the post-totalitarian state, globalization stimulates the processes of cultural and spiritual revival and the desire to form the collective «We», affirm its identity and individuality through consolidation around a common history, language, culture, values and orientations, life strategies. In Ukraine, it is also a consolidation of the efforts of all its citizens to repel Russian aggression, protect the sovereignty and independence of the state, integrate into European and Euro-Atlantic structures, achieve well-being for all citizens. Ukraine, as the newest unfinished civilization project, has all prospectives of avoiding the pitfalls of both «melting pot» and multiculturalism, as well as postmodern problems, since most of them have not yet attained a broad realization in its territory.

The Greengrocer’s Kin

The writings of Václav Havel are haunted by the character of the seemingly powerless man who nevertheless shares responsibility for the perpetuation of an unjust system. He is the incarnation of what Havel in The Power of the Powerless called the “instrument of a mutual totality, the auto-totality of society” that does much of the policing work of the post-totalitarian state. The greengrocer of that essay’s third section was not the only such embodiment; he had contemporaries in the characters of the famous Vaněk plays. But the cast is not limited to them either; we can find examples of this phenomenon in some of Havel’s earliest essays, and in some of his less known later plays that explore the social dynamics that underpin and undermine political systems.

The Role of Trauma in Romania’s Ontological Security

This paper analyses Romania’s foreign policy during the first post-communist years, by employing a theoretical viewpoint based on ontological security and trauma. It uncovers the elite efforts to secure the post-totalitarian state’s identity and international course. Romania’s search for ontological security featured the articulation of narratives of victimhood, which were linked with its proclaimed western European identity. The Romanian identity narrative has long struggled between “the West” and “the East”, trying to cope with traumatic historical events. These discursive themes and ontological insecurities were crystallized in the controversy surrounding the Romanian-Soviet “Friendship Treaty” (1991). Key Romanian officials displayed different typical responses to cultural trauma and debated the state’s path to ontological security, which was reflected in the foreign policy positions.

ДЕМОКРАТИЯ И ДЕМОКРАТИЧЕСКИЙ ТРАНЗИТ В ИСТОРИЧЕСКОЙ РЕТРОСПЕКТИВЕ

The article is devoted to the study of a complex set of problems related to the ideas of democracy and practices of democratic transit in the mirror of Contemporary history. The author proceeds from the fact that the loss of geopolitical bipolarity has led to the intensification of efforts to form a new world order. Democracy has become its political form. At the same time, contemporary political development follows a variety of multidirectional trajectories. Democratization is not a normative, one-line and progressive process. The author tries to analyze such basic concepts as “democracy”, “good governance”, “human rights” in relation to the non-Western societies, and to develop an adequate methodology to study the ways of social and political development of modern States. He focuses on identifying the peculiarities of governance and the functioning of power, establishes the form of the interaction between the socio-cultural environment and the political institutions in post-Communist, post-colonial and post-totalitarian States. It is concluded that the 21st century will witness the struggle of democratic and anti-democratic trends not only on a global scale, but perhaps - in less dramatic forms - in the very citadels of traditional democracy.

Compromised Power and Negotiated Order in a Ukrainian Prison

Analyzing data from a semi-ethnographic study in a Ukrainian medium-security prison for men, I discuss how officers and prisoners negotiate order to produce a manageable, stable, predictable, peaceful and relatively habitable prison environment. Broadening the debate about power and order by introducing a case study from a non-'Western' context, I argue that prisoners and officers, apart from utilitarian compromises, also employ moral reasoning in their power negotiations. I demonstrate that in the context of prison's radical deficit in legitimacy, exacerbated by a corrupt, under-reformed, post-totalitarian state, non-conformity with legal norms might be more legitimate than legal conformity.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE OFFICIAL OBSERVERS INSTITUTE AS IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE DEBELOPMENT OF ELECTION TRADITION IN UKRAINE

