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From Communism To Monopolistic Capitalism In A Single Swoop
What’s the difference between an apparently benevolent Ukrainian oligarch and a charismatic chief of a drug cartel in Colombia or Mexico? There isn’t any! Economically, politically and socially both were birthed as identical twins; and that behavioral-DNA which exists in both can also be found in most other powerful economic magnates who have metamorphosed in former communist nations, or Soviet republics, from the ranks of the party elite after conveniently setting aside the precepts of Karl Marx... and readily accepting pseudo-entrepreneurial predatory capitalism as the new cult.
And while a chocolate cake was instrumental a week ago in the capture of drug kingpin Servando Gomez in Mexico, the chocolate kingpin in Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, roams presidentially-free in charge of a bankrupt nation temporarily being held afloat by the IMF and a shotgun western alliance led by the United States.
Although the president of Ukraine was dropped from Forbes’ list of world billionaires compiled three week ago, that was just a reflection of the devaluation in the Ukrainian hryvnia. Twenty-three past Russian billionaires also failed to make the list for the same reason, the value of the ruble in this case (88 listed this year vs. 111 in 2014).
Poroshenko does bring center stage the very calamitous way in which much of the wealth and natural resources which belonged to the people in the many republics of the Soviet Union ended up in the hands of mafia-entrepreneurs, often parasitic scoundrels who from their posts of influence in government would structure the “redistribution” of such wealth. Mikhail Gorbachov’s idea of perestroika, no matter how well-intentioned in both its political and social aspects, appears to have been lacking in the most critical element of all: the optimal way of reconstructing the economy.
It is rather difficult to conceive how the leadership in the Soviet Union, with such vast intellectual resources available to them in every field of human endeavor, would just become despondent and let chaos ensue. I recall an academic friend (economist) telling me over two decades ago, during the transitional turmoil, that Gorbachov fell short with his perestroika and should have architected the creation of a manual dealing with what my economist-friend called “wealth devolution,” from the state to the people, and which he named in Russian, peredacha, a word which I jotted down in my notes right next to glasnot and perestroika.
I have long suspected that Mr. Gorbachov had way too much integrity in him to make a good politician, and as a result succumbed to the phony Reagan charm. Gorbachov did probably expect America to be correspondingly thankful in seeing an end to the Cold War, and would lend a helping hand in the unique transition that would be taking place in the Soviet Union, from state enterprise to private enterprise. But just as Ronald Reagan had fooled the American middleclass, starting his reverse Robin Hood charade, he double-dipped his charm fooling the Kremlin caretaker as well… which brings us to ask… and where was the Politburo during this crucial time? As the chief political and executive committee with virtual veto power, was the Politburo derelict in exercising its entrusted duties? Unfortunately, my reading exposure to accounts dealing with that period is too sketchy and incomplete to render a judicious opinion on how equitable the peredacha might have been.
Two decades after the transfer of wealth from the state coffers to “private enterprise” in the former Soviet republics, we probably need to reserve judgment in how efficient, or inefficient, that transfer might have been. At the end of the day, what matters is not so much who has ownership or is entrusted with the use of natural and productive resources, but rather if economic results are truly optimized… something ultimately reflected in the so-called standard of living. Still, one cannot help but wonder if maybe this large oligarchical class created in Russia in such short order, rather than in a gradual entrepreneurial fashion, measures up to an acceptable utilization/consumption of all resources.
Discounting for the current “situation” of the ruble, which could likely end relatively soon, Forbes crowns Russia as having the third largest number of billionaire-oligarchs, after the United States and China [Germany and India would have higher numbers at the current petro-dollar exchange rate]. Given both Russia’s population and its GNP, that does bring into question whether the people’s resources might have improperly utilized or gifted for the benefit of a few during the wealth devolution.
Perhaps the leaders of the new Russian Federation should analyze peredacha… and revisit glasnot and perestroika. There could be a history lesson to be learned.
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DNA? Do they have some of Netahyahu's?
Damn I hate the bastardization of the word "CAPITAL-ISM".
Government exists to transfer wealth.
So it doesn't matter what name it goes by.
I'd agree with you, except that CAPITALISM is the ABSENCE OF GOVERNMENT which is why I have my panties in a bunch. CAPITALISM = ANARCHY --> and that's actually a good thing. (Anarchy does not mean CHAOS, it means FREEDOM). So as a Canadian I'm really sorry about this but I'm going to have to vote your post with a -1 down arrow. Sorry about that, but I don't agree that CAPITALISM is a government-run-institution.
thank you
Gorby and integrity.......haaaahhhhh! Enough said...the very architect of the great fall...
