A parasitic class

The book of Mr. Voslensky is a deep analysis of the political system in the USSR before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Nevertheless, some of his observation still seems to be valid for the Russian oligarchs.
The old USSR was directed and controlled by a privileged class, after the Communist Party nomenklatura and named `the PC unit contains in germ the new ruling class. By successive purges, the first members are soon replaced by careerists. '
Stalin cynically exploited the ambitions of young nomenklatura to remove the old revolutionary guard and to establish his absolute power.
The regime of the nomenklatura was characterized by social and economic stagnation (level and life), a Kafkaesque ideology without any connection with reality, an omnipresent police apparatus and a non-existent freedom of expression. The author clearly explains that the nomenklatura did not want in any way self-destructive atomic war ....

What fundamentally differentiates the reign of the nomenklatura oligarchs is that of the exploitation of the riches of Russia. Its minerals and energy sources are currently in a key country in the global economic development while plentifully filling the coffers of the state.

Mr. Voslensky wrote a very lucid book, dissecting the inner workings of a state dominated by a single party. Do not miss.