Et Cetera

GLOOM IN THE TIME OF GLASNOST

In Russia angst is one of the simple pleasures of life. But these days it is the one item in oversupply. According to a report by the Cherepovets Regional Scientific Methodological Center for the Study of Social Problems, 80% of the residents of the city, about 230 miles north of Moscow, are in a constant state of heightened irritability. The proportion experiencing alarm and depression is 70%; agitation and anxiety for no clear reason, 61%; a sense that life is meaningless, 42%. Thoughts of suicide have increased 20-fold. It might be called the “inside story” of reform.