Sociology, Politics, and Human Nature 2020052456, 9781433184833, 9781433184826

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RAFAEL YANUSHEVSKY

SOCIOLOGY, POLITICS, AND HUMAN NATURE

Written by an expert with more than 30 years of experience in system and control theories, Sociology, Politicians, and Human Nature presents a structural approach to macrosociological systems that describes precisely the dynamics of societal systems. The author provides an innovative presentation of the theoretical aspects of societal systems dynamics. This book enriches readers knowledge about human societies, their development and moving forces, and it enables readers to filter and better understand social media information.

Rafael Yanushevsky received his PhD from the Institute of Control Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Russia. After immigrating to the United States, he worked as Professor at the University of Maryland. His company Research and Technology Consulting focuses on technical and macro socio-economic problems. He has published 6 books and over 100 papers and is an editor of 15 books and a reviewer of several journals. He is included in “Who’s Who in America,” “Who’s Who in Science and Engineering,” and “Who’s Who in American Education,” as well as “International Professional of the Year 2008” and “2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century.”

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Sociology, Politics, and Human Nature

 

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Rafael Yanushevsky

Sociology, Politics, and Human Nature

PETER LANG New York • Bern • Berlin Brussels • Vienna • Oxford • Warsaw

Library of Congress Cataloging-​in-​Publication Control Number: 2020052456       Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://​dnb.d-​nb.de/​.                     ISBN 978-​1-​4331-​8482-​6 (hardcover) ISBN 978-​1-​4331-​8483-​3 (ebook  pdf) ISBN 978-​1-​4331-​8401-​7  (epub) ISBN 978-​1-​4331-​8402-​4  (mobi) DOI 10.3726/​b17763              

       

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Contents

Preface

ix

1 System Approach to Macrosociology Introduction Specifics of Sociological Models Basic Structural Components of Social Systems Interpretation of the Well-​Being Criterion Organized Religion and Societal Structure References

1 1 4 13 17 22 28

2 Lessons of History Introduction Hunting and Gathering Society Pastoral Societies Horticultural Societies Agricultural Societies Industrial Societies Post-​Industrial Societies References

29 29 33 33 35 37 45 53 56

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3 Societal Dynamics and Ideology Introduction Basic Role of Government and Dynamics of the Administrative Unit Dynamics of Ideology How to Evaluate Societal Progress References

57 57 64 72 86 90

4 Pyramidal Societal Structures Introduction Formation of Pyramidal Societal Structures Reasons of Evolution of the Pyramidal Societal Structures Reasons of Unsuccessful Premature Transformations Formation and Destruction of Pseudo Democratic Societal Structures Modernized Autocratic Structures References

91 91 93 98 106 119 133 136

5 Democratic Societal Structures Introduction Capitalist Societal Structure Socialism vs Capitalism Mixed Democratic Societal Structures References

139 139 143 148 152 156

6 Globalization and Politics Introduction Economic Globalization Political Globalization Cultural Globalization Nationalism and Globalism Global Labor Organizations References

157 157 160 167 172 175 181 184

7 Human Nature and Politics Introduction Trade as a Political Tool Media as a Political Tool Social Control

185 185 190 196 201

Contents | vii Democracy and Human Nature References

208 213

8 Urgent Social Problems Introduction Health Care Problem Educational System Immigration Problem Environmental Problems References

215 215 220 226 236 243 247

9 Difficulties to Keep Being the World’s Superpower Introduction Bureaucracy and Corruption as a Social Harmful Force Reasons of the Fall of the Roman Empire Destructive Forces in the U.S. Society How to Prolong the Superpower Status References

249 249 252 260 264 270 278

Afterword About the Author Index

279 287 289

Preface

Sociology is the science of society, social institutions and social relationships. It studies the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of organized groups of human beings. Macrosociology is the branch of sociology concerned with the study of human societies on a wide scale, at the level of social structure, considering them as large-​scale social systems and analyzing the social processes and related changes in such systems. By observing and getting knowledge of processes of non-​live nature scientists established laws that enable people to develop in the future useful technological processes based on these laws. However, the related experiments at the initial stage of analysis of various natural phenomena required appropriate devices and an appropriate technological base, that is, it became possible only at a certain stage of societal development. Natural sciences play a dominant role in technological progress of societies and improving living conditions of the population. The same useful role sociology can play if it would establish and prove rigorously the features of progressive societal structures. Rigorous science includes many principles that are considered to be laws of nature. Many of them were obtained in the analytical form after multiple

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experiments proving their universal character (for example, Newton’s laws of motion). Sociological theories are not supported by such laws. Similar situation we have in economics. One of the most basic economic laws, the law of supply and demand that ties into almost all economic principles, is not considered by some scientists, who deny its universal nature, as a law. They believe that even the term economic law is misleading since most economic laws are observed regularities in phenomena and human behavior. But regularities are not necessarily universal. As a counterexample, they consider speculative bubbles (rising prices become a causal factor for the increased demand). Irrational human behavior cannot be described satisfactory in an analytic form. As a result, the absence of rigorous laws presented in analytic form enables researchers to test various hypothesis and build various models to establish the relationship between their parameters based on historic data. Social analysis has origins of ancient Greek philosopher Plato (3d century B.C.; maybe even earlier) who wrote about justice, wisdom and moderation of the individuals and society. The social theories developed later were focused on separate factors of human activities and served mostly political purposes. Marxist theory, based mostly on the socioeconomic analysis of the initial stage of capitalism, became a favored theoretical framework in the social sciences, influenced societal changes in some countries, and now few societies are still thoroughly Marxist. The simplistic presentation of the society (consisting only of two classes—​the proletariat and the bourgeoisie), the consideration only of the market of products and lack of understanding that the same market approach should be applied to the labor force make Marxist theory pseudoscientific. Its conclusions are made based on the observation of only the initial stage of capitalism—​the transient period from one to another economic formation. Marx did not see or refused to see the positive changes that can be crystalized in the future. He was in a hurry to predict a proletarian revolution that eventually leads to the establishment of socialism—​a socioeconomic system based on social ownership of the means of production (non-​human inputs used for the production of economic value, such as facilities, machinery, tools, infrastructural capital and natural capital) and distribution based on one’s contribution. As the productive forces continued to advance, Marx hypothesized that socialism would ultimately transform into a communist society—​a classless, stateless, humane society based on common ownership and the underlying principle: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Several race theories based on pseudoscientific hypotheses have had a serious impact on human history. The conclusions were made, for example, based on

Preface | xi ranking the mental abilities of various ethnic groups. The racial hygienists of 19th and 20th century believed that lack of eugenics would lead to rapid social degeneration, the decline of civilization by the spread of inferior characteristics. According to these theories, some races are inferior to others and their authors consequently believed that the differential treatment of races was fully justified. Applying the principles of selective parents who will produce the strongest children, was introduced. However, such a recommendation had not been presented as a racial or genetic theory. Breeding to humans was suggested by Plato, far before the term eugenics, as the study of methods to improve the human race by carefully selecting parents who will produce the strongest children. Nowadays, the study of the class inequality, as well as the studies of race, ethnicity, and gender have been modified; the most popular Marxist terms economic class struggle and surplus product are not used anymore. Marxist views changed to social views—​the so-​called social justice (universal health care; government support for young, elderly, and impoverished; free education, etc.). Politicians, the main carriers of such views, use them in their own interests. They focus on the less educated part of society, the low cultured part of the population—​people who live with a hope of a better life and, as a result, who are more receptive to hear what is in their dreams. The birth of cybernetics, the science of control and communication in both living and nonliving systems, as an independent science demonstrated the fact that, on the one hand, the scientific results related to the live nature processes can be used to create a new type of more sophisticated control systems for technological processes; on the other hand, the theoretical results of control theory can be applied to the analysis of the live nature processes, and human beings can be considered also as sophisticated complex control systems. The narrower view, common in Western countries, defines cybernetics as the science of the control of complex systems of various types—​technical, biological, or social. It would be naïve to expect any rigorous explanation of the functioning of the societies and their development without the usage of the results of biology, psychology, cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience and behavioral genetics. Human beings are the main players in social science and the more precise is their description, the more rigorous are the related theories. In the book, system and control theories can be used to examine main characteristics of the societal systems and explain the main factors determining their dynamics. In 16th century, Baruch Spinoza, trying to grasp the laws of nature, constructed the first thoroughly logical, consistent metaphysical system (by using

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the language of mathematics—​definitions, axioms, propositions, and proofs of concepts) and made the first attempt at an objective, scientific study of human behavior. The following extensive period marked by the outstanding scientific achievements did not bring any deserving attention analytical models that can be used to analyze the dynamics of societal systems. It is impossible to expect this from the mathematical tools of system and control theories. Nevertheless, they can be used to examine the dynamics on the qualitative level. Now when science became the authority and won the trust of people, sociology should play a leading role in societal development similar to in the development of production processes. Observing natural processes and studying mechanisms of these processes scientists created theoretical models, tested them, and applied to control technological processes using them to benefit people. Unfortunately, the current level of macrosociology cannot boast of a rigorous theory of societal development. Even its terminology leaves much to be desired. Many terms with multiple meanings have no rigorous definitions. As to the theories, their number exceeds significantly the number of theories related to natural sciences, and they contradict one another. The latest results in biology, physiology, psychology, and neuroscience enable scientists to better understand social processes and their dynamics. System analysis and control theory present a solid base to consider societal development as a process noncompliant to the laws of nature, where human actions and decision making determine its properties and specifics. Basic facts about macrosociology and related models are given in Chapter 1. The system and control theory approaches are used to explain specifics of sociological models and structural components of social systems. These models belong to a class of the so-​called active systems consisting of diverse members trying to pursue their own goals and the center establishing common goals for all members. The considered humanitarian model serves as the intermediate link between the reality and its mathematical model. However, for macrosociological models, at least now, humanitarian models are the only reliable tool to study complex social processes. The human motivation to reach certain goals is presented by well-​being criteria, and the functioning of the whole societal system is viewed as an interconnection between its two main parts: administrative unit and production unit; it is an active system where each component acts to optimize its own well-​being criterion. Organized religion is discussed as an independent source of power and one of factors that affects human behavior. Chapter  2 contains the generally accepted classification of societies and the characteristics that are associated with each type. Various existed approaches to the social development

Preface | xiii theories were discussed. The offered classification reflects societal changes linked to the economic development. Specific features of hunting and gathering, pastoral, horticultural, agricultural, industrial, and post-​ industrial societies are described. In Chapter 3 the historical examples of societal development enable us to check the validity of the existing social theories. Special attention is paid to a critical analysis of Marx’s theory and its modification. It is shown that ideology is the driving force of the societal changes and the dynamics of the administrative unit reflects the changes in ideology of society. Basic role of government and various existing administrative structures are discussed. Societal progress is evaluated by the improved living conditions of population. The country’s wealth per capita is chosen as a reasonable criterion measuring the living conditions. Based on the available research data it is shown that a larger wealth per capita corresponds to non-​autocratic countries and countries with democratic governments. A more detail analysis of various societal structures was given in Chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 analyses the so-​called pyramidal societal structures characterizing the autocratic societies: their formation and evolution. It explains the errors of Marx’s theory of social development. It is shown that the evolution produced the two types of structures: the so-​called pseudo democratic societal structures (e.g., the former Soviet Union) and democratic societal structures (e.g., the United States). The existing modernized autocratic structures are also discussed. Using the language of formal logic, as it first had been done by a Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza in his book Ethics, the theorems were formulated and proved related to the formation of autocratic states and the basic features of societal systems with autocratic ideology: impedance to economic growth and improvement of people’s living standards; the source of social instability and frequent wars. The presented material explains why monarchies and empires had ruled the world for a long period of the human history, why democracies of the remote past had not survived, and why the Soviet Union had ended its existence. Chapter 5 considers various democratic structures depending on the type of control of their economic systems (control of the production unit): the capitalist societal structure corresponds to a pure market economy; a pure socialist system corresponds to a commanded economy; a real mixed democratic societal structure corresponds to a mixed economy (with elements of both capitalism and socialism). It is shown that democratic societal structures with properly balanced market and government channels are viable and efficient systems with a high standard of living. International organizations and their activity to accelerate cooperation between nations are described in Chapter 6, which contains the material related to the globalization process presented by its three components—​economic globalization,

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political globalization, and cultural globalization. The role of information technology and the Internet as the means to speed up globalization is discussed. Globalism and nationalism are analyzed as the two currently competing political ideologies. The influence of global labor organizations on economic globalization and the related problem of free trade in the globalization era are discussed. The material of Chapter 7 deals with the most efficient contemporary political tools and the unhealthy political climate that can be created by the political elite violating ethical norms of society. The trade policy, discussed in the Chapter 6 as a part of economic globalization, is considered in this chapter in more details. Special consideration is given to media, which became a powerful political tool and the leaders of the influential media organizations became political players controlling the flow of information or misinformation. Since social control is a means to support the existing ethical norms and laws, which, unfortunately, some politicians violate, Chapter 7 considers this subject. Historical examples of cultural vandalism are chosen to demonstrate how politicians use social control to strengthen their positions. They violate the existing norms by encouraging such acts which reflect the worst aspects of human nature. The role of education as a means of social control is discussed. It is shown that democratic norms and beliefs are embedded in various types of ideologies (social democracy, liberal democracy, democratic socialism, and capitalist democracy) and are shared within groups represented by certain members of the political elite. The description of these types is accompanied with examples of American politics. Chapter 8 deals with health care, education, immigration, and environmental problems, the political issues that Americans rate as the most important. Some approaches to resolve them are discussed. Since recently articles in the media indicate that the U.S. is repeating the decline and fall of Rome, the last Chapter 9 analyzes main reasons of the fall of the Roman Empire comparing them with the existing destructive forces in the U.S. society, especially the government bureaucracy and corruption. It considers also the urgent problems related to national debt, health care, immigration, education, and environment requiring the government intervention. Special attention is paid to what should be done to prolong the United States’ status as the world’s only superpower. The U.S. is undergoing a period of a certain political instability. Its political elite split up into two hostile camps. Congressional approval is inadmissibly low. The U.S. media that take sides in the conflict is responsible for the unhealthy political climate in the country. In a torrent of information and misinformation it is difficult for ordinary people to separate truth from lies and, as a result, to make the right choice participating in the future elections. Partially, this can be

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Preface | xv explained by the absence of books concerning sociology and related problems for persons without any special knowledge in this area. The book pursues the goal—​to enrich readers’ knowledge about human societies, their development and moving forces, to be able to filter and understand better social media information and to be the true patriots.

1

System Approach to Macrosociology

“… everyone for himself in this desert of selfishness which is called life.” —​Stendhal

Introduction The term society comes from a Latin word socious, which means companionship or friendship. Society consists of social relationships and has values and norms that guide these relationships. Society is groups of people who live in a certain domain and behave according to existing culture and morality. The process of development of human beings as a society is characterized by the form and patterns of human interactions that enable the society to maintain its existence. Since individuals of the society occupy a common territory, have common customs and traditions, common values, common history, and common cultures, interdependence on each other causes oneness, and they develop feeling of unity and solidarity among themselves. Sense of belonging and cooperation is the basic characteristic of society. Interdependence is its another important characteristic. The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 B.C.–​322 B.C.) remarked that

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“Man is a social animal.” As a social animal he is dependent on others. The survival and well-​being of each member are very much dependent on this interdependence. Each society has its own culture and the individual relationships are organized and structured by the culture. Culture includes many social aspects: language, customs, values, norms, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations and institutions. Common institutions include family, education, religion, work and health care. Culture is the way of life of the members of a society. It consists of values, beliefs, morals, and other characteristics common to the members of a particular group or society. Each and every society transmits its cultural pattern to the succeeding generations. The widely used term ideology refers to the beliefs and ideas shared by individuals applying to the society as a whole that form the basis of a social system. Ideology is linked to the societal structure, economic system of production, and political system. It emerges out of them and shapes them. Karl Marx (1818–​1883) exploited this concept and used the term dominant ideology, which he interpreted as a system of morals and values established by those in power to control the working class. As a mechanism of social control, the dominant ideology characterizes how the majority of the population thinks about the nature of society, their place in society, and their connection to a social class. The individuals in human society perform different activities and functions depending upon their sex, age, interest, abilities, skills and other qualifications. There exists division of labor depending upon sex and age. The division of labor among the individuals and the functions they perform create a system of social relationships among the members of the society. During these social relationships people gather and interact with others to exchange ideas, offer support and receive a sense of belonging. Collaborative relationships between a society’s members can enable them to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis. The term stratification is used to describe the way in which different groups of people are placed within society. Stratification is not about individual inequalities, but about systematic inequalities based on social standing. The status of people is often determined by how society is stratified—​the basis of which can include: wealth, income, race, education, and power. Wealth and income present the most common basis of stratification. Members of a society are socially organized. Society itself has a definite structure, and the important components and elements of the social structure are norms, rules, statuses, power, authority, groups, associations and institutions. The

System Approach to Macrosociology | 3 norms and institutions are necessary for social stability; they help maintain society in social equilibrium—​a state when there exists a dynamic working balance among the interdependent parts of the societal system. A dominant larger society can also include social groups of like-​minded people governed by their own norms and values. With the help of these norms and values the group exercises some sort of control over its members and their activity. Members of the group show similar behavior. This similar behavior helps in the achievement of the group goals. However, for the common goals of the whole society, individual and separate group interests can be sacrificed. A large society is not a homogenous entity but is instead internally structured and subdivided by processes of social closure, when groups try to maximize their well-​being by the exclusion of others from their group. Society can be considered as a stable operating system where its members, diverse in nature and attitude, share a common culture, develop unity, oneness, integrity, and collective consciousness in pursuing the common goals. There are six types of society that are accepted by the sociologists, each of which possesses their own unique characteristics (see, e.g., Giddens, 2001; Ritzer and Murphy, 2019):

• Hunting and gathering societies • Pastoral societies • Horticultural societies • Agricultural societies • Industrial societies • Post-​industrial societies

The first archaic humans are believed to live in Africa 1.8 million years ago. Later they have spread beyond this region and reached Eastern and Southern Asia. More than 0.5 million years ago they settled down in much cooler areas as well, such as Northern Europe. 60,000 years ago humans colonized Australia. About 20,000 years later they started spreading throughout Europe. Until now, researchers believed early humans populated North America and South America only about 20,000 years ago. However, the recent controversial research suggests that they could live there 130,000 years ago. The period from 40,000 years ago until the end of the last Ice Age around 10000 B.C. is known as the Upper Paleolithic, the last phase of the Stone Age. This period is considered as the starting point of our ancestors. Ten thousand years ago there were only 10 million people in the world. By 2000 B.C. there

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were around 100 million, and now the number of people on our planet is around 6 billion. If our earliest ancestors lived in caves and rock shelters, the nowadays cities contain buildings reaching a height of 100–​500 m. If the relatively small population of the earliest ancestors, compared the current population on the Earth, struggled to get food for survival, now the food problem does not exist, and the level of the quality of life of our contemporaries is incomparably higher. Humans have learned not only how to adapt to the environment but also how to change it and use for own purposes. The gigantic steps forward in development of the human society during its multi-​century history are the result of drastic transformations of humans themselves. Without knowledge of basic human characteristics and their dynamics it is impossible to examine the societal dynamics. The shape of the human body evolved according to the regions and climates and helped humans to survive. The human brain, from the earliest origins of man to the present day, has expanded and grown in complexity and ability. Its development was influenced by changing needs and environmental factors. Key human characteristics, such as making and using tools and weapons, developing a system of communication through symbols and sounds, and developing social, political and economic systems of interaction, have contributed significantly to the human survival. Success in biology, physiology, and psychology enable scientists to study the basic human characteristics. Their results are used in the developed sociological models.

Specifics of Sociological Models It is well known that investigation of processes and phenomena is linked, first of all, with the construction of mathematical models describing these processes and phenomena using mathematical language. The model is characterized by some parameters. These parameters include input variables (which are called control actions or simply controls if a system can be intelligently manipulated), output variables or output coordinates (which are called controlled variables if they are objects of control), and finally state variables, which characterize internal properties of processes and phenomena. In most cases processes are not considered in isolation. The influence of other processes and phenomena on the process under investigation is characterized by the so-​called disturbing influences or, simply, disturbances.

System Approach to Macrosociology | 5 Economists and sociologists use the terms exogenous variables, factors whose value is independent from the values of other variables of the economic or sociological model, and endogenous variables whose value is determined or influenced by the values of other variables of the model. This terminology linked to time series analysis of causal processes and models, which economists and sociologists use to analyze current and forecast future developments of the processes. However, the mentioned terms are explained differently in the literature (for example, exogenous variables are determined outside the system; endogenous variables are determined inside the system), and they do not add too much compared with the well-​established terms— ​independent and dependent variables. An exogenous variable is by definition one whose value is wholly causally independent from other variables in the system. There is statistical interpretation of exogeneity. The statistical concept emphasizes non-​correlation between the exogenous variable and the other independent variables included in the model. Normal regression models assume that all the independent variables are exogenous. Webster’s dictionary defines exogenous as originating outside, derived externally and endogenous as proceeding from within, derived internally. System theory related terminology looks more thought-​out than the above discussed terms and it can be used successfully for analysis of economic systems. Sociological models by their nature are simplifications of a complex social reality. They capture the essence of a social dynamics and include fundamental forces that drive certain social parameters. Any model is a simplified reflection of the reality. Most of the models used in sociology are static econometric models. Over the course of human history, people have developed many validated ideas about the physical, biological, psychological, and social worlds (see Wiener, 1948). Those ideas have enabled following generations to deepen their knowledge about the material world and its phenomena. The existing theories are the result of observation, thinking, experimenting, and validating. The laws of physics are the result of studies of non-​living systems. The corresponding models are reliable tools which are widely used in everyday practice. Behavioral sciences, analyzing human and animal behavior, established many interesting facts. For example, observations of behavior of predators pursuing their victims allowed scientists to formulate the parallel navigation rule and create theory of guidance (see, e.g., Yanushevsky, 2011). However, in contrast to the physical laws, some behavioral and social theories are still cannot be considered as universal, especially, those that relate to human behavior. Although scientists succeeded in establishing certain behavioral patterns of

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many animals, human beings are too complicated objects to be described by a certain comprehensive model. It is almost impossible to find two persons thinking and acting identically. Being children of Nature people are empowered by innate instincts and inherited complex patterns of behavior to satisfy specific needs. Despite various definitions of the term instinct and related theories based on its interpretation, the life instincts that deal with basic survival (the need to defend from danger, to have a place to live, food and clothing) and pleasure (the need to explore everything to get something good or much wanted to feel gratification) are used by overwhelming majority of psychologists and considered as the most important ones. Instincts and instinctive behaviors can be considered as embedded genetic goals and the realization of these goals. In contrast to biologically programmed instincts that serve as internal stimuli, the environmental influence serves as external stimulus. Internal and external stimuli influence the behavior of individuals. As a result, each human is unique and the human population is so diverse: it consists of many complex social groups with an extremely wide variety of values, social norms, and customs. All above mentioned makes doubtful any attempt to present the behavior of a group of individuals by a pragmatic representative (although some existing models still use such an approach). Only in extreme situations (e.g., a war, economic crisis, epidemic, etc.) the behavior of many individuals shows similar features; but even in such situations usually there are groups that behave differently. Calling Man “a political animal” Aristotle as if emphasized difficulties in building a model of human behavior. The human factor is an integral part of economic models. It is present—​directly or indirectly—​in economic models. Supply and demand are the result of human activity. People make goods and provide services, and they are consumers of goods and services. Their behavior depends on too many factors and hence cannot be predicted accurately. This specifics of economic models and related economic theories make it difficult to use them for long-​term forecasts. As to macrosociological models, they are more complicated than macroeconomic models that focus only on the specific human activity—​production of goods and services. The most important part of building a model is to identify main factors describing the process since too complex models can work as unsatisfactory as too simple ones. An extensive passion for statistics can be a source of big errors since any step back in the past may bring the situation drastically different from the current one.

