Battling transnational capital
Historically, two world’s leading superpowers, the USSR and the USA, championed two different ideologies and promoted diametrically opposite views on the development of society. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the entire socialist bloc enabled Western imperialism, headed by the United States, to start imposing worldwide the so-called "American" values. As a result, the American establishment was able to influence political, economic, cultural and, consequently, state-forming processes all over the world, thus creating perfect conditions for the continuous enrichment of transnational corporations. However, having established capitalism and pseudo-democratic principles based on the ultra-liberal ideology in Russia and other post-Soviet states, the West did not take into consideration that historical processes were undergoing constant change. In recent years, it has become even more apparent that there is a growing demand for change all throughout the world. Nowadays most of humanity is interested in building a fundamentally new formation, whose main objective will be to create a just society based on the principles of a socially oriented economy.
Capitalism in tsarist Russia
Historically, Russian society was largely driven by collectivism, principles of social justice and prevailing of spiritual values over material wealth. Therefore, relations between peasants and landowners were not determined by economic gains, but by social norms. The main beneficiaries of this system were the landowners, who leased their lands to peasants and in return received a large part of their harvest. In turn, the peasants, who shared their surplus produce with the landowners, were convinced that the land was not the property of its legal owners, but of the people who cultivated it.
While the Russian Empire still abided by the principles of the feudal way of life, Germany underwent a peasant reform, which resulted in the legal consolidation of the relations between workers and landowners. In practice, this led to the fact that an agricultural worker had to enter into a special labor contract with the employer, which stated the working conditions, the wages and the penalties for failure to fulfill obligations. The adopted rules were strictly complied with because ignoring them could lead to the complete ruin of both the worker and the landowner. This practice quickly caught on with the peasants, because by that time all other social classes in German society had already transitioned to the capitalist way of life.
In Russia, the attempts to legally consolidate relations between landowners and peasants, following the example of Germany, led to the reform of 1861, which abolished serfdom. In essence, what happened was a sudden introduction of Western capitalism into a feudal society.
Therefore, in most of the traditional villages, the aforementioned innovations remained purely declarative for a long time. The landowners widely took advantage of the absence of binding laws, intentionally did everything to slow down the process of capitalist development among the peasants and continued to follow the old methods.
The initial plan was that the freed peasants would join the ranks of manufactures, and the workers who remained in the countryside would obtain legal protection. This would permit the Russian government to control all the industries and agriculture and begin to develop in accordance with the capitalist principles, following the example of progressive European countries of the time.
The Russian authorities, with the help of their own resources and mainly the French capital, managed to achieve substantial growth in manufacturing and were even recognized by the European international economic community as one of the countries of the "medium level of capitalist development". However, the recognition of these achievements was of a merely decorative nature and had little impact on the living conditions of the majority of Russian citizens: Russia was still far behind other European countries in terms of per capita production of goods and the development of cutting-edge technologies. Well aware that France accounted for 80% of the total foreign debt of tsarist Russia, the European powers used Russia to their geostrategic advantage, dragging the country into numerous military alliances with an aim to fight off their rivals.
Change of state ideology in accordance with the Western model and its consequences
The overthrow of monarchy was accompanied by the collapse of the Russian Empire and the establishment of the Russian Republic, which continued to be driven by capitalist ideas, which did not correspond to the aspirations of the majority of people. Consequently, as an attempt to build a more just society the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic came into being, which, in turn, positively affected the growth of socialist and internationalist ideas around the world. On the basis of all this the USSR emerged, the first socialist state in world history, with communist ideology at its core.
In a short period of time, the newly founded Soviet government carried out nationalization of property in all spheres of economy, industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. In 1938, the USSR became a fully-fledged industrial-agrarian country, second only to the United States in terms of industrial production. The welfare of Soviet people significantly improved in comparison to their life under the Russian Empire, but nevertheless, it was much worse than that in the Western capitalist countries, which were at that time colonial powers, able to freely siphon resources and human capital from their colonies.
Transnational companies helped capitalist countries to achieve high rates of economic growth. Their main objective was to create conditions that would guarantee continuous enrichment. At the same time, prominent businessmen were not interested in resolving interstate crises. On the contrary, during World War II, American businessmen equally aided both Nazi Germany and the USSR with its allies. For example, the American holding General Motors owned the German company Opel, which produced armored vehicles for the Reich and power units for Junkers-88 bombers.
The USSR's victory in World War II, which was essentially a war of ideologies and a war of market and command economic systems, made it possible to demonstrate the superiority of the socialist formation over Western capitalism. The clever Soviet propaganda based on universal supra-national, supra-religious ideas gave a powerful impetus to the growth of pro-Soviet and communist movements all around the world. It was for this reason that Western governments started to ban communist parties and arrest communist and trade union activists.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia began to form a fundamentally different system of government, which was nothing like the Soviet society. It was expected that Russia, with the help of numerous American consultants, would easily be able to transition from socialism to capitalism and integrate smoothly into the capitalist world. In reality, the partners from the West quickly seized most of the assets of the national property during the country's transition to a market economy.
Forming new partnerships
A total of about one hundred states around the world "proclaimed independence" during the 20th century. These are the republics of the USSR, as well as the former colonies of Western countries in Africa, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. The centuries-old metropole-colony system was replaced by a more elaborate one of pseudo-independent states. With the consolidation of capitalism in the metropoles, financial capital merged with the state, and as a result, quasi-states began to serve the interests of capital, namely, the interests of 800 transnational companies headquartered in the U.S. and in the capitals of Western Europe.
