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*Indifference to the results of his labour (as expressed in the saying "They pretend they are paying us, and we pretend we are working").
*Indifference to the results of his labour (as expressed in the saying "They pretend they are paying us, and we pretend we are working").
*Lack of initiative and avoidance of taking any individual responsibility on anything.
*Lack of initiative and avoidance of taking any individual responsibility for anything.
*Indifference to common property and petty theft from the workplace, both for personal use and for profit.<ref>"[http://www.roca.org/OA/76-77/76f.htm 1917-1987: Unsuccessful and Tragic Attempt to Create a “New Man”]"</ref> A line from a popular song, "Everything belongs to the [[kolkhoz]], everything belongs to me" ("всё теперь колхозное, всё теперь моё" ''vsyo teper kolkhoznoye, vsyo teper moyo''), meaning that people on collective farms treasured all common property as their own, was sometimes used ironically to refer to instances of petty theft.
*Indifference to common property and petty theft from the workplace, both for personal use and for profit.<ref>"[http://www.roca.org/OA/76-77/76f.htm 1917-1987: Unsuccessful and Tragic Attempt to Create a “New Man”]"</ref> A line from a popular song, "Everything belongs to the [[kolkhoz]], everything belongs to me" ("всё теперь колхозное, всё теперь моё" ''vsyo teper kolkhoznoye, vsyo teper moyo''), meaning that people on collective farms treasured all common property as their own, was sometimes used ironically to refer to instances of petty theft.
*Soviet Union's restrictions on travel abroad and strict censorship of information in the [[News media|media]] (as well as the abundance of [[propaganda]]) with intent was to insulate the Soviet people from Western influence. As a result, "exotic" Western popular culture became more interesting precisely because it was forbidden. Soviet officials called this fascination "Western idolatry" (идолопоклонничество перед Западом ''idolopoklonnichestvo pered Zapadom'').
*Soviet Union's restrictions on travel abroad and strict censorship of information in the [[News media|media]] (as well as the abundance of [[propaganda]]) with intent was to insulate the Soviet people from Western influence. As a result, "exotic" Western popular culture became more interesting precisely because it was forbidden. Soviet officials called this fascination "Western idolatry" (идолопоклонничество перед Западом ''idolopoklonnichestvo pered Zapadom'').

Revision as of 10:39, 1 May 2014

Homo Sovieticus (pseudo-Latin for "Soviet Man") is a sarcastic and critical reference to an average person in the Soviet Union, also observed in other countries of the Eastern Bloc. The term was coined by well-known Soviet writer and sociologist Aleksandr Zinovyev as the title of his book of the same name.[1] A similar term in Russian slang is sovok (совок, plural: sovki, совки), which is derived from Soviet but also means scoop.

Zinovyew also coined a newspeak-style abbreviation homosos (гомосос).[citation needed]

Characteristics

The idea that the Soviet system would create a new, better kind of Soviet people was first postulated by the advocates of the system; they called it the "New Soviet man". Homo Sovieticus, however, was a term with negative connotations, invented by opponents to describe what they said was the real result of Soviet policies. In many ways it meant the opposite of the New Soviet man, someone characterized by the following:

  • Indifference to the results of his labour (as expressed in the saying "They pretend they are paying us, and we pretend we are working").
  • Lack of initiative and avoidance of taking any individual responsibility for anything.
  • Indifference to common property and petty theft from the workplace, both for personal use and for profit.[2] A line from a popular song, "Everything belongs to the kolkhoz, everything belongs to me" ("всё теперь колхозное, всё теперь моё" vsyo teper kolkhoznoye, vsyo teper moyo), meaning that people on collective farms treasured all common property as their own, was sometimes used ironically to refer to instances of petty theft.
  • Soviet Union's restrictions on travel abroad and strict censorship of information in the media (as well as the abundance of propaganda) with intent was to insulate the Soviet people from Western influence. As a result, "exotic" Western popular culture became more interesting precisely because it was forbidden. Soviet officials called this fascination "Western idolatry" (идолопоклонничество перед Западом idolopoklonnichestvo pered Zapadom).
  • Obedience or passive acceptance of everything that government imposes on them (see authoritarianism).
  • In the opinion of a former US ambassador to Kazakhstan, a tendency to drink heavily: "[a Kazakh defence minister] appears to enjoy loosening up in the tried and true Homo Sovieticus style – i.e., drinking oneself into a stupor."[3]

References

  1. ^ "Soviet-era satirist Zinovyev dies". BBC News. 2006-05-10.
  2. ^ "1917-1987: Unsuccessful and Tragic Attempt to Create a “New Man”"
  3. ^ Greg McArthur Vain, shady and stupendously fat: Latest WikiLeaks like a teen's diary The Globe and Mail 30 November 2010

Further reading