For more than last twenty years of modern Ukrainian State existence the institute of the official observers has been substantially reformed and improved. Thus, during the Soviet Union existence the institute of official observers from international states and organizations at elections didn’t exist at all, since the USSR was a very closed state and the outcomes of any elections were forecast. Therefore, the proclamation of Ukrainian independence may be considered as that turning point, from which the real formation of this institute has started. The first recollection about the foreign official observers appeared in the Law of Ukraine «On Election of the People’s Deputies of Ukraine» of 18 November, 1993. The next electoral law of 24 September, 1997 adopted by the Ukrainian parliament devoted only one article to the institute of official observers, which is difficult to define as comprehensive one. The status of official observers was regulated otherwise during 2002 parliament elections. The legislator, based on experience of this institute application in conditions of Ukrainian post-totalitarian State, refused from the detailed regulation of the official observers’ status in by-laws and introduced the necessary rules in the electoral legislation. In the light of 2001 parliamentary election draft law the scope of national and international observers’ authority differed significantly. The Law of Ukraine «On Election of the People’s Deputies of Ukraine» of 25 March, 2004 established in the election practice the institute of official observers from public organizations, which plays the growing role in the social and political life of Ukrainian State. The valid Law of Ukraine «On Election of the People’s Deputies of Ukraine» of 17 November, 2011 inserted some corrections on the official observers institute regulation, determined with the return of Ukraine in parliamentary elections to the mixed majority-proportional electoral system. In particular, by giving to public organizations the status of the election process participant he additionally significantly expands the circle of such organizations and gives them time for «consideration» about the participation in the electoral process. Finally, based on this analysis, it could be concluded that nowadays the institute of the official observers develops the electivity tradition in Ukraine and constitutes its integral part. Also the gradually and steady «grinding» and unification of legal rules, related to the authority of appropriate categories of the official observers, is performed by the Ukrainian legislator.

Management Technologies for Higher Level Officers, Presidents, Prime-Ministers and Parliamentarians

Both a general description of the person and a special case of management of human activities have been developed. The information space for describing of a person’s behavior and activity is constructed. A classification for control objectives is constructed: a goal’s space for head is constructed as an example of the information space. A classification for technology of a person’s behavior and activity is constructed with using the concept of information space (two-component abstract information operator (2AIO) in the information space). Joint management activities for people and the hierarchical management structure are constructed as a system from 2AIO. The conditions, which are needed for the forming, functioning and destroying of the management pyramids in modern societies (both developed and transition), are described in detail. The typology of methods social coding for individuals in socio-economic systems (named as socio-codes) is improved. Three possible types for methods social coding for individuals in socio-economic systems are described. The first is personally-naming socio-code: the norms of behavior, communication and activity are encoded into the name, which is assigned to an individual. This socio-code is characteristic for the device of primitive (tribal) society. Second is professionally-naming socio-code: the norms of behavior, communication and activity are encoded into the name of the profession. The individual is initially become, by birth, the bearer of a certain profession. An individual is not able to change the profession throughout their lives. This socio-code is characteristic for the device of the ancient society (ancient Egypt, ancient China, etc.). Third is universal-conceptual socio-code: the norms of behavior, communication and activity are encoded by the universal way, and the individual is able to change career several times during life. The economy exists only just within the universal-conceptual socio-code. Only within the framework of universal-conceptual socio-code each individual gets the ability to be both performer and choreographer for the problems (in various interiors of activity). It is proved that the education system is a key element for formation of the universal-conceptual method of social coding for the individual. The features of transformation of the structure of post-totalitarian states are described. It is proved that the universal-conceptual socio-code is not yet finally completed, and the 2AIO theory is an essential element for its construction. The challenges to National security of modern countries (both developed and undeveloped countries) are described. They exist as result from ineffectiveness in the functioning of existing institutions (as the pyramids of behavior) and incomplete construction of the universal-conceptual method of social coding of the individual. It is shown that modern terrorism uses exactly these channels for threats to National security. Most effective channels for the destabilization of the socio-economic status in developed countries are described (they were discovered in 1998, published on the Web in 1999, and were tested in September 11, 2001). The technologies to counter terrorism are described too; – however they do not be used today. The methods for optimal manage by transformation of structure in post-totalitarian countries, which are needed for building of a developed country, are described. The technologies for construction of United State on Earth and results from the test of their elements are described.

Legal and cultural aspects of involuntary psychiatric treatment regulation in post-totalitarian milieu: the bulgarian perspective

Background: The impact of totalitarian legacy on present changes in legal regulation of mental health care and the interplay between legal and cultural factors in involuntary psychiatric treatment in post-totalitarian states have not been systematically analyzed, neither worked through. Objectives: To assess the characteristics of the legal system and social practices con- cerning involuntary psychiatric treatment in Bulgaria from historical perspective, parallel with the legal developments in other European countries. Methods: Review of relevant research and historical sources, cultural reference frame- work, and legal norms. Results: Cultural and legal developments are far from being parallel. Totalitarian lega- cy in the area of patients' rights and coercion in psychiatric treatment is coped with in a milieu of transitional rules where the basic challenges concern more cultural aspects rather than legislative ones. While legal changes in non-Soviet post-totalitarian states nowadays could be best described as normalization (illustrated with Bulgarian legal tradi- tions as an example), the major cultural shift concerning health care impacts novel con- cepts, e.g. autonomy vs. paternalism, and high tolerance to insecurity vs. fatalism, which mobilize defences and provoke confusion. Conclusions: Culture, and de-culturation in times of transition for that matter, is the limiting factor for practical implementation of law, and contributes to the discrepancy between written law and applicable law. Problematic issues subject to current changing legislation, such as informed consent, legal competence, disability, guardianship, and compulsory placement and treatment, could be understood and resolved if viewed in the context of a changing culture.

