04.07.08

Is there a place in the whole world that is truly good? Yes, there is. It's the one we are absent from. The irony of this wisdom from Wit Works Woe, by Russian 19th century playwright Alexander Griboyedov, is as relevant as ever, opinion polls indicate. At least half of those who regard themselves as "the cream of the Russian middle class" dream of emigrating from the country - for a while, or for good, the Levada Center pollster said on Thursday after studying the state of mind of the young, upwardly mobile and well-off residents of Russian megapolises. The sociologists claim the root reason why so many are emigration-minded is the wealthy Russians' feeling of insecurity in the face of the authorities' arbitrariness.

The poll had been ordered by the EU-Russia Center of Analysis, created two years ago for monitoring the liberal values situation in Russia.

The pollsters focused not on Russia's entire middle class, which, according to different estimates, ranges 20 to 40 percent of the population, but only its upper layer - the young and highly-salaried urban dwellers. The questions were put only to respondents with college education aged 24-35, only in 14 biggest cities of the nation, and to only those with a high per-capita income - 1,500 euros per one member of the family in Moscow, 1,000 euros in St.-Petersburg and 800 euros in other cities.

In this way the pollsters probed into the state of mind and mentality of the young middle class elite having at its disposal all the makings of success - young age, high level of education and material status and the vast opportunities opening up in big cities.

The pollsters found out that the most successful Russians are not interested in politics and feel angry about the level of corruption, but at the same time do not hesitate to give bribes. Some of them never stop thinking about emigration.

The deputy chief of the socio-political studies section at the Levada Center, Boris Dubin, told the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta the results are little different from the sentiment of most members of the middle class, whose train of thought is approximately the same. What catches one's attention at once, though, is the respondents' insecurity about their current status and the fear that the basis of the achieved well-being may be ruined overnight.

Despite the eight years of economic growth a mere 13 percent of the polled agree that Russia has entered a period of lasting stability, and 59 percent of the wealthy and successful suspect that the situation may make a U-turn for the worse any minute.

Sociologists attribute their findings to the lack of the feeling of protection. About 76 percent of the polled believe they are unable to protect themselves from arbitrariness of the authorities, in particular, the police, and 65 percent are uncertain whether they will manage to protect their rights and interests in a court of law.

Many respondents say they are unable to influence political processes in the country and will not stop at using unfair or illegal methods in resolving conflicts and problems. The readiness of the Russian middle class to give bribes and use personal connections is very high. About half of the polled believe that in case of false charges of tax evasion it is far better to grease somebody's palm, rather than take the case to court.

Seventy six percent of the polled say the authorities ignore the law. But at the same time 50 acknowledged they would violate the law themselves, should they face wrong charges of tax evasion, and 60 percent would do so to make their son exempt from army service.

This is not exactly the type of middle class one can count on too much in politics, says the RBC Daily. One-third of the respondents said they never participate in elections, and 83 percent believe they are unable to cause any influence on political processes, and precisely for this reason they prefer to stay out.

The upper middle class is most angry about the high level of crime and aggression in society (59 percent), corruption (54 percent), and poor quality of the medical services (52 percent).

Uncertainty keeps fuelling emigrationist sentiment. Half of the polled contemplate the possibility of leaving Russia forever, or at least for a while. Seventy five percent of such potential emigrants are under 35 years of age, and 15 percent belong to the upper middle class, are resident in Moscow (29 percent) and in 70 percent of cases have command of one or several foreign languages.

Many respondents are uncertain about the future of their children. Two-thirds of the polled say they would like them to send their offspring abroad for studies or to look for a job. And one-third of the upper middle class consider the possibility of resettling their children abroad forever.

This widely spread emigrationist sentiment, sociologists say, is evidence something is very wrong with Russian society.

"Central to the mentality of the middle class is the awareness of the uncertainty of one's own existence and a radical conflict between the mode of life and the mode of thought," said Boris Dubin, adding that without radical changes in society the chances the middle class will grow and turn into a large and stable social stratum look very slim.

As far as emigrationist sentiment in general is concerned, not only Russians, but many citizens of other states have nothing against seeking better fortune elsewhere.

A Gallup poll has found, says NEWSru.com, that 26 percent of citizens in 82 countries are prepared to emigrate. In fact, a quarter of the Earth's population are unhappy with the countries where they live.

The shares of potential migrants vary considerably from country to country. In Africa, they are the biggest. The wish to start packing suitcases is the strongest in Sierra Leone, where 65 percent of the polled would like to resettle elsewhere.

In the post-Soviet space the situation looks as follows. Thirty four percent would emigrate from Moldova, 28 percent, from Azerbaijan, 26 percent, from Lithuania, 20 percent from Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and Estonia each, 19 percent from Latvia, 13 percent from Kazakhstan, and 12 percent from Tajikistan.

In Russia, the rate of potential migrants is 17 percent.

In contrast to this, likely emigrants in Iran number 30 percent, in Britain and Germany, 27 percent each, in Israel, 20 percent, in France, 18 percent, and in Japan, 12 percent.

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Source: Itar-Tass