I am not sure what is "the Russian party elite". Regardless, how is this related to what people would see walking the streets in Moscow? (lines to the stores, people selling their belongings or random shit they have got in lieu of salary at work, delipidated buildings, literal open dirt everywhere etc).
I do. I am, again, not sure what does this have to do with the topic. I now suspect you are trying to derail in an attempt to hide your ignorance of the state of Moscow in 1988. There is no need to degrade the forum for that. Just be careful to not talk about things you don't know about next time!