Soviet Youth's Doubts about Communism and the Shadow of the Era of Stagnation 1970-1975

Soviet Youth's Doubts about Communism and the Shadow of the Era of Stagnation 1970-1975
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union, under the Brezhnev regime, was covered by a rigid social structure known as the "era of stagnation. The political leadership was aging, the bureaucracy was bloated, and the official ideology of "communist construction" had become a hollowed-out slogan that no longer connected with the realities of life. Under these circumstances, the statement of a young Soviet woman recorded in the file, "I don't know why we are building a communist society," sharply illuminates the inner workings of the times. It is a frank question that should never have been divulged to the outside world, and it symbolizes the distance from ideology that was spreading among young people.
Political education was thoroughly provided in schools and universities, but its content had become formalized and was seen by students as a tedious ritual. A university student's statement that "political questions are too difficult to answer" is not mere silence, but rather a warning and weariness with the system, and resignation that anything he says is meaningless. Scenes in which young officers express their dissatisfaction with the military and social systems also reflect the informal violence and sense of entrapment that prevailed within the Soviet military, indicating that loyalty to the state was becoming less compelling than it had been in the past.
Young people in the 1970s were stuck in the system, with a longing for Western culture and a desire for freedom. While fragments of the outside world such as jeans, rock music, and imported movies flowed in, political speech was severely restricted, and the days were spent using both honest and tentative language. The dialogues recorded in the files are the very breath of young people living in these contradictory times, and they vividly convey the quiet turmoil of Soviet society, which was shaken by the gap between ideals and reality.