Anastasia Murzin

What can be done?

In Russia terms “perestroika”, reforming, and “glasnost’”, freedom of speech, have emerged in 1984. They were accompanying the reforms that took place in the country. Most of the reforms occurred in the period from 1985 to 1991. It is impossible to tell which reforms were the successful ones because at the end they all were nullified by the break up of the Soviet Union. The factors that influenced the escalating destructive tendencies had been the causes of the coup. They are the economical failure to support democratic changes that have taken place on the political level. The coup occurred in 1991 and lead to the separation of the republics of the Soviet Union. The study of the causes of such destructive action as the break-up of the Soviet Union may leave us with some knowledge not only of what has went wrong, but also what should have been done, and what can be done to avoid such a disruptive situation as break-up of the entire country.

Further division, such as political and land division, have been the natural outcomes of the destructive tendencies of the new reforms, which were not supported by the necessary economical growth. The reforms were too abrupt and untimely, and government did little to incorporate the reforms into the economic of the Soviet Union. As the result the economy was destroyed. Devalvation of ruble had caused great instability in the market at national level, as well as international. The result was unsatisfaction of the people with the government, leading to escalating conflict among people and the government. Politicians were trying to please the public, rather than working on how to bring the economy out of crisis caused by the untimely reforms. Directors of companies, banks, government facilities had gained control over their parts of the national wealth, resulting in decentralized system of ownership control. There were opportunities to gain power in the government as well, which resulted in overthrowing president of Soviet Union, the coup, and the break up of Soviet Union. It is possible to revive economy with small business, improvement of legislative system, and welfare.

In Russia since break-up of Soviet Union in 1991 has been a fall in economic situation. There has been no appropriate control of the financial economical state of the country by the government. The system has become decentralized since the break-up of Soviet Union. So there has been period of opportunism in Russia, when there have appeared large businesses, which monopolized most of markets. This factor freezes natural growth of economy. For improvement of lifestyle of most population it is necessary to create stable conditions for small business, and to allow middle class to blossom. This would encourage revival of economical situation in Russia.

One thing that can help to achieve encouragement of small business on Russian market is the change in legislative system. There should be laws created that protect small business. For instance, these laws should take away the limitless power that monopolies have and to give freedom for action for people with small amounts of money. There should also be improvement in strict control of Russian mafia, which eliminate their opponents through criminal action, like threat and requested murder. There is very little control of crime in Russia currently. More money should be allocated towards police forces. Also, there should be laws created lifting the roof of starting capital. For instance, there may be government subsidized inputs of starting capital for a small business, which could be later repaid to the government by the successful businessman.

Another option to improve life of common man in Russia is system of welfare. It is a government subsidized program giving with no return minimal support for living. For instance, in Canada welfare system gives to needing families payments with accordance to the minimal living standards of the country, and it provides houses and apartments for an affordable price. Such welfare system is used for people unemployed and uncapable of working in their current position. However, to prevent abuse of such system it it necessary to organize programs assisting in job-seeking, which may also be programs of monitoring how well people are looking for the job. Now, in Russia there is problem of unemployment due to lack of jobs, which may be improved by the government creating new companies and job placements.

It is possible to revive economy using some techniques from the past, for instance encouragement of small business, like it was in 30’s in Russia, using welfare system, like it is used in Canada and USA, and, finally, applying it to the legislative system in Russia with modern views of some of modern Russian fans.