01.09.2017
Volodymyr Dubrovsky, CASE Ukraine`s senior economist, told to From-Ua media outlet that the modern youth is more adult and moderate in many respects than the previous generation.
Most importantly, the society`s attitude to many things was then often naive. People did not have much information, and they did not think much about these or other things.
At the same time, according to the expert, Ukraine remained mostly a provincial country. However, this cannot be compared with the time of the USSR.
‘At that time, it was not a country at all. It turns out that all people who grew up to a certain level usually went to Moscow; because it is where they could engage in self-realization. It was a capital indeed. This tendency went on to some extent during the years of independence. Quite a lot of artists moved from Kyiv to Moscow and now visit their historic homeland from there. But in general, we have formed something our own and it has already reached an honorable level. In this sense, Ukraine has come into its own’, the analyst explains.
In addition to physical movements, there is also an Internet factor, the expert notes.
‘As Ukraine got independent, no one knew this word, although the Internet already existed in the world. Again, the people`s thinking was quite a different thing. To reach Crimea, one went to the post office and ordered a phone call there. To contact a person who emigrated abroad, one should have addressed the post office too, because phone calls to the US cost a lot of money. Some have even sent cassettes by mail so that we could hear voices of those who left the country. When a person was leaving to somewhere, he/she usually left forever. Now, thanks to the technical process, the situation has changed dramatically. Living in Kyiv or Zhmerynka, we can be global citizens, no worse than any resident of New York or London’, Mr. Dubrovsky says.
According to the economist, the market economy thinking has also changed.
‘People perceive it as something absolutely normal that one can earn by doing business and it is a normal, honorable work for the vast majority of people. Thank God, there are a few of those for whom it is a shameful merchandise. But, unfortunately, there are still people who remain mentally in the USSR’, – the economist says.
‘People are accustomed to taking it for granted that there is a large selection of products in stores. That there are no queues. That there is a huge assortment of various kinds of entertainment and so on. In fact, you cannot explain to the modern youth the reason why people stood in the cold for several hours in order to take an egg tray. They can understand it logically, but it is just not possible to imagine it. Of course, they have other worries. In addition, they spend their time differently. These are changes, which brought us closer to the normal civilized way of life’, – the expert summed up.