This is incorrect. To state but three examples:

1. The enormous social change in the UK in the 1960s which resulted in far more liberal attitudes to sex, marriage, and the role of women was not brought about by government actions, planned or unplanned.

2. The rapid decline of religious worship amongst the established British population – a change unheard of in the country’s history – has not been brought about by government actions, planned or unplanned.

3. The increase in average age of couples getting married in the UK, which in turn has a significant effect on the birthrate and disposable income of households, has not been brought about by government actions, planned or unplanned.

Except, of course, that government actions, planned and unplanned, have brought about every meaningful social change in the past 200 years (at least). Sometimes the consequences aren’t what they intended – but there is little doubt that laws affect society and peoples reactions to laws create social changes. This is as true in the UK and US as it is in Russia. Russians are just less compliant sheep when it comes to rules, than the English.

But other than that, you’re right.

It is tempting to believe that Russia is destined to always remain the same as if it were a tub of dough, but I prefer to interpret what he describes as being evidence that change cannot be brought about by replacing the net effect of millions and millions of individual decisions taking place simultaneously and continually with a handful of supposedly infallible politicians periodically making the decisions on behalf of everyone else.

In short, central planning is not an effective vehicle to bring about change.

Khrushchev could be wonderfully blunt (if crude). Social momentum counts for quite a bit, it isn’t so easy in any country to change behaviors overnight. I’ll buy that Russia is more rubbery and doughy than most, however. Parts of Russia are like a time-machine.

Sherman, set the way-back machine to 1890. We’re off to the Russian village of Chukhrai!

I don’t see the Russian government making real strides to change that. At times, Russia seems more like a series of interconnected island nations with varying degrees of prosperity, than a unified whole.