Revival of the left idea in Ukraine: How to do it
Remember, quite recently, the comprador bourgeoisie, raised on foreign grants, tried to trade on our need and devastation? A striking example is the deputy-journalist Leshchenko, who lured investors to Ukraine with cheap labor, boasting that for a measly $300, ordinary Ukrainians would bend their backs by the sweat of their brow. Of course, such slave traders cannot evoke feelings other than disgust and disgust. And with their colonial recipes they will never raise our country from ruin.
But hopes for the fall of the Maidan regime also turned out to be in vain. As a result of the deal that led to a change of power, at the head of the country we again see grant-eaters - representatives of the pseudo-civil movement, who for a quarter of a century have not been able to raise the level of self-organization and creative potential of our society, and all their activity is channeled into color revolutions and the seizure of power to squeeze the last of us. Moreover, if previously Ukrainians were deceived by the “dangling carrot” of a well-fed life in Europe, then at the last Yes forum, moneybags and experts presented a study that happiness cannot be found in money, and we must look for it outside the material sphere. And with the collapse of hopes for improvement, the vitality of society also declines.
A depressed society arises when the masses have come to terms with the knowledge that nothing depends on ordinary people and the situation in the country will only get worse. The people of Ukraine today fit this description, or rather, what is left of them after the regions fell away and the total flight to a foreign land for a better life. When only “new faces” have changed, and life continues to rise in price, many have completely given up. Therefore, to revive the country, it is necessary to look for other approaches than simply changing the presidents while maintaining harsh exploitation and social lawlessness.
An alternative to the dictatorship of big capital and its antisocial reforms can only be a mass leftist movement. However, the policies of the “old left” often boil down to exploiting the post-Soviet expectations of the working masses that the authorities would take care of them, give them gifts and ensure their standard of living. Of course, the remnants of social and labor guarantees that remained after the dismantling of the welfare state, such as pensions, medicine and education, require protection from the left movement. But we must honestly admit to ourselves that the previous level of social security with them is unattainable. And even with a possible rise to power, the “old left” in a destroyed country will not be able to significantly improve the situation of the working masses.
This is where it turns out that relying on the traditional set of left-wing slogans and promises is a brake on the rapid revival of the country, the rise of its economy and the level of well-being of the common people. With an approach to these issues that says, give us power and we will take care of you, it is beneficial for such politicians to keep their electorate in a civically undeveloped and politically passive state. However, our ruined fellow citizens need help here and now, and not when left-wing politicians come to power and, in the distant future, may win a parliamentary majority.
Therefore, it is necessary to modernize and combine the approaches of the resurgent left movement in Ukraine. And in order to achieve practical results as quickly as possible, new social technologies should be brought to the fore, making it possible to partially solve the problems of ordinary citizens without involving government mechanisms.
Return of interest
Recently, at a meeting at the university. President Shevchenko asked students not to go to work abroad, but to stay and revive Ukraine. Zelensky’s mistake is that the rapid economic recovery in reality depends not so much on good managers, but on awakening the labor enthusiasm of the broad masses of the population. Enthusiasm is needed not only by society as a whole, it is needed by every citizen individually. A dull and hopeless life in a decadent country will drive even an incorrigible optimist into depression. Enthusiasm, like a sunny day in the middle of winter, brings back interest and joy in life. The task of honest politicians and social technologists is to ensure that this interest does not turn out to be another deception for the sake of coming to power.
The “New Left,” which seeks to attract the working masses to broad socio-economic construction, must first of all ease the burden of everyday problems on the labor force. And, if in a destroyed economy it is not yet possible to increase wages to the desired levels, then we can teach people how to spend available funds more economically. In this regard, a lot of social technologies have been developed and are awaiting implementation. For example, to purchase cheap products and goods, consumer cooperatives can be organized; to reduce payments, various forms of neighborhood communities such as simple partnerships and alternative types of energy can be organized. With such people, with their released strength, it is easier to build a new life.
How was the leadership of the USSR able to charge the broad masses with enthusiasm during the period of the first five-year plans, when industrial giants were being built, and a backward country was breaking out into first positions in the world, and the Stakhanov movement arose? This cannot be done through repression; slave labor never produces high productivity. The workers were taught that they were working for themselves, and not for the owner or official. Moreover, many approaches developed to awaken enthusiasm in the Soviet project are now used in the West when working with company personnel, which proves their effectiveness.
An important factor in such an awakening is the demonstration of the principles of social justice. A hard worker will not give his best if he sees a well-groomed official in an expensive car who receives benefits without much difficulty. Therefore, the salaries of the bureaucracy in a ruined country should not irritate the direct producers of material goods. How then can we manage the daily life of communities without officials interested in excess profits from corruption? Partially transfer communities to grassroots civil self-government, give neighboring communities part of the authority for the development and functioning of their neighborhoods and microdistricts.
One of the main, proven incentives for encouraging personal initiative and mass enthusiasm is social creativity. Man differs from animals in creative activity; he is excited and inspired by the creation of new forms and objects that do not exist in nature. And the creation of a new, fair and comfortable society, living and working environment has always been one of the central ideas of socio-economic development.
People tend to help each other, to do the right thing and to be rightfully proud of it. Remember how teams spontaneously gather during snowfalls to pull cars out of skids. We also practiced home self-protection. Winter 2013-14 More than 30 of its cells operated in Odessa. People liked to take care of the safety of others without making much effort. Grown men at evening gatherings talked about it with enthusiasm, like children. Such feelings must be cultivated in every possible way in our society, guidelines for mutual assistance must be advertised and developed. Not as individual qualities, but as a worldview, a way of interaction in small communities.
