I think what happened just shows that the perestroika — and you can say the revolution of that time — was not initiated by the people. It was initiated by Gorbachev and his people.
It’s important when we talk about that time when the whole country fell apart, it’s important to understand that actually Russian people want to have the empire. And I have read in newspapers that the West calls Putin a dictator, but you need to understand that Russians are actually part of Putin. They want to have an empire. It’s part of them. That’s what they want.
When I spoke to some people who actually earned money honestly, they told me that others who don’t have so much money hate them. They hate that those rich people have a better life. I think it’s because psychologically they are actually not ready for better life.
One of the Russian writers who was writing about the camps — his name is (Varlam) Shalamov — he said that the camps actually destroy the butcher and the victim. I think it’s because there is no foundation for democracy. We’re not ready for democracy. To reach democracy, you need a long, long time.