14 March, 08:34
An analysis of Soviet history demonstrates that corruption was not an accidental pathology or the result of individual abuses – it was a systemic and foundational element of Soviet power.
In an environment of institutional monopoly by the party, absolute deformation of legal enforcement, and artificially suppressed political competition, the Soviet nomenklatura (Communist Party officials) transformed into a hermetically sealed caste of informal state beneficiaries. Not only did they survive the formal collapse of the USSR, but they also consolidated their positions in a new format.
🔍 Privatization? No, a controlled asset transfer under the supervision of security services
The dismantling of formal socialism and the transition to a quasi-market economy did not occur in conditions of free competition. Instead, it was strictly overseen by the KGB, which by that time had already mutated into “new structures” – yet retained its essence, functions, and continuity of power.
Every single post-Soviet oligarch is either a direct appointee of the security services or a successor to major party bosses. Under the guise of simulated liberalization, what actually took place was the capitalization of the ruling elite, which—by controlling law enforcement mechanisms, financial flows, and the state apparatus—turned power into a personalized corporation.
⚠️ What does this mean today?
What we observe in Russia and its former colonies (the USSR) is not a historical accident but a natural continuation of the party’s trajectory. The corrupt vertical structure, embedded in the state mechanism during the Soviet era, has mutated but never disappeared.
💡 We are not merely living in a post-Soviet reality – we are still trapped within a structure engineered by the USSR.
The same mechanisms, the same beneficiaries—only the façade has changed.
The real question is: how long will this mutation persist, and who will finally break it? 🤔
Links: source