The Western World Daily Readings on Geography Chapter 90 Russian Domain Economic Geography II

CHAPTER 90 Russian Domain Economic Geography II Oligarchs Created by Nikita Noun What is an oligarchy ?

The philosopher Aristotle coined this term centuries ago , explaining that it meant rule by a few . Those few elite in the ruling class would be the oligarchs . Although this concept has been used to define different societies , in recent years it is directed mainly to Russia . In Russia , the oligarchs often do not have a specific political position , but have such incredible wealth that their economic power brings outsized political influence as well . Or as Russian President Vladimir Putin has explained , Oligarchs are those who use their proximity to the authorities to receive super profits . It is curious that Russia should have these circumstances at present , when Russian history does not recall similar situations . During the tsarist period of Russia , indeed the tsars ruled with autocratic powers . Certainly there were other rich people , but their authority was dependent upon their respective tsar good favor and benevolence . Under Soviet communism , the expressed goal was a classless society . Instead , there was a vast class , imbalanced by a few elite political figures . The political elite had comfortable lives with perks , such as better housing and access to restricted goods . However , even at the pinnacle , there was not fantastic wealth . Stalin was not a billionaire . Upon the end of the Soviet Union , a great transformation of society began without a comprehensive plan . The 435

436 JOEL QUAM AND SCOTT CAMPBELL pathway to political power shifted from the Communist Party to , well to something else . The political control of the economy faltered , as the transition to capitalism began . Under communism , the State owned all the significant means of production , except for personal property and small private plots of rural land . The State owned all the factories , all the resources , all the forests and fields , and just about everything . How to shift to capitalism with private ownership of property and resources ?

A major and utilized approach argued that as the State had owned all the natural resources , inherently the people of Russia owned all the natural resources . As the State had owned all the factories , inherently the people of Russia owned all the factories . Therefore , the government issued vouchers , in a sense like shares of stock , to the citizens of Russia for ownership of various resources and factories . For many Russians , having lived all their lives under communism , these vouchers seemed alien and of uncertain value . For a savvy few , the vouchers were one means to wealth . Many Russians were delighted to be paid small sums for their vouchers , but the torrent of sales of vouchers to small numbers of speculators led to a short list of buyers owning huge quantities of vouchers . The individual vouchers were purchased for piddling sums , indeed below face value , whereas when totaled these shares accomplished control over massive fortunes of raw materials in particular . This was simply one of many means that a few people used to create incredible wealth in Russia , while the average class person stayed class or fell into poverty . These forms of wealth acquisition typically were opaque and corrupt . These billionaires have a taste for ostentatious expression of their wealth . They build extravagant homes and show off luxurious toys . They buy sports teams . For instance , Mikhail owns the yacht Palladium ( seen in the photo to the left ) as the name reflected his wealth in minerals , in particular from the company Nickel . Pictured here , the yacht is the second largest , purchased for 400 million . From 2010 to 2019 , he owned a controlling interest in the NBA team the Nets ( in 2012 the team moved to New York City , becoming the Brooklyn Nets ) Oligarch Roman is the owner of the Chelsea Football club . The oligarchs of Russia began their accumulation of wealth and power during the presidency of Boris in the , but continued through the two decades of rule by Vladimir Putin . Under Putin , it is clear that the continued wealth of the oligarchs is linked to Putin political patronage . A clear example is the case of Mikhail . became a billionaire , largely through ownership of the oil company . Overly emboldened by his wealth , he became an outspoken critic of Putin , so that in 2003 he was arrested for tax evasion . He was convicted and in 2005 was jailed , at first to a prison camp in the region of Siberia . Putin pardoned him in 2013 , upon his promise to stay out of politics . Oligarch Boris also was a vocal critic of Putin . left Russia and was convicted in absentia of fraud and embezzlement . He never returned to Russia . After two cases of alleged and failed assassination attempts , was found dead at home in England in 2013 , hanged under circumstances that a British inquest could neither verify as murder nor as suicide . Putin now has been quoted as saying the oligarchs no longer exist in Russia , but this is silly . In 2018 , the United States government released a list of Russian billionaires , labeling 96 of them as oligarchs . Putin himself clearly is a billionaire , though calculating his wealth is difficult . The oligarchs of Russia are the consequence of a chaotic and runaway transition from communism to capitalism . It could be said that communist pioneer and the first leader of the Soviet Union , Vladimir Lenin is yacht . Photo by on .

RUSSIAN DOMAIN ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY II 437 spinning in his grave , except that his preserved body literally still lies on display in the tomb in Red Square in Moscow . Did You Know ?

Andrea new book American The the Trumps and the Marriage of Monev and Power suggests that in 2020 the American administration features oligarchs too . Check Your Understanding An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version ofthe text . You can view it online here . eo ra I ?

CITED AND ADDITIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY Samuels , Joel . 201 . What Is an Oligarch ?

The Conversation . November 15 , 2018 . Mystery of Russia Missing Wealth Shows How Putin Retains His 22 , Hoffman , David . 201 . The Wealth and Power in the New Russia . New York , Ny . 2019 . Russian Money . Generic (