System Approach to Macrosociology | 7 The dynamic processes that we observe in our everyday life are self-​regulated processes. They are self-​regulated by their very nature. They have built-​in feedback characteristics that cause the process to tend towards its initial or new stable position. Considering social processes from the position of control theory, we should distinguish internal forces (internal controls) generated in a human brain that produce the stabilizing effect and external control actions (the result of interaction with other human beings that focus to reach a certain goal, e.g., concerning parameters characterizing the productivity of resources, factors that define social stratification). Control is the basis of all objects of live nature. They all, from the simplest to most sophisticated complex forms, are self-​regulated adaptive systems which exist because their ability to adjust to the environment. Human beings are able to learn the environmental processes and use them for their purposes. Our brain is a sophisticated controller made up of a network of cells called neurons coupled to receptors, which monitor changes in the external and internal environment and provide the input to the network, and effectors. The brain produces far more than only a simple stimulus-​response channel from receptors to effectors. The vast network of neurons is interconnected in multiple overlapping loops so that signals entering the network from receptors interact there with billions of signals already traversing the system, not only to yield the signals that control the effectors but also to modify the state of the brain, the very properties of the network itself, so the future behavior will reflect prior experience. The brain has billions of neurons, and they have many specialized jobs. For example, sensory neurons take information from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin to the brain. Motor neurons carry messages away from the brain and back to the rest of the body. All neurons relay information to each other through a complex electrochemical process, making connections that affect the way we think, learn, move, and behave. When we learn things, messages repeat traveling from one neuron to another, and the brain creates links between the neurons, so we can do them better and better. Memory is another complex function of the brain. The things we have done, learned, and seen are first processed in the cortex, the outer layer of cerebrum, the most superior and anterior of the brain’s major regions, and then, if we sense that this information is important enough to remember permanently, it is passed inward to other regions of the brain for long-​ term storage and retrieval. As these messages travel through the brain, they create pathways that serve as the basis of our memory. Different parts of the cerebrum are responsible for moving different body parts. The brain tells virtually parts of a human body what to do, all the time, being active even during our sleep. It

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controls what a human thinks (or even might not think about) and feels, how he learns and remembers, and the way he moves. If in the 1950s and 1960s psychologists focused on behavior and learning theory, then later cognition became their focus and the term learning was used to refer to any change in behavior that results from experience (Hergenhahn, 2000) since, although to a degree some of our actions are surely influenced by our genes or just by human nature, most of our behavior has been learned from experience. The latest results in neuroscience, the scientific study of the nervous system (a neuron is a nerve cell), brought to life cognitive psychology that focuses on the relationship between cognitive or mental processes and behavior. By using the control theory terminology, as an object of control, a human being can be presented as a complex control system including the measurement unit (receptors of sense organs), the controller (brain), and the servo system (extremities effectors). The human sense organs (eyes, ears, tongue, skin, and nose) gather information on the ambient environments and send it to the brain that analyzes it and generates internal forces determining an appropriate human behavior. The human brain is a sophisticated controller containing multiple channels of control and able not only to produce certain types of behavior but also to forecast events and generate behaviors based on such predictions. The system output is human behaviors, and the ambient unit characterizes the environment in which humans operate. Specifics of a human being as an object of control is in his/​her ability act without the external control. Humans present the active systems; they have internal controls supporting their activity, in contrast to classical control theory objects that are incapable to operate without control actions. The ability to function independently, without external control actions, demonstrates the human strong desire to be free. As to the external controls, their actions can be positive if they create a positive human reaction (e.g., an approval of a job performance) or negative, if the reaction is negative (e.g., the case of forced and compulsory labor). In system and control theories the term feedback refers to the channel of information used to compare the desired system behavior with its real output and improve it by routing the output of a system back to its input. In the case of the so-​called negative feedback, usually in control theory the input signal represents the desired system behavior and the difference between the input and output is used to make the output close to the input. However, the negative feedback can be used also to decrease the input effect (if the input is a disturbance) or even to block it. In the case of the so-​called positive feedback, the feedback loop increases

System Approach to Macrosociology | 9 the effect of the input. Rather than the stability and equilibrium produced by negative feedback, positive feedback promotes change and can produce instability in systems. Our body uses the feedback it receives from a particular process to monitor how well it is functioning. It is the general mechanism of nervous or hormonal control and regulation, the process controlled by the human brain, which, based on the outcome, decides whether it should continue or stop performing a specific action. A feedback mechanism is a part of various complex processes of different nature. It is widely used in technical systems. Many biochemical processes are controlled by negative feedback. In contrast to positive feedback, negative feedback is a type of regulation in biological systems in which the end product of a process reduces the stimulus of that same process. In humans, feedback mechanisms monitor and maintain their physiological activities. They allow an organism to regulate their internal environment (its internal processes and biological variables) and maintain homeostasis, the organism’s tendency toward internal equilibration. Control centers in the brain and other parts of the body monitor and react to deviations from homeostasis using negative feedback. In system and control theories the property of a system to support its states is called self-​regulation. For active systems (related to humans) self-​regulation consists of deliberate efforts by the self to maintain or alter its own states and responses, including behavior, thoughts, impulses, emotions, and task performance. In sociology, system output is human behavior, and many scientists in this field link feedback with purposeful behavior (see Churchman and Ackoff, 1950), considering feedback as an important embodiment of purposeful behavior: feedback works only when there is a goal for the system and deviations of the actual output from the goal are identified or measured. Constructive feedback in sociology is indispensable to productive collaboration. Feedback is effective when the recipient is able to receive the information and adjust his or her behavior accordingly. The history of human behavior started from the discovery of inborn patterns of behavior and factors that motivate them. The psychological approach to motivation began with Freud, who stated that humans are motivated by two primal inborn instincts or drives (that is, in the absence of learning, without being based upon prior experience): the self-​preservation and sexual instincts. The self-​ preservation instincts (e.g., fear, anger, jealousy and envy, curiosity, sociability, sympathy, rivalry) motivate behaviors related to our survival. The sexual instincts

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(e.g., sexual love) motivate behaviors related to organ pleasure, which develop into behaviors related to reproduction. Many psychologists criticized term instinct as non-​precise. That is why we used above also the term drive. (Now in dictionaries we can find the definition of instinct: an inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic of a species and is often a response to specific environmental stimuli). Psychologists have proposed different theories of motivation including instinct theory, drive theory, and humanistic theory. The instinct theory of motivation suggests that behaviors are motivated by instincts, which are fixed and inborn patterns of behavior. According to the drive theory of motivation organisms are born with certain psychological needs having the power of driving the behavior of an individual, and that a negative state of tension is created when these needs are not satisfied. Hull (1952) believed that internal biological needs, or drives, motivated us to perform a certain way. These drives were defined as internal states of arousal or tension which should be reduced (e.g., the internal feelings of hunger or thirst, which motivates us to eat). According to the drive reduction theory, we are driven to reduce these drives. Adler (1956) argued that people have a universal drive to strive for superiority. Persons try to improve themselves, adapt and master life’s challenges. This rather than sexual pleasure is the primary motivation for behavior. According to Adler, the goal of superiority, of power, of the conquest of others, is the goal which directs the activity of most human beings. Under conditions of scarcity, people tend to become more aggressive. Under conditions of adequate resources but no surplus they demonstrate more cooperative and sharing behavior. Under conditions of surplus goods, people tend to be more selfish, while cooperating with a few to control the surplus (e.g., see Van den Berghe, 1975). According the humanistic theory of motivation, humans are driven to achieve their maximum potential and will always do so unless obstacles are placed in their way. These obstacles can be hunger, thirst, financial problems, safety issues, health and some others. The humanistic theory of motivation is based on the idea that people are motivated to satisfy: basic biological needs (food and shelter); security and safety needs (financial security, health and wellness, safety against accidents and injury); social needs (friendships, family, social groups, community groups, churches and religious organizations); esteem needs (appreciation and respect); self-​actualization needs (to achieve full potential) (see Maslow, 1954). Several cognitive theories (see, e.g., Wadsworth, 2004) attempt to explain human motivation. The self-​determination theory focuses on what influences intrinsic motivation. Other theories focus on our goal-​setting behaviors. The psychic life of human being is determined by his goal. From the standpoint of nature,

System Approach to Macrosociology | 11 human being is an inferior organism and this feeling of insecurity is constantly present in his consciousness forcing him to find better ways in adapting to nature. Different types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsic or intrinsic. Intrinsic motivations are those that arise from within the individual; they generate internal controls. Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and generate external controls. The incentive theory (see, e.g., Laffont and Martimort, 2001) suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards. For example, a person might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward. Behavioral learning concepts such as association and reinforcement play an important role in this theory of motivation. People intentionally pursue certain courses of action in order to gain rewards. The greater the perceived rewards, the more strongly people are motivated to pursue those reinforcements. The behavior of a separate individual is changed by the behavior of others, and a person’s behavior in groups differs from the behavior on his/​her own. Social psychology studies the various influences of social environment and how it influences human behavior. Social environment is a part of the environment that include also the non-​live nature. The human ability to learn enables humans to transfer processes of non-​live nature to improve their life. The existence of various motivation theories is the evidence of difficulties to prove their universal character—​the necessary condition for any rigorous theory. However, the abovementioned motivation theories contain many common features, although they may look different because of different terminology and testing procedures. From the position of system theory the human motivation can be presented by one criterion—​optimization of human well-​being. Human well-​being is a broad concept, one that includes many aspects of our everyday lives. It encompasses material well-​being, relationships with family and friends, and emotional and physical health. Its important components are wealth, power, and prestige. Behaviors related to human survival correspond to the minimal value of this criterion. For various individuals the maximal values of this index are different. They depend on the level of the society development, its moral codes of behavior and other restraining internal and external factors. Human evolution, according to the Darwin (1809–​1882) theory, is the result of natural selection. In his book On the Origin of Species, he determined evolution as the process by which organisms change over time as a result of changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits. These changes allow an organism to better adapt to its environment. They, in turn, help the organism to survive and have more offspring. Darwin affirmed that “individuals with the best genetic fitness

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for the environment will produce offspring that can more successfully compete in that environment. Thus the subsequent generation will have a higher representation of these offspring and the population will have evolved.” Natural selection favors individuals who have genes that produce characteristics that give them a survival advantage. This survival advantage means that such individuals are more likely to live long enough to reproduce and give this advantage to their children. Over generations, more and more of the population has this advantage as those without it are more likely to die before reproducing. (Darwin knew that in living organisms many characteristics are inherited, or passed from parent to offspring, though he did not know that traits were inherited via genes.) The mechanism of natural selection rests on the assumption that beneficial characteristics are passed more or less intact from one generation to the next. With the discovery of the structure of DNA the evolution theory and natural selection obtain a rigorous justification. Biologists define evolution as genetic change in a population across generations. Organisms from more adaptive populations pass their DNA on to their progeny. Over time, this process of genetic change can give rise to new genes, new traits and new species, all brought about through changes in the genetic code or DNA. Natural selection depends on the environment. It favors traits that are beneficial (that is, help an organism survive and reproduce more effectively than its peers) in a specific environment. Traits that are helpful in one environment might actually be harmful in another. Darwin’s idea of natural selection enables us to consider our basic instincts as an unconscious adaptation to the changing environment without conscious understanding the nature of change. The brain functions empower humans with ability of thinking, reasoning, and insightful learning. Those who use it better adjust to the environment better, make their adaptation process easier. Of course, the environment itself induces humans to develop appropriate features. As a result, the conscious adaptation to various environments creates variety of individuals (the assumption and necessary condition of natural selection theory), each of them maximizes the chosen well-​being criterion that guides the human activity. In his book The Wealth of Nations (1776) the father of the political economy Adam Smith wrote: “Every man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life.” Complex systems consist of subsystems and the indicated above feedback properties are applicable to subsystems as well. A complex social system is a system whose behavior is primarily the result of the behavior of many social agents.

System Approach to Macrosociology | 13 The detailed study of dynamic objects starts from analyzing their static characteristics. Looking at the static characteristics enables us to determine the level of an object potentials and limits. Any mathematical model is only a copy (with a certain accuracy) of a real process and natural phenomenon. This is the result of using the language of mathematics for description of real processes and phenomena. The humanitarian model serves as the intermediate link between the reality and its mathematical model and the basis for building a mathematical model and its future improvement. However, for macrosociological models, at least now, humanitarian models are the only reliable tool to study complex social processes. As indicated earlier, the presence of the human factor and human diversity do not enable us to describe social dynamics in the analytical form. Moreover, the quality of the data is never as good as one would like, especially if a dynamic model is built. That is why at the current level of knowledge about human behavior the only reasonable societal model is a humanitarian one, explaining societal development by analyzing the structural changes and determining the main factors of these changes.

Basic Structural Components of Social Systems Human civilization has manifested itself in a series of organizational social structures. Decisions made by human beings are aimed to avoid pain or gain pleasure. Being active systems, humans try to optimize their personal well-​being criteria by their activities which provide them, as a minimum, with food and shelter, and allow them to reproduce. The mentioned minimum is the common goal and the main factor explaining why persons self-​organize in certain structures. However, a society can exist, grow, and develop normally only if the following so-​called boundary conditions on its members’ behavior, the norms of behavior, are observed:

• members of society are prohibited to murder one another • members of society are prohibited to rob one another • members of society are prohibited to deceive one another

The indicated earlier self-​preservation instincts such as fear, anger, jealousy, envy, and rivalry, motivating behaviors related to our survival, do not exclude assault, murder, robbery, and fraud as actions to reach an individual’s goals. By introducing the norms of behavior, the society creates conditions for its survival.

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The narrowest form of clan, called the gens, was the first elementary unit of society. This was an association of persons who were traceably of one blood or kinship so that all its members follow the law: one—​for all and all—​for one. All property was in common within the gens, and descent was traced not through the father but through the mother, who was the obvious parent of the child. A clan’s members occupied a certain territory on which they earned a livelihood. The members of this unit also defended the clan from enemies (other unfriendly clans). Interrelationships between separate clans (friendly or hostile) resulted in the development of the clans into federated tribes. This type of societies required an administrative unit that would direct actions of the society that would benefit its members, develop the policy dealing with neighbors, etc., that is, to conduct the internal and external policies. (In a clan administrative functions were put in hands of more experienced its members—​usually, elders made decisions.) The initial universal unit was separated into several units—​focused separately on production (supply its members with food and shelter) and defense (protect the societies and land that was the main wealth determining their existence). The division of society into military and civilian components (an example of specialization) enabled the community to develop economically at the same time as it expanded or defended itself militarily. Such a structural change demonstrates that the society reached a new higher organizational level. Society develops by becoming more organized. The growth and development of a system is usually characterized by increasing specialization of system components and increasing exchanges between the system and outer environment that includes various types of other systems. The evolution of human civilization is characterized by increasing specialization, production and trade within social systems and increasing levels of external contact through trade, exploration, and military conquest. Usually social systems with higher degrees of specialization and trade, both internally and externally, are more productive and provide sustainable and secure livelihoods for their members. The development of a society is the process that moves it from lesser to greater levels of complexity, efficiency, productivity, creativity, and accomplishment. Development is not merely a quantitative increase in the level of activity or accomplishment but a qualitative change in the way the activity is carried. Political, social, economic and technological development are various expressions of the development that serve as its efficiency criteria. Every social system has certain goals to be attained. Adaptation to the social and nonsocial environment is a necessary condition to achieve these goals. Lack

System Approach to Macrosociology | 15 of adaptability very often has caused the social system to be challenged and triggered revolution resulting in the overhauling of the system. The existence of human societies is the result of the purposeful activity of their members to control the production of material wealth needed to support and improve the level of live of the society. Economics regards human labor as one of the inputs for production of goods and services. The production unit of a societal structure is its main component characterizing the state of the society development. If initially human resources were predominantly in the form of physical labor, later the individual’s mental capabilities are called more and more into play. The acquired knowledge became a decisive factor of evolution of the entire society and had a profound effect on all aspects of social life. Division of labor enabled people to carry out simultaneously vast numbers of different activities. With the development of societies, productive (useful for a society) labor more and more was transformed into control of technological processes. Discovering laws of nature and understanding the mechanism of natural processes people learned how to control them and use for their purposes. Observing the development of plants and animals people created agriculture as a reliable source for their existence. It became a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization. Transformation of physical labor in control of technological processes increased significantly its productivity and improved the level of life in society. Development of natural sciences enabled people to learn how to control physical, chemical, and biological processes. Mental labor became more complex and its part, compared with physical labor, was growing. Its weight in the production unit was increasing. The development of various services that made people’s everyday life easier and brought new useful information, knowledge, and entertainment making life more diverse and interesting, changed significantly the production unit. The greater the number of functions were performed by the production unit, the more complex it became. The more complex the production unit, the greater its productive potential. The administrative unit defines a society’s goals and supervises all aspects of life of different social groups in the society. Its efforts focus on directing the society to achieve these goals. Ensuring discipline in society is one of the most important responsibilities of the administrative unit. With the growth and development of a society both the production and administrative units become more complex. The efficiency of the decision-​making process in the administrative unit and the reliability of information about the activity of the production unit depend on the societal structure which, as the human history demonstrates, is the factor influencing significantly the progress of society.

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The abovementioned description related to the administrative unit does not mean that the production unit is completely subordinated to it. The production process has its supervisors and managers, and the production unit has a certain structure depending on the degree of development of a society. The interaction between these units depends on the structure of the administrative unit. As indicated earlier, social systems consisting of activities of separate individuals or a groups of individuals belong to the so-​called class of active systems. The theory of such systems was developed in the former Soviet Union. Surprisingly, its pioneer work had been published in 1970, only several years after the government allowed scientists to work in such areas as operations research, system analysis and game theory. Significant contributions to the theory have been done after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The so-​called stimulation problem and the stimulation strategy of the center are one of the important components of the active systems. The stimulating approach follows from incentive theory of motivation, in which our behaviors are driven by the desire for rewards. A possible stimulation principle can be formulated as the following:  if you act in a certain way, the center will reward you; otherwise your reward will be zero. To be awarded, separate subsystems, acting in their own interests, can try to deceive the center providing inaccurate information about their functioning. The optimal stimulating strategy should make it disadvantageous for the subsystems to generate misinformation. The stimulating strategy of the center is the pivot of resolving the conflict between the interests of the center and the local subsystems. Considering the administrative unit as the center, the stimulating strategy is only one of approaches of interaction with the subsystems. Historical examples (see Chapter 4) show that in many cases the stimulation principle was accompanied by punishment methods and instead of zero reward the conflict between administrative and production units can cost even human lives. Large complex social systems are active systems consisting of many individuals interconnected by the information network and presenting a united organism with its own control unit. The structure of these systems, their functioning and development are determined by the interaction of their components between themselves and the environment (for simplicity, here we considered only the two most important subsystems—​the production and administrative units). Although separate individuals, the elements of social systems, potentially are free to act as they like, in reality, to survive they become a part of the united social organism. Their behavior is determined by instincts (see the previous section) and certain norms established and controlled by the administrative unit. These norms

System Approach to Macrosociology | 17 of behavior depend on the dominant ideology in a society. They establish rules of behavior in a society and with other societies. The viability of a society rests on its unity. This is reached by the requirement to observe the established norms of behavior and, in some cases, by a stimulating policy. Although social control systems differ from technical control systems, they both utilize the same methods of control: feedback and feedforward principles. Social controls focus on supporting the viability of the society. Its members self-​ regulate their activity and accept any social commands that are useful for their well-​being; but they resist, as a rule, to social commands that destroy it. The society’s members perform diligently the administrative unit commands (feedforward controls) until they trust the administration and believe in usefulness of its policy. In a case of the lost trust, only simulative or punishing control actions can produce the desired effect. However, in this case the efficiency of control action will be lower and, as a result, the society development will be slower.

Interpretation of the Well-​Being Criterion Natural human desires for economic welfare and liberty, in accordance with the existing norms of behavior, are derived from human drives to maximize material well-​being and to exercise basic freedoms. In the 1970s, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky proved that humans are not rational and systematically make choices that defy clear logic. In 2002, Daniel Kahneman and, in 2017, Richard Thaler won Nobel Prize in economics for demonstrating systematic individual irrational decision making. The abovementioned scientists demonstrated that individuals consistently make illogical choices that sabotage their economic interests while simultaneously believing that they are totally rational. Does it mean that the explanation of human activity by using the well-​being criterion is not valid? The term rational itself requires clarification. Traditional economic theory assumed that human beings are rational actors, which means they can generally be relied upon to act in ways they perceive as furthering their own best interests. This idea was called rational choice theory (or expected utility theory). If a rational human behavior is the result of the optimization procedure, as it is presented in many macroeconomics models, then it is impossible not to agree with the mentioned scientists. Moreover, such models are unreliable to be

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used in practice. Comparison of rational actions with logical ones requires a certain criterion for a proper conclusion. According to Webster’s dictionary, rational means having reason or understanding. A  rational decision can be discussed and judged by other persons, whereas a logical decision can be shown to be correct with a mathematical proof. But how one trust to the judgment of others if their judgments can be irrational. As to mathematical tools applied to the human models, they are unreliable. Is it not a catch-​22 situation? Maybe that is why Kahneman and Tversky also acknowledge that being irrational is a good thing, and humans often make better decisions as a result. Although scientists showed that it was possible to prove contradictions in human behavior, this relates to separate actions rather than to the behavior during a certain period of human life. The well-​being criterion relates to the process of an individual functioning—​rather than to separate human actions. The optimal solution depends on the information about a person’s characteristics (the so-​called state coordinates of a model) and the environment he/​she operates in during the considered time interval. Since this information is not known (a model would be based on forecasting data), it is obvious that not only contradictions in human behavior can happen but also rude mistakes. Moreover, the well-​being criterion is a vector criterion. As a mathematical problem, the multi criteria problem usually has no solution, and instead of the initial criteria a compromised criterion containing the vector components is considered. Directly or indirectly, the components are presented with different weights underlying their significance and priorities which change during the period of human life. In addition to the natural desire and aspiration to have food and shelter, to function normally other components of the well-​being criterion are forming during the process of human development. Interaction between people enables them to compare their abilities. Envy, as the instinct mentioned earlier, is the reflection of such a comparison. It is especially directed at those with whom we compare ourselves, such as our neighbors and relatives. As Bertrand Russell (1872–​1970), a British philosopher, historian, and social critic, said, “Beggars do not envy millionaires, though of course they will envy other beggars who are more successful.” Envy is common to all times and peoples. According to the Wisdom of Solomon (or the Book of Wisdom) it is “through the devil’s envy that death entered the world.” According to the Book of Genesis, it is from envy that Cain murdered his brother Abel. On the one hand, envy is a positive factor, as a stimulus for the improvement of skills, obtaining the new ones, and getting more knowledge. This allows person to

System Approach to Macrosociology | 19 grow physically and mentally. Some persons stop after reaching a certain level of skills and knowledge. Being own judges, they conclude that they cannot move forward anymore or simply they are satisfied with the reached status. Others may conclude that they deserve a higher position in a society and try their best to reach a higher status. On the other hand, envy can create antagonism between persons and even, as with Cain and Abel, destroy lives. In modern Russia, Marxism is ridiculed as a teaching about human envy. All depends on our attitude. In the Art of Rhetoric, Aristotle (2011) explaining why some people can rise to emulation, while most seem limited to envy, says that emulation is felt most of all by those who believe themselves to deserve certain good things that they do not yet have, and most keenly by those with an honorable or noble disposition. The developed in 1970s–​1980s social identity theory presents in a more rigorous form what was observed and indicated in the past. It explains how individuals create and define their place in society (see Tajfel, 2010). According to the theory, three psychological processes are central in that regard: social categorization, social comparison, and social identification. Social categorization refers to the tendency of people to perceive themselves as a certain group members rather than separate and unique individuals. Social comparison is the process by which people determine the relative value or social standing of a particular group and its members. Social identification reflects the notion that people own sense of who they are and how they relate to others is typically implicated in the way they view other individuals and groups around them. As mentioned in the previous section, each person is unique and possesses different human characteristics inherited and also obtained during the development in the environment in which he/​she is raised and acts. Interaction between individuals and mutual comparison of abilities and knowledge result in social stratification. Usually, people with mutual interests, similar skills and/​or level of knowledge or wealth form separate groups. As indicated earlier, in a more general form, stratification defines groups of people divided into layers according to their relationships to power, property and prestige. This is a way of ranking large groups of people into upper, middle and lower classes. For persons belonging to different groups the meaning of well-​being sounds differently. For one person this is a wealth at a certain lever, for other—​respect and prestige; some persons dream to dedicate their live to something special (e.g., service to God, art, music, etc.). Greater wealth, comfort, and material security appear to be primary motives for development, but the drive to maintain or elevate social position and prestige is usually a more powerful motivating force.

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Formation of a society with different groups of people requires the identification of a leader who could direct its activity to achieve common goals. The greater the strength of the leader, the greater the stability, internal order and fighting capacity of the society. With the development of the society and the growth of its administrative and production units, the leaders of these units and their subdivisions arise. They direct the actions of the subordinate groups, give instructions and enforce discipline. The study of leadership is a part of organizational psychology. As indicated above, usually, a strong desire to elevate social position and prestige is a powerful motivation to pursue this goal, so that the power and prestige are the most important components of the well-​being criterion for the higher levels of leadership. Individuals involved in decision making concerning the economic development of a society, the main part of the internal policy, and the foreign policy, relations with the outer world, belong to the so-​called political elite. Vilfredo Pareto (1935), who developed the elite theory of politics, introduced the term elite as a class of the people “who have the highest indices in their branch of activity” and divided this class in two: “a governing elite, comprising individuals who directly or indirectly play some considerable part in government, and non-​ governing elite, comprising the rest.” A political elite is motivated by an ambition to obtain money, power and distinctions. This group benefits from durable privileges and inequalities of access to wealth and income. Such a case, for example, as the resignation of the British Prime Minister David Cameron following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU), is beneath common nowadays since the political elite’s central concern is achieving and preserving power. The political elite, being the planners and decision-​makers, play a very significant role in the country’s development, so that in the economic development as well. President Reagan’s words “Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago? Is there more or less unemployment in the country than there was four years ago? Is America as respected throughout the world as it was?” establish the main criterion (Are you better off now than you were four years ago?) and related sub-​criteria that should be considered by citizens to evaluate the performance of a political elite. In the above example the economic criteria are dominant as the country should be able to feed and clothe its citizen, and the political elite is responsible for economic stability and security of citizens first and foremost. As to the country’s international standing, it is largely driven by the strength of the economy.

System Approach to Macrosociology | 21 A belief in the way the administrative unit should operate within a society characterizes a political ideology of its members. In complex highly developed societies the dominant political ideology coexists with ideologies of separate groups which have their political leaders. For example, in the United States, most citizens consider themselves liberal, moderate, and conservatives. There are countries where a majority of people is socialists or communists. The political spectrum of a society is usually described along a left-​middle-​right line: left—​liberals, middle—​moderate, and right—​conservatives. Liberals denounce economic and social inequality. They support unions’ rights to organize and strike, progressive taxation, a clear environment, free education, affordable health care, and other social programs. Conservatives believe in a small government, firm law, and strict moral codes. Fighting for power, politicians support different ideological groups. As a result, the political elite is also ideologically divided, and its members try to present themselves as leaders of separate ideological groups. Most of politicians lack serious economic knowledge and use economists to prepare proposals formulating the proposed economic policy containing future promises that, as a rule, are highly unrealistic. Although the performance of the economy is one of the key political battlegrounds, insufficient proficiency in economy makes politicians unable to be very persuasive in this area. Trying to jump on the political elite train, they deliberately prioritize other topics (e.g., climate change, pollution, immigration, etc.) targeting special group of population (with low level of education, minorities, etc.) to get their votes. However, such an activity only hurts the country, and the damage level depends upon the governmental structure, the current economic situation and correlation of political forces in the country. Politicians like to talk about economic growth. However, as a rule, they do not work with economists to develop a real efficient economic policy. They are interested only in keeping their elite or pseudo elite positions. The size of the U.S. federal government increased significantly in last decades, and there is no serious discussion how to decrease it. More bureaucracy means additional funding to support it. However, this does not bother politicians since bureaucracy is a part of their suite, a measure of their power. To control natural and technological processes is a responsibility of the overwhelming majority of a society’s members. To control how they perform these operations—​that is, control of people (see the external controls), rather than processes—​is a responsibility of leaders linked directly to the production unit. The actions of these leaders can be controlled by the administrative unit. Some of them can become later a part of this unit. The fake leaders, who inherited their

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positions or got them by a fraud, usually hire individuals who do their job. Such type of persons become parasites since they are useless for the society. The relations between the administrative and production units depend upon the level of societal development and the dominant ideology. Although it is impossible not to agree with French philosopher Auguste Comte (1798–​1857) assumption that “all societies passed through distinct stages of belief or ideology, evolving from the lower to the higher stages,” on all stages of the societal development personal interests of leaders determined their behavior in according with their well-​being criteria. Stendhal was right saying that “… everyone for himself in this desert of selfishness which is called life.”

Organized Religion and Societal Structure Religion (from the Latin relegere, meaning to repeat, to read again, or, most likely, religionem, to show respect for what is sacred) is an organized system of beliefs and practices associated with a transcendent spiritual experience. There is no culture recorded in human history which has not practiced some form of religion. The sphere of religion, in the ancient world and now, includes the spiritual aspect of the human condition; it provided answers to people’s questions about gods and goddesses (or a single personal god or goddess), the creation of the world, human beings place in the world, what their divine purpose in life is, what they can expect after death, about eternity, and how to escape from suffering in this world or in the next. Every nation has created its own God/​gods in its own image and resemblance. There is no broad consensus regarding the origin of religion. Some form of religion of our earliest ancestors (animal worship, the glorification of animal deities or animal sacrifice, burial rites with grave goods, suggesting a belief in a supernatural afterlife) looked as a superstition and played a role of a medicine to calm the mind and allow it to function better when under stress, served as a powerful survival mechanism, helping people to stay alive in an unfriendly environment. The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious experiences and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5200 years ago (3200 B.C.). The prehistory of religion involves the study of religious beliefs that existed prior to the advent of written records. The concept of religion, as we presently understand it, was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries, despite the fact that ancient sacred texts like the Bible, the

System Approach to Macrosociology | 23 Quran and others did not have a word or even a concept of religion in the original languages and neither did the people or the cultures in which these sacred texts were written (see Harrison, 1990). Typically, religions were divided into stages of progression from simple to complex societies, especially from polytheistic (the worship of many gods) to monotheistic (the worship of one god) and from spontaneous to organized. Similar to inability of one person to succeed in various fields, the ancient people felt that no single god could possibly take care of all the needs of an individual, so that: if one were suffering heartbreak, one went to the goddess of love; if one wanted to win at combat, only then one would consult the god of war, etc. The many gods of the religions of the ancient world fulfilled multiple functions as specialists in their respective areas. The birth of the monotheistic religion, an organized and structured system of faith or worship, in its different forms (Judaism, Christianity and Islam are the most influential world religions), increased significantly the influence of religion on the life and development of the world societies. The Jewish religion was administered by priests, a class of Jewish citizens who were given social, economic, and political power far beyond that of just performing the sacred rites of the people (Abraham is considered the first Jewish priest). They were second in power only to the kings; when the Romans took over the Land of Israel (63 B.C.), it was the priestly class that they were most worried about. Religious leaders created religious administrative units with its spiritual channel influencing human behavior. Moral purpose is at the very core of the three monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They created moral benchmarks for believers that guide their footsteps. They teach about good and evil, saints and sinners, and the altruistic values that build lasting cultures and relation based on mutual help and respect—​versus the greed, lust, indolence, pride, and violence. The religions also encourage believers to treat others with compassion, love and charity. The Judeo-​Christian religious teaching “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor…” establishes a high-​level moral standards for the followers. It provides moral guidelines for marriage and family, how to treat neighbors, how to be a healthy part of a community.

