Living Through the Soviet System by Leo Lowenthal

Author:Leo Lowenthal [Lowenthal, Leo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, General
ISBN: 9781351508414
Google: ZisxDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-07-05T17:33:02+00:00

We have other evidence from interviews with seven other younger entrepreneurs. All but one are from professional families. It is immediately apparent that their careers have involved considerable changes of direction in their search for suitable work, and also that their present jobs have no direct connection with their education. This is in itself partly a reflection of the structural situation in Russia, in which the economy has changed much more quickly than the education system. It is therefore not entirely surprising that they all tend to describe their career paths in terms of opportunities brought through personal networks.

It is also notable that, with the exception of Dmitrii, who is older and probably more typical in general of those who became successful entrepreneurs in Russia in the 1990s, none of them are as yet really successful financially. They are independent and self-driven, but at the expense of much longer hours than in state-sector work, less security, and as yet no significant riches. They are simply making a living, with hopes for a better future. This is no doubt one reason why, when talking about their work and their motivation, they all emphasise above all their wish for 'personal freedom' and 'independence'. Sometimes they speak almost with the rhetoric of pioneer American settlers: 'It was a chance to be a free man'; 'I don't like bosses, I can't stand being ordered about'; 'the whole idea was to get free'. Leonid (b. 1966), a Moscow technical insitute graduate who first tried hairdressing, and then went on to the new commodity exchange where he is co-owner of a broking company, explicitly sees himself as 'an internal migrant', but still with better chances than those who emigrate to the United States:

I was an employee, merely a hired worker, but the salary wasn't bad. Financially I've gained nothing so far ... What I've gained is independence and prospects. I wanted to be independent, to realise my ideas. I've got a good stock of commercial ideas ... Now everything depends on me ... I'm just walking on air from happiness. I'm starting life anew.

(P-T 9, Moscow.)

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