I hope that this is readable. I did not notice when I composed it that my idiot system decided that it should go to lbo-talk-request rather than to lbo-talk. If it is not readable, please somebody (Doug?) let me know. This is my definitive commentary on this whole nomenklatura privileges issue. Barkley Rosser ----- Original Message ----- From: <lbo-talk-request at lbo-talk.org> To: <rosserjb at jmu.edu> Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2003 2:24 PM Subject: Mailman results for Lbo-talk
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> >>>>> Subject line ignored:
> >>>>> Soviet nomenklature privileges
> Command? As a followup to the discussion a few days ago
> Command? about the former Soviet nomenklatura, I note that
> Command? we seem to be in agreement that most of them lived
> Command? lives about like upper middle class of the US at the time,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Too many errors encountered; the rest of the message is ignored:
> > and that as time proceeded into the 1980s, many of
> > them became increasingly frustrated and fed up.
> > Let me follow up with a bit more emendation on
> > the examples I vaguely mentioned.
> > In referring to "driving Zils," I should have said,
> > "were driven by chauffeurs in their Zils." Of course
> > the top dogs in the West also get driven by chauffeurs.
> > In mentioning "free plane rides to Sochi" I was not
> > referring to something like a free ticket in first class on
> > a crowded 747. I was referring to a two or three people
> > taking an entire Tupolev to Sochi, piloted by military
> > personnel and served munificently, substantially more
> > impressive than the Lear jets of the western elites.
> > As for John Mage's pals at Vnesthtorgbank, I guess
> > they were not sufficiently high up to have access to
> > the Kremlin cafeteria, where at least for a long time,
> > the fare was equal to the very best in the West. This
> > entity was located in the same complex that includes
> > the famous "House on the Embankment," the original
> > building that was home to the original set of Old Bolsheviks.
> > People did not stand in lines there with plastic trays and
> > paper plates waiting to receive mystery meat.
> > Amusingly enough today that entity is a privatized
> > restaurant, only so-so for food quality, that plays on its
> > past by having a kind of satirical retro chic of old Bolshevik
> > posters and the like. Some on the list would really get a
> > kick out of hanging out there for such items, as well as
> > some of the other retro CP stuff, but the people running
> > it are playing it strictly for laughs, although I suppose some
> > old CPers actually do go there for the pseudo-atmosphere.
> > As a further observation on all this, I would note that
> > as the 1980s proceeded a number of things came into
> > play. One was that indeed the Soviet economy was
> > stagnating relative to the West, and this increasingly
> > began to affect even the privileges of the most elite
> > members of the nomenklatura, as well as certainly the
> > great mass of the less privileged garden variety crowd.
> > Also, as the 1980s proceeded these folks became
> > increasingly aware of what they were missing, and ironically
> > the higher one was the more likely they were to be aware
> > of the relative disparities. The anger at Raisa Gorbacheva
> > for her use of a gold American Express card in London
> > was widespread and palpable.
> > Furthermore, there were certain ways in which even the
> > top elites were worse off than even lower middle class
> > types in the West who had even a little bit of money. The
> > really touchy issue was lack of free mobility. Commandeering
> > a huge military jet to go to Sochi gets old after awhile, and
> > one hankers after being able to simply get up and go to
> > places like Paris or London or Cyprus or the Costa del Sol,
> > as the "monstrous" New Russians readily do nowadays. Sure,
> > the top elite could manage to arrange trips outside of the USSR
> > and outside of the socialist bloc, certainly more readily than
> > those below them. But even for the top elites such trips involved
> > a lot of hassle and arranging and political ass kissing.
> > I would note that today most of the old hangouts of the
> > top crowd, the hotels and spas, etc. are open to the current
> > middle class for pay. These are now superseded by newer
> > and fancier places built by multinational corpses that are very
> > glitzy and chic. These older facilities now have a rather dowdy
> > atmosphere to them, those that have not been taken over by
> > such outside interests anyway. But they are quite nice, and in
> > their day they were fully the equal of their counterparts in the West.
> > Barkley Rosser
> >
> >
>