--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I wanted to show something that Americans…" description: "\"I wanted to show something that Americans don't usually think about when they think about Russia, which is the extreme stratification of Soviet society..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3d/masha-gessen-2322_russia_i-wanted-to-show-something-that-american_2588454.png" --- # I wanted to show something that Americans don't usually… ![“I wanted to show something that Americans don't usually think about when they think about Russia, which is the extreme stratification of Soviet society.” quote by Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3d/masha-gessen-2322_russia_i-wanted-to-show-something-that-american_2588454.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3d/masha-gessen-2322_russia_i-wanted-to-show-something-that-american_2588454.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3d/masha-gessen-2322_russia_i-wanted-to-show-something-that-american_2588454.png) > “I wanted to show something that Americans don't usually think about when they think about Russia, which is the extreme stratification of Soviet society.” [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Highlights the deep class gaps in Soviet life, contrary to common Western views of Russia as monolithic. **In simple terms:** Soviet society was highly stratified. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden social layers. Themes social inequality history perception Mood thoughtful critical Type historical analytical When to use this quote - academic research - policy analysis - media reporting Key Concepts class structure Soviet studies Questions to Reflect On - How do class divisions affect daily life? - What other factors shape Soviet identity? A Different Perspective Simplifies a complex society to class alone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Russia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russia/) [Russia Extreme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russia-extreme-1840021/) [Show](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/show/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) [Something](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something/) [Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet/) [Soviet Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soviet-society-1840020/) [Stratification Soviet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stratification-soviet-1840022/) [Think Russia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-russia-1339301/) ## Related quotes > [KGB was inseparable part of the Soviet Union and the whole structure of the Soviet society. 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There is no reason to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mearsheimer/when-vital-interests-are-at-stake-countries-are-invariably-willing-to/) [John Mearsheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mearsheimer/) > [Everyone is from Russia. Sometimes I think I'm from Russia, too. All these new Ovas. I don't know anyone. I don't really recognise anyone.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serena-williams/everyone-is-from-russia-sometimes-i-think-i-m-from-russia-too-all/) [Serena Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/serena-williams/) > [I think the US and Russia are mirroring each other and they have this love/hate relationship since the Cold War. You feel it when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-barthes/i-think-the-us-and-russia-are-mirroring-each-other-and-they-have-this/) [Sophie Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-barthes/) ## More by Masha Gessen > [There's this American pretense, which is the pretense of the journalist with the view from nowhere - which has somehow morphed into the journalist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/there-s-this-american-pretense-which-is-the-pretense-of-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Where incompetence is prized, it is ever-present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/where-incompetence-is-prized-it-is-ever-present/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Pussy Riot have certainly changed some people's assumptions about the role of political art and the relationship between the intelligentsia and the church. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/pussy-riot-have-certainly-changed-some-people-s-assumptions-about-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Trump, like Putin, has a demonstrably thin skin and short temper when it comes to being criticized by journalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/trump-like-putin-has-a-demonstrably-thin-skin-and-short-temper-when/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [You risk everything if you so much as join a legal protest demonstration in Russia. It raises the stakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/you-risk-everything-if-you-so-much-as-join-a-legal-protest/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Donald Trump creates word salads. And that is awful to language, because we try to parse out what he's saying and try to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/donald-trump-creates-word-salads-and-that-is-awful-to-language/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [It is the first time since 1993 that Russians have come out into the streets without an explicit permission from the government to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/it-is-the-first-time-since-1993-that-russians-have-come-out-into-the/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I think Donald Trump was brought to power by Americans. They voted for him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-donald-trump-was-brought-to-power-by-americans-they-voted-for/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [In the 1990s, there was a lot of reform, and there was a lot of forward movement on a lot of fronts in Russia.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/in-the-1990s-there-was-a-lot-of-reform-and-there-was-a-lot-of-forward/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Poverty and scarcity are actually very good for totalitarian societies. They maintain that sense of mobilization that's essential for totalitarian societies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/poverty-and-scarcity-are-actually-very-good-for-totalitarian/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I think that Putin's strategy has been throwing a lot of money, fairly haphazardly, at a lot of projects aimed at disrupting Western relations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-think-that-putin-s-strategy-has-been-throwing-a-lot-of-money-fairly/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [Both Trump and Putin use language primarily to communicate not facts or opinions but power: it's not what the words mean that matters but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/both-trump-and-putin-use-language-primarily-to-communicate-not-facts/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I worked both as a Russian journalist and an American journalist and ran a bunch of magazines in Moscow over the course of about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masha-gessen/i-worked-both-as-a-russian-journalist-and-an-american-journalist-and/) [Masha Gessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masha-gessen/) > [I have no doubt that there are Russian efforts to disturb the fabric of American democracy, but they're disruption efforts. 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What the U.S. knows is that if you don't have a coalition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/one-of-the-things-the-united-states-does-well-is-building-coalitions/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Believe me, most of the people in Russia are seeing the West as a threat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margarita-simonyan/believe-me-most-of-the-people-in-russia-are-seeing-the-west-as-a/) [Margarita Simonyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margarita-simonyan/) > [The late 1990s were really a moment of still tremendous hope and optimism about the relationship between Russia and the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-blinken/the-late-1990s-were-really-a-moment-of-still-tremendous-hope-and/) [Antony Blinken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-blinken/) > [Russia and the USA are two largest nuclear powers in the world; it's a really important relationship. 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