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Starting 600  years after Christianity, Islam contains some features of the behavior cruelty inadmissible in Christianity and Judaism. In suras, the chapters of Quran, the central religious text of Islam, we can find recommendations of Muhammed, the founder of Islam: “the beating of wives” (Sura 4:34), “fight and slay the Pagans wherever you find them” (Sura 9:5); the proper way to execute an unbeliever was to cut his throat (Sura 47:4). Muhammed led raids against caravans to plunder their goods, broke oaths, ordered the murder of those who mocked him and wiped out the last Jewish tribe in Medina—​he killed all the men and enslaved the women and children. Despite recognition of the two older and closely related religions, Judaism and Christianity, which share with Islam the essential characteristics of monotheism and a sacred book, Islam holds that the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament, the first part of Christian Bibles, based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible), the Psalms, and the Gospels were given by God—​with this caveat: Jews and Christians have corrupted God’s Word and therefore Bibles cannot be fully trusted. The hostility toward Christianity and Judaism played a significant role in societal development in the related areas. Organized religion emerged as means of maintaining peace in a society and became an important factor of providing social and economic stability. The so-​ called Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a belief that is present in many other religions including Buddhism (a widespread Asian religion founded by Gautama in India in the 5th century B.C. and later spreading to China, Burma, Japan, Tibet, and parts of southeast Asia), Confucianism (the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius), Hinduism (the dominant religion of India), Jainism (an ascetic religion founded in India in the 6th century B.C.), Sikhism (founded 500 years ago in India, it is the fifth-​largest religion), Shintoism (the state religion of Japan until 1945, dating from the early 8th century), Taoism (a religious doctrines officially recognized in the People’s Republic of China). Although societal religions vary throughout the world, one thing all these religions have in common is the ability to bring the members of a society together. Religious leaders created their worship centers, schools, scriptoria, and libraries. They also functioned as agricultural, economic, and production centers. Their teams of missionaries spread their religious believes in different areas. Christianity, born in the Roman Empire, was brought into the Northern Europe. Through European colonialism it spread across much of the world including the American continent. At the end of 19th century, Catholic missionaries followed colonial governments into Africa to build schools, hospitals, monasteries, and churches.

System Approach to Macrosociology | 25 Islam, born in Mecca, in western Arabia, spread rapidly in Africa and to the North-​East (Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan). Buddhism spread to Tibet, central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan. However, the fight for power among religious leaders and differences in their interpretation of the main religious documents resulted in cruel religious wars. There are three main branches of Christianity: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Eastern Orthodoxy arose as a distinct branch of Christianity after the 11th century East-​West Schism between Eastern and Western Christendom. The Protestant branch split from Roman Catholicism during the Reformation (1500–​1650), a 16th and 17th century series of church reforms in doctrine and practice. These movement challenged the authority of the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The European religious wars were fought in Europe from 1524 to 1648, after the birth of Protestantism. Wars between the Christian religion branches broke out, culminating in the Thirty Years War which ravaged central Europe between 1618 and 1648 (when Roman Emperor Ferdinand II tried to impose Roman Catholicism on a faction of Protestants from his domains). Formally, the wars were motivated by the conflict and rivalry that developed due to a change in the religious balance. However, they were due to far more than religious differences. Political, economic, and national reasons were behind the wars as well. The struggle between two Islamic rivals, Shia and Sunni, is similar to the battle between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Europe. Members of these two branches have co-​existed for centuries and share many fundamental beliefs and practices. But they differ in doctrine, ritual, law, theology and religious organization. Saudi Arabia and Iran represent the regional strongholds of two rival branches of Islam, and tensions between these countries fighting for the dominant position in the Middle East are the main reason of the escalation of the conflict, especially after the Iranian revolution in 1979. Strengthening their power religious leaders encouraged the followers and the leaders of the society to persecute the religious minority. Jews have been persecuted for thousands of years by Christians and Muslims. In Constantinople (722) they were forced to convert to Christianity. Jews exiled from Italy in 855. In 1121 Jews were driven out of Flanders (now a part of Belgium); they were neither to return nor to be tolerated until they repented of the guilt of killing Jesus Christ. They have been mercilessly chased out of their homes during the Spanish Inquisition in 1229–​1252. In 1290, sixteen thousand Jews were forced to leave England. In 1298, more than hundred thousand were killed in Franconia, Bavaria, and Austria. In 1492, three hundred thousand Jews left Spain penniless refusing to

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be baptized as Christians. They were banished from France (1394), Portugal (1497), Italy (1540), and Holland (1582). Severe restrictions were imposed on Jews in Russia in 19th and the beginning of 20th century. The persecution of Jews reached its most destructive form in the policies of Nazi Germany. While Jewish communities in Arab and Islamic countries fared better overall than those in Christian lands in Europe, Jews were no strangers to persecution and humiliation among the Arabs and Muslims. At various times, Jews in Muslim lands were able to live in relative peace and thrive culturally and economically. However, the peaceful periods were interrupted by persecutions and destruction. For example, mass murders of Jews in Arab lands occurred: in Morocco in the 8th century, whole Jewish communities were wiped out; in North Africa in the 12th century, several Jewish communities were either forcibly converted or decimated; in Libya in 1785, hundreds of Jews were murdered; in Algiers, Jews were massacred in 1805, 1815 and 1830; in Morocco, more than 300 hundred Jews were murdered between 1864 and 1880 (see Roumani, 1977). Decrees ordering the destruction of synagogues were enacted in Egypt and Syria (1014, 1293–​1294, 1301–​1302), Iraq (854–​859, 1344) and Yemen (1676). Despite the Koran’s prohibition, Jews were forced to convert to Islam or face death in Yemen (1165 and 1678), Morocco (1275, 1465 and 1790–​92) and Baghdad (1333 and 1344) (see Bat Ye’or, 1985). The situation of Jews in Arab lands reached a low point in the 19th century. Jews in most of North Africa (including Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco) were forced to live in ghettos. After the creation of the Jewish state Israel, more than a thousand Jews were killed in anti-​Jewish rioting during the 1940s in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Yemen (see Roumani, 1977). Some religious persecutions burst into the war between different religions. For example, the Lebanese Civil War (1975–​1990) was primarily sparked from conflicts between the Sunni Muslim, Shiite Muslim and Christian Lebanese populations; the Yugoslav wars (1991–​1995), consisted of the Croatian War and the Bosnian War, were fought between Christian and Muslim populations of former Yugoslavia; the Buddhist Uprising of 1966 in South Vietnam was the result of the discrimination against the majority Buddhist population by the rule of the Catholic Ngo Dinh Diem; the Sudanese Civil War (1983–​2005) war was caused by the Muslim central government choice to impose sharia law on Christian southerners. The wars between different religions distinguish themselves by demonstrating the worst atrocities imaginable. The Crusades (1095–​1291) were a series of wars between Muslims and Christians sanctioned by the Catholic Church. The aim of crusaders was to expel Islam and spread Christianity. According to the

System Approach to Macrosociology | 27 Encyclopedia of Wars, out of all 1,763 known/​recorded historical conflicts, 123, or 6.98 percent, had religion as their primary cause. As indicated earlier, in many cases, the reasons of wars were not only religious. Economic factors, which were under control of the administrative unit, drove much of the conflicts. This fact shows that despite frictions between the leaders of the administrative and religious units, usually they worked together. Organized religion presented an independent source of power. On the one hand, societal leaders needed a help of religious leaders who controlled the souls of a society’s members. On the other hand, the religious units depended on the administrative units that had a military power and controlled the societal land and economy. The religious leaders supported the societal leaders and, in turn, the societal leaders chose religion that would help them govern. “Paris is well worth a Mass,” said Henry of Navarre, who became France’s king Henri IV at the cost of converting to Catholicism. This famous phrase shows that the political decisions of leaders is determined by their well-​being criteria. Napoleon Bonaparte supported the anti-​clericalism of the French revolution (the Catholic church’s lands were confiscated) which brought him to power. His 1793 phrase about politics “It is better to eat than be eaten.” is as eloquently cynical as the phrase of Henri IV. Religion effects different societies in different ways and influences their development. It can be a driving force in society and a reactionary one. Marx argued that religion is “the opium of the people.” Lenin claimed that religions act as a “spiritual gin in which people can drown their human shape and their claims to any decent life.” Both of them claimed that religion justified the social order and was used by the ruling class to justify their position. For them religion was a platform for social change. Of course, religious persecutions and wars hampered social development. But the so-​called Marxists, pursuing their goals, did not see and did want to see the main and most important features of religion—​its stabilizing function inside society, a part of the law and order components required for the normal functioning of society. We defined social system as an active system where each component acts to optimize its own well-​being criterion. This can be done by certain activities—​ control actions. For most people it means a useful labor. But this is only one class of possible controls. Another class includes such actions as killing, assault, murder, robbery, fraud, deception, theft, and other evil actions. The basic religious principles are the source of morality. They appeal to decency and civility. However, the real enforcement power is in the hands of the administrative units that can make inadmissible certain forms of human behavior. The efficiency of such power depends on the structure of the societal administrative units and

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the dominant ideology. A detailed analysis of these structures is considered in Chapters 4 and 5.

References Adler, A.  (1956). The Individual Psychology. Ansbacher, H.  and Ansbacher, R.  R. (eds.). New York: Harper Torchbooks. Aristotle. (2011). Art of Rhetoric. Translated by Bartlett, R. London: The University of Chicago. Bat Ye’or. (1985). The Dhimmi. Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Churchman, C. and Ackoff, R. (1950). Methods of Inquiry: Introduction to Philosophy and Scientific Method. St. Louis, MO: Educational Publications. Giddens, A. (2001). Sociology. Fourth Edition. London: Polity Press. Harrison, P. (1990). ‘Religion’ and the Religions in the English Enlightenment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hergenhahn, B. (2000). An Introduction to Theories of Learning. London: Taylor & Francis. Hull, C. (1952). A History of Psychology in Autobiography. Worcester, MA: Clark University Press. Laffont, J. and Martimort, D. (2001). The Theory of Incentives: The Principal-​Agent Model. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper & Brothers. Pareto, W. (1935). The Mind and Society. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. Ritzer, G. and Murphy, W. (2019). Introduction to Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, Inc. Roumani, M. (1977). The Case of the Jews from Arab Countries: A Neglected Issue. Tel Aviv: World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries. Tajfel, H. (2010). Social Identity and Intergroup Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Van den Berghe, P. (1975). Man in Society: A Biosocial View. New York: Elsevier. Wadsworth, B. (2004). Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive and Affective Development: Foundations of Constructivism. New York: Longman. Wiener, N. (1948). Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Yanushevsky, R.  (2011). Guidance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. New  York, London:  Taylor & Francis, CBC Press.

2

Lessons of History

“Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” —​Winston Churchill

Introduction Sociology is a conglomerate of various disciplines related to human behavior. If the development of a theory of a process or phenomena belonging to non-​ live nature is based on extensive experiments, the testing of humans are limited by the necessity to guarantee their safety. As to the societal research, the only source of information is the existing historic materials which bear a subjective imprint—​their authors’ attitude toward the described events. To present properly the historic material within the chosen time frame and use it for building a societal dynamic model, it is of importance to choose such characteristics, factors, or properties that generate societal changes. Usually, such an approach is utilized for classification of societies, determining their types based on certain characteristics.

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Below we will use the classification based on economic factors (technological advances) indicated in Chapter 1 and widely used by sociologists and anthropologists. Economic factors, such as the mode of production (the way of producing goods and services: the forces of production and the relations of production) and the means of production, are used by Marx (1999). Marx distinguishes five principal types of societies: primitive, Asiatic, ancient, feudal and capitalist. Unfortunately, Marx made the main accent on political aspects of the production process (who controls the means of production) rather than economy. This explains blunders of his theory, which we will discuss in Chapter 3, as well as the controversial choice of the Asiatic type of societies (he meant specifics of Indian society in the late 18th and early 19th centuries) which was widely criticized. Auguste Comte, known as the father of sociology, based his classification of societies on intellectual development. He assumed that all societies passed through distinct stages of belief or ideology, evolving from the lower to the highest stages, namely: military society, legal society, industrial society. However, he considered beliefs as the economic stage-​dependent. There exists a broad classification on open and closed societies. A closed society is the one that is closed to the normal processes of change and its conception of morality contains no concern for outsiders. The societies under authoritarian and inhumane regimes are examples of closed societies. An open society allows its members considerable freedom (as in democracy). It is impossible to create the classification that would cover all specific features of human societies. Each human group brings its own specifics in terms of its own culture and history in the social and political structure. The goal of a sociologist is not that of simply identifying societies but in finding out the general features in their development, establishing, analyzing, and explaining the phases of this development, determining factors that enable one to judge whether a particular kind of society has the potential to nurture, defend and survive and what changes can bring societal progress. The problem of explaining social change was central in the societal theories of 19th century that can be divided into theories of social evolution (Saint-​Simon (1760–​1825); Auguste Comte; Herbert Spencer (1820–​1903); Emile Durkheim (1858–​1917)) and theories of social revolution (Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels (1820–​1895)). The evolutionary theory and cyclical theory were developed by assuming similarity of societal evolution with biological evolution. Charles Darwin, who created the theory of biological evolution, showed that species of organisms have evolved from simpler organisms to the more complicated organisms

Lessons of History | 31 through the processes of variations and natural selection. Society began to be viewed as undergoing the same changes and demonstrating the same trends, and evolution was considered as a process of differentiation and integration (see Spencer, 1887). It was conceived that societies were subject to the same general laws of biological and organism growth. They pass through same stages of development, and the changes are inevitable; they are gradual, continuous, progressive, and natural. Marx and Engels also supported the evolutionary approach to social development, from savagery through barbarism to civilization emphasizing that each stage contained within itself “the seeds of its own destruction,” and would inevitably be succeeded by the next, higher on the scale of evolution, stage (see Marx, 1999). The social development theories with the above indicated assumptions that each society must pass through fixed and limited numbers of stages in a given sequence dominated the sociological scene and supported by anthropologists and sociologists of 19th century. Later the requirement to go through the same fixed stages of development was rejected by some sociologists (see, e.g., Steward, 1969). Cyclical theory presents a variation of evolution theory; the phases of social societies are considered differently. Its authors argued that societies change according to cycles of rise, decline and fall just as individual persons are born, mature, grow old, and die. According to Spengler (1962), every society has a predetermined life cycle—​birth, growth, maturity, and decline. After passing through all these stages of life cycle, society returns to the original stage and thus the cycle begins again. Despite criticism of the above discussed theories (see, e.g., Giddens, 2001) over the lack of persuasive arguments concerning the driving forces of changes and the assertion that growth may create social problems rather than social progress, their analogy with the biological evolutional theory deserves additional serious consideration. Moreover, the recent advances in biology should be also used for building a rigorous macrosociological theory. It is well known that the immune system of a human multicellular organism protects it from diseases. The system tries to recognize alien cells, marks invaders, raise the alarm and later destroy them by other cells. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place. The immune system normally removes damaged or abnormal cells from the body. Is not the described above mechanism similar to actions of the administrative unit to keep societies safe?

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Functionalism, as a new approach to the study of society developed at the beginning of 20th century, focuses mostly on the structure of society assuming that it, like the human body, is a balanced system of institutions which contribute to the maintenance of society as a whole. When events outside or inside the society disrupt the equilibrium, social institutions make adjustments to restore stability. If an institution no longer serves a role, it will die away. When new needs evolve or emerge, new institutions will be created to meet them. The so-​called conflict theorists, who opposed structural-​functionalism since it cannot explain change, do not believe that societies smoothly evolve to higher level. For them social change is the result of a struggle between conflicting groups (Coser, 1964). Their statement that conflict is a necessary condition for change is obvious. However, it is not a sufficient condition to build theory of societal change. The Marx theory rests on the assumption that society consists of two structures: the infrastructure (the forces of production and relations of production) and the superstructure (legal, ideological, political and religious institutions) which serves to maintain the infrastructure. According to Marx, changes in the economic infrastructure of society are the prime movers of social change. For Marx, production system is the lever of all social changes. In contrast to Marx, Pareto (1935), world known for his contribution to the theory of multicriteria optimization, states in his theory of Circulation of Elites that major social changes in society occur not when rulers are overthrown from below, but when one elite replaces another. The ordinary people are followers and supporters of one elite or another rather than initiators or the main driving force of the changes. The Marx production system corresponds, to some extent, to the used in the book production unit, and the Pareto elites belong mostly to the administrative unit. It is impossible to deny that the level of production of goods and services, the state of economy, is a decisive factor affecting social change. However, there are other factors that should not be neglected. A  separate analysis of the production or administrative unit dynamics cannot explain social changes. Only the consideration of the interaction between elements of these units is a proper approach to build theory of social change. Classification reflects special features that distinguish societies. That is why there exist various types of classification. The sections of this chapter are built according to the classification which reflects societal changes linked to the economic development, and the considered historical examples can be used later to as a proof of the validity of the presented statements.

Lessons of History | 33

Hunting and Gathering Society Hunting and Gathering society is the oldest and the simplest type of society. Roughly around 10000 B.C. all societies relied heavily on hunting wild animals and gathering food for survival. The bulk of this evidence is archaeological in nature and it is supplemented by anthropological data. In these societies most decisions were made based upon group discussions. Often the communities concentrated on specific animals and tried to maintain a year food supply. There existed no difference between a leader and followers. There was a gender-​based division of labor but without any gender inequality as such. Most people did much the same things most of the time. Hence they shared common life experiences and values. Most of these groups were based on kinship, with most of their members being related by ancestry or marriage. The entire society was organized around kinship ties. Since hunting and gathering societies have a limited degree of specialization of labor, their members had a greater degree of similarity of experience and, as a result, a greater level of consensus and community participation in all aspects of their life. Such societies had a small and sparse population, a nomadic way of life (they have to leave one area as soon as they have exhausted its food resources), and a very primitive tools such as stone axes, spears and knives. Production was communal and cooperative; the distribution system was based on sharing. Sharing was a norm in such societies and ownership was communal. Warfare was unknown to them, partly because they had virtually no property. Religion was not developed among these people into a complex institution. Their religion did not include a belief in a god or gods. They tended to see the world as populated by unseen spirits that should be taken into account but not necessarily worshipped. Even today there are still a handful of isolated peoples who still continue this style of life: Aranda of the Central Australian desert; the San people of Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa; Itibamute Eskimos; Bushmen of Southwestern Africa. The structure of this simplest type of society can be presented by the single production unit with all activity of its members focused to survive.

Pastoral Societies When small hunter and gathering societies learned the more complex mechanism of sowing seeds, growing plants and breading animals, they became able to domesticate and breed herds of them. As a result, these societies entered a

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new phase—​the pastoral phase. This phase involved cultivation on a small scale, usually gardens, for immediate limited subsistence level of consumption. Pastoral societies dealt with the domestication of large animals to provide food. They emerged in mountainous regions and areas with low amounts of annual rainfall. In comparison with the hunting and gathering societies, pastoral societies are larger in size and may have hundreds or even thousands of members due to use of the flocks and herds of domesticated animals for subsistence needs. In practice, if needed, hunting and gathering and even horticulture were used as additional means of survival. Such a strategy was more productive than hunting and gathering because it provided a permanent food supply and enabled the accumulation of surplus resources. Since herds can be owned, ideas about private property and inheritance of wealth are likely to emerge. Individuals with larger accumulated resources became more powerful and passed on their status to their descendants. This produced social inequality. Patterns of leadership began to appear as powerful and wealthy families secured better social positions. Similarly to hunter-​gatherers, pastoral people were nomadic because of their seasonal need to find sufficient grazing areas and water sources for their herds. However, the tasks of growing plants and raising animals obviously required a reasonable amount of settled life. Pastoral societies were larger than hunting and gathering societies but still relatively small. The little division of labor, as in hunting and gathering societies, was based on age and sex. The used tools were very simple such as hoes and plows that were more often pushed by a person. Their nomadic way of life often established contacts between pastoral societies. This helped them to develop trading. Their main objects of trading were goats, sheep, tents, woven carpets, simple utensils etc. Pastoral societies gave more importance to their temporary territories than hunting and gathering societies did. Disputes over grazing rights with other pastoral societies sometimes resulted in warfare. Captives in war were put to work for their conquerors. This gave the birth to slavery, the feature unknown in hunting and gathering societies. Patriarchal forms of social organization were likely to became popular, especially among those who had and used horses for transportation and warfare. According to Lenski (1970), pastoral people tend to develop their own religious beliefs. “They commonly believe in a god or gods, who take an active interest in human affairs and look after the people who worship them. Judaism, Christianity and Islam—​originated among pastoral peoples.” In pastoral societies with larger populations political and economic institutions began to appear, and both social structure and culture became more complex.

Lessons of History | 35

Horticultural Societies The hunter and gathering societies way of life was universal until around of 8000 B.C. when farming began to develop in some regions. Gradually, farming became dominant means of getting food, and in certain areas hunter-​gatherers were pushed into the regions where farming was impossible. The development and use of domestic plants and animals, often called Neolithic Revolution, marked the beginning of the new way of life, as people settled down in permanent villages that is considered as the first step toward civilization. Neolithic period is the final stage of cultural evolution or technological development among prehistoric humans. Horticultural society is associated with the elementary discovery that plants can be grown from seeds. While pastoral is common in areas with poor soil, horticultural is more common as means of subsistence in regions with fertile soil. Horticultural societies main activity was food production based on the cultivation of plants. These societies emerged in more fertile areas that were better suited for growing plants through the use of hand tools. Horticultural societies first appeared at about the same time as pastoral societies. A horticultural society is a social system based on horticulture, a mode of production in which digging sticks are used to cultivate small gardens. Horticultural societies developed around 7000 B.C. in the Middle East and gradually spread west through Europe and Africa and east through Asia, then in America. They were the first type of society in which people grew their own food and in which settlements were permanent. Horticulturists specialized in the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and plants such as wheat, rice, etc. in order to survive. More advanced horticultural societies have metal tools and weapons. However, there was no assistance from animal or mechanical powered tools. The subsistence strategy of horticulturists was “slash and burn” technology. They burned trees and cleared areas of land for planting, raised crops for two or three years until the soil became exhausted and then repeated the process. In some cases, people combined horticulture with hunting or fishing, or with the keeping of a few domesticated farm animals. However, often they were forced to relocate when the resources of the land were depleted or when the water supplies decreased. Unlike pastoralists, horticulturists had larger population and stayed in one place longer before they migrated in search of better conditions. Horticulturists assured better food surplus. The surplus permitted storage as well as job specialization and the emergence of other professions not related to the

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survival of the society. Some their members produced tools or clothing. Division of labor and surplus resources produced social inequality, created a more complex division of labor, and opportunities for successful trade between horticultural societies. The family was the basic unit in horticultural societies. Because they typically did not move as often as hunter-​gatherers or pastorals, horticulturalists established more permanent family ties. In horticultural societies ties focused on kinship were common, and the social ties were organized around the feminized work of crop cultivation. Because women were at the center of work and survival in horticultural societies, they were highly valuable to men. For this reason, polygyny (when a husband has multiple wives) was common. Some social analysts believe that the invention of a hoe with a metal blade was a contributing factor to the less nomadic lifestyle of horticulturalists. Unlike the digging stick, usage of the metal-​blade hoe made planting more efficient and productive. By using a hoe horticulturists were able to cultivate the soil more deeply and crops could be grown in the same area for longer periods. As a result, people remained for longer periods in the same location. It was common in horticultural societies that men took on political or militaristic roles. Politics in horticultural societies was often centered on the redistribution of food and resources within the community. Warfare became more common in horticultural societies that also were the first known societies to support the institution of slavery. Horticultural and pastoral societies were less egalitarian than hunter and gathering societies. There existed an impressive range of variation within horticultural societies. The structure of a simpler horticultural society had a modest difference compared to hunter and gatherer societies. The formation of the administrative unit was seen in the more complex societies including up to a few tens thousands people. Similar to headmen in the simpler societies, the so-​called bigmen were leaders of kin groups including about a few hundred people. Such persons were responsible for the coordination of redistribution food and other necessities between kin groups. However, their formal powers were usually weak. The senior leader, the chief, was usually a male who won free competition for popular support. Such person was often the senior male of the purportedly senior lineage (the man who can trace his ancestry back to a founding male through eldest sons). Typically the chief should possess qualities to make his will felt and people would obey his will. During wars his obligations were to call out warriors and lead them into battle. The chief was usually also endowed with supernatural respect, as a chief priest of a local cult. Nevertheless, the power of the administrative unit still was

Lessons of History | 37 not strong enough, and the bigmen and chiefs acted as mediators, mobilizers of public opinion, and occasionally co-​enforcers of customary rules. They usually used their prestige to ensure in-​group peace rather than force. Similar to pastoral societies, horticulture societies believed in a god or gods. They had also some rare practices such as cannibalism, headhunting, and human sacrifice. Cannibalism, eating enemies’ skin, was an act of ritual revenge. Headhunting was taken as evidence of courage and skill of warrior. The acts of human sacrifice (the act of killing one or more humans), as part of a ritual to please or appease gods, coincide with a change in the nature of horticultural societies. Some scientists believe that human sacrifice helped stabilize and maintain social inequality. Examples of still existing horticultural societies: Gururumba tribe in New Guinea; Masai people of Kenya.

Agricultural Societies For pastoral and horticulture societies agriculture was the main source of survival. During the period of 5000–​3000 B.C. agriculture was transformed from a subsistence activity into in an industry. With the invention of the plough the agrarian revolution marked its beginning. Usage of this tool increased the productivity of labor. Combining irrigation techniques with the use of ploughs increased production and ability to renew soil. Size of the agricultural societies was significantly greater than that of pastoral and horticultural communities. They produced relatively greater wealth than pastoral and horticulture societies which was unequally shared. Two distinct social classes—​those who owned the land and those who worked on the land of others—​appeared. Surplus food supplies made it possible for some members of the society to devote time to non-​agricultural activities: as artisans, traders, soldiers, priests, rulers, etc. These societies were able to support people providing creative ideas to the culture which became more diversified. Poets, writers and artists were encouraged to continue their work. There was also sufficient production to support a ruling class as well as a range of specialized occupations including administrations, soldiering and scholars. The expansion of trade was accompanied by the development of money system used as a medium of exchange instead of the used earlier barter system (exchange of services and goods for other services and goods). The individuals engaged in non-​agricultural activities tended to concentrate in some compact places which ultimately led to the birth of the cities.

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Thus agricultural societies were organizationally more complex than horticultural societies. Their administrative and production units contained definite subdivisions with strictly defined functions. The period of around 4000–​2500 B.C. was characterized by the emergence of the first cities symbolizing the beginning of urban civilization. In the Republic, Plato (2019) asserts that the city-​state (a city and the area around it with an independent government) have come into being because of the mutual needs and the resulting interdependence of individuals. Out of this interdependence arose the division of labor, the specialization of individuals in different occupations in accordance with their natural gifts and the mutual exchange of their products for those of others out of self-​interest. Specialization of labor and social stratification in the agricultural society created the need of a justice system; as a result, the court system emerged. Only a small proportion of the population, seldom more than 10 percent of the total, lived in cities. The cities performed the general functions of coordination and control and were the centers of political administration, craft manufactures, and commercial trade. Urban society consisted of a diversity of groups, which were often strictly separated from each other and from the rural peasantries by hereditary distinctions. Certain individuals emerged as leaders because of their ability to organize their community for its advantage. They promoted trade for both essential and luxury goods, such as metals, and brought about the construction of main religious monuments. Religion played an important role in most societies. As agricultural societies became more and more complex, religion required full-​time officials such as priests. As communities grew in size, the power of the priests increased and the scope of their role as the leaders and organizers of society broadened. With the growth of complexity of the societies religious practices and structures (monumental edifices to glorify their gods, monuments, pyramids, etc.) emerged. In the pre-​urban societies priests not only mediated between people and the gods but also acted as their representatives on earth, organizing and directing the activities of villagers. This placed priests in a powerful position as guardians of a community’s welfare and the source of aid in hard times. Conflicts were common between city-​states and between competing groups within states, as well as with outsiders. Most cities were fortified. The cities were increasingly governed by kings, originally war leaders in the power struggles between city-​states. Some kings created great empires.

