Lev Mishchenko

Orlando Figes wrote a book, Just Send Me Word, which is based on a collection of over one thousand letters sent between Svetlana and Lev Mishchenko. What I note here is that Russians during World War II, mistreated the physicist Mishchenko because there was no rule of law. The bullies felt safe to take on a bookish person, because he did not have rights.

According to Acemoglu and Robinson, these rights appeared in Western Europe, because of historical accidents. Peasants and workers in England were able to get better living conditions during the XVII^th century, than those in Russia. By the XX^th century these rights were entrenched in England, and missing in Russia..

Poor Lev.