[p2p-research] cultural destruction in russia

Sat Mar 13 15:46:26 CET 2010

Interesting.

I recall reading somewhere that the massive state funding for culture in
both Soviet and Western countries in the 1960's, 70's and 80's was part of
the cold war tit-for-tat to see who could get as much of their own culture
forced into as many places, as fast as possible. (will try to dig that
reference up).

At the very least, when states cut funding for this stuff, they should also
drastically cut taxes should people start creating their own self-sustaining
efforts.

On Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 11:43 PM, Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>wrote:

>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: <no-reply at zcommunications.org>
> Date: Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 2:13 PM
> Subject: ZNet Daily Commentary: The New Opiate of the Masses By Boris
> Kagarlitsky
> To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com
>
>
>  [image: zspace] <http://ruby.zcommunications.org/>
>
> Print <http://www.zcommunications.org/contents/167798/print>
> The New Opiate of the Masses
>
> March 11, 2010 By *Boris Kagarlitsky*
>
> Boris Kagarlitsky's ZSpace Page<http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/boriskagarlitsky>/
> ZSpace <http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/>
>
> The State Duma has passed another law that will deliver a big blow to
> culture, education and public health. The struggle against those sectors has
> been going on for years, but it appears that this time the deputies are
> determined to finish them off for good. The law clearly demonstrates the
> intention of the state to release itself from any remaining social
> responsibility that it still has toward the people. Science, culture and
> education will now have to fend for themselves — or die off completely.
>
> According to officials, the law is intended to “optimize budgetary
> expenses.” What this means in reality is that these expenses could be
> eliminated altogether. If the law goes into force, most educational and
> public health institutions will be removed from the federal budget as of
> Jan. 1, 2011.
>
> On the other hand, scientific, scholastic and cultural institutions will be
> given carte blanche to earn money any way that they can. Thus, we could very
> well see hospitals renting out rooms to store alcoholic beverages and
> schools renting out classrooms to warehouse cigarettes.
>
> What’s more, the government will soon stop assuming the burden for debts
> accumulated by schools, hospitals and libraries. As a result, we might begin
> seeing museums or medical clinics going bankrupt and closing their doors in
> the near future.
>
> The luckiest organizations will be designated as “state establishments,”
> but it is too early to congratulate those organizations; the law also states
> that their “surplus assets” will be seized. For now, we can only guess as to
> who will determine what is surplus, which criteria they will use and how
> much they will be allowed to take. Siloviki agencies, orphanages, prisons
> and psychiatric hospitals are slated to become “state establishments.” So,
> unless you are in uniform, crazy or sitting in prison, don’t count on
> getting any help from the government.
>
> At the same time, the authorities are continuing to work toward their
> favorite goal — the merging, consolidating and downsizing of hospitals,
> schools and universities. After all, who needs so many scientific
> institutes? Why do small villages need schools at all?
>
> The same question could apply to village hospitals: Why do villagers need
> hospitals in the first place? After all, since they live so close to
> Russia’s pristine nature, they get lots of fresh, clean air and have no
> right to get sick. Perhaps they could revive the country’s tradition of
> mystical healing and other centuries-old rural practices.
>
> The authorities understand perfectly well that the growing number of
> educated young people have nowhere to apply their skills. And neither the
> government nor the private sector is prepared to create massive numbers of
> industry jobs. Thus, the millions of young people who will enter the labor
> market in the next two to three years will find themselves placed in that
> unfortunate category called “surplus.”
>
> But the authorities have their own logic for their actions. If those
> surplus people are not only unemployed, but also educated, they could pose a
> serious threat to the ruling authorities. It would be better, they believe,
> if the people spent hours every day in front of the television watching
> mindless series and entertainment shows, drinking or taking drugs than
> reading books.
>
> In all of this downsizing and budget cutting in Russia’s core educational
> and medical infrastructure, nobody is planning to cut funding for prisons
> and psychiatric hospitals.
>
>
> Boris Kagarlitsky
>
> Director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements in Moscow
>
> Boris Kagarlitsky is a well-known international commentator on Russian
> politics and society. Boris was a deputy to the Moscow City Soviet between
> 1990-93, during which time he was a member of the executive of the Socialist
> Party of Russia, co-founder of the Party of Labour, and advisor to the
> Chairperson of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia.
> Previously, he was a student of art criticism and was imprisoned for two
> years for 'anti-Soviet' activities.
>
> Boris' books include Empire of the Periphery: Russia and the World System
> (Pluto Press, February 2008, Russia Under Yeltsin And Putin: Neo-Liberal
> Autocracy (TNI/Pluto 2002) and New Realism, New Barbarism: The Crisis of
> Capitalism (Pluto 1999).
>
> Source: TNI / The Moscow Times
> ------------------------------
>
> *From:* Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives<http://www.zcommunications.org/>
> *URL:*
> http://www.zcommunications.org/the-new-opiate-of-the-masses-by-boris-kagarlitsky
>
> The tool to turn commentary mailings off or on can be found in "My Account"
> -> "Preferences/Edit My Details" option (Receives commentaries).
> To view commentaries online go here:
> http://www.zcommunications.org/zspace/commentaries/
> Comment on this commentary:
> http://www.zcommunications.org/the-new-opiate-of-the-masses-by-boris-kagarlitsky
>
> Print <http://www.zcommunications.org/contents/167798/print>
>
> Temporarily toggle off commentary and other Sustainer mailings.<http://www.zcommunications.org/my_account/remove_mailing_commentary/>
> (You can turn them back on from your account page at any time. You will not
> lose permissions or other Sustainer benefits nor will this interrupt your
> donations.)
>
> Visit your account page and make changes of any sort you may desire.<http://www.zcommunications.org/my_details>
> (You will have to enter your password in the field that appears.)
>
> If you would like to stop receive ZNet mailings, please follow the
> unsubscribe link below
>
>
> http://www.zcommunications.org/unsubscribe/778ba74fdef58614f085e9516cc95712cf3f4e55
>
>
>
> --
> Work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhurakij_Pundit_University - Think
> thank: http://www.asianforesightinstitute.org/index.php/eng/The-AFI
>
> P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net
>
> Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss:
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
>
> Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens;
> http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> p2presearch mailing list
> p2presearch at listcultures.org
> http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/p2presearch_listcultures.org
>
>

-- 
-- 
Sam Rose
Forward Foundation
Social Synergy
Tel:+1(517) 639-1552
Cel: +1-(517)-974-6451
skype: samuelrose
email: samuel.rose at gmail.com
http://socialsynergyweb.com
http://forwardfound.org
http://socialsynergyweb.org/culturing
http://flowsbook.panarchy.com/
http://socialmediaclassroom.com
http://localfoodsystems.org
http://notanemployee.net
http://communitywiki.org
http://p2pfoundation.net

"The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition."
- Carl Sagan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/attachments/20100313/ae65f8ca/attachment.html>