Lessons of History | 39 The earliest civilizations (the word civilization comes from the Latin term for city) began by about 3500 B.C. in a part of Western Asia long called Mesopotamia and spread to other parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mesopotamian city-​states were ruled by kings who claimed divine authority and were originally war leaders. The government helped regulate religion. It also provided a system of courts for justice. The legal system regulated property rights and duties for family members establishing punishments for crimes. By about 3000 B.C. Egyptian civilization governed by pharaohs emerged. The Chinese civilization started by about 2000 B.C. The mentioned societies demonstrated significant progress in culture, science, and technology. Variations in the structure of the administrative units can be seen on the example of Ancient Greece (700–​480 B.C.) that was not a country united under a single government. It consisted of a number of city-​states; each city-​state ruled the lands and area around it. Some city-​states had the most spread form of government-​monarchies ruled by kings. Others were oligarchies ruled by a few powerful men on councils. The city of Athens invented the different form of government; for many years it was ruled by the people. The two most powerful and famous city-​states Athens and Sparta had different administrative structure. Sparta, notorious for their lack of conventional humanity, was ruled by two hereditary kings from two separate families who had equal power. However, the power was not absolute. They shared it with a council of five men called the ephors, a council of elders, and an assembly of all the citizen. Laws were made by a council of 28 elders, who held the position for life, and the two kings. The assembly met once a month and was open to all citizens who voted by the simple method of shouting. Politically Sparta was ruled by the aristocratic families who controlled most Greek city-​states. Spartan men trained to become warriors from the day they were born. At the age of seven the sons of all Spartan citizens left home to enter a state education system in which the emphasis was on courage and discipline. Girls in Sparta were educated in the same austere virtues, training them to be good wives and mothers. Unlike the boys, they were allowed to live at home. Spartan citizens were forbidden by law to engage in any money-​making activity. Instead each was provided by the state with a lifetime interest in a plot of land which was farmed for him by the state’s slaves—​helots. The slaves did all the manual work of the community, enabling the citizens, an exclusively military caste, to concentrate on warfare and politics. The Spartans had the strongest army and the best soldiers of any city-​state in Ancient Greece.

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Similar to most of city-​states Athens was under the rule of one king and wealthy aristocrats, who held control of both the land and the government till 507 B.C. The process of modification of the earlier administrative structure enabled Athens to make 460–​320 B.C. the most important period of the golden age of civilization (it is called the Classical Age due to many Greek inventions that are still used today) and to become the birth place of democracy and the heart of the Greek civilization. There were three main bodies of the government: the assembly, the council of 500, and the courts. The assembly included all citizens who showed up to vote. However, only men who had completed their military training were counted as citizens. The assembly decided on new laws and important decisions, like whether or not to go to war. The council oversaw much of the day-​to-​day running of the government. The council members served for one year. The courts handled lawsuits and trials. The courts had large juries to help make decisions. For private lawsuits the jury was at least 201 people, for public lawsuits the jury was at least 501 people. Most of government officials were chosen by a lottery. So every citizen had a chance, regardless of their popularity or wealth, to become an official. A few key positions were voted on, such as the treasurer and the 10 generals who ran the army. Despite the democratic character of the administrative unit, slavery was a common practice in Athens, as in other societies of this period, although in Athens the lives of slaves were somewhat better. The primary use of slavery was in agriculture; some small landowners might own one or two slaves. The fact that Athens replaced kings with democratic government did not change its imperial nature, the policy of extending the power especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas. Examples of large empires in the ancient world include Sumeria (2900–​2000 B.C.), Babylonia (1792–​911 B.C., both in the Mesopotamia region), Assyria (1400–​627 B.C, the ancient Near East), Hittites (1700–​700 B.C., in modern day Turkey and Syria), the Egyptian (1991–​1069 B.C.), the Persian (550–​331 B.C., stretched from India to Europe), the Macedonian (359–​300 B.C., stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River), and, most famously, the Roman (formally Rome was a republic during 509–​27 B.C., but this did not change its imperial domination over the entire Mediterranean area). In the Roman Republic two consuls, primarily generals, had an extensive range of executive, legislative, judicial, military, and religious powers. They held military power, led the army, served as judges, and represented Rome in foreign

Lessons of History | 41 affairs. Each consul could veto the other, and the office of consul lasted for only one year. In times of war a single dictator could be appointed for six months. At the end of their year in office, the ex-​consuls became senators for life unless ousted by the censors. Senate was the advisory branch of the Roman government, composed of about 300 citizens who served for life. They were chosen by the consuls, and by the end of the 4th century, by the censors. At first, senators were only patricians (aristocrats) but in time some plebeians (lower class people, excluding slaves) joined their ranks. There were two different popular assemblies representing the democratic branch of government. The centuriate assembly, which was composed of all members of the army, elected consuls annually. The tribal assembly, composed of all citizens, approved or rejected laws and decided issues of war and peace. In 451 b.c. the first law was introduced with provisions related to debt foreclosure, paternal authority over children, property rights, inheritance, and funerary regulations. Despite its more progressive administrative structure the Roman Republic was not real democracy since the top government positions were in hands of aristocracy. The fall of the western Roman Empire brought a certain relief to European farmers who made up 80 percent or more of the total population, a release from the pressure of the Roman imperial market, army and taxation. Europe was quite isolated from the rest of the world, and was divided into many small states. Europeans were ignorant of the rest of the world. The most powerful and wealthy group of people in Europe were called the aristocracy or the nobility. There were a few hundred families who owned most of the land in Europe. They lived in big castles and had hundreds of people working for them and living on their land. Most members of the aristocracy did not work for a living. Epidemics and global cooling lasted more than hundred years caused a large decline in the European population in the 6th century. A shortage of labor may have facilitated greater freedom among rural people who were either slaves or had been bound to the land under Roman laws. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire that marked the beginning of the Middle Ages (or medieval period from the 5th to the 15th century) agriculture in Europe became more focused on self-​sufficiency. The agricultural population under feudalism (the dominant social system in medieval Europe) was typically organized into manors consisting of several hundred or more acres of land presided over by a lord of the manor. Some manors were under the authority of bishops or abbots of the Catholic church. Upper clergy consisting of the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, abbots, etc. presented a privileged class competing for power and influence with nobles. Some lords owned more than one manor, and the church controlled large areas. Most of the people living on

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the manor were peasant farmers or serfs who grew crops for themselves and either labored for the lord and church or paid rent for their land. Slavery, important for the agricultural labor force of the Roman Empire, died out in Western Europe by 1100. Similarly, the serf was tied to the land and could not leave his servitude, but his tenure on the land was secure. If the manor changed owners the serfs remained on the land. Serfs had limited rights to property and their freedom of movement was limited. The most important technical innovation for agriculture at the beginning of Common Era was the widespread adoption around 1000 of the moldboard plow and its close relative, the heavy plow. These two plows enabled farmers to exploit the fertile but heavy clay soils of Northern Europe. The moldboard and heavy plows facilitated the control of weeds and increased soil fertility. Two additional advances coming into general use in Europe around 1000 were the horse collar and the horseshoe. The horse collar increased the pulling capacity of a horse. The horseshoe protected a horse’s hooves. These advances resulted in the horse becoming an alternative to slow-​moving oxen as a draft animal and for transportation. These technological innovations resulted in the additional agricultural production and, as a consequence, a large increase in population growth. Because farming is the basis for the agricultural society, the land is its greatest value. Those who owned land hold more power than those who did not. The dominant social system of Europe between the ninth and fifteenth centuries reflects the changes in the social structure after the fall of Roman Empire; in the early Roman Republic slaves were the main labor force in agriculture and the land was not a property of one person. In the so-​called feudal society, a king owned all the land. The king allowed less powerful nobles to own and work portions of the land in exchange for a pledge of military support in the form of knights, soldiers, and goods. The nobles acted as local governors; they collected taxes and tribute, maintained judicial authority, and organized local military units. The land was then further divided by these lords among vassals with their own obligations (usually under the legal jurisdiction) to the lord. Peasants (farmers or serfs) were allowed to work the land in exchange for protection and a small share of the resources they helped gather. In China, during the Song Dynasty (960–​1279), the land law was even more favorable for peasants and farmers. Any farmer who planted on fallow land and paid taxes could own the land, and this encouraged peasants to become landowners. Although agriculture came later to China than it did in the modern-​day Middle East, around 1200 the empire had the most advanced agriculture. Chinese applied improved techniques of rice cultivation. Rice became the major food

Lessons of History | 43 crop, and their increased output enabled the population to explode. At the time it was one of the most powerful empire economically, scientifically, and militarily. In Japan, the feudal system was well ordered before the 10th century, and it persisted with modifications until the 19th century. The code of honor and conduct of the Japanese nobility, borrowed heavily from Buddhism and Confucianism, emphasized loyalty to one’s superior, personal honor, the virtues of austerity, and self-​sacrifice. The Mongol Empire (1206–​1368), stretched from Central Europe to the Sea of Japan, extending northwards into Siberia, eastwards and southwards into the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, and the Iranian plateau, and westwards as far as the Levant and Arabia, influenced significantly the development of the societies inhabiting these areas. Originating in the steppes of Central Asia, this nomadic pastoral society, that produced little of its own, created one of the largest contiguous land-​based empires based on the strong centralized ruthless leadership and the military advantage (specialized horses, bows and arrows, and swords). Despite destruction of many people the Mongol conquest led to peace between the nations under Mongol rule, the reopening trade routes between China and Europe and the unification of Russia. The Mongols also introduced guns, gunpowder, a writing system and the importance of literacy. During their invasion Mongols also introduced guns and gunpowder to Europe that led European to develop firearms technology, build separate armies and their own empires with the authoritarian power structure. The Portuguese Empire existed for almost 600  years from the capture of Ceuta, a city on the north coast of Africa in 1415. The Spanish Empire, started in 1492, was one of the largest empires in history. It reached the peak of its military, political and economic power through most of the 16th and 17th centuries. The 16th century saw the Portuguese and the Spaniards established important and profitable empires in India, Africa and America. The French colonial empire constituted the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. The British Empire originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. The administrative pyramidal unit of the abovementioned European empires included the monarch (at the top), the king’s council (which played an executive role and acted as the governmental administrative center dealing with all matters pertaining to government and royal administration—​economy, defense, foreign policy and law and order—​but playing only a consulting role), parliament as the legislative branch, and a system of courts as the judiciary branch. The mentioned

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branches (different countries gave their names to the related institutions) acted on the national level. The similar structure was on the local level as well. If Christianity was the dominant religion of the abovementioned European empires, Sunni Islam was the dominant religion of the Ottoman Empire that emerged in Anatolia (Asia Minor, in modern Turkey) during the 13th and 14th centuries and controlled most of Southeast Europe and parts of Eastern and Central Europe, much of the Middle East and North Africa during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest extent in 1590, when the empire comprised central Hungary, the Balkan Peninsula, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Syria and Palestine, western Arabia, Egypt, and lands in the Caucasus and western Iran. In Europe, Transylvania, Walachia, Moldavia, and the Crimea were tributary principalities, while in North Africa Tripoli, Tunis, and Algiers were semiautonomous provinces. The Safavid Empire (1501–​1736), another long-​life empire, had Shia Islam the official state religion and covered all of Iran and parts of Turkey and Georgia. The society of both empires was that of a hierarchy, with the Shah/​Sultan at the top of the hierarchical pyramid. Several high military officials were on the council that issued decrees in the shah’s/​sultan’s name; usually, the high-​ranking military governed in provinces. The common people, merchants, peasants and slaves were at the base of the pyramid, and the aristocrats in between. The Safavid Empire was a theocracy. Religious and political power were completely intertwined and encapsulated in the person of the Shah. All other religions, and forms of Islam were suppressed. Although Islam was the dominant religion in the Ottoman Empire, the government practiced a system of religious pluralism known as the Millet system, wherein each particular religious group (Christians, Jews, etc.) was allowed both freedom of religious practice and a significant amount of autonomy, particularly within the court system and regarding taxation. People of other faiths were allowed to use their own courts to settle disputes according to their own beliefs. The aristocracy, in the middle of the hierarchical pyramid, were the religious officials. Sons of nobles were considered for the succession of their fathers as a mark of respect; but they had to prove themselves worthy of the position. Usually, the heads of important institutions within the empire were almost always royal appointees. Non-​Muslims had more chances to succeed in the Ottoman Empire. The abovementioned empires had similar hierarchic structure of their administrative units. The status of serfs in the European empires were not significantly better than slaves in the Islamic empires. Aristocracy, high ranking military and religious officials were pillars of agricultural societies.

Lessons of History | 45 The growth of the Ottoman Empire cut off trading possibilities with the East. Europeans were forced to discover new trading routes. An era of discovery began (this period is called the Age of Discovery). The discoveries of Columbus (his travel to the Americas in 1492) and Vasco da Gamas (who led the expeditions to India and Africa in 1498) strengthened the economy and power of European nations. With the rise of trade a class of merchants started emerging. Many merchants began to spend money on different things, such as painting, learning, and new banking techniques. Science and culture were on rise and stimulated by success in technological development related to the agricultural and military areas. The European Renaissance began to take place in the 15th and 16th centuries. During that time there was a rebirth of learning, and new developments took place in many areas of everyday life. The invention of printing in Europe and the rise of literature were a part of these changes. New schools and colleges became more and more common. During the Renaissance, universities were asked questions about the established knowledge and scientists tried to find answers about the world. Some of their ideas led to important changes in science, art, language, and education. The Islamic empires also produced an artistic and cultural renaissance within Islam. Muslims preserved and translated ancient classical texts that inspired Renaissance thinkers, succeeded in developing modern university system, brought in Europe agricultural irrigation. Scientific and technological progress became a decisive factor of the regional economic growth. The development of machines and then factories replaced the plow and other agricultural equipment as the primary mode of production. The first newspapers contributed significantly to the spread of literacy. The first newspaper in England was printed in 1665. The first French newspaper Gazette (afterwards called the Gazette de France) started in 1615 under the patronage and with the active cooperation of Cardinal Richelieu. In Germany, the first daily newspaper was published in 1650. These were the moving forces transforming agricultural societies.

Industrial Societies Industrial societies came into existence about 1760 as a result of the Industrial Revolution. England became the first industrial society, a system in which large number of labor and machinery is involved in production of goods and services and which is characterized by its manufacturing base that employed more than

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fifty percent of the society’s workforce. The Industrial Revolution quickly spread to the rest of the world. Close behind England were Holland and Germany. The United States lagged behind at first because of the plantation system with its labor-​intensive agricultural work. However, once the U.S. started industrialization in 1793, it was able to do so faster than European countries. Large scale production of goods and use of new technology in the system of production became the most important feature of the industrial society. In the agricultural society most workers had their own raw materials and owned their own tools. A  worker lived a life of simplicity controlled by traditional community behavior patterns. His children saw his father working on the product, helped him and gradually learnt the job the father was doing. As if their future status was inherited just like monarchs or nobles; only the inheritance took place at a low social level. With the beginning of the Industrial Revolution an entrepreneur, a capitalist possessing a certain knowledge and managerial skills, who was ready to risk with his money, became a new element of the society. He analyzed the market needs and established a factory, bought the raw materials, and took workers from under their own roofs to produce things in his factory. In this process the worker came to be separated from the means of production. He now owned neither the raw material, nor the tools, nor the building, nor the product. He was now a labor. Later large plants were set up and corporations emerged. Factory production, fixed capital and free labor were the characteristics of this revolution. As a result of this economic revolution, several important changes occurred in the social structure, and the new type of society, called industrial society, was born. If in agricultural societies products and resources were all made by craftsmen who would create each item by hand or by farmers who would have to plant and harvest using only manual labor, manufacturing used the power of such external energy sources as water or steam to create new tools and machinery, driven by these sources, that increased the speed of production. This created a lot of new jobs to operate the machinery and use properly the tools, first in the textile industry (such as boot mills and shirt factories) and eventually spreading into other areas. The invention of the steam engine brought about new types of transportation, including trains and steamships. Because most factories were located in urban areas, the new jobs created by the industrialization of manufacturing drove up the population of cities and raised the standard of living by providing employment opportunities to lower social classes who had previously lacked the skills necessary to obtain such employment. In the industry-​based economy a number of professional and technical jobs requiring special knowledge and

Lessons of History | 47 training emerged. Means of transportation were improved and a wider network of communications were developed to better facilitate the transfer of products from place to place. Industrialization made urbanization desirable so that workers could be closer to centers of production. In turn, this created the service industry providing services in various areas (such as retail, transport, distribution, food, etc.) and offering jobs in this field. This led to the rise of very large cities and surrounding suburban areas with a high rate of economic activity. Industrialization brought changes in almost every aspect of society. These changes were the result of transformation of the production unit that became more complex and dynamic, consisting of many sub-​units with different economic orientation. The agricultural society was a homogeneous society where people were engaged in the same economic pursuit. There was not much division of labor. There was no multiplicity of economic and social groups. Division of labor in the industrial society created various groups with different interests linked directly to their job responsibilities. The family as a uniform economic unit of the agricultural society, a group that tills the soil, harvests the crops, and carries out cooperatively the other necessary farm functions, disappeared. The neighborhood, the village norms and customs determining the people behavior and their vision of the outside world, an important factor of the agricultural society, disappeared as well. In the industrial society, it is not only the men who went to the factory and offices for work; but the women also were earning members as the men and had an opportunity to work in different fields. As a result, the family members of industrial society were individualized in their outlook. The family became not only a production element but also to a consumption one. It now no longer performed the functions which it did in the pre-​industrial societies. The emergence of modern family in place of traditional patriarchal family is an important feature of the industrial society. Changes produced by the Industrial Revolution spread first and fastest in Western Europe—​Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Scandinavia, and, to an extent, Germany and Italy. Eastern and Southern Europe, more rural at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, changed more slowly. The presence of a nonproducing class, holding wealth and power on the basis of private land ownership in the agricultural societies, was challenged by a new class of bourgeois, the middle class of industrialists, entrepreneurs, merchants, bankers—​active participants of the Industrial Revolution, who created their wealth during that period. This class started trying to seize power from the

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hereditary privileged aristocracy and using its increasing wealth to make monarchs brought meaningful changes in the societal structure. The resentment of the bourgeoisie toward being excluded from political power and positions of honor was one of the reasons of the French Revolution in 1789, which overthrew the monarchy (rule by a hereditary king or queen) and established a republic. In addition it also weakened the Church and the aristocracy legitimacy, the principles founding the European ruling coalitions. The Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies. It is impossible to deny the influence of the French Revolution in 1789 on the social changes during the First Industrial Revolution (1760–​1870). The bourgeois-​ democratic French Revolution of 1870 that instituted a republic started a movement of democratization and liberalization that deeply influenced the European social structure during the 19th century, and the Second Industrial Revolution (1870–​1914) was a direct reflection of these changes. Started in Britain the First Industrial Revolution then spread throughout Western Europe and later North America. Britain and Germany started the Second Industrial Revolution. Germany invested more heavily than Britain in research, especially in chemistry, motors and electricity, and became a driving force of innovations. The Second Industrial Revolution was a period of rapid industrial development, primarily in Britain, Germany, and the United States, but also in France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Scandinavia, Italy, Japan, and Russia. By 1900, the leaders in industrial production was Britain with 24 percent of the world total, followed by the U.S. (19 percent), Germany (13 percent), Russia (9 percent) and France (7 percent). The indicated period was marked by technological, scientific, social and economic innovations. Steel began to replace iron and was used for construction projects, industrial machines, railroads, ships and many other items. The availability of cheap steel allowed building larger bridges, railroads, skyscrapers, ships, and more sophisticated military equipment. Electricity became the primary source of power factories, farms and homes. Inventions of electric lights made it possible for people to work around the clock. The use of electricity fundamentally changed the way people worked and lived. The first efficient commercial electrical generators were used in the 1870s. Electricity was used for transportation, as well. In 1879, the first electric railroad appeared in Germany. The invention of the telephone opened a new era in communication. The first commercial telegraph system was installed. German inventor Karl Benz patented the world’s first automobile in 1886. This period saw the development of new forms of energy such as gas and oil with their various applications.

Lessons of History | 49 The science was continually improved and evolved into an engineering discipline. Fundamental results in physics (thermodynamics, electromagnetic theory, optics, etc.) and chemistry found their industrial applications. Newspapers and journals appeared. Universities started preparing specialists in various fields. The industrial society transformed its economy; in turn, the economy was changing the society and its neighbors. The pre-​industrial society was structured on endorsed status. The industrial society shattered this structure. The status of a member of industrial society depended on his accomplishments; it could raise or low during his life time. The most important difference between the industrial and pre-​industrial society is in the structure of economic institutions based on the property rights. The established conception of what constitutes property expanded beyond land to encompass various things belonging to individuals. Moreover, the French Revolution of 1789 led to large-​scale confiscation of land formerly owned by church and king. The industrial society was marked by a new system of production, distribution, and exchange. Capitalism was marked by the institutions of private property, division of labor, profit oriented activity, competition, and the wage and credit system. One of its new features was the collective ownership. With the emergence of corporations, industrial business became owned not by one man but by millions of people and was controlled by management. The society changed its attitude to workers who were not considered as a social class and did not have access to political representation. In 1851, universal male suffrage started in France. Germany was the second European state to offer universal male suffrage in 1866. In 1867, Britain doubled the electorate and gave vote to the lower middle class for the first time; the Reform Bill also limited working hours, established sanitary codes, created housing standards, and aided labor unions; in 1884, 2/​3 adult males received the right to vote. Between 1883 and 1889, Germany established a comprehensive system of social insurance that included accident, sickness, and old age benefits and became the first welfare state in Europe. In the 1890s, France, influenced by socialist parties, pushed through a limited program of unemployment, old age, accident, and sickness insurance for workers. In the 1890s, the emergence of the Labor Party in England highlighted the agenda for social reform providing accident, sickness, old age, and unemployment insurance for workers. Technological innovations helped to make transoceanic connections possible that, in turn, made possible the interconnection of the Eastern and Western hemispheres and the formation of new regional markets and financial centers. Increased transregional and global trade networks facilitated the spread of religion

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and other elements of culture as well as the migration of large numbers of people. The increase in interactions between newly connected hemispheres and intensification of connections within hemispheres led to the spread of Christianity and reform of existing religions. The 19th century Europe witnessed the impact of the new political and social ideas, rapid population growth and acceleration of the industrialization, the clash between the forces of change and of conservatism. This century is known not only as the period of workers fight for more democratic regimes but also as the century of growing nationalism and numerous wars between powerful nations. In contrast to some democratic changes in Europe, the Industrial Revolution produced an opposite effect on the Muslim world. The Ottoman Empire and Egypt started reshaping their military forces in the image of European powers. This process involved the reorganization and building of new educational facilities. Military and other reforms resulted in the rise of a new elite that was educated in European style academies. To expand central power the rulers tried to decrease influence of religious leaders—​ulama and millet leaders. The 19th century was dominated by a new round of revolution, the unifications of the German and Italian nations, and by the wars that left lasting effects on the entire world and set the stage for the two deadliest World Wars of the next century. The publication of Marx’s Capital produced significant effect on the development of the labor movement in Europe and later all over the world. In Germany, before World War I, the Social Democratic Party won the Reichstag elections of 1912 with almost 35  percent of the popular vote and became the strongest parliamentary group. The socialist unions fought successfully for bilateral collective labor agreements with employers. As a result, wages had risen modestly but steadily over the last decade before the war. In turn, employers resisted any concessions, and the climate in German industrial relations changed for the worse before 1914. Usually, a war serves a kind of a remedy to improve the political climate inside a country. This was one of the reasons of the 1914 war in which eight million people died. Because of World War I the European map underwent a change. The German, Russian, Turkish, and Austro-​Hungarian Empires that fought in this war were swept away by defeat and revolution. Monarchy was abolished in these countries. Out of the debris of these empires many new states like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, etc. were born. In Russia, its poor economy, growing unrest among the population and severe losses during the war resulted in the Russian Revolution of 1917. During its first stage the monarchy was overthrown and replaced by

Lessons of History | 51 the Provisional Government as a step in the creation of a permanent democratic-​ parliamentary institution for Russia. However, in October, this government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks (the October Bolshevik Revolution) and the Soviet Communist government (the formation of USSR in 1922) was established, the authoritarian regime that lasted for decades. The spread of democracy and nationalism was the most significant effect of World War 1. The nationalistic movements gained strength not only in Europe but also in Asia and Africa, where people strengthened their fight for independence. In 1920, most of the European countries had democratic governments established. Multiparty systems of government looked as a sign of strengthening democracy. Trade unions became a powerful economic force in various countries. In a number of countries labor welfare laws were passed to meet the demands of the workers. Economic crisis in Germany in early 1920 and the Great Depression of 1929 totally destabilized the European economy. At the same time, Japan became a powerful country in Asia, and the United States, despite the Great Depression, emerged as a super power. The spread of Marxism and the revolution in Russia made communism one of the world’s influencing ideologies and gave birth to communist parties. In Germany, the members of Communist party and some representatives of the workers movement, altogether with Jewish population, were accused by the powerful propaganda machine of the Nazi Party (the National Socialist German Workers’ Party) of being the reason of all German failures. Under Hitler’s leadership this party started World War II. Nazism in Germany and Fascism in Italy, as well as the power government structure in the Soviet Union, presented the new form of government—​totalitarianism, where one party has total control. Germany’s defeat in World War II brought the Soviet Union to the world stage as one of the liberators from fascism. The map of Europe and the world was greatly changed, setting the tone for political battles throughout the remainder of the century. If before the War the Soviet Union was the only country with the communist ideology, after the War it extended its influence by obtaining a group of vassals in the Europe with communist dictatorship. China and North Korea brought this ideology to Asia. The presence of a huge and potentially powerful block of communist nations in Europe and Asia changed the balance of world politics. Communists parties created in the European democratic countries and in the United States were subsidized and guided by Kremlin. They became the Soviet organ of communist propaganda, spying, and subversive activity. After the Soviet Union became the world’s second (after the United States) nuclear

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power and taking into account that Stalin brought all the East European countries under the umbrella of Soviet control, Russia became the second superpower. It was the beginning of the Cold War Era. In 1948, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) consisting of ten Western European nations plus the United States and Canada was formed to provide mutual defense and stability in Europe, peacekeeping in Europe and beyond. To prevent in Southeast Asia the spread of communism Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO, 1955) was created that included Australia, France, Britain, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the U.S. In response to NATO, the Soviet Union responded with the Warsaw Pact (1955) consisting of seven Eastern European nations and the Soviet Union. In the previous centuries a large part of the world was in the hands of European powers, established as colonies. After World War II the process of decolonization started. Local nationalist movements forced various European empires to leave Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Korea was freed in 1945 after the defeat of Japan. In 1946, the U.S.  relinquished the Philippines. Britain left India in 1947, Palestine in 1948, and Egypt in 1956; it withdrew from Africa in the 1950s. The French left Vietnam in 1954 and gave up its North African colonies by 1962. This was a period of the rapid spread of democratic forms of government in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Africa. Technological progress helped create sophisticated weapons and test them during the Wars. The level of devastation and lives losses during these wars plus the development of new nuclear weapons produced a sobering effect on the world community. People of leading industrial countries wanted a quiet and peaceful life. This endeavor found its reflection in several international organization established immediately as the end of World War II to promote international cooperation and security. The largest and most influential was the United Nations (UN), which goal was to promote peace and stability. The unconceivable bloodshed of the World Wars led to the creation of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), sometimes called the World Court, established in 1945 by the UN Charter as the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and responsible for settling international legal disputes submitted by states. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was to stabilize the international monetary system and act as a monitor of the world’s currencies to ensure stable exchange rates. The World Bank was to focus on post-​war infrastructure reconstruction and help developing countries to reduce poverty by providing financing, policy advice, and technical assistance to their governments.