Restructuring Post-Communist Russia by Y. Brudny J. Frankel , S. Hoffman (review)

REVIEWS I83 Urals and Siberian Okrugs).There is not enough space in this review to give greater details, but suffice it to say that each of the chapters continues the excellent quality exhibited in the firsthalf of the book in examining regional, centre and military relations. The details covering the financial predicament of the nuclear facilities, their vulnerabilityto utility outages, combined with the continual securitybreaches by criminal elements makes for a compelling read. The concluding chapter provides an invaluable summary combining the general problems confrontingthe Russian nuclear establishmentwith the specific conditions within each of the regions examined. The final section of the chapter discussesthe strategicimplicationsof the problems examined and provides several policy recommendationsfor the future. In sum, this book is one of those rare edited volumes that is extremelywell researched and well thought out with consistently high quality throughout that is a must read for those concerned with nuclearand/or Russian issues.It providesthe readerwith everythingthey need to know about Russia'snuclear complex but were afraid to ask (because some of the answersyou may not wish to hear). There are some minor criticisms. The main criticism is the positioning of the penultimate chapter on the implementation of the US Non-proliferation Assistance Programs, which examines the role of the Department of Defense and the Cooperative Threat Reduction programme in implementing the US assistance programmes and the problems they encountered in so doing. Given the topic of the chapter, it should reallyhave been placed in the first,more general, section. In addition, a list of abbreviations is missing, something essentialin a researcharea repletewith acronyms. Finally, a more detailed map of the regions than the one provided would improve the understandingof those who are workingin the nuclear field but are not Russian specialists. Department ofPolitics J. GLENN University of Southampton Brudny, Y., Frankel,J. and Hoffman, S. (eds). Restructuring Post-Communist Russia.CambridgeUniversityPress,Cambridgeand New York, 2004. xii + 286 pp. Figures.Tables. Notes. Index. f4o.oo: $6o.oo. THISFestschraft is devoted to Theodore H. Friedgut ('Ted' to friends and colleagues), a pioneer of work on Soviet politics outside Moscow, including an acclaimed history of Donetsk, who himself contributes an essay. Largely derivedfrom a conferenceheld at the Hebrew UniversityofJerusalem in May 200I in tribute to the dedicatee on his retirement,the contributions,updated in mid-2003, were edited by three of his formercolleagues.And a fine, stimulating collection it is, notwithstandingthe diversityof approach and style of scholarsfrom the United States, Israel, the UK and Russia. The unifying theme is the road covered by Russia towardsthe democracy and market economy aimed for after the Communist system undertook perestroikain the late I98os. Specialists on those countries have been preoccupied with either prescribing the way forward, or attempting to explain 184 SEER, 85, I, 2007 the failure. Within individual disciplines scholars apply approaches and test models that by definition focus on a restricted range of variables, opening themselves to challenge not only by their fellows but also by representatives of other disciplines.A multi-disciplinaryapproach undertakenby a single scholar or by a group working in parallel is not confined to models and approaches from a particularschool, and the resultmay be a more satisfying composite picture, providingbetter 'understanding'than the 'explanations'of individual disciplines. Human society is, after all, a complex whole, and a narrow focus is unlikely to identify all features affecting its functioning and development. The work of the dozen scholarsincluded here gives individual insights, and constitutesa complex picture. Opening the collection, Peter Rutland identifies three simultaneous processes: economic transformation, democratization and nation-building, influencing one another and interacting with social processes as individuals pursue their lives in new circumstances. They have also been taking place in a world anxious for the transitionto succeed, satisfiedwith relativelylow signals of success, and willing to overlookweaknesses.Anatoly M. Khazanov argues that the post-totalitarian state is weak where it should be strong (upholdinglegality and pursuingcoherent policies)and strongwhere it should be weak (continuingcontrol over the economy and a willingnessto cut legal corners).AlexanderJ. Motyl gloomily looks acrosspost-Communiststatesand concludes (p. 67)that 'prospectsfor democracyin the formerSoviet space look decidedly bleak', while Valerie Bunce, searching for the specific features of post-Communist transitions,picks up nationalism as a key...