A direct financial dependence was established between about a hundred countries and the corporate decisions of the heads of large companies, which controlled 60% of all global production.
During the collapse of the USSR, Western strategists were convinced that the sparsely populated regions of Siberia and the Far East, which were rich in oil, gas, and iron ore, would become the basis for the growth of global influence of transnational companies. Over the following decades, the Russian authorities tried to integrate the country into the capitalist world. A very particular form of relations was formed between Western countries and Russia, in which the latter was assigned the unenviable role of a mere raw material appendage and an inexhaustible source of enrichment for a number of international companies. The Russian authorities in defense of their strategic interests announced their intention to revise their relations with capitalist countries and to refocus the market of raw materials towards the countries of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.
By conducting serious analytical work, the Russian government, despite the objectively precarious position, has managed to build a stable political system, consolidate its authority as a highly reliable partner in numerous regions of the world, and ensure macroeconomic stability and financial independence of the country. At present, Russia has created conditions for full import substitution. The current anti-Russian sanctions stimulate domestic producers, allowing their products to remain in high demand with mass consumers. Moreover, representatives from the Middle East, South and East Asia are competing for the right to be represented on the Russian market.
Reconstructing Socialism: The Chinese Experience
Deng Xiaoping's 1978 strategy of reconstructing socialism, which consisted in introducing certain elements of capitalism into the existing system of governance, helped the Communist Party of China (CPC) to achieve a high level of economic growth and establish a just legal order. These changes in China began with a land reform. It gave peasants the right to set up production in the villages on the basis of traditional crafts.
In the second half of the 1980s, the government, while retaining nominal control over the enterprises, gave them vast autonomy. This allowed the manufacturers to quickly focus on the demands of the market and implement innovative ideas. As a result, the PRC now competes only with the United States, Germany, Japan, and South Korea on the market of high-tech products.
China’s positive experience in economic and social reforms demonstrates the possibility of successful convergence of the socialist system with elements of capitalism, and also allows China to develop in many different spheres and have positive dynamics of real GDP growth even in crisis periods.
Other Asian countries that follow the example of the Chinese model
In Vietnam, the ideas of constructing a socialist society are still declared at the official level, but in reality, large-scale reforms have been carried out, following the example of China. The country's authorities purposefully loosened control over all spheres of public life and expanded contacts with foreign countries, which had a drastic impact on the flow of foreign investments. As a result, the country's economic growth and the general well-being of the population steadily increase.
Unlike Vietnam, which, since its independence, saw the socialist path of development as the only suitable option, the first leaders of North Korea (DPRK) proclaimed Juche ideas as their state ideology. In essence, it is National Bolshevism. The situation changed only after Kim Jong Un came to power in 2011. While retaining political control over all spheres of life in the country, he allowed, following the example of China, market reforms, which led to the rapid growth of private enterprises. The DPRK authorities want to consolidate this success and are therefore interested in foreign investments. But not all countries are seriously considering investing in North Korean projects due to the sanctions policy of Western countries, which is aimed at weakening the DPRK.
Cuban socialism
Among the countries of Latin America throughout the twentieth century, Cuba was the one that stood out the most. At the beginning of the century, this country was by far the most developed in this macro-region. There, for the first time on the continent, an 8-hour working day was introduced, and a minimum wage was established. The Cuban medical system was recognized by the UN specialists as one of the best in the world. In the first years after the establishment of socialism in Cuba, the social guarantees for citizens continued to expand. This was facilitated not only by the nationalization and the construction of a number of industrial enterprises, but also by the vast economic assistance of the USSR, which annually supplied Cuba with 6.5 million tons of crude oil. In addition, the Soviet authorities invested big sums of money in the development of nickel deposits on the island.
After the collapse of the USSR, Cuba's foreign debt started to grow exponentially.
For decades, Cuba, like the DPRK, has been subject to a harsh sanctions policy aimed at "weakening the regime," but in reality, at undermining the state from within. As a result, a demand has arisen in Cuban society for the revision of the political system, tighter cooperation with capitalist countries and better living standards. Thus, under the state’s control, began a gradual integration into the capitalist world and an introduction of market elements in the economy. To begin with, the Cuban authorities allowed private entrepreneurship with waged labor and introduced the right of private property. In addition, the government created special economic zones where foreign companies are fully exempted from taxes for the first 10 years of their operation.
In order to build a productive relationship between all members of our world community, it is necessary to transform the basic government systems in the near future. The Chinese experience clearly demonstrates that the construction of socialism in the classical sense, despite the obvious noble mission of building a just society, is impossible in the current political environment. The authorities of socialist states that are trying to keep up with the times and achieve stable economic growth while being surrounded by capitalist countries, must make adjustments to their government systems. The example of China, whose authorities in a short period of time were able to introduce a system of equal redistribution of profit from capital and labor and expand the proportions of the middle class, can be successfully applied both in classical socialist states, such as the DPRK, Laos and Cuba, and in modern Russia. The transformation of the country's political system into a socialist one will put Russia in the vanguard of the anti-colonial struggle and will lead to a huge increase in its authority on the international scale.