Lessons of History | 53 The administrative and production units of industrial countries became significantly complex and qualitatively different from the pre-​industrial ones. Starting 1930, industrialism changed the nature of agricultural production. In countries such as the United States, large-​scale agribusinesses had practically replaced small, family-​owned farms and ranches. New types of industries as automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical, etc. emerged. Education was considered as an important instrument of national development. Public education via schools, the increased number of schools, universities and technical colleges, and eventually the mass media became the norm of the post-​World War II life. The growth of the world’s population and the improved level of life is a sign of progress that can be explained partially by the after–​World Wars reshaping of the administrative and production units of many countries. The most common form of government from ancient times to the early part of the 20th century was monarchy. The World Wars ended this tradition. Now the vast majority of all the world’s states have the elected government based on national constitutions. Even one-​party states, such as the traditional Communist countries and other nations in Africa, Asia, and South America, created formal constitutions to legitimize the established rules. Technological progress was the decisive factor of all positive changes in the world. However, the existence of nuclear weapons and the desire of some countries to develop it made the world more dangerous than it had been earlier.

Post-​Industrial Societies The post-​industrial society is the stage of society’s development when the service sector (made up of people such as doctors, nurses, teachers, researchers, social workers, lawyers, etc.) generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy. It means that it accounts of more of the economic growth and wealth than the manufacturing sector that consists of more than twenty subsectors of different industries, which are made up of people such as construction workers, textile mill workers, food manufacturers, electrical equipment workers, computers and electronic products workers, etc. At the end of 1960s, the United States became the first country to have more than fifty percent of its workers employed in service sector jobs. The shift of the labor force to the service sector was possible in societies that focused on mass producing goods using machinery and often assembly lines. Information technology and advanced technology are more important in the post-​industrial societies than manufacturing goods, which

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variety and quantity are available to an average person and their surplus is a subject of international trade. Science-​based industries of the post-​industrial societies rested on knowledge-​ based activities are fundamentally different from the industries of the Industrial Revolution, such as steel, automobile, and telephone. Modern cars contain products of different industries; computer technology devices control not only the car performance and safety but also serve as a navigation system, radio, enable one to play music, watch TV, and use a phone. The extensive production of personal computers, the widespread use of email and the Internet have changed dramatically the nature of work and the economy. Sociologists introduced the term knowledge economy emphasizing its greater reliance on intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources, as it was before. These capabilities include efforts to pay attention and integrate improvements in every stage of the production process from its research and development to production and the interface with customers. The value and importance to the economy of manual labor workforce decline, and those of professional workers (e.g., scientists, computer programmers, creative-​industry professionals, and information technology professionals) grow in value and prevalence. The Internet became a universal tool: for learning, for conducting research, for business, for marketing, for shopping, for entertainment, and for communication. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn enable groups of people to exchange views. This presented an opportunity for each person to express himself/​herself and feel that his/​her opinion matters. Such opportunity is the best manifestation of democracy, ability for persons to have their voice heard. Now many countries have made this possible. World War II caused the deaths of around sixty million soldiers and civilians. It proved that extreme nationalism in Europe and an increase tension between European nations led to the devastation rather than prosperity. A common expression after 1945 was “Never again,” which symbolized a universal desire not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The logical inference was to change the existing system of competition between European states to a system of cooperation. In 1957, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg sign a treaty in Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market. In 1993, the European Union (EU) was created, a political and economic union between European countries that set policies concerning the members’ economies, societies, laws, and, to some extent, security. The European Union of 27 member nations presents a political union among sovereign states, and its Common Market constitutes one of the major economies of the world.

Lessons of History | 55 The ideas of the so-​called globalization—​international integration, arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture—​ that, as its proponents stated, has the potential to solve such world problems like unemployment and poverty, became popular in some post-​industrial societies. In 1995, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations, was created. The separate collective trade agreements, such as, for example, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, 1993), the negotiated Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union and the United States, and various international organizations dealing with various would community’s problems are the elements of interaction between nations unknown earlier. The international judicial system (e.g., Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) established in 1952; European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) established in 1959; Central American Court of Justice first established in 1907 was reconfigured in 1991 under the newly created Central American Integration System (SICA);the Inter-​A merican Court of Human Rights established in 1969; the International Criminal Court (ICC) established in 2002 to consider serious international crimes, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity) contributed to peace and stability after the devastating World Wars. Capitalism, an economic and political system in which a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit rather than by the state, remains an important characteristic of the most post-​industrial societies. A capitalist country (e.g., the United States) is a country with a free market economy, where people have ownership of business and property. Services such as health care are also available for private use in a free market. Socialist governments (in most European countries) control ownership of the most important industries or a significant part of their assets and provide services such as education, health care and welfare services. In communist systems (the former Soviet Union, Cuba, North Korea) all business and all services such as health care, education and welfare are controlled by the government. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of Communist control within its republics and its European satellites, the communist China allowed some private companies to operate, but the biggest companies remained state-​owned. Industrialization brought changes in almost every aspect of society. People’s life expectancy increased as their health improved. Political institutions changed into modern models of governance. The dictatorship (a form of government where one person has total control) and totalitarianism (a form of government where one party has total control) were on the decline. In many monarchies kings

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or queens lost their rule to parliamentary systems, where representatives of the people are elected through political parties. Cultural diversity increased, as did social mobility. Social power moved into the hands of business elites and governmental officials. Labor unions play an important role in many countries. The increased complexity of the administrative and production units produced the growth of bureaucracy and hierarchical methods of management. Industrialization brought technological advances that improved people’s health and expanded their life spans. People in these societies typically enjoy greater political freedom than those in older societies. Religion no longer plays an important role in controlling the behavior of people. Education and science are looked upon as a promising. Compared to agricultural societies, industrial societies also have lowered gender inequality. In industrial societies people do have a greater chance to succeed than in the earlier societies. The above material is a short description of the stages of human societal development. The question is whether the structure of societies and the relationship between their main components (the production and administrative units) are the main factors explaining the societal dynamics—​its progress or stagnation. We will analyze this in next chapters.

References Coser. L. (1964). The Functions of Social Conflict. New York: Free Press. Giddens, A. (2001). Sociology. Fourth Edition. London: Polity Press. Lenski, G., Nolan, P., Lenski, J.  (1970). Human Societies:  An Introduction to Macrosociology. New York: McGraw-​Hill. Marx, K. (1999). Capital: An Abridged Edition. UK: Oxford University Press. Pareto, W. (1935). The Mind and Society. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company. Plato. (2019). The Republic. Translated by Benjamin Jowett, London: Blurb, Inc. Spencer, H. (1887). The Factors of Organic Evolution. London: Williams and Norgate. Spengler, O.  (1962). The Decline of the West. The Knopf edition. Atkinson’s Translation, New York: Random House, Inc. Steward, J. (1969). Cultural Evolution. Scientific American, 194:69–​80.

3

Societal Dynamics and Ideology

“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.” —​Thomas Jefferson

Introduction Social development theory, the essential part of sociology, should explain qualitative changes in the structure of society that can help better realize its aims and objectives. The historical examples of societal development enable us to check the validity of the existing social theories, evaluate them from the views of contemporary post-​industrial societies of the 21th century. Although the first hunting and gathering societies had appeared about two million years ago, they still exist (e.g., in Kalahari Desert of Africa). Pastoral societies are still in remote areas of Africa, far from political and economic centers. They inhabit some of the most fragile and harsh environments in Africa, where a large percentage of land is not suitable for crop agriculture, making livestock the lifeline providing food, income, inputs, means of transport and fulfilling other

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socio-​cultural needs. Horticultural societies exist to this day and can be found primarily in wet, tropical climates in Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa. As to agricultural societies, about 80  percent of countries are still agricultural and about 45 percent of the world’s population makes their living through agriculture. The proportion of the population involved in agriculture ranges from about 2 percent in the United States to about 80 percent in some parts of Asia and Africa. The existing industrial and agricultural countries differ by types of their political systems and how they are run. Some governments are dictatorships or they are totalitarian governments. There exists also a theocracy or a monarchy as well as a parliamentarian or presidential system of government. Three city-​states of different nature survived turbulences of the 20th century. The Vatican City is a monarchical state (a type of theocracy) ruled by the Pope of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Monaco is constitutional monarchy, where the power of a monarch is limited by the constitution. It is mostly a banking and tourist center. Singapore is a parliamentary republic. It is a high technology nation and, according to numerous international ratings, the third most competitive country in the world, third-​largest foreign exchange market, third-​largest financial center, third-​largest oil refining and trading center, fifth-​most innovative country. As indicated earlier, absolute monarchies, with unlimited power of monarchs, have almost disappeared now. They collapsed in Turkey, in China, in most of the Arab countries, in the principates of India, in the tribal kingdoms of Africa, and in several countries of Southeast Asia. They remain in several Arab countries (Saudi Arabia, Oman). Other existing monarchies are constitutional monarchies. As to Qatar, the disputed question is whether this country should be regarded as a constitutional monarchy or an absolute monarchy. Some European countries, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have a constitutional monarchy with a ceremonial head of state. Monarchs in these countries have no real power. In reality, these countries, as the most countries in the world, are republics run by representatives of voters with each person getting voted for a period of time. The most spread systems of government are a parliamentary and presidential system. The main difference between them is that in a presidential system, the president is separate from the legislative body, but in a parliamentary system, the chief executive, such as a prime minister, is part of the legislative body, or parliament. For example, Germany is a parliamentary republic, but the USA is a presidential republic. If a republic is a form of government, democracy is a source

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 59 of governmental authority. Many republics are democracies. However, this cannot be said about North Korea, China, Cuba, Vietnam, Iran, and some other countries. From the above short description of the current world sociological picture it is difficult to conclude that evolution and cyclical theories are able to explain societal changes and the reasons of the uneven development of various countries. As indicated earlier, they lack of persuasive arguments concerning the driving forces of changes. Conflict theory (see Coser, 1964), which modifies Marx’s consideration of a conflict between labor and capital, stating that tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society and that these conflicts become the engine for social change, cannot provide a convincing explanation of the changes of pre-​agricultural societies since it does not pay a proper attention to the economic factor, which is dominant in Marx’s theory. Among the indicated earlier social theories the Marx theory deserves special attention since it catches properly the main factor contributing to societal development. The level of development of a society is determined by the state of its economy, the mode of production. The level of economic development characterizes also the degree of human development and progress as well. The degree of specialization linked with the division of labor is a part of theories of social evolution that view social change as a process of evolution from simple to more complex form of society. Specialization promotes the increased productivity and economic growth. According to Marx, productive forces constitute the means of production (natural resources, land, labor, raw material, machines, and other tools of production), and their level of development determines the social relations of production. The mode of production is a combination of the means of production and relations of production. Therefore, the socio-​economic structure of society is basically determined by the state of productive forces. In the Preface to Capital: A Critique of Political Economy Marx (1999) summarized his theory of social change:  “At a certain stage of their development, the material forces of production in society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or with the property relations within which they had been at work before. From forms of development of the forces of production these relations turn into their fetters. Then comes the period of social revolution with the change of the economic foundation, the entire immense superstructure is more or less rapidly transformed.” Thus, the evolution of the economic base (mode of production) is the key to social change, what Engels called the law of development

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of human history, and changes in the economic base produce ideologies which induce people to fight out social struggles. It is not clear how the above statement can explain the dissolution of the former Soviet Union and the end of the communist rule in Europe and the Asian part of the former USSR. Two main Marx’s mistakes are in his insufficient clear understanding of capitalism and the desire to create political theory rather than scientific social theory. He developed his theory based on socio-​economic data of the initial stage of capitalism. It is well known that each dynamic process has its transient regime which may have significantly worse characteristics than the established stationary regime. Unfortunately, the horrors of the Industrial Revolution described in the literature look as a proof of the horrors of capitalism. A brief look at history textbooks used in British colleges shows that most professors, who do not specifically study the Industrial Revolution, accept without reservation the view that capitalism led to a deterioration of living conditions for the working class. As Nobel laureate in economics Friedrich Hayek (1954) pointedly argued, the Industrial Revolution portrayed by the pessimists is the “one supreme myth which more than any other has served to discredit the economic system to which we owe our modern day civilization.” It is impossible to deny that there was considerable social and economic disruption throughout the revolution (difficult working conditions in some manufacturing facilities, unemployment, etc.), which attracted attention of writers and with their publications spread all over the world and created a negative attitude about capitalism. Among critics of the Industrial Revolution there were the world-​k nown writer Charles Dickens (1812–​1870) and the poet William Blake (1757–​1827). However, the later research refuted such views. Although the extent of the increase in real wages is hotly debated, the most recent evidence suggests that blue-​collar real wages doubled between 1810 and 1850 (Williamson, 1985). The lack of a reliable government statistics in 19th century made impossible to prove that the strongly positive effect of the Industrial Revolution was largely offset by the negative effects of rapid population growth. Unfortunately, Marx and Engels emphasized only negative sides of the initial stage of capitalism widely publicized by those who did not see or did not want to see the advantage of the market economy. They believed in the necessity of government interference in the arising market economy. Although it is impossible to argue that government should deal with a country economic development, the intervention should be of a different kind than the recommended one by Marxists.

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 61 In Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), the philosopher foresaw the effect of the market mechanism. According to his famous phrase, the combination of self-​interest, private property, and competition among sellers in markets will lead producers “as by an invisible hand” to an end that they did not intend, namely, the well-​being of society. In his view, society’s interests are met by maximum production of the things that people want; such an optimization approach was offered far before the system and optimization theories were developed. Merchants and trade are as old as civilization itself. Human beings, Adam Smith said, have always had a propensity to “truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.” Embryos of the capitalist economy are imbedded in humans. First, they reminded about themselves with a rise of trade, starting with horticultural societies. Trade opened doors of closed societies into the outer world, helped to develop cooperation between societies, to increase people knowledge and outlook, to learn other cultures. Trade created people who were ready to take a risk since the travel to different societies to buy, sell or exchange goods was not save. The capitalist system emerged only when the production rather than exchange of goods became the central focus of the economic development. This required new types of leaders—​the entrepreneurs or risk takers. A key element of capitalism is an activity in the expectation that it will yield gain in the future. Because the future is unknown, there always exist both the risk of loss and the possibility of gain. To get gains the entrepreneur should possess certain knowledge and managerial qualities. The economic growth is achieved through the accumulation of an economic surplus by the entrepreneur and the plowing of this surplus back into the system for further expansion. For Marx the economic surplus, called surplus value or profit, is a symbol of exploitation of working class rather than the core of the capitalist mode of production that makes the economy grow. According to Marx, the capitalist society focuses on production for profit rather than production for need. His definition of value is vague, as if he deliberately evades to use the market value and does not discuss the market mechanism of establishing prices on goods and services which are determined by demand and tend to decrease with the technological advances. As seen from the previous material, the surplus was a sign of development. The accumulation of surpluses has been a stimulus for growth of civilizations throughout history. The production of agricultural surpluses by Athenian farmers prompted Athens to open up trade routes and become a major commercial power in the ancient world. For Marx the surplus is a political tool.

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The system analysis of the economy is based on the criterion approach. Yes, in capitalist societies all is produced for profit based on demand, and the goal is to satisfy demand. Marx’s theory pursues a different goal. In the introduced term mode of production he puts the main accent on its human component (slaves, serfs, feudalists or capitalists) rather than on the technological developments that created a certain mode of production. The socio-​economic character of different societies he characterizes by the specific relations of production (like slavery, feudalism or capitalism). As it follows from the above quote of Marx’s Capital, the conflict between classes and class struggle are the moving force that changes societies. Marx believed that the class struggle was the driving force of social change. For him it was the “motor of history.” He states that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles” (Communist Manifesto, 1848). The period of changes he calls the period of social revolution. History teaches that in a system shattered with class conflict government by a “strongman” was often the best solution. The examples of such “best solutions” were Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler. Marx’s statement that class struggle between industrial workers and the management eventually leads to overthrow of the capitalist system and establishment of socialism and communism sounds ridiculous now. However, even by 1890, this theory was being revised: another road to achieve social goals that would benefit the workers by peaceful means, via elections and through state legislation, was discussed. The main Marx mistake is in his not understanding of the major defining features of the capitalist economy—​the use of wage-​labor and the existence of labor markets. The role of labor markets in capitalism is critical in understanding the historical development of capitalist economy. To be fair to Marx, it should be noted that the period of the Industrial Revolution, as indicated earlier, was accompanied by unemployment, and that is why he missed this important component of the new economy. However, this cannot justify such a crucial blunder in his theory. Earlier we indicated that individuals estimate their abilities and establish the admissible values of their well-​being criteria. It is not clear why all industrial workers should be unsatisfied with their wages. Moreover, they are not slaves, and the existence of job markets enables them to choose another job. The conflict between classes as the moving force of change in the Marx theory is not supported by the persuasive consideration. In the Ancient Greece, between 30 and 40 percent of its population were slaves. Had it changed the democracy of Athens and had it been the reason of its fall?

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 63 A theory is a well-​established explanation for scientific data. A theory can become established if it is well tested, but it can be refuted by a single contrary result. Unfortunately, social theories have a long life despite of many holes in their statements. As indicated in Chapter 2, the base (infrastructure) and superstructure are two linked central theoretical concepts of Marxist theory. The base refers to the forces and relations of production:  employer–​employee work conditions; the technical division of labor; the property relations into which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life; the materials and resources involved in producing the things society needs. The relations of production determine society’s other relationships and ideas, which are described as its superstructure that includes everything not related directly to production: the political structure and the political apparatus that governs society, institutions (education, religion, media), culture, ideology, norms. The superstructure refers to all other social structures that govern and reflect ideology and culture. By embedding these structures in the superstructure Marx argues that the superstructure justifies how the base operates, and in doing so, justifies the power of the ruling class. According to the Marx theory, the superstructure grows out of the base and, because as the place where norms, values, beliefs, and ideology reside, reflects the interests of the ruling class that controls it. Marx believed that the dominant ideas of any period are the ideas of the dominant social class. Rule by divine right and a key role of religion were the dominant ideas of the feudal aristocracy. The emerging capitalist class challenged these ideas. The Marx social model, where the superstructure of society is the realm of ideology and the base is the realm of production, reflects his political views and goals. The artificial inclusion of such components as education, religion, media, culture, ideology in the superstructure made the model not reflecting the reality, so that made it unworkable. Educational organizations, media, entertainment, artists, writers etc. are parts of the service industry, a type of business that provides services to customers. They should belong to the base rather than to the superstructure. Now everyone agrees that Netflix and Amazon are the current giants in the entertainment as a service industry since they have forever changed how people watch TV by providing on-​demand streaming. Now there exist the terms media and entertainment industry. Similarly to sole proprietors writers, artists, etc. serve public, and their talent is a source of their income. Both services and products are produced by human labor power.

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In the book, this type of organizations or individuals is a part of the production unit. The administrative unit is a control unit; executive, legislative, and judicial branches are its main components. The production and administrative units were introduced as the basic structural components of social systems and their functions follow from society’s needs to function—​to exist, grow and develop. As indicated earlier, although the administrative unit controls the activity of the production unit, the changes in the production unit influence the functioning of the administrative unit that tries to resists or adjust to these changes. Ideology is the driving force of the changes. It is obvious that the dominant ideology determines the structure of the administrative unit. However, with societal development the sources of ideology were increasing and the dominant ideology appeared as a result of interaction of all components of the considered social structure. The dynamics of the administrative unit, considered below, reflects the changes in ideology of society.

Basic Role of Government and Dynamics of the Administrative Unit The Encyclopedia Britannica offers the following definition of government: the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Government comprises the set of legal and political institutions that regulate the relationships among members of a society and between the society and outsiders. Government is responsible primarily for making public policy for an entire society to guide the society in a certain direction and maintain order; it has the authority to establish goals and make decisions to meet these goals. Within the modern nation-​states government operates at many different levels, ranging from villages to cities, counties, provinces, and states. In the book we focus on the policy of national government, the government that rules the whole country (federal government in the case of countries with federal systems of government). Today most governments derive their legitimacy from national constitutions that provide a legal framework for their rule and specify how power is to be exercised and controlled. Moreover, few governments in the modern world have constitutional arrangements that are more than a century old. Only the United Kingdom and the United States keep possessing constitutional arrangements that predate the 20th century. The vast majority of all the world’s governments have constitutions written in the 20th or 21st century. However, in some countries

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 65 the constitution is no more than a piece of paper, and its provisions bear almost no relationship to the reality. Nevertheless, the communist countries and some nations in Africa, Asia, and South America have found it necessary to establish formal constitutions that serves them as a paper façade to justify their legitimacy. Nowadays most governments are authorized to act based on a legal constitution, laws and accepted civil standards. French political philosopher Baron de Montesquieu (1689–​1755) was the first to urge the creation of three separate institutions or divisions of government, a distinction that became common in almost all modern constitutions. Governments based on Western legal standards have three branches—​the executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch operates based on criteria established by the constitutional authority. Each branch works individually and collectively to establish and maintain laws for the country as a whole. The executive branch is headed by an elected or appointed leader that oversees and manages the operation of government. The executive branch is also responsible for maintaining diplomatic relations and the military. The legislative branch is responsible for drafting, writing and passing laws to be followed in the country. Legislation in the form of bills is drafted and debated by the legislative body. A bill becomes law only if a majority votes in favor of passage. Once a law is passed, it applies to the entire country. The judicial branch executes the existing laws. The role of any national government unvaryingly was and remains to protect the safety and well-​being of its citizens and the sovereignty of the country’s borders. All governments recognize the principle that its citizens must be protected and served. In the past, some governments were strong enough to establish empires that ruled not only their own people but also peoples of conquered countries. The present-​day counterpart of the empire is the so-​called superpower that is able to lead or dominate other countries through its superior military and economic strength. The modern nowadays governments of the most developed industrial countries have a long prehistory of adjustments and modifications of earlier existing structures, laws and organizations reflecting the changes in society, its production unit and its ideology. Every social system has at least two goals to be attained through cooperative effort. One of them is national security. In almost every social system some participants, including whole subgroups, violate the relational norms. So far as these norms meet social needs, violations are a threat to the social system. If social

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system does not work out standardized reactions to the violations to protect the integrity of society, social order would break down. Society can be viewed as a system of interrelated mutually dependent parts which act to satisfy some common purposes or goals. System approach to society as a complex social system allows us to formulate two important criteria guided government activity: national security and social order. Social system can be described as an arrangement of social interactions based on shared norms and values. Individuals constitute it and each has place and function to perform within it. Government controls the individual activity by establishing norms of behavior. In cases when tensions may arise inside society due to internal or external causes, society has the responsibility, like a family in distress, to keep its members functional and united. The decline of societies has been very much because the tension management mechanism has often failed. By the definition, a government is the system by which a state or community is controlled. The embryos of government can be found in the structure of clans or tribes. As indicated earlier, in these societies administrative functions were put in hands of more experienced its members—​usually, elders made decisions. In hunting and gathering, pastoral and horticultural societies the primary qualification for leadership was physical strength and fighting prowess, that is, the capacity to physically enforce authority over other members of the society to maintain order and discipline regarding the sharing of food and work responsibilities as well as to demand courageous self-​sacrifice of members in times of war. With the growth of the society, the so-​called bigmen, the leaders of groups of about a few hundred people, were responsible for the coordination of food redistribution and other necessities between the groups. The maturation of the hunting group into an army involved a further development of the society. The military leader appointed a hierarchy of officers, each empowered with specific limits of authority. Strict obedience to those in command and unquestioned execution of instructions endowed the organized army with far greater strength. The mentioned above societies believed in a god or gods, but although religious leaders exercised some degree of leadership they receive no material rewards for their duties. With society development and growth another centers of power, rather than military, arose. Initially, military and religious powers were combined. The priest-​kings of city-​states in Mesopotamia, the place of the earliest civilizations, personified both religious and military powers. The oldest written records that came from this area indicate the existence of a tax-​collecting government with an administrative machine, public works and a standing army. Each king and city

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 67 designed the rules and systems that they thought would be most beneficial for their people. The first known states in history had a theocratic form of government which helped regulate religion and enforce its duties. Although Sumerian priest-​ kings governed in the name of the gods to whom belonged all the land, their rule was not absolute. They were assisted by one or more assemblies. There was also a system of courts for justice. The legal system regulated property rights and duties for family members establishing punishments for crimes. The king was responsible for the welfare of his people and a good king, who ruled in accordance with divine will, was recognized by the prosperity of the region he reigned over. The non-​ absolute rule in the mentioned area did not last long, and a new standard—​an absolute rule of one person with absolute power, autocracy, was established. In Ancient Greece, city-​ states were ruled not only by kings, although government-​monarchies were the most spread form, but there were also oligarchies ruled by a few powerful men on councils and, as mentioned earlier, it is associated with the birth of democracy, widely regarded as the Greeks’ greatest contribution to civilization—​ruled by the people (male citizens) based on the constitution. Some city-​states also mixed democratic assemblies with a monarchy (for example, Macedonia). The most famous monarchies were those in the states of Macedonia, where the ruler shared power with an assembly. Although Sparta also possessed a citizen assembly, it is most famous for its system of two kings who could, however, be put on trial and even exiled. The different administrative structures of Athens and Sparta were described in Chapter 2. What was in common—​the elements of executive, legislative, and judicial systems. The difference in their government structure is that Sparta presented an oligarchy (a small group of people having control of a country), while Athens is considered by historians as a democracy. Three branches of government are more distinctly seen in the government structure of the Roman Republic (see also Chapter  2). Consuls presented the monarchical executive branch; they commanded the army and directed the government (serve as judges, represented Rome in foreign affairs). The legislative branch included Senate (an aristocratic sub-​branch) and Assembly (a democratic sub-​branch that approved or rejected laws and decided issues of war and peace). The judicial branch consisted of eight judges who oversaw the courts and governed the provinces. The government structure of the Roman Republic was changed when it became ruled by an emperor who had more power than consuls; Rome was renamed to the Roman Empire. Medieval Europe, after the fall of the Roman Empire, consisted of the kingdoms of France, England and Scotland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, Poland

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and Hungary, and the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula—​Castile, Aragon, Navarre, and later Portugal. In reality, Europe presented federations governed by multiple feudal lords. Formally, they should obey to monarchs. However, this had not always happened. The power of monarchs was weakened by the Church under the leadership of the Pope in Rome. In France, king, supported by the Church, kept control over the kingdom. In England, the struggle gave the birth of a political system in which the different centers of power had an opportunity to resolve their differences in the parliament that restricted a king’s power. At the top of any medieval kingdom was the king who ruled through a council of his leading nobles and bishops. The chosen persons possessed qualities and knowledge to be his policy advisors; they became a part of his government. Later the councils attracted representatives from towns and expanded to become representative assemblies. Bishops education and administrative experience made them invaluable royal ministers and the most influential figures in the councils. Kings had a secretariat and treasury, officials supervising the collection of taxes, ensuring that royal ordinances were carried out, executing the decision of royal courts, and keeping an eye on the nobility. At the local level, public affairs were largely in the hands of feudal lords. Under the federal structure and a weak king’s power, towns and cities were able to get a self-​government right usually embodied in their charters, granted by a king, feudal lord or bishop. Many towns and cities had a chief magistrate (called by different names such as mayor, doge or consul) responsible for the day-​to-​day affairs in the community. There was also at least one council, often more. Usually, the small council made routine decisions for the large council, endorsing major decisions, to vote on. Feudal laws revolved around the rights and duties of lords and vassals to each other, which protected their person and property on condition that the individual performed the duties corresponding to his status. They were administered in the feudal courts of Europe, from the kings’ great councils down to the humble manorial courts of squires holding just a single village. In the 12th to 14th centuries kings were striving to increase their power and to rule their subjects directly rather than through powerful vassals. They established their own royal courts showing that the monarch alone had the right and duty to govern his subjects; no one else, neither pope nor vassal, was entitled to encroach on this prerogative. In this court, there was a much fuller and more sophisticated interpretation of property law than in feudal law, making it more suitable for the expanding commercial activity. In Western Europe, countries as independent centrally-​governed territories only began to emerge toward the end of the medieval period, as monarchs