Confucianization: A Future in the Tradition

Kang Xiaoguang Confucianization: A Future in the Tradition W HITHER CHINA? This question has engaged the attention of China and the world in modem times, and it is all the more urgent and pressing today. Two dominating opinions have taken shape around this question. One holds that the status quo cannot possibly go on for long; the other that China should and certainly will be further “Westernized.” But there has appeared a third voice in China in the twenty-first centuiy— ’’Confucianization,” which declares that China’s future should emerge from its tradition and should be constructed in accordance with the spirit of Confucianism. Why should Chinabe “Confucianized”ratherthan “Westernized”? An answer to this question must address four issues. First, it needs to make clear why the status quo cannot and should not continue. Second, it must show that the competing solution, liberal democracy, has noth­ ing to recommend it. Third, it must put forward its own solution. Fourth, it must demonstrate that its own solution is feasible—that, in other words, benevolent government is not merely utopian. This article is an attempt to answer this central question. I. JUDGMENT OF THE STATUS QUO The study of history is the best way to understand of the status quo, but there is no need to go back too far. For our purposes, it will be enough to go back to 1978. Here, I wish to give a brief summary of China’s reform process over the past nearly three decades. social research Voi 73 : No 1 : Spring 2006 77 Institutional Changes Deng Xiaoping conceived many of his ideas on reform in the 1960s and the 1970s. These ideas reflected Weber’s rational logic, instead of liberal democracy. It should be borne in mind that Deng Xiaoping was a pragmatist who put his ideas into practice once he was in power. In a word, Deng was a communist, in pursuit of the “self-improvement of socialism.” He did not wish to totally deviate from the tradition of the Chinese Communist Party. But, of course, his reform went much further than he had expected. In China’s reform, the greatest pressure comes from the economic sector.With Western examples setting a baseline, those in power need to demonstrate their achievements in economic growth to the governed so as to legitimize their rule. After more than 30 years of cold war, a “common understanding” has been gradually acknowledged that a market economy is better able to promote economic growth than a planned economy. Thus, Deng Xiaoping’s reform was directed mainly at the economic sector. Of course, he also launched a series of reforms in the political and social sectors. The market economy reform has indeed led to economic growth in China. In turn, this surprisingly high growth rate over 20 successive years has truly supplied the Communist Party with “legitimacy based on economic achievements.” This is also a decisive contribution to the political stability of China. Butthe impactofmarket-oriented reform is byno means restricted to the economic field! The Chinese political system has also undergone significant changes with the market economy gradually replacing the planned economy. The first indication of this political change is that China has turned from a totalitarian state to an authoritarian or a posttotalitarian state. One of the substantial changes is that the govern­ ment is no longer controlling all economic activities—that is, society’s most important activities (economics) and most important resources (wealth) have gradually escaped government control. This is extremely important, and one can never stress it too much. Separation of the state from society begins to emerge with the separation of economic activi­ ties from the government. Furthermore, China’s social formation has 78 social research also changed significantly. Now family life and the personal activities of individuals are no longer under the complete control of the govern­ ment as was the case in the Mao Zedong era. Nowadays, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will generally leave you alone ifyou do not chal­ lenge its authority. Even ifyou do, it will still leave you alone unless you openly challenge it in the public sphere. The CCP has turned to passive defence from its previous active...

The Hungarians in Slovakia

The situation of Hungarians in Slovakia since 1989 has developed in the context of the political and economic transitions of the region: from post-totalitarian states towards pluralist democracies, and from centrally-planned economies toward market systems. In addition, the end of Czechoslovakia as a united entity on December 31 1992, has directly affected the Hungarian nationality. These political, economic and social changes have had a direct impact on their situation in Slovakia.

On the Price of Labor and Unemployment

Strange though it may be, precisely today—at a time when the Russian economy is making the transition to the market—numerous zealots concerned with the people's welfare are once again foisting on public opinion the obviously stagnant idea of ‘the social protection of the working people.’ Before our very eyes, labor, as in the good old days, is once again becoming the object of the post-totalitarian state's social guardianship. We need only recall the notorious wage indexing, the salary supplements for everything possible including long service in the government apparatus, the bread subsidies, and the like. All these measures are portrayed as little less than a fatherly concern for the people. And when do these measures occur? In the middle of implementing market reforms! It is probably no secret to anyone that the lives of those who are so zealously guarded is nonetheless not getting better. In no way are potential raises in pensions, wages, and grants keeping pace with the high cost of living.