This is the second part of the series on How humans extrapolate their fears on others. In the previous part I covered why Russia believes in Nazis in Ukraine. This time I will cover how Russia created communism and how Russian perception of capitalism and liberalism fundamentally based on Russia's own past rather than understanding what capitalism even is.
To begin with Russia never had actual capitalism, much less liberalism. Even at its worst capitalists could never fathom things that were reality in pre-October Revolution Russian Empire or Post-communist Russia of 90s. Communists like to claim that real communism was never tried, real liberalism and capitalism was not tried in Russia as well.
Nowhere in capitalist theory is says that you can seize business at gunpoint, threaten to kill owners if they refuse to sell for a token nominal price, then bribe police and bureaucrats to acknowledge transfer of own ship as legal, arrest former owners for trespassing on your property. There is something called hostile takeover, but it means buying company's stock that is traded on stock market in order to achieve 51% ownership, that does not involve violence. However, in Russia in 90s the former type of hostile takeover at gunpoint was practiced, it is still practiced nowadays. That Avaritionism, not capitalism.
In general, pre-revolutionary Russia was an Aristocracy and Absolute Monarchy. It was not like in the US where new entrepreneurs raised from nowhere to build new businesses and prosper. 19th century Russia was effectively ruled by a privileged class, that obtained their privileges back in early 18th century during Peter the Great times and consolidated them during Catherine II times in later 18th century. That is what Aristocracy or Oligarchy is. Yes, they owned factories and could theoretically be called capitalists, but they could only get there because they were oligarchs first. System where only privileged class can be business owners is not capitalism but aristocracy/oligarchy.
Post-communist Russia was a combination of above mentioned Avaritionism with Social Darwinism and Kraterocracy. Off compas "fictional" demons of political compas are not really fictional, they are real. Just no one advocates them deliberately, they creep in from cracks in system to take over the society. Later they once again devolved into Authoritarian Oligarchy mixed with police state with some elements of the dark trio still around.
Why that keeps happening to Russia
However, why does that happen to Russia all the time. Why Russia keeps becoming an oligarchy where a privileged class exploits everyone else. Pre-Soviet Russia was like that, USSR eventually became an oligarchy where top party nomenklatura eventually became new oligarchy, then when USSR collapsed a new KGB oligarchy eventually took over and purged everyone else.
There are two answers, one is that resource-based economy, that works on dying slaves does not need any better government. I wrote about it in a separate article about transitions from democracy to kraterocracy and back. See also CGPGrey's video about rules for rulers.
The second is again deep history. Russian historiography begins with Varangians (vikings) taking control over the country. Official history says they were invited by locals, but I call that BS. Much more likely scenario is that they overthrew previous rulers and took over. Regardless of whether they were invited or took control violently, one fact remains the same: they were foreign born small elite group that ended up at the top of the social hierarchy.
Kniaz and his druzhina were the very original oligarchs that created (Kievan) Rus, they expanded it, extorted tribute from local tribes much like bandits of 90s demanded money from market vendors. Took people captive and sold them as slaves in Byzantine Empire. Patterns that were true back then continue to resurface even thousands of years after death of Rurik.
Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Bolsheviks and even post-Soviet bandits all ended up falling back to the same basic druzhina concept. Ivan called them oprichnina and they terrorised and partly exterminated previous elites only to be abolished after Ivan's death, Peter called them dvoryane and they partly supplanted, partly integrated with old elite, eventually dwarfing old elites into irrelevance. Lenin called them vanguard party and they exterminated or drove into exile previous elites. Putin era bandits are called Ozero Cooparative or simply Piterskie, they buy Chelsea and super Yachts.
In all cases leader is supported by a cohesive, connected and united group of likeminded individuals who work together for the common goal like a team.
Double Standards of Russian Society
Small elite group, disconnected from the vast foreign population they ended up ruling over. That characteristic gave birth to a peculiar trait where people inside the group would be treated one way and everyone outside differently. Surrounded by foreign and unknown land and potentially hostile natives, Kniaz and druzhina held to each other and protected inner circle.
On the other hand, everyone else was treated much worse. Kniaz and druzhina did not think of them as of fellow countrymen but rather of prey, cattle or resource to exploit. They extorted tribute from them or capture and sold them to slavery. They used the profits from these activities to build for themselves and their children fancy mansions, called kremlins and other good things. Even some obscure towns that at one time were residences of kniazes, still have kremlins and cathedrals, preserved since ancient times.
Modern Russian elites rob country dry, just like their 1000 years old predecessors, and buy mansions in California and French Riviera. This 1% small elite live in special segregated area, called Rublevka, where they have all the luxuries and stellar quality of life. The area is not depicted on maps available for commoners so common Russians remain oblivious to its existence. Even Google maps street view of that area suddenly and abruptly ends. Try it yourself, street view is selectively available only on some streets in that area.
Ordinary Russians live in old and dilapidated soviet era buildings that are not renovated since forever. They eat cheap food that could be poisonous, pretty women could be trafficked to the West to work as prostitutes and men drafted into military to build mansions for the elite for free or even slaughtered for donor organs. To keep people content, the elite keeps their wealth secret and feed people tall stories about Nazis in Ukraine so that they hate the West and not the elites that rob them.