What a load of tripe....
Slow saturdays....
+++, Oh regional Indian.
" I have long suspected that Mr. Gorbachov had way too much integrity in him to make a good politician, and as a result succumbed to the phony Reagan charm...
Eff OHNLY wee hed the RIGHT PIPPLE running the Soviet Union, theeengs wood heff been SOOOO OK. But then RAAAAYGINS came along en ROOONED et!"
What a load...
CW
Well, presently the US does NOT have a government in the real sense of the word - the super-rich & big corps are the ones running the country.
Are you enjoying it?
There is no difference between "capitalism" and "government". There is no difference between private and state. One implies the other only in words. There is no state. "State" is nothing else but a group of *private* people where one are elevated in position (government) by power of collective BELIEF which is a superset of capitalism's "supply and demand". These are all only mental ideas and can be interpreted as ideas of chaos or freedom. Government IS a form of capitalism however silly this sounds but it is all just a play of words. Government is NOT "order" nor "the order". It can have appearance of order but in fact it has the very same quality as the foundation or cause it rose from, the usually terrifying idea of "chaos and anarchy" it is trying to protect it from. You, in contrast with majority, are only seeing it better for what it is. You do not want to accept it as "the order" as it is unsatisfactory to you.
All these systems or isms based on order or chaos are "wrong" and unsatisfactory however. They are all based on this principle, the principle of ego: Someone has to lose in order for someone else to win. But it is a lose-lose situation for both sides. When you are on the "poor" side you crave for the "rich" side. And when you are on the "rich" side you have to wage war with the "poor" side which like with the process of osmosis wants to have what you have. Your idea of capitalism or "good anarchy", no matter how you would define it, would fail too. If nothing else, On a long enough timeline... And one never wants to part with something one loves.
"a government-run-institution" is in fact fascism.
More like outright and blatantly over-the-top corruption to the point it isn't capitalism anymore-ization.
"Forbes crowns Russia as having the third largest number of billionaire-oligarchs, after the United States and China."
Wait, wut?
Kill the messenger!!! ;-)
Weren't there alot of Trillionaires in Zimbabwe???
I know one. 100 Trillionaire actually or something ridiculous like that in one single bill pinned to his wall as a momento of interesting times.
What is it per capita? And in Jewistan?
"Given both Russia’s population and its GNP, that does bring into question whether the people’s resources might have improperly utilized or gifted for the benefit of a few during the wealth devolution."
Gee...you think?
a high level post soviet union defector (kind of a chealsea snowdoniski of his time) smugggled out terabytes of detailed financial details of how this all happened. for some reason it sits in an archive somehwere in europe untranslated. a review of these documents would be very revealing as to the situation we all find ourselves in now.
There was no wealth transfer. These were bankrupt states, the reason for their demise.
It was control what was transfered, rights to tax and deal. Poor schmucks, the local muppets have never tasted freedom just the transfer of owners.
Don't worry, you will also taste it when it takes over the west as well.
Only those who cherish freedom and fight for it deserve it. Will you?
There were farms and factories, railroads and shipping lines, laboratories and universities, and highly skilled and educated people who knew how to build and use them. That was the wealth, not some numbers in a balance sheet, and at one time they believed they owned it, paid in toil and blood.
The same is true for us here now, we who "stand outcast and starving/ midst the wonders we have made", only we believe the story that if we've fallen into debt some banker owns it all and we have no wealth.
yup. see above.
The majority don't want freedom so it's silly to fight to give it to them.
It's time to leave for someplace better.
Coward?!?
Where you gonna go that's better?
Someplace that anarchy reigns?
Good Luck with that...
If things do go full collapse, I wanna be somewhere that I can have a means of defending myself outside the control of TPTB. The USA as I remember it in my youth has the best chance for that option. I am and will do my part into the future to make sure I still have that as an option.
I will not die on my knees in some ditch begging for mercy.
DaddyO
It's all Putin's f... no wait... It's all Bush's fault! ...no, wrong again... oh, now I know: It's all Ronnie's fault!!!
don't forget the pope . again, see above.
I keep looking above and all I see is the sky, is it falling?
