ABSTRACT
Perestroika took us by surprise and backed us into a corner. There is no escaping it. Those who made faces just looking at Pravda’s front page soon realized that it was time to change their ways. Suddenly people began to use the new jargon of glasnost. At the same time, they missed the pleasure of suffering from the unbearable lightness of social being. But did it take a little too long to part with the old illusions in order to choke on the new ones? The euphoria that runs through Russian veins veils reality. It engenders notorious “likemindedness” and prevents one from taking a sober look at the past, the future or the present.