As someone who was once close to that elite inner circle and then fell into being a commoner due to some actions by my parents or their enemies, kind of like Doflamingo in One Piece, I uniquely can tell you something like that.
What Russian Elties are Like
To understand Russian elites, you need to understand what Vikings are. After all, pretty much the same people raided northern coasts of France and later became Dukes of that area, pillaged monasteries in Ireland, established Danelaw in England, Norman Kingdom in Sicily and Norman (pre-Plantagenet) rule in England, spearheaded by Willam the Conqueror invasion as well.
Vikings got to what later became Russia because they looked for a river route to Constantinople (Tzargrad, Milkegard) for trading purposes. They founded their first cities along that route Old Ladoga, Great Novgorod (Holmgardr), Smolensk and Kyiv were their main resting outposts along that long and rather onerous path. That path included dragging Viking dragon boats (ladya in Russian historiography) over Valdai hills from River Volkhov to Dnipro as well as dragging them up and down the Dnipro rapids.
Vikings were both traders and warriors. They would trade if they can, steal if they can, even work as bodyguards. To top it up they were excellent sailors. Boats they used required cohesive work as a team to operate. As traders they would explore all possible routes to get somewhere. As raiders they would come by fast boats, steal as much as they can fast and then run for it before regular military could respond. If they could defeat regular military, they would do so and then establish their rule by force, Danelaw is good example how Vikings fight and rule. Vikings did use helmets that among other things disguised their facial features which was handy when you wanted to use the gold you had stolen from someone to later buy something that cannot be readily stolen.
All that require flexibility, pragmatism, cynicism, brutality, military ability, high intelligence and knowledge of various things, good judgement of situation and ability to take advantage of it. However, that also require teamwork and trust in fellow comrades.
That is a lot. Individuals with such high and diverse aptitude for so many things can go far. Both in good and in bad things. What did they used it for?
The most important factor that unites all the diverse activities of the Vikings is greed. You can trade to enrich yourself; you can steal to enrich yourself; you can conquer the country and later tax it to enrich yourself, you can sail twisty rivers across the vast wilderness to enrich yourself, you can explore that said vast wilderness in search for valuables to enrich yourself. Greed connects it all.
Unrestrained greed or Avaritionism (pictured above) is the uniting and enduring characteristic of Russian elites.
How It Works
If Dark Age Vikings could overcome best defenses France could offer and steal their wealth until French King was forced to compromise with them, then their descendants could easily overcome various legal barriers on procurement tenders and syphon all money into private pockets.
Complicated anti-corruption laws, aimed at preventing syphoning money for private use, ended up outwitted by even more cunning bureaucrats. Conflict of interest laws can be beaten by having buddy run a private company from whom his bureaucratic friend procures goods on marked up prices. Anti-Monopoly laws can be beaten by having buddies own all the major companies. No matter what they throw at them, the greedy descendants of Vikings somehow always manage to steal enough to own superyachts while the remaining 99% starves and dies.
Communists even tried to solve that problem radically by abolishing money altogether, thinking that there could be no millionaires or greed if there is no money. That of course did not work. Cunning people still managed to become fabulously wealthy as the rest of the country went poor. After all money only represent wealth, wealth itself comes from things that are valuable. People will not stop desiring things even if money no longer exists.
Avaritionism is a ghost or a demon that haunts Russia ever since Rurik the Viking landed in Novgorod.
How Russian Government Works
Ruling elites are busy with two things, keep feeding their insatiable avarice and protecting their position in power that allows them to feed avarice in the first place.
The successive elites and their governments try to shore up their positions to prevent hostile takeover. They rig elections, eliminate any potential opponents, suppress press from disclosing any information. Putin killing Navalny is one such case.
They hide their wealth away from prying eyes to prevent it from being stolen. They use offshore tax heavens and even suppress Google maps.
Eventually however someone figures out how to beat them. When elites fall, it's because someone even more cunning managed to overcome all the obstacles to power and took over anyway.
That is why fighting corruption or oligarchs is near impossible task. Someone who get to their position against all odds due to their cunning in best/worst tradition of Kraterocracy, will not be dragged down from there easily. Fixing oligarchs or corruption in post-Soviet space is much harder than breaking down Standard Oil or finally dissolving Murdoch's media monopoly.
How Far it Permeates Russia
Greed is what build Russia, greed is what plagues Russia, greed is what destroys Russia. Is everywhere. It makes people achieve greatest and lowest feats.
The elites in power and simply shrewd people keep squeezing more and more from everyone around them. Putin diverts billions to build himself private palace, common street thugs surround careless pedestrians to take their wallets and mobile phones. It is never enough for them. They want more and more.
It drives people to emigrate too: unable to overcome the elites that hogged up everything valuable and fed up with bribe extorting bureaucracy and rampart crime, people try to escape cattle class and either try their luck elsewhere or live in peace in safer country.
Those who cannot emigrate either become alcoholics or even kill themselves.
Recently European Union decided to try and beat greed with greed by offering people European lifestyle in exchange for reforms and tackling corruption. Its making inroads in Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine and Armenia.
Next, I will write about Americans inventing and practicing Orwellian INGSOC. Stay tuned.
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