[lbo-talk] US 2009 = USSR 1990

dredmond at efn.org dredmond at efn.org
Mon Mar 23 19:26:03 PDT 2009


On Mon, March 23, 2009 12:29 pm, Chris Doss wrote:


> Well, there's also fractures and differences of opinion within the elites
> themselves. I mean, serfdom wasn't abolished by a broad social movement.
> It was abolished by Tsar Alexander after a long struggle between pro- and
> antiserfdom factions within the Imperial elite.

True. No single crisis moment created today's Russian developmental state: it evolved out of a complex constellation of factors (ruthless oligarchs, corrupt party elites, foreign neoliberals, falling energy prices, dissatisfied siloviki and scientific-managerial professionals, etc.).

Probably every noteworthy historical change or transition was preceded by decades, if not centuries, of slow, accretive transformation.

-- DRR



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