Neil has been painting a verbal picture of modern Russia, as we wind the Calling Moscow series down. It occurs to me that although the Communist system may have disappeared, those involved in it didn’t suddenly cease to exist… So, where are they now?
I’ve heard about Prague’s Black Police, and there seem to be parallels here. Neil tells me that “elements” of the Communist system still remain in the ever-present security guards at airlines, companies, hotels – some of whom have filtered down from the days of the Soviets. After National Service, others found themselves at a loose end, and in need of a position of authority. Employed as a barrier between drunken nutcases and clientele, they can often take the role of de facto management on the ground.
Neil explains: “It’s mostly dying out. About 10 years ago, these blokes were usually on duty in camouflage fatigues and boots. Increasingly now they’re in black suits, white shirts and black ties. Slowly, at least in the major cities, they’ve been told to improve their behaviour and not be openly aggressive to the customers – it’s not good for business!”
I relate a story, featured on the UK news in 2009, about a Russian police officer coming clean about his corrupt system. He claims that various police forces across the nation have effectively become their own independent crime firms! He’s had enough and is calling for reform. Neil is way ahead of me:
“There have been four of them now! They’re all very much saying the same things: basically that the police system is corrupt, that the higher-ups do nothing because they are in on it, that everybody is getting a taste of the action so nobody wants to do anything. Four or five police officers now have all gone on TV and said the same thing, in completely different areas of Russia, from the Arctic through to the Far East. Everybody who has watched that in Russia has a sort of gut-belief that it’s probably true. But it’s very hard to prove.”
Tellingly, an officer once told him: “We are in an impossible position here, because we’re being told the control the situation, then we’re just about to make an arrest and we’re all called off – and the curlprits get away.”
Neil elaborates: “His own superiors may have been in on the act, or paid a huge bribe to let the ringleaders get away, so they only ever get the people at the bottom. So, arrests get made and justice appears to have been done, but in fact the problem hasn’t gone away. The Traffic Police in Russia are an interesting case. Because they are not part of the proper Police, they are a separate force, in the same way that fire-fighters in Britain are not the same force. Corruption in the Traffic Police is endemic!” So much so, he tells me, that even the media lampoon the notion of an honest traffic officer as a point of comedy! Apparently, “the Traffic Police are just expected to be crooks!”
We’ve largely discussed Russia from a Western point of view, but I’m still curious to hear more about the other way round? It seems that whenever I bring it up, we’re always back to that weird inferiority-complex thing again. However, like Australia’s “cultural cringe”, it is wearing off: “In the past, even the more savy, smart Russian had an artificially high level of respect for the education, sophistication and culture that foreigners might have had, because they always assumed it was better than what they had themselves. That’s slowly disappearing now. But, you do still find that attitude quite often.”
As with most half-informed preconceptions, though, the reality doesn’t bear it out. For instance: Russian ballet companies may head abroad in search of a suitably cultured, appreciative audience, only to be disappointed upon finding that the artistically-sophisticated foreigner who speaks a lot of foreign languages, is knowledgeable about all kinds of authors, and is just waiting for the chance to appreciate the company’s avant-garde, all-male version of Swan Lake…is nothing but a myth. Well, pretty much.
Neil concedes that: “In London, you might be able to sell that. But these notions they hold of foreigners are mostly wrong”. He continues: “Russians believe that living standards are better in other countries in Europe. They see that the richest people in society have fantastic living standards, probably higher than many Russians have. They look down Sloane Square or Knightsbridge… But they never see people living in crappy, decrepit high-rise buildings with all the windows smashed out. Because, of course, nobody shows that on TV. And even if they go to London as tourists, they never get out of the W1 or SW1 postcodes, so of course the perception is reinforced: that England is full of incredibly rich people. It’s a very hard reputation to live up to sometimes.”
I can see how that would be a drag (from both sides): having expectations placed at your door that you didn’t ask for, didn’t encourage, didn’t even want – and then having them used as a stick to beat you with when you (inevitably) fail to live up to someone else’s fantasy! Aggh! We’ll continue with this next time…
Next time: Calling Moscow (Part 14)
The blip of equality. Soap-opera lifestyles. And up-market mismatch: misconceptions continue…
[Photo by Vagamundos]
You might also be interested in:
- Calling Moscow (Part 12) On Russia's attitude to foreigners, especially the British, hospitality and rudeness....
- Calling Moscow (Part 7) Our interview with Neil continues. Change, chaos, crime and bad morale in Russia as the Soviet state disintegrated....
- Calling Moscow (Part 10) On the marriage between socialism and capitalism, Russian style....
- Calling Moscow (Part 11) On Russia's racial mix and class system, pre- and post-communism....
- Calling Moscow (Part 8) On the management problems of switching to a post-communist economy. Dinosaurs still holding the top ranks....
