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The National Interest
A Low, Dishonest Decadence: A Letter from Moscow
by David Satter
. . . The true state of Russia is not simply a matter of surface appearances. The reforms that have remade Moscow's urban landscape took place without the benefit of higher values, and they bequeathed to Russia a moral vacuum. The result is that behind the façade of relative prosperity made possible by its improving economy, Russia faces underlying problems — criminalization, lawlessness, disregard for human life and a deep spiritual malaise — that threaten the country's long-term survival. . . . this was reflected in the nature of the economic reform program that was undertaken with little regard for its effect on the health of the population and was accompanied by five million premature deaths. The death rate in post-communist Russia was not an accident. It was the product of specific policies that reflected the authorities' lack of concern for individuals. In the first place, the government removed all restrictions on the sale of alcohol. The result was that at a time when the purchasing power of the average Russian was cut in half, his salary in relation to the cost of vodka increased threefold. The era of cheap vodka coincided with the peak of the privatization process and the resulting tranquilization of the population lowered resistance to the criminal division of the nation's wealth, albeit at a cost to the nation's health. At the same time, the government failed to finance the system of public health. For the first time, Russians had to pay for many medical services, from necessary medicines to lifesaving operations, and the inability to pay led many to give up on their own lives. The government even failed to finance adequately such hospitals of "last resort" as the Vishnevsky Surgical Institute in Moscow, which was underused despite the surge in the death rate. . . .