Russian/Ukrainian Women's View of Big Government

by Ben
(USA)

Thanks for this great website! How do Russian/Ukrainian women generally feel towards big government? Do they have an inherent mistrust of government entities due to the Soviet years? Thanks a ton.

Bob's Answer:

Thanks for your comment.

Are you a Rush Limbaugh listener? I ask because he sometimes gets callers who came to America from former Soviet countries who sound very well aware of the shortcomings of communist/socialist government. For them the answer to your question is a resounding "YES, they OPPOSE big government and don't trust it at all".

But unfortunately that's really not the predominant perspective "on the street" in Russia/Ukraine - at least not from my exposure. As a matter of fact, I have never heard even one Russian/Ukrainian woman (or man for that matter) express this perspective.

Most of the Russian/Ukrainian women I've met really could not care less. I would describe it as a bit of a despair. They don't know. They don't care. They don't think that anything they do matters (government-wise). They are often cynical, believing that no one really has a core and that all politicians just say whatever they need to say to stay in power.


But among Russian/Ukrainian women who DO have political opinions, they are not suspicious of big government, and are often big fans of Western European Socialism.

I myself am of a conservative/libertarian mindset, so I have tried everything I could think of to shake them of this position when I have encountered it, but they don't budge. One says that it isn't good for there to be such a big disparity between rich and poor and government must equalize it!