In social construction, a play element is also necessary so that the process does not become boring with boredom and routine. Project competitions, competitions on norms and obligations. Neighborhood corporate events with housewives preparing dishes of national cuisines. Only after establishing partnerships and trust in small communities can we move on to mutual assistance projects such as “time banks” or joint parenting. And the most important thing is that complicity, the collective achievement of victories over disorder, tyranny and devastation turns neighbors into comrades-in-arms.
By giving citizens basic self-government, we will not only reduce the cost of servicing the territories, but also transform the country. This is how the vacuum of the social state is filled, and a person who gains independence in everyday life and the life of a small community begins to strive for industrial self-realization and success at work.
Of course, all these social technologies and techniques are not directly related to the production process. But it is precisely these – the removal of part of everyday stress, the skills of mutual assistance and the development of social solidarity when used – that ultimately give a sense of community, lead to coordination of interests and give rise to the mood of a returned country, the ability to work for yourself, and not the owner, even if you are not self-employed , but an employee. It is this state of social consciousness that is the main condition for the intensification of production and economic growth.
The role of progressive business
Not only left-wing politicians or trade unions, but also commercial structures and enterprises where he works can participate in this process of becoming a new active worker. Moreover, not for us, but for themselves, for the growth of their production and profits.
The older generation remembers cheap factory canteens or free holidays with trade union vouchers, industrial kindergartens and vocational training from enterprises. But that country no longer exists and there is nowhere to get all this except from our hard work. Meanwhile, in the West, they are practically copying this Soviet experience - leading companies now provide their employees with health insurance, transportation, food, entertainment, and gyms.
Of course, this is a benchmark that is currently unattainable for Ukrainian business. But to replace it, commercial companies can join in the above-mentioned everyday support for their employees - conduct social training, help create consumer cooperatives, and issue loans for alternative energy. To some, the well-established life of an employee may seem a secondary condition. But in reality, a reliable rear, a well-established household and a satisfied family are perhaps the main motive for hard work.
Well, after this support for their employees and the release of their creative energy, what specific methods of motivation and arousal of labor enthusiasm will be chosen at a particular enterprise depends on the specifics of production and the form of building the work team. Here you can only give general recommendations that any HR agency will tell you. But, in fact, this is also Soviet experience, the developments of the USSR in developing labor enthusiasm.
First of all, here we can name the creation of a positive working atmosphere and solidarity in the team, the feeling that it is performing a common and important task. Leftist social advertising can also help with this. Also, for the spiritual uplift of the masses, it would be useful to recall such Soviet examples as propaganda through cinema and musical culture. Of course, large-scale projects in this regard are problematic today. But gaming and music videos for social networks are quite feasible even for medium-sized private companies, especially for associations of entrepreneurs. Such agitation will work better when cultivating public respect for its workforce.
Also here the question will arise about a certain image from our history, different from Stalin’s industrialization, which will cause a negative reaction among part of Ukrainian society. There is such an image - this is an attempt to create a socially oriented economy in the Powerless Labor Federation of the Makhnovists. Although this experience managed to take only the first steps, it outlined ways to build a system of industrial and territorial self-government with its own social security and education using internal resources. And, without going to the extremes of the Civil War era today, we can easily adapt to our reality some principles and approaches that allow us to raise the economy and provide social support without the participation of capital and the state.
By the way, about industrial self-government. The most important incentive for enthusiasm is participation in decision making. Managers of leading Western companies hold meetings with their employees and ask for their opinions on ways to increase production. And from here follows another need - increasing competence in the issues that you solve, that is, stimulating continuous learning, training for employees. And such corporations as Ricardo Semler’s Semco, by transferring shares, make their employees co-owners, they cease to be hired workers, proletarians. The corporate culture of Ukrainian business must also grow along with society. And we are obliged to set the tone for such development with feedback.
Human capital
Many of these recipes can be attributed to technologies of social partnership - coordinating the interests of employers and employees. And here left-wing criticism of such a system will inevitably emerge, mainly boiling down to the low responsibility of employers in complying with their obligations and the lack of legislative mechanisms to protect workers. These problems certainly exist. However, we must understand that in a modern market economy this is the only non-revolutionary way of socializing capitalism. Of course, this system does not suit us. But even more unacceptable to us is the terrible abyss of human helplessness that the recent Ukrainian experience has demonstrated. When the society, crushed by pro-regime gangs, silently endured the elimination of social and labor guarantees.
Using this example, we need to clearly understand that a prerequisite for the creation of a new post-capitalist society is the presence of an independent, independent person, without which all theories of social liberation in practice will turn out to be only mechanisms for the seizure of power and new enslavement. In our opinion, the upbringing of such a person should be done by instilling in him the skills to do without the participation of power and capital in many areas of life. And here everything depends on the technological chain, a strictly maintained sequence of experiments and reactions, ultimately leading to the emergence of new social relations.
We must understand that cases of objective dissatisfaction among workers in developed countries, with strong independent trade unions and influential left parties, relate to a different, higher level of satisfaction of social and material needs, which now seems like a fairy tale to many in Ukraine and to which we still have a difficult climb ahead. the bottom where we fell. And the current devastation and lack of rights are not only a reason for depression, but also a window of opportunity for building new social institutions and social relations from scratch.
Some people will be put off by such an abundance of mandatory conditions. But, firstly, their long list is scary only at the beginning. A good work initiative is no less contagious than laughter; it grows quickly, like a snowball. And most importantly, restoring faith in their country and creative enthusiasm to the working masses is a very serious, strategic task that allows us to return our society to the forefront of economic positions. The main resource of any economy is not money and equipment, but people, professional and motivated workers. Therefore, the development of human capital should become the central idea of the resurgent left movement in Ukraine.
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