Russians lament rising standards

Press, 24 April 1984, Page 23

Russians lament rising standards

NZPA-Reuter Moscow Many Russians are worried about the corrupting effect of a rising living standard and fear it is destroying the values on which Communist society is based, says a Moscow newspaper. The daily “Sovietskaya Rossiya” printed comments from readers lamenting the spread of materialism and acquisitiveness, and complaining that people Were becoming obsessed with buying cars and household goods. It quoted one reader as saying that all a family needed was some steelframed beds, a few chairs, and a tabic. Any “luxuries” beyond these basics only made people want more, he said.

The newspaper said a common worry was that the spread of cars, television

sets, and washing machines had diminished the sharing of public facilities and thus undermined a communal way of life which was a foundation for communism. It said measures should be taken to stem emerging “petit bourgeois” attitudes. As a first step, the newspaper called for a ban on the sale of high-priced luxury items such as highquality jewellery, saying their availability encouraged people to compete to acquire status-symbol goods.