In the previous part of the article, we examined two of the most serious objective reasons for the collapse of the USSR. But besides objective reality, there are always people who can change it if they wish. A serious question arises - why did the majority of Soviet citizens not stand up to defend the Soviet Union? Such passive behavior does not arise just like that, it is caused by certain peculiarities of the consciousness of Soviet citizens. Which, in turn, are directly related to the objective situation, but not completely conditioned by it. It seems quite mysterious why the Soviet conquests, obtained at such a price, were given essentially without a fight to a bunch of crooks. Let's consider the reasons for this behavior of people.
Distorted public purpose
In the USSR, society was built on the basis of one ideology and was governed by one party. At the same time, the goal towards which the society was moving was directly set, that is, the image of the future. Let's see how the public purpose has changed over time.
Stage 1 - international class struggle
At the first stage, during the Revolution and the building of the Soviet Union, the main social goal was the world class struggle. This is reflected in the text of the 1924 Constitution of the USSR:
“Since the formation of the Soviet republics, the states of the world have split into two camps: the camp of capitalism and the camp of socialism. There, in the capitalist camp, there is national enmity and inequality, colonial slavery and chauvinism, national oppression and pogroms, imperialist atrocities and wars. Here, in the camp of socialism, there is mutual trust and peace, national freedom and equality, peaceful coexistence and fraternal cooperation of peoples.
Promotional video:
The will of the peoples of the Soviet republics, who have recently gathered at the congresses of their councils and have unanimously adopted a decision on the formation of the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", serves as a reliable guarantee that this Union is a voluntary association of equal peoples, that each republic is guaranteed the right of free withdrawal from the Union, that access to the Union is open to all socialist Soviet republics, both existing and those that have emerged in the future, that the new union state will be a worthy crown of the foundations of peaceful coexistence and fraternal cooperation of peoples laid back in October 1917, that it will serve as a faithful bulwark against world capitalism, and a new decisive step towards the unification of the working people of all countries into the World Socialist Soviet Republic."
At the same time, the main goal was set very definitely and uncompromisingly, without regard to difficult circumstances.
Stage 2 - socialism in a single country
With the coming to power of I. V. Stalin, the goal becomes more specific and local - the building of socialism in the USSR, with the recognition that it will become a bulwark in the struggle against world capitalism:
“But to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie and establish the rule of the proletariat in one country does not yet mean ensuring the complete victory of socialism. Having consolidated its power and led the peasantry, the proletariat of the victorious country can and must build a socialist society. But does this mean that he will thereby achieve the complete, final victory of socialism, that is, does this mean that he can finally consolidate socialism with the help of only one country and fully guarantee the country from intervention, and therefore from restoration? No, it doesn't. This requires the victory of the revolution in at least several countries. Therefore, the development and support of the revolution in other countries is an essential task of the victorious revolution. Therefore, the revolution of the victorious country should consider itself not as a self-sufficient quantity, but as an aid,as a means to hasten the victory of the proletariat in other countries. " - I. V. Stalin. "On the Foundations of Leninism", 1924
In fact, it was this goal that was predominant in the Stalin era, when the country's material might was being built. At the same time, the world class struggle was not overlooked, but faded into the background.
Stage 3 - consumer society
After N. S. Khrushchev, it was loudly proclaimed that socialism had already been built in the country. And the time has come for building communism. At the XXII Congress, the third program was adopted, which said:
"The supreme goal of the party is to build a communist society, on the banner of which is inscribed:" From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. " The slogan of the party will be fully embodied: "Everything in the name of man, for the good of man."
However, what was the understanding of communism? The main goal was to increase the level of consumption of the people. In this it was necessary to catch up and overtake the USA. It was said that real consumption would be only under communism. The image of the desired consumer paradise appeared in the public consciousness. The people were enchanted by the image of a communist society, in which it would not be necessary to strain beyond measure, but all needs could be satisfied.
But what came of it? The fact is that the planned economy could not compete with the market economy in terms of the range of goods provided; it was not designed for this purpose. In the West, there were many more varieties of clothing, food and other consumer goods. Through the Iron Curtain, in spite of the censorship, information was leaked that capitalist countries had better clothes and food, they live more beautifully. Of course, at the same time, it was kept silent that such a life is not for everyone. People had a question: "So what kind of communism is it then in the USSR, if they live better?" The "image of the future" embedded in the minds of people, associated with a consumer paradise, pushed people to strive for the West and abandon "this terrible Scoop." This deception played an important role in the inaction of people during the collapse of the USSR.
Separately, it is worth noting that many alleged lovers of the Soviet Union, nostalgic for it, are especially in love with the described period, which had nothing to do with communism. It was just a transitional stage, when the freebie was not over yet, but the first consumer joys began to appear. At the same time, it becomes clearly visible how the Soviet citizen from the creator of the new world turned into a bourgeois thirsty for consumption.
Paternalism
In the previous article, we described the mutation of the country's governance structure. The main contradiction was the divergence of labor and management. But this factor influenced not only at the level of the state apparatus, but also at the level of the individual citizen. Each person depends to some extent on the circumstances. And everyone at the same time has free will to change these circumstances. But what happens if a person gets used to the fact that all decisions are made for him?
The well-known humanist psychologist Viktor Frankl went through a Nazi concentration camp, losing his loved ones there. He rethought his experience of being there and came to the conclusion that a fundamental principle of human nature is that there is always freedom of choice between stimulus and response. A person is not always free to choose the external circumstances in which he finds himself. But how he will act in them depends on his free will. He called this human quality proactivity. The person who does not blame the circumstances in which he finds himself, but acts according to his will, can eventually change these circumstances. It becomes stronger than being conditioned by the external environment.
What did we see in the USSR as the divergence between labor and management grew? The people voluntarily gave more and more power to the nomenklatura, at the same time relieving themselves of responsibility for what was happening. These two processes always go together - giving up power and relinquishing responsibility for what is happening. This is where the roots of paternalism and hope for power grow. For the people, everything seemed to be going well, as long as the nomenklatura was a “good master”. But power and power is that the one who has it can make decisions. And the one who does not have it will make excuses that nothing depended on him.
This is precisely the problem - the unwillingness of each individual person to take responsibility for the events taking place. This factor played an important role in the collapse of the USSR - even those people who understood what was happening, believed that nothing depended on them, they were not able to change anything. And there were millions of them!
Exactly the same approach is visible if you return to the quote that we gave at the beginning of the first part of this article. It said that the Soviet Union was destroyed by the CIA and other Western special services. No, comrades. First of all, each of its citizens is personally responsible for the collapse of the USSR. This is the most important thing to understand. Inaction also comes at a price. And only the proletariat itself can revive the USSR. It is not some kind of "good tsar" or "party" who is responsible for this, but all of us, each of us!