Looking for «good capitalism»
About 17% of citizens (53% being under 25) of Russia think about emigrating abroad. The respondents consider the United States to be a priority place for emigration (14% of respondents).
«Levada Center», a non-governmental polling and sociological research organization, clarifies that over the past ten years the number of people wishing to emigrate is only growing. People call the reason for moving: the desire to provide children with a decent future abroad (45%), the economic situation in Russia (40%), the high quality of medicine abroad (35%) and the political situation in the country (33%).
It is noteworthy that more than 80% of those wishing to emigrate are citizens under the age of 50 years. That is, it is either those who were born in the 70s and their youth passed in the days of perestroika, or their children already. Those who want to leave Russia are the same people who were disappointed (not without the help of propaganda) with life in Soviet Russia and the socialist system in the 80s-90s .
Now, according to the reasons why people want to leave Russia, the dream of “capitalism with a human face” has not come true. What is the reason? Perhaps, Russian capitalism is «wrong» capitalism? Well, for example, up to 800,000 people emigrate annually from the capitalistic Germany, and most of them are people with higher education. However, if Germany compensates for losses due to educated migrants, the number of highly skilled workers who come to Russia is many times less (about 40,000 people).
Are things as good in the West as 17% of Russians like to imagine? Let’s take Spain, where 7% of respondents want to move — every tenth local resident of working age there is unemployed.
And what about Germany, that has one of the highest salaries? Is this the result of “right capitalism”? Or does the reason lie in the developed trade union and strike movement, when every step of the management, which may worsen the situation of workers, is followed by organized mass strikes? Can the standard of living in Russia be at the level of developed European countries? Yes, it can, but this needs to be fought for and achieved in struggle.