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 69 finally managed to achieve firm centralized control over large regions. By the end of the Middle Ages the French kings created a centralized absolute monarchy which became the model for most kingdoms throughout Europe. Power shifted from the landed aristocrats (landownership was part of their noble privileges) to the hereditary monarchs. The emergence of strong central monarchs greatly enhanced the power and productivity of society. The kings were able to mobilize large armies for defense or conquest, to raise large sums as taxes to build roads or finance naval explorations, to issue money and protect property, to regulate crafts and promote trade to enhance the wealth of the country. The power structure in feudal Japan had common features with monarchist Europe. It included an emperor (a hereditary monarch), shogun (a hereditary military commander in chief), daimyo (one of the great lords who were vassals of the shogun), and samurai (a member of a powerful military caste). Shogun had authority over the whole of Japan (although being appointed by the emperor, he rather than the emperor had a real political power) and the daimyo worked as regional authority figure. There was a strong warrior class that worked its way into the nobility, a decentralized government that bowed to warlords in their castles. In Russia, the Tsar took the title Emperor and Autocrat of all Russia to act as an autocratic and unlimited monarch. The country was run by a ten-​man ministerial council appointed by the Tsar. The Tsar also appointed the Chief Procurator of the Russian Orthodox Church. Since 1721, the Orthodox Church had been run as a government department. Russia was divided into fifty provinces. Each province had a governor and below him were governors of districts and the commandants of towns. To help the Tsar and the provincial governors to rule the people the government employed a large number of civil servants drawn partly from the ranks of the nobility. They were graded into fourteen different ranks with the Tsar’s ministers at the top. Each rank had his own uniform and those that reached the fourth grade and above became members of the nobility. Many nobles saw government service as a way to increase their incomes though over-​ taxing and bribery. Complete lack of political freedom for the population meant that peasants and serfs were given no rights and they were not even allowed to appeal against the non-​justice. In contrast to the autocratic government structures of most agricultural countries, England was parliamentary monarchy:  its government included the king, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The Bill of Rights (1689) established limits on the powers of the king and sets out the rights of Parliament, including the requirement for regular parliaments, free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament. It said that election of members of Parliament ought to be

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free and the king could not suspend laws or levy loans or taxes without parliament’s consent. Parliament became definitely the ultimate authority in England. The parliamentary form of government, as a democratically elected form of government, is more efficient than an autocratic monarchist one. Democratically elected government can be viewed as being representative of the people and therefore more likely it should protect interests of those who voted it in (see also Chapter 4). That is why it is not a surprise that the first Industrial Revolution took place in England and changed drastically the world societal government structure. The Industrial Revolution prompted the transformation of the existing societal structure to serve better people’s needs. The Bill of Rights of 1689 was one of the models for the United States Bill of Rights of 1789. In Europe, France became the first on its road from the absolute monarchy to the republican form of government. The French Revolution of 1789 was the first great uprising of the people against the absolute monarchy. It generated ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity that reverberated throughout much of Europe for many decades and affected the entire course of world history. It established basic property rights and separation of church and state, much as did the American Revolution. The road to the republican rule was not smooth. First, after the 1830 revolution France set up a constitutional monarchy which limited the power of the king. The French revolution of 1848 allowed France to set up a republic with a strong president and a one-​house legislature. Its constitution appeared to be the most democratic in Europe. The president of the republic was chosen for a four-​year term by universal male suffrage; a one-​house legislative assembly was elected for three years by the same suffrage. Finally, in 1875, the new constitution established a two-​ house legislature (with an indirectly elected Senate as a conservative check on the Chamber of Deputies), a Council of Ministers responsible to the Chamber, and a president elected for seven years by the two houses. Power shifted from the hereditary monarchy to the electorate. Sequential changes of the world’s governmental structures based on the constitution and people’s voting rights created the world’s picture with description of which we started this chapter. Although the parliamentary and presidential government systems are the most popular, there exist many their modifications, the so-​called hybrids. For example, the French governmental system, established in 1958 presents a combination of the United States presidential and British parliamentary systems. The French Parliament is the bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate (the upper house) and the National Assembly (the lower house). The voters elect both the

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 71 Lower House of parliament and the head of state (the president). Like the monarch in the British parliamentary system, the French president appoints a Prime Minister (the head of government), whose role is to preside over parliament. The new constitution greatly increased the power of the executive at the expense of Parliament, compared to previous constitutions. The French president like the British prime minister and unlike his American counterpart can dissolve the National Assembly. The study of governmental structures must be approached with great caution, for societal systems having the same kind of branches of government and using the same type of governmental apparatus often function very differently. A parliament or a president, for example, may be an important and effective part of a political system or it may be no more than an institutional facade of little practical significance. The government of the United States and other advanced modern countries contains a complex executive part that includes many following departments which are analogous to ministries common in parliamentary systems: state, treasury, defense, justice, interior, agriculture, commerce, labor, health and human services, housing and urban development, transportation, energy, education, veteran affairs, homeland security. The growth of the executive branch reflects the growth of the production unit as well as the growth and development of the whole society. In addition to the abovementioned departments, there exist also government agencies that are administrative units of government which are tasked with specific responsibilities. The introduced earlier term administrative unit includes also these agencies as government organizations responsible for certain areas of administration. Beginning with the emergence of the United States in 1776 decolonization, the dismantlement of the colonial empires established prior to World War I, became a popular movement for independence in many colonies, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, and a reality after World War II. The emergence of new states was the result of the breakup: of the Spanish Empire in the 19th century; of the German, Austro-​Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires following World War I; of the British, French, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese, Belgian and Italian colonial empires following World War II. In rare cases, the actions of the pro-​independence movements are characterized by nonviolence. Usually, they were accompanied by civil unrest and nationalist agitation. There were only 35 member countries in the United Nations in 1946, but by 1971 it increased to 125. After just 30 years, from 1945 to 1975, all the colonial empires had disappeared from the global map. One of the primary reasons

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was the emergence of new independent states, especially in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. After World War II, seven West European countries (Albania, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and East Germany) became satellites of the Soviet Union and had their governments replaced by governments based on the Soviet model. The new countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East created their governmental structure under influence of two power blocks: the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its allies in the Warsaw Pact). After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was replaced by 15 independent countries, and people of the former Soviet Union got more freedom than they had earlier. However, Belarus is widely regarded as Europe’s last dictatorship; the republics of Central Asia are ruled by former communist leaders who are criticized for repressing the political opposition; in recent years, according to media reports, Russian president is compared with a tsar. The key words mostly used to describe governments—​monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—​are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been existing for more than 2,000 years, and Aristotle was the first who distinguished three principal types of government:  monarchy, aristocracy, and polity (a kind of enlightened democracy). Aristotle’s classification suited the societies of ancient times, but it does not correspond to the power structure of later societies. While now there exist many modifications of government, the main six types are: a democratic government, a socialist government, a republic government, a monarchial government, a dictatorship, and a theocracy. This classification linked closely with the dominant ideology in a society.

Dynamics of Ideology In Chapter 1 we used a widely spread interpretation of the term ideology. Many scholars in different fields of study have proposed different definitions of ideology but there is no universal concurrence of what an ideology is. According to Cambridge dictionary, ideology is a set of beliefs or principles, especially one on which a political system, party or organization is based. Oxford dictionary defines ideology as a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy. Marx considered ideology as a linked set of ideas and beliefs that act to uphold and justify an existing or desired arrangement of power, authority, wealth and status in a society. Among other definitions one

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 73 can meet: ideology is a collection of doctrines or beliefs shared by members of a group; it can be described as a set of conscious and unconscious ideas which make up one’s beliefs, goals, expectations, and motivations; ideology is the lens through which a person views the world; within the field of sociology, ideology is broadly understood to refer to the sum total of a person’s values, beliefs, assumptions, and expectations; ideology is a set of beliefs, especially the political beliefs on which people, parties, or countries base their actions. The discussed term, as a system of ideas that aspires both to explain the world and to change it, appeared first in French as idéologie at the time of the French Revolution, when it was introduced by a philosopher Destutt de Tracy as a short name, which he has adopted from the philosophers John Locke and Francis Bacon, for whom all human knowledge was knowledge of ideas and science had a mission not only to enlarge human knowledge but also to “improve the life of men on earth.” This definition of ideology looks as a theory about human experience and the external world and program how to change it. Ideology is a fundamental concept in sociology because it plays a commanding role in determining how society is organized and how it functions. Ideology is directly related to the social structure, economic system of production, and political structure. It both emerges out of these things and shapes them. Within the field of sociology, ideology is broadly understood as referring to an individual’s values, ideas, beliefs, and expectations. It exists within society, within groups and separate individuals, and shapes their thoughts, actions, and interactions. The term ideology, despite of its multiple modifications, contains the important component—​k nowledge, more precisely, ideas and beliefs based on knowledge. This means that the human source of ideology is individuals possessing curtain skills and knowledge to influence a group of people to share and spread their views and beliefs. That is why ideology linked closely with such sociological terms as stratification and elite. Although these terms were mentioned in Chapter 1, here we focus on the interconnection between the abovementioned terms. In sociology, the appearance of new terms is a food for a related theory (usually, several competing theories). The theories present various approaches to the stratification problem (see e.g., Lenski, 1966). Determining the structures of social stratification arises from inequalities of status among persons. The theories divide individuals or groups on the basis of possession of certain qualities and rank them according to a chosen evaluation system. Earlier we mentioned the Pareto elite theory. By definition, individuals belonging to elites can be defined simply as persons who hold dominant positions in major societal institutions or are recognized leaders in art, education,

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business, and other fields of achievement, that is, they belong to the upper layers of any stratification model. Since the existing stratification theories cannot agree on which approach of stratification is the most perspective and efficient, we will consider only three levels of ranking of individuals on a scale of superiority-​ inferiority-​equality:  upper class, middle class, and lower class. The upper class consists of wealthy and/​or highly educated persons of various fields including the high-​ranking government officials and military; doctors, teachers, writers, actors, scientists, etc. belong to the middle class; the lower class includes low educated individuals, usually having a low income. Each level of stratification has its leaders, persons which skills exceed the skills of a related group of individuals belonging to this level. The different levels of stratification are characterized by different well-​being criteria. For leaders, usually, the prestige is more important than wealth, although, as a rule, wealth comes with recognition. Striving for power, status, fame and recognition is a common feature of everyday life. This is seen in all strata of society. In sociology, the concept of elites links with the concentration of societal, especially political, power in the hands of a few. As indicated earlier, Pareto distinguished between the governing elite—​the segment of the elite with broad political power—​and the non-​governing elite. Since ideology relates mostly to the societal structure and its functioning, the political elite of the societal administrative unit presents its main and most powerful source. Wealthy persons can belong to or support the existing political elite if it serves their interests. They can also try to become a part of the political elite or promote talented middle-​class persons, which views and beliefs they share, helping them to move to the upper level with a hope to get their support in the future. In turn, the political elite constantly look for new individuals supporting their policy who can successfully articulate it in the future. On the other hand, individuals in positions of power often attempt to maintain their privileged positions by closing off access for talented individuals who can challenge the existing policy. In democratic societies the political life of elite can be short if a society is susceptible to different ideas than those that are imbedded in a country’s constitution. Their life depends on the number of electoral votes. Power struggle in the multiparty systems of government is the competition of ideas and principles based on which the parties and their representatives try to win the trust of a society—​to persuade that the proposed program of actions would improve the well-​being of the population. This is the competition of ideas within the existing dominant ideology to improve the existing societal structure or between the ideologies which, in this case, focuses to change drastically the societal structure.

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 75 The above discussion relates to a parliamentary or presidential system of government which will be analyzed in more details in Chapter 4. As to the dynamics of ideology, it would be logical to start with the agricultural societies, because the ideas, skills and knowledge of people in the pre-​agricultural societies were too limited, and the people were mostly preoccupied with getting food to survive. However, even in their fight for survival the family bonds under a skillful leader helped them to overcome difficulties, so that for them such a form of cooperation, such a societal structure, was the best to serve their needs. The beliefs of people, organized around kinship ties, characterize the kinship ideology the pre-​agricultural societies. Although horticultural and pastoral societies were less egalitarian than hunter and gathering societies, kin groups had their leaders; the senior leader supported by the whole community was treated as a “father” of the society which was considered as a big family. Members of other societies were recognized as potential enemies. As indicated earlier, slavery got started in pastoral and horticultural societies. Although in many cases there were enough genealogical complexities in choosing the leader and the fight for leadership included ambitious half-​brothers, uncles and neighboring chiefs, the kinship ideology was the basic principle of choosing the chief of the society. At some point, when the size of a chiefdom became too large to be managed by the chief without a team of clerks, judges, policemen and soldiers directly subordinate to the chief, a state had arisen. Based on the kinship ideology, outsiders were viewed as dangerous, and conflict against them was considered as normal. That is why persons with military skills were highly respected in pastoral and horticultural societies, and wars for new territories (or defend the existing ones) were a part of their life. The fear of outsiders, coupled with a desire to expand or protect necessary resources, especially land, were the main reasons of wars. The history of one of the earliest civilizations of the world in Mesopotamia is a chronicle of nearly constant strife. The authority of military leaders, their importance to protect the society and ability to maintain law and order, enables the most talented persons to get power and establish the autocratic rule. An English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–​1679) believed that people, being naturally selfish and cruel, let themselves be ruled by dictators and kings because they make society more orderly and stable. However, this may be considered only as the necessary condition for the existence of autocratic governments (a type of government in which the supreme power is in the hand of one person), since the order and obedience are the types of human behavior that do not belong to inherited complex patterns of behavior. They are developed in the process of

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a human functioning as a part of a society and the result to adaptation to its internal climate which is determined by the dominant ideology. Transformation of the kinship ideology with its certain democratic features (members of a society participated directly or indirectly in selecting its leader who had a limited power) to the autocratic ideology is the result of the dissemination of views that outsiders present a danger to the society (according to the kinship ideology) and it needs a leader who is able to care for its citizens, a new type of father of a big family, a kind of Godfather whose power came from gods or god. This ideology enacted the belief that society was best governed by the discipline, which is required in an army at war, and it is worthwhile to exchange freedom and liberty for safety and order. God’s mandate became a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy during the European Middle Ages and even later in China, Japan, and Nepal. Had monarchs cared for their citizens? This question has no an unambiguous answer. Growing up in a royal family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule; the care about the people was a part of their duties. The problem is that the economic growth increased the social inequality, and the ruling elite, the ruling class headed by monarchs, considered the lower class of the population as deplorable (using the current terminology). They believed that these persons were happy with what they had and they did not need too much. Only in cases of a wide discontent or riots some measures were taken. Monarchs understood the importance of education. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, there were the schools (devoted primarily to the priestly class) that taught reading, writing, religion, law, medicine, mathematics, and astrology. First, only royal offspring and sons of the rich and professionals such as scribes, physicians and temple administrators were schooled. Later more of the population became literate, although the percentage of the literate population was very low, only 1–​2  percent. In China, the first education system was created in Xia dynasty (2076 B.C. to 1600 B.C.); government-​built schools to educate aristocrats about rituals, literature and archery. In ancient India, from about 1500 B.C. education was based mostly on the religious scriptures. In the Islamic civilization, Muslims started schooling from 622. Education served mostly interests of the upper class that needed a qualified workforce to handle kingdoms affairs and help the elite in their activity. Education helped to provide necessary knowledge to members of the higher class and increase the middle class.

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 77 Transformation from the kinship ideology to the autocratic ideology was a process which took time and depended upon specific societal features, among which the educational level of population was an important factor. In Ancient Greece, Sparta was a diarchic monarchy with some features of democracy, a society focused on waging wars to conquer those around them. To become a citizen of Sparta a person was to be a descendent of the original Doric invaders who settled the city. This shows that the ideology of Sparta contains features of the kinship ideology. Even Athens that is considered as a democracy borrowed its attitude to outsiders from the kinship ideology. Any non-​Athenian wanting residence in Athens was placed in the so-​called “metic” category which allowed a person, having no citizen rights, to do business and have access to the courts. Assuming that views and beliefs are the creations of intellectuals it is logical to compare the level of education in Sparta and Athens to understand why the administrative structure of Athens became a model that was adopted by advanced countries many years later. In Sparta, most of the population was illiterate. In Athens, anyone could open a school and decide the curriculum. Parents could choose a school offering the subjects they wanted their children to learn at a monthly fee they could afford. By around 350 B.C. it was common for children at schools in Athens to study also various arts such as drawing, painting, and sculpture. The richest students continued their education by studying with sophists from whom they could learn subjects such as rhetoric, mathematics, geography, natural history, politics, and logic. Some of Athens’ greatest schools of higher education included the Lyceum (founded by Aristotle) and the Platonic Academy (founded by Plato). Although the literacy in Athens was only at around 10 to 15 percent, this is significantly higher than in other parts of the world (see Missiou, 2011). The spirit of Athens democracy spread to the Roman Kingdom and the Roman Republic (509–​27 B.C.) where the democratic branch of government was established. As it was mentioned earlier, the Roman Republic was never a true republic in the strict sense of the word. The governing and legislative power remained consolidated within a small group of individuals of noble birth and men who had amassed a great degree of wealth. The republic’s inability to manage the huge amount of territory that it had acquired brought to power the autocratic rule. In the Roman Empire (27 B.C.–​476), the worship of the gods increasingly became a state cult, with the emperor himself occupying the role of high priest. Romans were taught that they were the most rational, had the best of all possible laws, and people groups outside the Roman Empire were considered

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as barbarians. The history of the Roman Empire shows that a strong central rule with some nationalistic features in the autocratic ideology can promote, for a certain period of time, prosperity, although usually societal development is accompanied by cruelty and even atrocity. Romans succeeded to bring a wide diversity of peoples into one political unity; people throughout the empire looked upon themselves as citizens of Rome. Literacy rates in the Roman Empire were not much above 10 percent, though with wide regional variations around 5 percent in the western provinces. But for that historic period 5–​10  percent was not a small amount. However, constant wars and overspending had significantly lightened imperial coffers, and oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between rich and poor. Rome’s economy depended on supply of slaves and other war treasures; all this stopped when expansion came to a halt, and the empire was shaken by a labor deficit. With a vast territory under the centralized government rule (see inefficiency of pyramidal structures in Chapter 4) the empire faced an administrative and logistical nightmare. As a result, the empire’s commercial and agricultural production dropped, technological advancement slowed and Rome’s civil infrastructure fell; the empire struggled to supply troops with necessary resources. Civil war, corruption and incompetence of government, the emperors’ inability to restore order, all this resulted in lost trust of many Roman citizens in their leadership. The decline of Rome came together with the spread of Christianity, and some have argued that the rise of a new faith helped contribute to the empire’s fall. Christianity displaced the polytheistic Roman religion which viewed the emperor as having a divine status. All what Romans were proud of and was supported by Roman imperial propaganda lost its value. The period of glory ended. The modern countries of Portugal, Spain, Andorra, England, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, San Marino, Malta, Austria and the Czech Republic, as well as Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Cyprus, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco were all part of the Roman Empire (some of them were occupied for a relatively short amount of time). The medieval period (476 to 1453) is characterized mostly by the autocratic regimes on the territories being earlier under the Roman rule. The imperial autocratic power was subsequently replaced by various autocrats and despots. The so-​called Dark Ages (476–​1000) was the period of wars and political struggles. Small kingdoms fought for their existence and expansion. Only

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 79 city-​states, mostly in the central and northern Italian Peninsula, that returned to the republican governmental structure similar to the Roman Republic, were focused on and prospered through commerce. Christianity (with its two main factions: the Orthodox and Catholic Church) evolved as a strong religious movement that tried to unite the people of Europe. This was also the period of vast Muslim conquests to spread Islam (from the India in the East, to Spain in the West). Because of constant wars between autocratic regimes, this period faced drastic reduction in literature, arts and cultural developments. The period of High Middle Ages (1001–​1299) saw the rise of authoritarian nation-​states in Western Europe (e.g., France, England, and Spain) and the influence of the Catholic Church that called armies from across Europe to a series of Crusades aimed at recovering the Holy Land from Muslim rule. The Late Middle Ages (1300–​1453) witnessed the devastating Hundred Years’ War between France and England (1337–​1453), the formation and growth of the Ottoman Empire, and the fight for power in the Catholic Church (known as the Great Schism). This was the age of absolutism. The monarch’s rule was supported by the Church making their power coming from God. Multiple wars for control over certain territories of Europe were accompanied by the growth of nationalism, which was a part of campaigns to advance nation-​state formation. Nationalism in the European autocratic ideology plays a similar role as family plays in the kinship ideology. At a certain degree, it served as a justification of the expansion wars and strengthened the power of sovereigns. As mentioned earlier, an ideology is a product of intellectuals. In turn, the level of knowledge in a society depends of its system of education. It is estimated that by 1330, only 5 percent of the total population of Europe received any sort of education. For most people, education during the medieval times was not believed a necessity. Its need only became apparent with the rise of bigger kingdoms which needed persons with the knowledge of arithmetic and, of course, able to write in order to manage them. In most European kingdoms, education was overseen by the church. The monasteries of the Catholic Church were the centers of education and literacy. Christian cathedral schools and monastic schools existed since the 6th century. This increasing demand for education in cities involved in trade drove them to start their own grammar schools which were often funded by wealthy local merchants. Education was not accessible or even desired by everyone. The first medieval institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology. The

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educational institutions managed by the church focused more on language and the arts and less on the sciences. Schools were mostly only accessible to the sons of high lords or merchants. Moreover, the monarchs preoccupied with the strengthening their power and influence did not pay a proper attention to education as if they did not realize that the lack of education would not allow the countries to grow and flourish. On the background of a gloomy picture of the medieval kingdoms there were several oases of relative prosperity. In contrast to the warlike kingdoms, the city-​ states in Italy with the republican governmental structure that were focused on commerce rather than on costly war battles had different attitude to education. They created the conditions for the artistic and intellectual changes produced by the Renaissance (the 14–​17th centuries), a time of inventions in secular arts and sciences that challenged Christian religion. Florence was a center of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of that period. Many scientists call Florence the birthplace of the Renaissance and “the Athens of the Middle Ages.” Members of the powerful Medici family, which ruled Florence for more than 60 years, were famous promoters of the idea that man was the center of his own universe and people should embrace human achievements in education, classical arts, literature and science. Renaissance supported the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art. During the 15th century, Renaissance ideas spread from Italy to France, England and then throughout Western and Northern Europe. It was the era of some of the greatest thinkers, authors, statesmen, scientists and artists in human history (political thinkers: Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–​1527), Thomas More (1478–​1535); scientists: Nicholaus Copernicus (1473–​1543), Francis Bacon (1561–​1626), Galileo (1564–​1642), Johannes Kepler (1571–​1630), Andreas Vesalius (1514–​1564), Rene Descartes (1596–​1650), Robert Boyle (1627–​1691), Isaac Newton (1642–​1727), Baruch Spinoza (1632–​1677); great artists and writers Leonardo Da Vinci (1452–​1519), Michelangelo (1475–​ 1564), Raphael (1483–​1520), Titian (1488–​1576), William Shakespeare (1564–​ 1616), Miguel de Cervantes (1547–​1616)). Spread of education and secular values during the Renaissance resulted in a vast set of cultural and intellectual changes in Europe during the 1500s and 1600s, discoveries in mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology focused to discover the true laws governing the natural phenomena that refuted the pseudoscientific beliefs established by the people who lived in ancient times and maintained by the Church. The period of the 1500s and 1600s, called the Scientific Revolution, opened the path for independent thought (the Enlightenment (1650–​1800)) regarding society, personal liberties, and human rights.

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 81 John Locke (1632–​1704) in his famous Two Treatises of Government championed the idea of a representative government that would best serve all citizens. Baron de Montesquieu (1689–​1755) in his book The Spirit of Laws expanded John Locke’s political study and incorporated the ideas of a division of state and separation of powers: the legislative, the executive, in respect to things dependent on the law of nations, and the executive in regard to things that depend on the civil law. Jean-​Jacques Rousseau (1712–​1778) in The Social Contract conceived of a system of direct democracy in which all citizens contribute to an overarching “general will” that serves everyone. Adam Smith (1723–​1790) wrote The Wealth of Nations which is considered the “bible of capitalism,” where he states that free-​market economies are the most productive and beneficial to societies. His economic ideas provided the intellectual basis for the development of modern capitalism. The fresh ideas of the Renaissance and Enlightenment spread far above the Western Europe. The invention of the printing press (1440) speeded up this process. Philosophical discussions were held in intellectual salons of large European cities. The increasingly literate population read books and passed them around. These ideas prompted the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, which transformed radically the societies. The progress of the Industrial Revolution led also to the rapid development of technical education and vocational training, that is, societies were acquiring more educated people able to fill up the middle class. The ideas found a wide support of the new class of bourgeois, the middle class of industrialists, entrepreneurs, merchants, and bankers—​the most active members of a growing society who wanted their voice to be heard. Leading thinkers of the Enlightenment stressed the importance of intellectual knowledge to the advancement of society and the importance of secular education. During the 17–​19th centuries secularism and social progress began to prevail, and for the first time advanced scientific and mathematical knowledge became a part of the school and university curriculum in Europe and North America. The growing recognition of the importance of education for social progress led to the extension of elementary education to the middle classes and prompted more countries to assume responsibility for establishing and maintaining national school systems. Public educational systems were established in Germany and France, then in Great Britain and the United States. Beginning in the late 17th century there was the foundation of the Paris Academy and the Royal Society of London, two institutions whose primary purpose was to do scientific research. Later several other similar institutions were founded including the Berlin Academy and the St. Petersburg Academy. Frequently, these

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academies operated under the patronage of a particular monarch. Nevertheless, there was a great deal more freedom than had existed previously. The main development in academic life was the rise of scientific journals that circulated to a wide audience inside and outside of the scientific community. By the middle of the 18th century the scientific revolution was in full swing. If Isaac Newton, an English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, was the most influential scientists of 17th century and a key figure in the scientific revolution, a Swiss scientist and engineer Leonhard Euler was one of the most prolific mathematicians and scientists of the 18th century, who made significant contributions to many different fields including optics, mechanics, artillery, naval science, planetary motion, and several branches of calculus. His publications made up 25 percent of all the mathematical and scientific works published during the whole of the 18th century. During the 17–​18th centuries monarchs throughout Europe started realizing that the absolute control was becoming more difficult since their population began asking for their own rights and privileges. The threat of social disorder alarmed the upper class. All indicated above became the basis for intellectuals, representatives of the upper and middle classes, to think through and reconsider the efficiency of the existing governmental structure. This was a signal of the changing ideology in societies. The French Revolution of 1789 and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which endorsed democracy as a form of government and the ideology of a modern society, as well as the French revolutions of 1830 and 1848 brought the decisive change in the French governmental structure. Moreover, it directly inspired the creation of the world’s first great democracy the United States of America. The Founding Fathers of the United States Benjamin Franklin (1706–​1790) and Thomas Jefferson (1743–​1826), who were inspired directly by Enlightenment thought, had a profound influence on the formation of the new government and helped to draft the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the U.S. Constitution. In the 19th century democracy was gradually, but slowly, penetrating in West European countries. The described above events in the Medieval Europe related mostly to Western Europe. Russian kingdom (tsardom) was established only in the 16th century. It became a major European power by using the experience of the Western Europe kingdoms brought on by tsars like Peter the Great, who brought back many inventions of Western science and technology to shift Russia westward.