(sorry, couldn't resist, it's the weekend and I'm in a cheap joke mood)
The author seems to be expressing disapproval in the way that the USSR/Russian Federation has managed their resources or otherwise conducted their own business. Perhaps he would like to dictate new terms to the Kremlin?
Why are you telling me this? So we can all wallow further in the news that the world was stolen? And then lorded over us?
What, exactly - are you going to do about it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFFCaKtDzuA
The article omits Yeltsin. Why ?
Great question. And what's with blaming Reagan?? He was well off the scene when the soviet collapse happened. If we are going to blame someone on the American side for what happened, George HW Bush is the man.
Do you know how stupid the average person is? Well, the average Soviet citizen is even stupider. There's a reason Russia has expected longevity of 67 years. It's a culture of mediocrity, theft, and manual labor. It's no surprise that most people were stupid enough to sell their ownership certificates to someone who was offering them hard cash.
Yes, Russians live shorter lives than Americans. Eighty years of misery under communism and post-communist kleptocracy will do that. Expecting Putin to reverse all the damage done by the mad social engineering experiments of the outsiders who used the Russian people as their guinea pigs in 15 years is expecting a trifle much.
A big reason Putin is so popular is that he's managed to turn Russia around as much as he has. And he's far from done.
"And therefeore he shall die".
USSA
Actually, there's a big difference. Drug kingpins sell products people actually want at a price that covers the cost and risks involved in their production and distribution.
Bankster appointed satraps do nothing but steal the wealth of any of their subjects daft enough to work in the legal economy.
I remember reading how Pablo Escobar, at the height of his wealth and power, offered to pay, in full, his country's entire national debt out of his own pocket in return for full amnesty. Generations of kleptocrats appointed by DC had seen to it that his country produced nearly nothing worth exporting but drugs. A truly benevolent government would surely have taken him up on it.
Dumb Ass ;)
Pablo Escobar
Communists broke the system because they feared their children would not be the one who would be the next leaders. They wanted more… a full control of all the resources. They broke the Soviet Union, so they can profit and keep the power for many ages ahead, and later on transfer it to their children. This is exactly what happened to all of the post-communist countries. All of the large businesses and banks and resources are controlled by people who were playing high role in the communist party.
we 'ism'd' some folks....
This has to be the flimsiest flim-flam ever used to attempt to denigrate Ukraine's leadership. Are you still accepting Putin's devalued rubles?
He doesn't have room in his garage to store the equal number of hrynivia. Even attempting to lift it would give Tyler a hernia
Why did we send advisors into Vietnam again? Oh...that's right....for freedom and democracy. The paranoid dumbasses keep imagining dominoes taking over the world.
"Hey, I had a dream last night that Putin has a new box of dominoes, call the IMF"
"The Impossible Mission Force?"
"Right!"
A totally correct observation. That is why these countries but also like Poland or Czech republic have the worst managers in the world. They have stolen their wealth (companies, real estate) from the communist party. In 20 years it will be all sorted out as 99 % of them will have failed. On the other hand once that is over there lies a huge potential.
You do not perfect Capitalism .... with Socialist remedies .... to cure it's supposed inate deficiencies .... do you eat shit .... to cure an intestinal infection .... you perfect Capitalism .... by purifying it .... and leaving it alone .... it is our last frontier .... and our only hope .... for the future .... the alternative is too hideous to mention !
Natural market monopolies .... are temporary and rare .... and indicate an industry that is serving the public so well .... others dare not compete .... but, they will enter the fray .... at the first opportunity !
To understand Capitalism completely .... is a sublime intellectual victory .... only a few English Speaking and Japanese scholars .... have achieved this state of Nirvana .... and me of course .... and maybe some South Koreans, Taiwanese, a few Jews .... well, every rule has it's exceptions ! Von Mises and Milton Friedman achieved mastery .... and Ronald Reagan had a marvelous, visceral understanding that only comes from a pure heart .... untarnished by wicked Socialist perversion !
Liberals have not recovered from getting their arse kicked twice under Reagan. Two landslide victories, the second one was 49 State win for him. Democrat congress f@@ked y up by spending too much. Remember President proposes, Congress disposes. All spending is approved by the people representatives.
How can Gorbachev be called a man of integrity while leading a bankrupt communist society? Socializing the wealth of the nation for the benefit of a few oligarchs is theft.
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