Total Licensing Winter 2007 - (Page 123)
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LICENSING tion and growth of economy and growth also in lifestyles.”
What did they think of Russia’s commercial policies? : No real answers
were to be had – the question seemed strange to them. One said “There
is a problem with nonlicensed products; Russia needs to improve laws in
business and make business more legal.” What about Russia’s health
plans? HIV? : All agree drug prices are very high, so drugs are very
expensive. One said “Health care is good but there are problems with the
service.” What about global warming and ecology? : There is great
awareness among students - companies are trying to deal with it! One said
“People can’t do anything about it. People wait for government.”
Should there be more immigration? : All said absolutely not. No one seemed
aware of the Russian problem of “aging society” and “population
deficit.” Are the Sister Republics of the former Soviet Union a
political asset? : Most said no, and a few made an exception for the few
that are friendly Belarus, Kazakhstan . NOW LET’S MEET SOME PRIVATE
INDIVIDUALS It would have been difficult to stand in the street to
buttonhole passersby, so I chose some of the non-business visitors to the
Book Fair, which was open to the public every day. I hoped this would give
me a more verbal and a bit more well-educated, well-read sample of people.
I questioned eleven people: six men and five women. Six were young from 20
to 26 years; five were in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. The young ones,
practically all of them, were not born in Moscow. They came to Moscow
sometime after Perestroika early 1990s – only one was married, the rest
were single; one was a law student – the rest had to work need the money
, and only one, besides the law student, had university education. Their
favorite activities ranged all over the lot but sports and fitness
definitely were the leaders. Most didn’t like TV shows. They got most
information from the Internet or books. Most favorite books were
non-fiction, or professional, but there was also the Bible, some Sci-Fi
Fantasy, Dostoevsky, and Hemingway. Did they have any favorite newspapers
or magazines? : They did not include any of the leading Russian papers,
mostly small publications and Internet websites. Did they have any
favorite restaurants in Moscow? :Most said, “I am too poor!”, and a
couple mentioned small low priced foreign cuisine chains Italian and Sushi
. Most lived with others parents, relatives, friends in two room flats. The
majority did not save money regularly. Practically all had traveled outside
Russia Europe, India . In contrast to the business entrepreneurs or company
executives, they all universally turned thumbs down on the health care
system: “Government care not reliable”, “In the end, it costs more
than expensive higher quality private We stop visitors with our
questionnaires very expensive.” The education of the older ones showed
it: two engineers, one PhD, one marketing graduate from the “State
University for Preparation of Top Managers” - He had grown up in the
Urals border between European Russia and Asia and came to Moscow in 1990
to improve his career Moscow is where it’s at . I particularly found
interesting one very unusual person, he is now 30 year old and is
presently a security guard but studies to be a tax collector Tax Academy .
Another interesting person - she is the PhD – teaches journalism at
University since 1980. She also translates science fiction for extra money
and with her husband started a small company, publishing a small
specialized magazine. This they do, although the husband is really a
biophysicist. She likes to travel to the US, Ukraine, Canada, and France
whenever she has funds. She and her husband live with their three
children, aged 14-24, in a 3room apartment. She seems the most comfortable
of all my interviewees. She is concerned about recycling, HIV, and global
warming, and definitely feels, “Some good rules still stay from the
Soviet times.” She speak excellent English and French, she is proud and
approving of the present situation in Russia. By contrast, another
contemporary of hers teaches about wines in the University to train future
wine stewards. There is now a very large quantity of expensive restaurants
for the small quantity of the well-heeled. The professor eats in good,
inexpensive restaurants only during his yearly trips to France and Italy.
He can’t afford the upscale restaurants of Moscow! He is definitely
Western oriented, reads Balzac and Nabokov, and admires film directors
Bertolucci and Stan Kubrick. He lives alone in one room and spends all he
makes. He likens the hospitals to those in Dickens novels. He feels HIV
and pollution are “Not being talked about.” He seems to be of two
opinions – when I mentioned that he sounds critical of Russia to me, he
says he feels safe! Yet, at another time he tells me Russia is
unpredictable and in danger of becoming a fascist state. I question: With
his languages and know how, he could live so much better in the West, or
at least in Poland. He pessimistically tells me he is too old.
Incidentally, he was never politically active. One observation unifies all
my DISCOVERS RUSSIA inter v i e w ees, of all ages: no obvious interest in
politics, a desire for stability, and patience! … Endless patience! WHO
ARE THE RUSSIANS? This is the view from America, and unlike professional
Russian-speaking journalists, I, with my few words of Russian, cannot
claim expertise in this first trip of Russian discovery. I can, however,
claim 46 years of observing strange places in around the world travel. So
here come a few personal pseudo-historical sociological observations. This
is not the old Russia and it’s not the new Russia either. It is a country
in transition and it is a big country with regional differences, ethnic,
economic, and historical besides. Moscow is energy! St. Petersburg is
gentile cultural tourism. But the countryside in itself and throughout its
8,000 kilometers extent Sad Sam & Honey - a classic US license on Mir
Pozdravlienij’s display care”, “People don’t care if you don’t
pay generously”, “Very Bad!”, “Very big lines to doctor’s
rooms”, “Problems with diagnosis.” Ecology and global warming?
“Yes we are aware we need more clean water, green gardens, etc.” Other
comments? “Culture has changed”, “There is commercialism”,
“Russia, under the Soviets, was not taught to make decisions.”
Immigration? : The individuals too are all opposed! “We are comfortable
with less people, even if the imbalance between young and old is a
problem.” When I afterwards analyzed the responses of the older group
versus the young ones, I was surprised to find nothing of what I had
expected. The only reference to Soviet times was “Before 1990 the
government gave a lot of education – now it is from East to West, and
6,600 kilometers extent from North to South, is much more. Not only must
we distinguish between Moscow and St. Petersburg sometimes Leningrad,
Petrograd , but also we must remember that the modern Russia has twenty
cities of over one million inhabitants each. It is interesting to look a
bit at St. Petersburg now with over 4 million in population. It is
definitely Russia’s “Second City” only. Yet, for most of modern
times and particularly 123 Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Total Licensing Winter 2007
Total Licensing Winter 2007
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