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 83 The French Revolution, with its ideas of liberty significantly influenced developments in Russia. The push for political reform in Russia reached its apogee in December 1825, during the coronation of Nicholas I, when nobles and officers favoring reforms and constitutional government, called later the Decembrists, staged an abortive coup. Russia was able to keep the monarchist rule till the 20th century by creating the campaign of Russian nationalism (the love for and allegiance to the country of birth and its subjects, culture, heritage, and mother tongue) different from the existed earlier western nationalism usually aimed at a ruler rather to a native land. In its economic development Russia was far behind the advanced Western European countries and had a smaller middle class consisting mostly of doctors, lawyers, and university teachers. That is why democratic reforms in Russia came with delays, compared to the Western Europe (e.g., the major Russian reform, the emancipation of the serfs, was only in 1861). The revolution of 1905 led to the establishment of the State Duma, the multi-​ party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906. In February of 1917, the monarchy was overthrown with the intend to create a democratic-​parliamentary government. The French Revolution of 1789 provided also an intellectual and social environment for the ideologies known as socialism and communism. Marx and Engels interpreted them as the class struggle which is expected to lead to political change. Their Communist Manifesto was written in the period of the French Revolution of 1848 that led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The revolutions in Europe were a foundation for changes to take place. This made Marx and Engels think that this was the only way to change the societal structure. The terms communist party and communist were popularized by the title of the Manifesto although such a party had not existed. Marx and Engels expressed their views and beliefs as a theory of social change. This was their ideology, rather than the ideology of working class (Marx and Engels used the term proletariat) which in many countries, including Russia, did not represent the majority of the workforce. Nevertheless, their views (that fully correspond to the Converse (1964) definition of ideology as the product of a “creative synthesis” conducted by a narrow group of intellectuals) penetrated in the trade-​unions and were supported by their leaders. In the last third of the 19th century, social democratic parties arose in Europe, drawing mainly from Marxism. The Communist Manifesto appeal “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.” and a left-​wing anthem The Internationale (written by the anarchist Eugene Pottier) with the words “We are nothing, let us be all.” became a

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sophisticated propaganda of the socialist and communist ideas that turned into dominant ideologies of the 20th century. According to Marx and Engels, “the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.” They share the view of Plato, who argued that property should be communal both in ownership and use and believed that the rulers of a city should not own property so that they would not tear the city in pieces by differing over “mine” and “not mine.” However, they ignore the fact that Aristotle challenged Plato’s vision. They ignore Locke’s argument that property rights existed prior to government and that these rights were derived from natural rights, such as the right to one’s own life and liberty. Marxism disregards Adam Smith’s belief that private property created a role for government in defending property, and the existence of government created the security to stimulate the creation of new property. The views of Locke and Smith are based on the historic analysis of property rights in societies. When hunting and gathering were the principal forms of economic activity, claims of tribal ownership applied to control of territory, while individual property claims included weapons, tools, and other personal belongings. The importance of property rights increased as societies developed. In Ancient Greece citizens were motivated to acquire property and protect their acquisition because if a Greek lost his land, he also lost his rights of citizenship. With population growth came competition for land, and pressure on the state to guarantee the security of ownership increased. The ideas of individual sovereignty and individual proprietorship became entrenched in the common law of Britain and subsequently in the Constitution of the United States. With technological progress and economic growth, property rights applied to capital assets became necessary conditions to guarantee returns on private investments. The Founding Fathers of the United States firmly believed that the human right to private property had to be protected in law as the basis for individual liberty, a free society, and a free economy. Because the United Kingdom and the United States constitutions guaranteed the sanctity of property, starting from the 18th century trade and commerce of these countries flourished and economies grew. Now property rights and the government obligation to protect these rights were included in most constitutions. The Marxist idea of abolition of private property was realized in the former Soviet Union where all economy was in the hands of government. The so-​called planning economic system proved its helplessness during the existence of the Soviet Union and was one of the reasons of its collapse.

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 85 According to Marxism, capitalism should be replaced by socialism and eventually communism, and it should be done through abolishing private property. The socialist ideology calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. It means that industries, agriculture and corporations should be nationalized. Now there exist many modifications of socialism and its definitions. Socialist ideas with the flavor of nationalism gave the birth of fascism, a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. National Socialism was the ideology associated with the Nazi Party—​officially the National Socialist German Workers’ Party—​in Nazi Germany and other far-​right groups with similar aims. Under the leadership of Adolf Hitler the party came to power in 1933 and governed by totalitarian methods until 1945. A revolutionary socialist, a member of the Socialist Party Benito Mussolini became the fascist dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945. The communist ideology was the official ideology of the former Soviet Union and its satellites. It is now the official ideology of North Korea and Cuba. Being initially also in China, now it is changed to the so-​called Deng Xiaoping’s “market economy socialism.” Vietnam chose now the current China’s pass. Social democracy, the ideology of many modern European countries, represents a change in the basic Marxist doctrine. It rejects the use of revolution to establish a socialist society and advocates a peaceful evolutionary transition including government regulations and extensive social welfare programs. Marxism arose as a reaction to mass movements of popular uprisings across Europe, social revolts against economic conditions, growth of trade-​unions and their fight for better working conditions and wages. However, this is not a rigorous theory supported by the extensive related data which can be used to predict the future development of societies. As ideology, the views of Marx and Engels are more the hypotheses rather than theoretical inferences, and the history refuted them. Marx prediction of economic crises under capitalism, as a result of the overproduction of some goods and the lack of centralized planning, revived Marxism and socialism during the 1929 Great Recession, when British economist John Keynes (1936) advocated the government to stimulate consumption and investment during economic downturns. High unemployment during economic crises is a direct threat to a country’s political stability. That is why the Keynesian theory assuming a significant government involvement in the economy continues to be very popular nowadays. However, in the elegantly written Keynes’s biography Davenport-​Hines (2015) states: “He proposed the use of counter-​cyclical demand management policies during periods of economic depression and higher unemployment, but affirmed that in ordinary times the budget should always be

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balanced.” The overproduction is not the only reason of economic crises, and a sharp government intrusion in the economy is a temporarily useful measure. Usually the ruling elite tries to control the state of ideology in society. In the 20th century, administrative units of autocratic regimes contained a strong ideological sector. Ideology has a decisive influence on the government economic policy. This influence varies from minimum government interference in the lives of citizens to total government control denying the opportunity for private ownership and free enterprise. A more detailed discussion of the capitalist and socialist governmental structures will be given in Chapter 5.

How to Evaluate Societal Progress Different aspects of human live can be evaluated by various specific criteria. Progress in the health care area can be judged by the life expectancy of a country’s population. Cultural progress of a country is characterized by the percent of its literacy rates, by the percent of persons with PhD, master and bachelor degrees, by the number of scientific organizations, theaters, etc. Societal progress requires a more general criterion that would encompass all aspects of human life. Societal progress is defined as the change or advancement of major social conditions and people’s lives in a direction considered to be desirable based on prevailing values and goals of development. The existing definition is not precise because societal values and goals are not specified. We will evaluate the progress by the improved living conditions of population. This should be the goal of the government that devotes itself to serve its citizens. A reasonable criterion measuring the standard of living in a country can its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Economics of the pre-​industrial world were dominated by the idea that a country’s wealth was best measured by its possession of gold and silver. Adam Smith in his book The Wealth of Nations (1776) proposed a new view of wealth: “The wealth of the country consists, not in its gold and silver, only, but in its lands, houses, and consumable goods of all different kinds.” He emphasized “consumable goods,” that is, goods and services produced by people for their needs. Today, the total market value of the goods and services produced by a country’s economy during a specified period of time (usually one year) is characterized by the gross domestic product. GDP can be thought of as a measure of income which represents the addition to wealth (or subtraction, if it is negative) since

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 87 a country’s wealth refers to accumulation of resources (net asset value) over all years. That is why it is used in the chosen criterion of societal progress. Real GDP is the production of goods and services measured at constant prices, whereas nominal GDP is the production of goods and services measured at current prices. There exist three approaches to view GDP. The production approach (called also the output approach or the net product or value-​added approach) adds the value of final products sold; the expenditure approach adds up the value of purchases made by final users; the income approach sums the incomes generated by production and obtained by all producers in the country. In contrast to the expenditure approach that begins with the money spent on goods and services, the income approach starts with the income earned (wages, rents, interest, profits) from the production of goods and services. In this case GDP is considered as a measure of aggregate income. The production approach is used in the production function models (see, e.g., Filipe and Adams, 2005). It considers GDP from the output side. The three methods of measuring GDP should result in the same number, with some possible difference caused by statistical and rounding differences. The credibility of data is always a significant concern in any form of research. The expenditure approach is the most widely used way to estimate GDP. An advantage of using the expenditure method is data integrity. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis considers the source data for expenditure components to be more reliable than for either income or production components. The production approach is used in some European countries. Their choice is explained by the presence of a reliable information base. To evaluate GDP for periods, when this term has not even existed, presents a very difficult problem, and it is difficult to expect its high accuracy. The GDP per capita (the total output divided by the number of people in the country) requires additional calculations of the country population. This is also a separate non-​simple problem. Nevertheless, if a developed methodology is applied to a considered group of countries, the obtained data can serve well for comparison of these countries. The GDP itself cannot be used for comparison of countries with substantially different population. That is why the GDP per capita will be considered. But it is useful to compare countries by the GDP growth which can serve also as an additional auxiliary criterion of the improving living conditions. During recessions GDP drops but, as the history shows, the economies recover later. This fact enables us to choose for comparison the data excluding the period of recessions or to use the averages of GDP per capita for a certain time period.

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The British economist Angus Maddison (1926–​2010), specializing in quantitative macroeconomic history, performed a very difficult research in quantitative macroeconomic analysis of economic growth and development calculating the GDP, GDP growth and GDP per capita in 20 countries, 7 regions and the world for the past two millennia, dating back to Roman times. The per capita GDP was calculated for the certain chosen years, and the annual average compound growth rates were given for the chosen time intervals. Some scientists criticized Maddison’s estimate of the GDP per capita stating that incomes even of the most “primitive” societies greatly exceeded the Maddison estimate. However, it is easier to criticize than to create and offer something useful. Even if the bottom estimate is lower that it should be (nobody can indicate its precise value), the Maddison research can be used successfully for the comparative analysis of the economies of various countries. According to Maddison (2007), in 1 A.D., only Italy under the Roman Empire has the highest per capita GDP and the Eastern Europe the lowest one. In 1000, according to his calculations, there was no growth in whole world; Asia looked somewhat more advanced than Europe around 1500 and later this advantage had disappeared. The data of 1500 shows the substantial growth of the GDP per capita in Western Europe, especially in Italy, as well as in France and the United Kingdom that were not far behind. Starting from 1600, the leading European countries were constantly increasing their GDP per capita. The United Kingdom did it the most successfully and had the highest GDP per capita. France surpassed Germany after World War II, and Italy was a little bit behind France and Germany after the end of the 19th century but reached their level in 2000. The United States were far ahead of the mentioned countries. Japan’s GDP per capita was higher than in China and India, especially after World War I and in 1970s caught up with the leading European countries whose GDP per capita as well as its value in the United Stated exceeded significantly the value of this index of other countries. The Arab world showed some progress only after World War II. However, the progress was less than in India and China that improved their economy in 1970s, especially China after modifying its economic model. As to the former Soviet Union, its GDP per capita was significantly lower that the United States and European Countries and Japan but higher than in India and China. According to Marxism, the criterion of societal progress is the development of productive forces, the real labor power of the workers, rather than the wealth of society, as it was offered by Adam Smith. Neither Marx nor Engels explained

Societal Dynamics and Ideology | 89 precisely the term productive forces. They indicate that a more progressive socioeconomic formation (e.g., capitalism compared to feudalism) opens new opportunities for the development of productive forces and creates higher rates of their growth. It looks like their definition includes all components of the productive activity of human beings, that is, means of production, technology and science, as well as people as the direct workforce. However, since more progressive formation is characterized by a higher level of technology and, hence, a higher human productivity, it is not clear why the development of productive forces was chosen as a criterion of societal development, and it is not clear even how to determine it since its definition is vague. If Marxism states that the progress of the socioeconomic formation stimulates the progress of progressive forces (see e.g. Veinberg and Kurbatova, 1959), then it is not clear why a criterion related to the functioning of socioeconomic formation was not considered. Fathers of the dialectical materialism ignore the cause-​effect relationship. Irrespective to the introduced by Marx and Engels new terms (socioeconomic formation, productive forces), directly or indirectly they depend upon economic factors determining the wealth of society. The indicated terms depend upon the level of means of production, technology and science. Marxists do not deny the role of technological progress. Moreover, they state that technological progress determines the degree of human governance over the nature which, in turn, causes progress in other spheres of human life. When a society started producing an additional product, a part of it was able to choose activities not linked with physical labor. The change of socioeconomic formations brings changes in the life of a society—​ its cultural growth and the growing class consciousness, which Marx uses in his characterization of the working class. For Marx, technological progress is an important part of the growing class consciousness, what is important for his political theory of the proletarian revolution, rather than the important economic factor of the country economic development and improvement of life of its population. That is why the Maddison analysis of the economic development of various countries is useful and allows us to compare the GDP per capita for different societal structures and to determine which structure create better well-​being conditions for population. As it seen from his research data, a larger GDP per capita corresponds to non-​autocratic countries and countries with democratic governments. A more detail analysis of various social structures will be given in the next chapters.

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References Converse, P. (1964). The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics. In Ideology and Discontent. Apter, D. (ed.). New York: Free Press. Coser. L. (1964). The Functions of Social Conflict. New York: Free Press. Davenport-​Hines, R.  (2015). Universal Man. The Lives of John Maynard Keynes. New York: Basic Books. Filipe, J. and Adams, G. (2005). The Estimation of the Cobb-​Douglas Function: A Retrospective View. Eastern Economic Journal 31 (3), 427–​4 45. Hayek, F. (1954). Capitalism and the Historians. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Keynes J. (1936). The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Lenski, G., (1966). Power and Privilege: A Theory of Social Stratification. New York: McGraw-​Hill Book Company. Locke, J. (1980). Second Treatise of Government. Macpherson, C. B. (ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing. Maddison, A. (2007). Contours of the World Economy 1–​2030 AD, Essays in Macro-​Economic History. Oxford: University Press. Missiou, A. (2011). Literacy and Democracy in Fifth-​Century Athens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Smith, A. (1994). The Wealth of Nations. New York: Random House, Inc. Veinberg, F. and Kurbatova, G., Ed. (1959). The Fundamentals of Marxism-​Leninism. Textbook, Moscow: State Publisher of Political Literature. Williamson, J. (1985). Did British Capitalism Breed Inequality? Boston: Allen and Unwin.

4

Pyramidal Societal Structures

“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” —​Jean-​Jacques Rousseau

Introduction It is well known that the societies of different continents follow almost identical stages of their development. It means that social development is not a random process. This process is subordinated to objective laws. Like the laws of physics, such laws arise from the undeniable laws of nature. Unfortunately, the current sociology is unable to formulate precisely the laws of societal developments to look and be accepted as a rigorous science that can not only explain the historic events of the past but also to predict social development in the future and offer methods how to control social processes. The knowledge how to control social processes would play a decisive role for human existence and prosperity. Historical examples of societal development starting from hunting and gathering societies present an extensive testing material to check the validity of various hypothesis, models, and theories. The considering societal model consists

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of the administrative and production units, and ideology presents an important internal factor that influences the functioning of the whole societal system. The separate analysis of dynamics of the administrative and production units and their components in Chapters 2 and 3 helps better understand the interaction between these units and the main structural properties of the societal mechanism that produces changes in a society based on changes of the dominant ideology existed in the society. The societal mechanism is a collective action of the members of the administrative and production units motivated by their separate goals which are set and corrected under the influence of the dominant ideology. As it was discussed in Chapter 1, purposeful behavior of each human being (maximization of the chosen well-​being criterion) is subjugated to certain restrictions (norms of behavior) which depend on the existing dominant ideology. The society is functioning as a well-​oiled mechanism when all its components act according their well-​being criteria within an admissible area of behavior determined by the existing laws. The administrative unit establishes these laws and controls the behavior of individuals and the functioning of the society as a whole. Its executive, legislative, judicial, and military branches are the most important components created with the development of societies that enable them to function as a whole. Most people are loyal to government. They are conformists and the confor­ mistic tendency is instinctive—​the feeling of insecurity makes individuals adapt to existing conditions, to behave as the majority does; survival instincts prompt them that sticking with the group increases their chance of survival. However, human behavior is not guided only by survival instincts. Consciousness is an essential part of the adaptation process. The conscious adaptation and related conscious behavior are the result of satisfying other components of well-​being. As a result, the conscious adaptation to various environments creates variety of individuals, and each of them maximizes the chosen well-​being criterion that guides the human activity. Some neuroscientists claim that about 15 percent of society are innovators—​people who are not satisfied with the status quo. Such individuals created new tools, developed new technological processes. They are sources of new ideas on how to improve the quality of life for individuals and for society as a whole (life satisfaction, including everything from physical health, education, employment, wealth, freedom, religious beliefs, security and the environment). Some individuals express opinions concerning the existing societal structure and ideas how to transform it. These ideas, generated usually by intellectuals, present an opportunity for change. The influence of intellectuals on the way a society evolves depends on how fast the new ideas are disseminated among

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 93 population and whether they meet the needs of people. The lag of the public conscience explains why the infusion of new ideas requires time. Our conscience is a product of parental and social conditioning and people resist change because of misunderstanding about the need for change (when the reason for the change is unclear), fear of the unknown, lack of competence and some other reasons. Support from a more educated part of population, especially a part of the elite, significantly speeds up this process and prepares the society for changes. The efficiency of the production unit depends on the policy of the administrative unit and the external factors (climate change, epidemic diseases, etc.). Of course, people try to adjust to the existing conditions. However, if the living conditions of the production unit workforce do not satisfy its well-​been criteria, that is, the people are unhappy and express in some forms their protest, their actions can decrease productivity or cause an open unrest. This creates a conflict between the units. The future development of the society depends on the ability of the leaders of the administrative unit to resolve the conflict.

Formation of Pyramidal Societal Structures As indicated earlier, in hunting and gathering societies and pastoral societies the means of production were primitive, so that the level of production was extremely low; it only helped people survive. Their problems the societies resolve collectively or by their most experienced and respectful members. The idea of unity, as a necessary condition of survival, was the basis of the societal conscience. The purposeful activity of the society to survive required to control the behavior of its members. The leader, who earned the authority for his behavior and decision-​ making ability in difficult situations, performed this function. With a leader the society looked like a purposeful united social organism. With an increase of productivity the societies started producing surplus, an extra product than people needed for the everyday consumption. This extra product enabled some members of the society to extend their activity to increase their surplus resources. This produced social inequality. As mentioned in Chapter  2, the increase of extra products gave birth to property rights—​the right to own and use at one’s discretion the accumulated surplus products. Altogether with property rights the ideology prohibiting murder, robbery, and deception was formed. This made easier for a leader to control the society. Since the pre-​agricultural societies, fighting for survivals, led a rather isolated way of life, the mentioned norms of behavior spread only on their members. Fighting for survival, larger and stronger societies

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robbed weak ones. The non-​friendly relations between societies of a region made them closed societies protecting their territory from possible invaders and looking for an opportunity to expend it. Although wealthy families secured better social positions and leaders were usually rich persons, the pre-​agricultural societies kept many democratic features related to choosing their leaders and food distribution. The start of barter trade led to the concept of value of exchanged products. Initially information about products cost was formed based on the assessment of the coefficients of exchange of concrete products. This made productive labor measurable and controllable. The law of supply and demand started regulating the production process. The amount of products was produced to satisfy their demand. The usage of money, performing a function as a medium of exchange, combined all centers of exchange into the unified market and formed the concept of price of a product. One of the great achievements of money was increasing the speed at which business could be done. They helped to increase trade. At the early stages of societal development, different goods played the role of money (e.g., livestock, furs, etc.). Later, in about 2500 B.C., gold and silver were used in trade. The created market attracted the members of a society to participate. It increased interaction between people, influenced their thinking and actions. Instead of collective actions of a large group of people, a family or several families altogether tried to produce and sell their products. The increased productivity of labor influenced the population growth. For the pre-​industrial societies farming/​ agriculture was the main activity involving most of population. Land was the precious property. It was known that fertile soils produced more food and healthy crops which meant more profit. Wealthy people tried to get more land (to buy or master a new one). Growing societies needed more land for their population. The fear of outsiders, coupled with a desire to expand or protect necessary resources, especially land, were the main reasons of wars. Territorial disputes became main conflicts between societies and one of the reasons of frequent wars. Weak and small societies became victims of strong and big ones—​were conquered or joined them voluntary. Captives were turned into slaves, and social inequality became a substantial new feature of social life. Wealthy persons close to a leader used slave labor (forced labor) to enrich themselves. The strain relations between societies changed the functions of a leader. During wars leaders of the pre-​agricultural societies were given an unlimited power. This measure was justified, since its goal coincided with the need of the society to survive or win, so that the population was ready to act following the commands of their leader (usually, the most skillful military commander). Victories strengthened the authority of military leaders and started rebuilding the societal consciousness. In the societies that won wars

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 95 the leader’s name symbolized the glory of the society. The leader appropriated a larger part of the booty, especially land, and shared a part of it with his companions in arms. Priests, who also were awarded by land, glorified the leader. This increased his popularity among the population. If the preceding leaders participated in the production process and food distribution, with frequent wars the role and responsibilities of leaders changed. They became in charge of the administrative machine. Among the most important roles of a leader was organization of his military arm. The standing army was a symbol of his authority. Arm forces became the pivot of his special position and might in the society and helped him to become king with wide responsibilities, not limited only to be an army commander: to manage the affairs of the society in war and peace—​to maintain order, administer justice and uphold the law in the society. The king’s power was based and enforced by the army. The necessity of a standing army was dictated by frequent wars, which played a defining role in the formation of states. The need for defense from military conquest or the ability to conquer other peoples was the key factor (a necessary condition) leading to state formation. As mentioned earlier, the first known states in history had a theocratic form of government (kings personified both religious and military powers). But their rule was not absolute. They were assisted by one or more assemblies. This situation did not last long. Kings chose the administrative apparatus among their supporters—​wealthy persons and liquidated the assemblies. Each king established a tax-​collecting system to support his administrative machine, public works and the army. Since the market was only in its initial stage, by taxation he controlled indirectly the production process and market. As a result, the absolute rule was established. During a permanent strain relation with neighbors, when there existed no rigorous borders separating the societies of a region, there was no reason to change the existing skillful military leader, and when such a person declared himself king, this act did not cause protests in the society which was ready to accept the new ideology since order and stability were the necessary conditions for citizen to realize their well-​being criteria. In a process of transformation of the old ideology to the autocratic one, the kinship mentality of the population allowed kings to claim a hereditary right to rule. Several pre-​industrial societies preferred to have the leaders positions electable and kept democratic forms of their government. Such societies (e.g., Ancient Athens) were prosperous and were developing uniformly (production, science, and culture) rather than spending most resources on their military. Unfortunately,

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they were defeated by more powerful autocratic societies or became autocratic as a result of power struggle among the elite when a strong military leader seized power (e.g., in Roman Republic). To stay in power the rulers’ policy should have a support of most of population. However, this is valid if the government is chosen by the population. Most of the pre-​industrial societies were autocracies, so that, at least theoretically, the care about the members of a society was a necessary condition for its ruler to keep his status. Usually, the loss of power is a tragedy, a stressful situation that everybody tries to avoid. In most cases, the place at the top is a result of a competition. Ambition is one of characteristics of human nature. After reaching this place, persons try to keep it. The natural way to do that is to surround himself by friends and supporters; the most reliable way is to choose a circle of advisors among relatives. Under the absolute rule, a king (or an emperor) became the only decision maker who controlled the life of the society. He formulated goals that would meet his interests as well as his supporters, since his base of support was the army and wealthy, the surrounding him elite, rather than ordinary people. The loyalty of his base strengthened his power. Rulers understood that any danger would unite the society around its leader and justify an increased burden imposed on people as a result of a heavy taxation, so that a new war, real or imaginary, was the best remedy to soothe discontent and restore order in the society. Religion was used to legitimize power in ancient states. Divine right of kings, the doctrine that the right to rule derives directly from God, was an important strategy of rulers to bolster their power and to create new ideological foundations to support growing political expansionistic tendencies. Iconography contributed to reinforcement the ideological foundation of divine kingship. Building of huge complexes of temples, statues, and monuments was also the demonstration of kings might and power. Kinship was a heart of the pre-​agricultural societies. With the birth of cities and states the hereditary principle became the main factor of succession to rulership. Unfortunately, not all hereditary monarchs possessed the leader’s qualities to rule successfully as their predecessors. Usually, this sharpened the power struggle and had a negative effect on people’s lives. It would be mistaken to believe that the rulers of a society do not care about its ordinary members (history brings several examples of cold-​blooded dictators but these persons are abnormal individuals). Simply the ruling elite, as we mentioned earlier, believes that the people belonging to the lower class do not need too much. Nevertheless, responding to the people’s discontent rulers tried to appease them. For example, in Rome by bread and circuses the authorities attempted to

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 97 divert attention of the common people from the gap between their standard of living and that of the aristocracy. Even some wars of the Roman Empire can be explained, partially, by a sharp increase of the population and the need of more lands to house the people. In periods of instability, when order and discipline are important, the power can be seized by a skillful military leader, and the societal structure will satisfy to the autocratic rule (as mentioned earlier, in 27 B.C., Roman Republic became Roman Empire). The change of a more advanced structure to its less efficient previous one does not necessarily mean a step back. For at least a short period of time, the restored order and discipline in a society as well as fear to be punished can produce positive results. However, for a long run the more advanced structures enable societies to produce significantly better results. The increased administrative apparatus of autocratic regimes and army forces require additional taxation that is a burden on the society. The growth of government is accompanied by growing corruption. These factors decrease the production output of the society. Wars of aggression and corruption of the grown Roman Empire’s central government caused the excessive tax burden on productive Roman citizens during the 4th and 5th centuries, which is considered as a leading reason of the economic collapse and fall of the empire. The societal structure corresponding to the autocratic rule has a pyramidal form since all commands follow from a ruler at the top of a pyramid and spread down to his subordinates in the administrative unit and then down to the productive unit. In the future, we will use the term pyramidal structure to characterize the autocratic societies. We will use the term pseudo-​democratic societal structure to characterize the societal systems with a non-​pyramidal structure acting as autocratic. Based on the above given material the following theorems can be formulated (unfortunately, sociology lacks rigorously formulated statements concerning societal dynamics):

Theorem 4.1 The kinship ideology accepted by all societies occupying separate parts of a region, without the lines of demarcation between them, creates a hostile relations between the societies leading to wars. Ultimately, with population growth, weak and small societies become victims of larger, stronger, and better organized societies which dominate the region and form the autocratic states with the pyramidal structure able to defend from military conquest and ready to military expansion.

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Theorem 4.2 The autocratic states with the pyramidal structure are the source of social instability and frequent wars. Theorem 4.3 Societal systems with the autocratic ideology impede economic growth and improvement of people’s living standards.

The statements of the first two above theorems coincide partially with Tilly’s (1985) statement, “the state makes war and war makes states.” Since there is no clear agreement on the defining characteristics of a state and the definitions vary significantly, based upon the above consideration we define the state as a territorially-​ bound sovereign entity with centralized institutions for the administration of governance (see also e.g., Claessen and Skalnik, 1978; Tilly, 1985; Wimmer and Feinstein, 2010; Wright, 2006). Although most sociologists agree that population pressure and warfare were mechanisms of state formation, Carneiro (1970) believes that in situations of unlimited agricultural land (like the Amazon or the Eastern United States) the pressure did not exist and so warfare allowed people to move elsewhere and thus did not motivate the creation of a state. However, his hypothesis that one society can run from another simply is equivalent to the statement that the societies of the region had not reached yet the level required to become states. It is not clear based on what definition of state Carneiro (1970) made his conclusion but, of course, it does not follow from the definition given above. Autocratic regimes have dominated global politics for hundreds of years, from the kings of Mesopotamia and the pharaohs of Egypt to the absolute monarchs of Europe. Though democracy has since spread to much of the world, about a third of today’s countries are still ruled by dictatorship and they have lower living standards than in democratic countries. The delay in development is explained by the inefficiency of the pyramidal control systems—​difficulties in obtaining reliable information and slowness of decision making, which are necessary condition for the efficient functioning. A detail comparative analysis of autocratic and democratic regimes (and additional information related to Theorem 4.3) is given in the following sections of this chapter.

