“What the bourgeoisie therefore produces, above all, are its own grave-diggers”, wrote two men much wiser and more bearded than I. “But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons: the proletarians”.
It looks as though this point might apply equally to Putin’s economic policies, as the Pikalevo effect goes viral.
According to Tatiana Ivanova of Finans Magazine and Paul Goble in the Moscow Times, “a group of workers at a factory in Sverdlovsk region have taken this protest movement a step further: They have formed a council to oversee the financial operations in the hopes of recovering back wages, boosting the factory’s sales and saving their jobs in the face of what they say is an indifferent group of owners”.
And in an unexpected twist, the local authorities are supporting this worker takeover at the Baranichi Electro-Mechanical Factory, fearing a repeat of Putin’s wrath lest they do nothing.
In this way, not only have Putin’s economic policies produced thousands of potential ‘grave-diggers’ in the form of unemployed factory workers all over Russia, but Putin’s political actions to deal with the problem: empower the workers at the expense of management, may actually spur them to act against the state as well.
As Goble writes, “moves like the ones the Baranichi workers have taken, a syndicalist nationalization from below as it were, could endanger the Russian powers that be, especially if the workers, having gained this form of economic influence, try to convert it into political power”.
But while it was easy to take care of one uppity businessman who tried to convert his economic clout into political power, the Kremlin might have a harder time dealing with thousands of workers doing the same.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
