Sociologists: after 2025, a generation of cynics will come to power in the country

Sociologists of the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Oleg Karpukhin and Sergey Komissarov in their work, published in the journal Social and Humanitarian Knowledge, concluded that the ideological split in Russian society has not yet been overcome among the older generation, but also among young people. Moreover, today the ideological divisions among the youth have become wider.

To begin with, sociologists cite a survey of young people in 1998:

“Only 10% of the respondents considered themselves to be supporters of socialism, and only 5.7% of those polled. True, there are not so many admirers of capitalism among young people - only 20.4%. More than half of young people (52.2%) prefer (vague ideology) democracy. "

22 years have passed. Many of those interviewed by sociologists in 1998 have children of the same age as then. And the main ideological preferences of young people are now as follows:

“92% of young people have a positive attitude towards entrepreneurs, 8% - negatively. Among those over 60, the figures are different: 58% and 42%, respectively.

Slightly more than half of the youth (51.3%) are supporters of capitalism in the classical form. Of these, 38.3% - capitalism as in the United States; in the form of state capitalism, as in China - 12.9%. 34% support a market with government participation (social democracy). A minority (13.5%) are in favor of a free market, completely devoid of government intervention in the economy.

The share of supporters of classical socialism of the Soviet type also became large - 26.9%; authoritarian form of statehood (as in North Korea) and monarchy 7.9%; a state living according to religious canons - 3.1%, anarchy, where only public organizations are governed - 4.6%".

“Against this background, it is legitimate to talk about a split in the socio-political preferences of today's youth. It is no longer necessary to talk about class or generational solidarity here”, - sociologists write.

But the fact is that the “generation of 1998” (whose formation took place at the height of the 1990s), who are now 40-43 years old (and often these are not only middle management floors, but also the posts of ministers, governors, generals, heads of enterprises). Probably, after the mid-2020s, from the same generation we will have a president, a prime minister, heads of two parliaments, new leaders of old political parties.

Sociologists explain that this is the generation of the greatest cynics in the entire history of Russian society (as opposed to older ages 45+ and younger 35-).

Here are the typical attitudes of this generation from the 1998 survey:

“18.1% of the respondents considered it quite possible for themselves to participate in criminal groups, and 9.1% believed that today it is a fairly normal way of making money. 12.7% of young people had the same attitude towards prostitution.

In the opinion of 47.7% of the powdered, the growth in the number of the poor in the country is explained by the fact that "they have not adapted to life", 21% believed that this category of the population did not get rid of the old ideology, old values, and 18.2% of the respondents saw the cause of poverty in the inability to steal.

According to the same rating scale, but with the opposite sign, young people explain the success of rich people in life: 47.9% explained wealth by the ability of people to adapt to life, and 32.7% - by the ability to steal. Most of the young people surveyed did not have a desire to restore social justice.

69.2% believed that they are capable of changing their beliefs if these beliefs do not correspond to reality.

Unlike Soviet youth and progressive youth of the West, (this generation) was not interested in problems of a planetary scale, peace and war. It was absorbed in its internal problems of survival in the country of entrepreneurial instincts and rampant consumerist ideology".