Reasons of Evolution of the Pyramidal Societal Structures From the first sight, the pyramidal system of societal control looks very robust. The presence of standing army able not only to defend the state but also restore

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 99 order in a case of internal instability made the system very strong and reliable. However, the mentioned earlier drawbacks of the pyramidal structures undermined them from the inside. In addition, although religious leaders supported societal rulers, with the birth of the monotheistic religion the influence of the kinship ideology and nationalistic ideas on human behavior was weakened; it became more difficult to persuade people of the same religion to kill one another. This factor decreased aggressiveness of the autocratic states. As to the external factors, the permanent hostile situation and a possibility to be destroyed made the ruling elite at least think that some changes are needed. Wars between the autocratic states with the pyramidal structure destroyed some of them and enhanced others. As a result of evolution, some of states modified their structure to look differently, others evolved as new democratic states. The processes of change were not identical for different regions and states. Nevertheless, all of them contain common features which are described below. The policy of aggressive military expansion costed the loss of many lives of persons who would have been used in the production process. The related increased taxation decreased resources allocated to the production of goods. As indicated earlier, the status of a ruler was hereditary; the status of nobility that initially could have been earned through military achievements later became also hereditary. It means that the layer of aristocracy included many individuals not interested in participating in the production process (they hired persons of a lower class to run their estates); nobles preferred to enjoy hunting, dancing, tournaments and other social activities. Serfs, representing the majority of medieval population, were at the bottom of medieval society and felt most the heaviness of the pyramidal control system. The riots among serfs could not but worry the ruling elite. Suppression of riots by force only increased animosity between the lower and upper classes of society. History shows that during some riots their leaders belonging to the lower class proclaimed themselves new monarchs. These uneducated persons were unable to offer something new rather than a promise to be a kind ruler. Of course, such uprisings had a short life. Uneducated persons were unable to think beyond “a bad king and a kind king.” Most of them protested against their local rulers rather than monarchs who, they believed, were unaware about their terrible living conditions. According to Marxist theory, the class struggle is the moving force of societal development. However, this statement is meaningless since the term development is not defined precisely and it is not clear how to measure it. Development is a process in which something passes to a different stage. Marx indicated the five

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stages of development: primitive communal society, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, and communism. But he did not offer any index that would be enable one to compare these stages and prove that they demonstrate societal progress. All working people rather than the class struggle determine the progress of society. Earlier we indicated the comparative analysis of societal development (see Maddison, 2007) based on the GDP per capita. There exists the Human Development Index (HDI) for assessing the development of a country, not its economic growth alone, which characterizes the average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable, and have a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions. For the pre-​industrial societies the influence of the first two components of the HDI is not significant, the economic factor (the efficiency of the production process) plays the dominant role. The class struggle and unsatisfactory living conditions of the low class population act as a brake on economic development. They can serve as an indicator that something should be done to improve the economic situation. But only as a signal, not as a moving force. The efficiency of economy and its future development depend on the changes in the societal structure. Significant changes in a society can be produced only by members of the upper class, representatives of the ruling elite, who see the drawbacks of the existing societal structure and are eager to get power. The changes can be originated also from intellectuals and well-​off persons belonging to the middle class presenting a new growing group believing that the existing societal structure hurdles their activity and the country’s development and having concrete ideas for necessary changes. Any ideas that satisfy the well-​being criteria of most of the population have a chance to live and spread. They can be supported by some members of the ruling elite if they benefit from that. Usually, the existing elite refuses to accept new persons in its social circle. Supporting the unsatisfied part of the population and spreading views how to improve the system are a means to penetrate into the upper class with better opportunities to promote new ideas. Some individuals participate directly in uprisings trying to overthrow the existing system. Revolutions, without a proper readiness of a society to accept a new ideology and related changes in the societal structure, can cost a lot of human lives, and the desired results cannot be obtained as fast as it was expected (see, for example, the French Revolutions of 1789, 1830, and 1845). The indicated above factors (military menace, population losses during wars, slow economic growth, discontent and riots among population) became the main

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 101 reasons of transformation of the existing ideology and pyramidal societal structures. In its pure form the pyramidal structure corresponds to the divine right of kings which meant that all rights, liberties, and properties actually belonged to the king. The king merely permitted his subjects to use their possessions and might regulate the use or even seize these possessions. The people possessions were at the mercy of kings. With time, the nobles tried to strengthen their position and got their status to become hereditary. This made them and their families less dependable upon monarchs. Christian religion helped them to increase their influence. Although the Catholic Church endorsed monarchies (Charlemagne, Constantine, the Holy Roman Empire), there is no indication that it supported the doctrine of the divine right of kings. According to the Bible, God is the only truly legitimate king of his people. Scripture teaches that God is the ultimate owner of the earth and that He desires individuals to be His stewards of it. Since in the pre-​industrial societies land was the most important property and property rights established relationship among members of society, feudal lords (barons) got more freedom to use their land more efficiently. Despite most medieval governments were monarchies, theoretically run by kings or other monarchs, in some places the real power was shifted to feudal land owners of lower levels than the monarchs. The elite’s influence on the kings’ decisions increased; advising councils were created to advise kings before making laws. Royal councils gradually developed into a legislative form of government. People belonging to the low class who could clearly feel the injustice of land ownership moved to towns and broke with professions related to agriculture. They joined ranks of artisans, craftsmen, and merchants; these groups developed a system of guilds and companies. The guilds were medieval associations of craftsmen or merchants that managed their local affairs including prices, workmanship, the welfare of its workers and the suppression of intruders (Myers, 1971). The guilds merchants ran the local markets in towns and represented the merchant community in discussions with the monarchs. Later many guilds became companies focusing on trade and finance (the management of large amounts of money) leaving the guild structures to represent the interests of the smaller poorer manufacturers. This was the road England chose to be a pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. Before the middle class began to emerge in medieval times (it was not highly visible until the High Middle Ages 1000–​1250) there were primarily only two significant classes in the feudal system: the nobles (kings, queens, dukes, knights,

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lords, barons, clergymen and such) and the lower class (serfs, servants, men at arms etc.). Skillful craftsmen, artisans, and merchants became a building block of the middle class. The term bourgeoisie was first known in medieval France as the occupants of walled cities (boroughs)—​artisans, craftsmen, and merchants who occupied a socioeconomic position between the peasants and the landlords. At the end of the Middle Ages (1400–​1500), the bourgeoisie of Western Europe found that their support of monarchs against the feudal disorder of competing local authorities could make them more prosperous and influential. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the bourgeoisie supported principles of constitutionality and property rights against the claims of divine right and against the privileges held by nobles and clergy. Before 18th century monarchy seemed to be a necessary part of the societal structure. The majority of society believed that no country could survive without a king. But the French and American revolutions supported by the middle class proved opposite. This was a huge blow to the autocratic ideology. Subsequent to the Industrial Revolution, the middle class grew significantly, and differences within it became more distinct. Doctors, teachers, scientists joined it; their income was close to the income of petty bourgeois (artisans, craftsmen, and tradesmen). The high bourgeois (industrialists and bankers) formed a separate influential subclass with economic and political power whose activity played a significant role in the future societal development. It became a progressive force, and since 19th century the term bourgeoisie usually is politically and sociologically synonymous with the upper class of a capitalist society. Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–​1869), minister of foreign affairs in the provisional government following the Revolution of 1848, issued a Manifesto to Europe, as a tool for French diplomatic representatives abroad, that contained: Nations, like individuals, have different ages; and the principles which rule them have successive phases. The monarchical, the aristocratic, the constitutional, and the republican forms of government, are the expression of the different degrees of maturity in the genius of nations. They require more liberty in proportion as they feel equality, and democracy in proportion as they are inspired with a greater share of justice and love for the people over whom they rule. It is merely a question of time. … Monarchy and republicanism are not, in the eyes of wise statesmen, absolute principles, arrayed in deadly conflict against each other; they are facts which contrast one with another, and, which may exist face to face by mutually understanding and respecting each other.

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 103 Lamartine, whose family belonged to the French provincial nobility, believed that industrialization led by the bourgeoisie and scientific discoveries would produce profound democratic changes in society. Karl Marx, whose family belonged to the middle class, considered the bourgeoisie as the ruling class of capitalist societies and stated that the origin of its wealth was the exploitation of the proletariat, the urban and rural workers. Societal progress, according to Marx, is the result of the class struggle between the bourgeoisie and proletariat, which he considers as the moving force. As indicated above, this is a baseless and erroneous statement. The progress is the result of contribution of all working members of a society. They are its driving force, and in the capitalist society, especially at its initial stage, the bourgeoisie played the main role. The capitalist development is based on functioning of two interconnected markets—​the market of goods and the market of labor. As to the market of goods, its first timid steps were seen in the pre-​industrial societies. Now as a result of the enforcement of property rights and their spreading on all members of a society, the capitalist economy enabled the market to grow involving many buyers and sellers. Sellers offer products needed for population trying to maximize the profit, and buyers try to spend minimum when buying a product. Nobody considered this as a conflict between two sides since markets are organized around voluntary exchange between people. The labor market, which Marx ignored, works similarly. No one looking for a job is forced by a business owner to take it. Slavery or feudalism are the social systems where the direct application of force is a central pervasive feature of allocating people to tasks. In a capitalist market economy the allocation of people to activities is the result of the free choices of persons: no one is told “you must work for this employer” or “you must buy this product.” Of course, the initial stage of the labor market development was accompanied by conflicts between business owners and employees concerning unsatisfactory working conditions and other problems since there was no an established legal base for workers’ rights, labor related laws. Many factories had twelve-​hour working shifts, women and children were paid much less than men. The equipment was not secure and killed many workers; food in the new factory towns was often of poor quality and in short supply. Trade unions arose when growing numbers of factory workers joined these associations in their efforts to achieve better wages and working conditions. The fact that the trade union activity was legalized demonstrates that the low and middle classes got more freedom in societies choosing the capitalist development. With the increased level of education among population, groups with different

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political views and ideas organized various parties presenting different ideologies. A new educated generation was moved by liberalism and social justice. Liberalism became the preeminent reform movement in Europe during the 19th century. It advocated civil liberties and political freedom with representative democracy under the rule of law and emphasized economic freedom. The reformist programs of Liberal Party in Britain became the model for liberal political parties throughout Europe. But in parallel with liberal views, the Industrial Revolution gave rise to socialist views: the term economic freedom was changed to a democratically controlled economy run for the benefit of all. In 1832, the word socialism first appeared in a liberal French newspaper Le Globe. Many 19th century socialists criticized negativities brought by the Industrial Revolution. Their ideals were equality, cooperation, democracy, and shared prosperity. Some of them rejected the argument that the rich created their wealth rather than it was created by the working classes and wrongfully appropriated by the rich who benefited from their underpaid labor. (Even in our times, we can hear similar statements from high ranking government officials, especially during election campaigns.) The socialist ideals were also shared by the communists who considered socialism as a transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism, an advanced stage of socialism, a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to his/​her abilities and needs. The communist program was formulated in the Communist Manifesto, which was written by Marx and Engels on behalf of the Communist League regarded as the first Marxist political party. Marx believed that the Communist League should encourage the working class to unite with progressive elements of the rising bourgeoisie to defeat the feudal aristocracy on issues involving demands for governmental reforms, such as a constitutional republic with freely elected assemblies and universal (male) suffrage, that is, as the first step of accomplishing the communist goals the working class should join with bourgeois and democratic forces to bring about the successful conclusion of the bourgeois revolution. Socialist ideas were widely supported by trade unions that succeeded in many their demands (the majority of workers during the second half of the 19th century were better off than their parents). Ideas of socialism and communism spread by Marx and Engels became popular in the Western Europe and Russia. In the countries of Europe and the United States socialist parties were established, and some of them became a part of the government structure (in the United States—​Social Democratic Party, Socialist Labor Party, and Socialist Party; in England—​Socialist Labor Party and Labor Party; in France—​Socialist

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 105 Party; in Germany—​Workers’ Party, Socialist Party, Social Democratic Party, and National Socialist German Workers’ Party; in Italy—​Socialist Party; in Russia—​Social-​Democratic Workers’ Party and Socialist Revolutionary Party). They had their publishing bodies to spread their views. Communist parties were created in France and Germany. The fight for people’s soles reached the level unthinkable in the pre-​industrial societies. As to social theories, practice usually refutes most of them. The autocratic pyramidal structures in Europe were shaken or simply disappeared. However, nobody could predict or even assume that the leaders of socialist parties can become rulers of new extremely cruel autocratic regimes. Benito Mussolini (1883–​1945), a leading member of the National Directorate of the Italian Socialist Party, founded the fascist movement, formed in 1921 National Fascist Party, and transformed the nation into a one-​party dictatorship. As a dictator of Italy and founder of fascism, Mussolini inspired several totalitarian rulers such as Hitler. Adolf Hitler (1889–​1945) joined the German Workers’ Party. After it was renamed lately in the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (called the Nazi party) he was appointed to be its leader, rose to power as Chancellor of Germany in 1933 and became the Nazi dictator. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945 the Weimar Republic (German state) was transferred into Nazi Germany, a one-​ party dictatorship based on the autocratic ideology of National Socialism. Under Hitler’s rule the German armed forces committed systematic and premeditated acts of brutality against the civilian populations of Europe; six millions of European Jews were murdered. Joseph Stalin (1878–​1953) joined the Social Democratic Labor Party in 1901, worked full-​time for the revolutionary movement, and rose to power as General Secretary of the Communist Party. Although this post was not significant at the time, it gave Stalin control over all party member appointments which allowed him to build his base. He made shrewd appointments and consolidated his power, so that eventually nearly all members of the central command owed their position to him. In 1924, as a result of these maneuvers, he became a Soviet dictator. Stalin conducted a vast reign of terror known as Great Purge. Potential rivals were accused of aligning with capitalist nations, convicted of being “enemies of the people” and executed. Started from the party elite this purge was spread on local officials and then on every one suspected of counter-​revolutionary activities. Over a million were imprisoned and at least 700,000 executed between 1934 and 1939. By 1937, he had complete personal control over the party and state.

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The above indicated persons are from poor families. It is natural that they joined democratic movements. But were they really motivated by noble ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity? Their behavior follows from two dominant components of the well-​being criterion. The first goal was to escape poverty, and they tried to do that according to their abilities. Mussolini and Hitler were good orators, and they used this gift to attract attention. Stalin participated in illegal acts, robbed banks, etc. However, after these persons received recognition among their peers, they were able to surround themselves by their close supporters and get rid of those who could be their competitors using for this purpose all means. As we mentioned earlier, when a ruler gets power, his goal is to keep it. For the above indicated dictators the apparatus of strengthening power was almost identical: secrete police and media control. The Soviet model, the strictly disciplined Bolshevik Party, was used by other dictators. Mussolini modeled his National Fascist Party on the Bolshevik Party of Russia, but he also exploited Italian traditions (including that of Garibaldi) in his portrayal of himself as a heroic leader. The autocratic ideology he manufactured to justify his regime, fascism, that combined clamorous nationalism with relentless bellicosity. Hitler added a vicious anti-​Semitism and a lust for mass murder to that cocktail. As to their pledge to care for ordinary people, the phrase of Stalin (according to his former secretary Boris Bazhanov) explains their real inside: “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” The words “We have been naught we shall be all.” of The International written by Eugène Pottier in 1871, which was later used as the first Soviet Union National Anthem, reflect more the dreams of the above dictators rather than their deeds. Creating autocratic regimes by paralyzing the democratic features of the government structure, such persons were able to reverse the societal progress only for a relatively small (on historical scale) period of time. History shows that democracy comes back, although the roads and time of societal recovery are not the same.

Reasons of Unsuccessful Premature Transformations As we indicated earlier on examples of French revolutions, without a proper readiness of a society to accept a new ideology and related changes in the societal structure, the result of a bourgeois revolution focusing on creating the conditions for the capitalist development can disappoint its organizers. The history of Russia

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 107 from the establishment of the Rus’ state to the Russian Revolution of 1917 helps us understand why the 1917 transformation of the societal structure failed to build a democratic society. Transformation of Russia in 1917, as a result of two revolutions, contradicts to Marxist theory, although in his letter to Vera Zasulich (a Russian revolutionary) Marx contemplated the possibility of Russia’s bypassing the capitalist stage of development and building communism on the basis of the common ownership of land taking into account that Russia was a predominantly agrarian country. It was a violent capture of power by a small group of communists who, as a result of an intensive propaganda among soldiers of the Russian army, were able to win the civil war. Nobody knows the full human cost of the civil war. By any calculation it was catastrophic. Counting only deaths from the fighting, the terror, famine and disease, it was about 10 million people. Although the revolution was presented as the creation of a new unique democratic society, free of exploitation of working people, the road to socialism and communism, in reality the country became a cruel autocratic state that placed many bright people in labor camps and started subversive activity all over the world. Such an unexpected transformation is explained by the autocratic mentality penetrated deep into the conscience of the population during the history of the region that included a part of Eastern Europe and Asia. In the history of Russia, 882 was the year when Prince Oleg of Novgorod united the northern and southern lands of the Eastern Slavs under one authority. The so-​called Kievan Rus was a powerful nation. However, in the 11th century Rus broke up into a federation of Princedoms that during two centuries continued to quarrel among themselves. Such an unstable situation in the region allowed the Mongols to invade and conquer Russia in the 13th century, along with the resulting deaths of about half its population. Afterward they let the Russian principalities run themselves (although they were forced to pay tribute to the Mongols and to supply soldiers for their army). Only at the end of 15th century, when Russia was ruled by Ivan III (the Great Prince of Moscow), the Mongols withdrew. Ivan III greatly increased the territory of Russia and, eventually, became a ruler of most of the Russian people. The last independent parts of Russia were taken by his son Vasili III. Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, inherited the throne of Russia establishing the Tsardom of Russia with Moscow as the predominant state. His reign was characterized by Russia’s transformation from a medieval state into an empire (he conquered a significant part of the Mongol Empire) and Russia became a multiethnic and multicontinental state. Being an able diplomat and a supporter of arts and trade, Ivan IV was also a cruel

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tyrant who devised horrific methods of torturing and killing anyone he suspected of being an enemy. Ivan even killed his own son and heir. Ivan’s son Theodore was a weak ruler. He died without leaving an heir. However, he turned the peasants into serfs by removing their right to leave their masters. After the fight for power at the beginning of the 17th century, the Romanov family became the rulers of Russia. During this period the empire continued growing (Russia gain Ukraine; its settlers moved into Siberia; the Bering Straits were discovered, and in the late 17th century many people moved into the area; Russia signed a treaty with the Chinese which fixed the border between them). Again after the struggle for power, at the end of 17th century, Russia was awarded by Peter the Great who paved the way for Russia’s future as a world power. He modernized the country which economically was far behind the Western European countries. He also introduced a new chronology, the Julian calendar, and reformed the Russian government and administration. His Westernization reforms included western dress, the translation of foreign books into Russian, and secular education. The Old Church Slavonic alphabet was modernized into a secular script. State control of secular education was established; various secular schools attended by children of all classes were opened. Moreover, in many cases, compulsory service to the state was preceded by compulsory education for it. Russians were also permitted to go abroad for their education (at the state’s expense). Peter brought back many inventions of western science and technology to shift Russia westward and created a port in northwest Russia, St. Petersburg, which became his capital. Peter also founded the Russian Academy of Sciences; Russia’s first university was founded in Moscow. Peter’s internal policy focused to protect the interest of Russia’s ruling class—​the landowners and the emerging bourgeoisie. Hereditary aspect of land ownership rights was specified. The material position of the landed nobility was strengthened considerably. Moreover, the status of nobility was modified by Peter’s Table of Ranks. Factory owners and others who had risen to officer’s rank could accede to the nobility. The predominance of the boyars (members of the old aristocracy in Russia, next in rank to a prince) ended. Peter encouraged the building of factories (peasants were recruited to work in them) and foreign trade. At the beginning of Peter’s reign there was already some degree of economic differentiation between the various regions of Russia; in the towns, artisans were establishing small businesses, small-​scale production was expanding, and industrial plants and factories were growing up with both hired workers and serfs employed. The emerging bourgeoisie benefitted considerably

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 109 from Peter’s plans for the development of the national industry and trade. The population of towns was divided in two classes—​regulars and commons (inferiors). The regulars were subdivided between two guilds—​the first comprising rich merchants and members of the liberal professions (doctors, actors, and artists); the second, artisans (classified according to their vocations) and small tradesmen. A merchant belonged to the first or to the second guild according to the amount of his capital; and those who were also manufacturers had special privileges including exempt from military service. The commons were hired laborers without the privileges of regulars. To benefit from trade Russia needed access to the Black see, the Caspian, or to the Baltic; and this became the main goal of Peter’s policy. Peter established the well-​equipped regular army and navy. In order to provide armaments and to build his navy (Russia had almost no warships at all), metallurgical and manufacturing industries were created. By the middle of the 18th century Russian metallurgical industry led Europe in this field. Peter used his army frequently during his reign and strengthened Russian position in Europe. The foreign-​trade turnover was increased sevenfold in the course of the reign. To create a more flexible system of centralized control Russia was territorially divided into eight guberny, or governments, each under a governor appointed by the tsar and vested with administrative, military, and judicial authority. Later these guberny were dissolved into 50 provintsy, or provinces which, in turn, were subdivided into districts. The created governmental pyramid made the ruler’s work easier since he formally controlled directly only the work of governors. Peter introduced the Secret Council to deal primarily with the foreign policy. He abolished the boyarskaya duma (boyar council) and established by decree the Senate as the supreme organ entrusted by the Emperor with legislative, administrative and judicial powers, as well as supreme controlling functions. Peter established his absolute power by fiercely putting down those who opposed his will. His cruelty and anger created the atmosphere of fear that allowed him to push Russia forward and allowed him to become the influential leader. He was a talented person with the precise goal to modernize Russia and make it a world power. Without any doubt he chose wisely his administrative apparatus. The pyramidal system of control worked successfully, and the progress had been reached for a relatively short period of time. But at what cost. Large capital investments needed to implement the reforms became beyond one’s strength burden for the population. The peasant serfs and poor urban workers had to bear the greatest hardships during his reign. The imposed heavy taxation resulted in a number of revolts that were cruelly suppressed. Despite a

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significant progress, Russia’s economy remained dependent on serfs and trade within itself and Asia. Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great, continued Peter’s modernization course. The Russian Empire was expanding its territory; the Russians gained land by the Black Sea and took parts of Poland. Russian industry also grew during her rule, and foreign trade expanded rapidly. By the end of 18th century Russia was recognized as one of the most powerful countries of Europe. The Empress reformed the government. Having the devoted her close advisers, she stripped the Senate its principal powers. It was deprived of its political influence, and its internal administration was also restricted. The Senate was divided into departments, each of those was assigned a particular sphere of activity: internal and political affairs of the state, judicial matters, issues of the governorates, questions of military and admiralty colleges. However, as during the Peter reign, wars presented a high burden for the country based on poor and oppressed serfs. This was one of the main reasons behind several rebellions, including the large-​scale Pugachev uprising of 1773–​1775. Alexander I reformed the government further. The government departments were abolished and replaced by the State Council, the supreme state advisory body to the Tsar, which was created to improve legislation. It consisted of four departments:  Legislative; Civil and Ecclesiastical Administration; State Economy; and Industry, Science and Commerce. The Ministries and the Committee of Ministers were founded as a part of the government reform. The Governing Senate was reorganized as the Supreme Court of the Empire. Alexander I corrected many of the injustices of the preceding reign and made many administrative improvements. He also created new schools and three new universities in Russia. However, despite his own desire to make his people happy, Alexander lacked the energy and courage necessary to carry out the most urgent reform, the abolition of serfdom, although he understood that the institution of serfdom was, in his own words, “a degradation” that kept Russia in a disastrously backward state. The tsar’s greatest triumph came in 1812, as Napoleon’s invasion of Russia became a total disaster for the French. As part of the winning coalition against Napoleon he gained the titles of the first Russian King of Poland and the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland. The program of reforms started by Peter 1 was continued by other monarchs. Russia increased its territory and population, won the respect of all European countries. But the Industrial Revolution did not touch it at a degree as it happened in Western Europe. Russia remained an agrarian country. Its industry served well to its military needs. But the transition from an agrarian and manual

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 111 labor-​based economy to machine-​based production had not started yet because of the institution of serfdom that prevented modernization of the country which was at least a century behind the rest of Europe. The rulers tried to make some changes in the administrative unit to serve better and make their work easier. The changes in the governmental structure, creation and abolishing of some departments cannot alter m the essence of power structure: all decisions are realized only with the permission and approval of the Tsar/​Queen. The French Revolution of 1789 produced an indelible impression on the Russian upper and middle classes. Alexander I became more conservative. He formed the Holy Alliance to suppress revolutionary movements in Europe that he saw as immoral threats to legitimate Christian monarchs. The ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity, which crossed the boundaries of France, found support of Russian intellectuals. Some Russian officers (called Decembrists), influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution, formed a secret society and attempted a coup. The new Tsar Nicholas I punished cruelly the rebellions showing his determination to obliterate any revolutionary movements. He formed a police force to detect revolutionaries. All writings were rigorously censored. The rebellion in Poland was ruthlessly crushed. In contrast to Nicholas I, Alexander II was a reforming Tsar. His great achievement was the abolishment of serfdom in 1861. The peasants received some land from the landowners. Alexander II set up locally elected councils called zemstva (local councils). Also in 1864, the judiciary was made independent. However, Alexander’s II reforms did not prevent the growing revolutionary movements, and he was killed in 1881. After the assassination of Alexander II, his son Alexander III was determined to clamp down on all dissent. He tried to extend his power at the expense of liberties taken for granted in Western Europe. Nevertheless, revolutionary movements continued to grow during his reign. He intensified a counter reform program. The power of the zemstva were distinctly curbed and handed to the Ministry of the Interior, so that the government held power at a local level. Later even the minimal powers that the zemstva had were removed. The rights of universities to appoint their own professors were abolished, and new legislation required the government’s approval for new syllabuses to be taught. No student was allowed to be taught history unless he had permission from the Minister of Education. Alexander III was succeeded by Nicholas II, a weak ruler who led Russia into disastrous wars. The worrying event was the rise of Marxism in Russia. The Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was formed in Russia in 1898.

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At a meeting in 1903, it split into 2 groups: the Bolsheviks (from the Russian word for the majority) and the Mensheviks (from the word for minority). (However, the Bolsheviks were not the majority within the party, they were only the majority at one particular meeting.) The Marxist ideas were discussed in several Russian journals despite the existing censorship. The censorship was not always efficient, and some of the censors were liberal. In 1905, a peaceful march in St. Petersburg for higher pay and a 10-​hour working day was met with fire killing hundreds of people. Following “bloody Sunday” there were riots by peasants, and Russia was hit by a wave of strikes. There were also mutinies in the army and navy. Finally, in October 1905, Russia was paralyzed by a general strike. Threatened by the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905, Nicholas II faced the choice of establishing a military dictatorship or granting a constitution. Nicholas thus issued the October Manifesto which promised to guarantee civil liberties (e.g., freedom of speech, press, and assembly), to establish a broad franchise, and to create a legislative body (the Duma) whose members would be popularly elected and whose approval would be necessary before the enactment of any legislation. On April 23 of 1906, the Fundamental Laws, which were to serve as a constitution, were promulgated. Russia still remained an autocracy, though the adjective unlimited was no longer attached to the term. No law could take effect without the consent of the Duma. Alongside the Duma there was to be an upper chamber, the State Council, half of its members appointed by the emperor and half elected by established institutions such as the zemstva and municipalities, business organizations, and so on. Both chambers had budgetary rights, the right to veto any law, and the ability to initiate legislation. However, the government was to be appointed as before by the emperor, who in practice seldom chose members of the Duma or State Council to be ministers. In addition, the emperor had the right to dissolve the legislative chambers at any time and to pass emergency decrees when they were not in session. The civil rights and suffrage rights granted by the Fundamental Laws were far more limited than those promised by the Manifesto. The first elections in Duma, held in spring 1906, produced a relative majority for the Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets), a radical liberal group drawn largely from the professional strata that wished to go beyond the October Manifesto to a full constitutional monarchy on the British model and to grant autonomy to the non-​Russian nationalities. The next largest group, the Labor Group (Trudoviki), included a large number of peasants and some socialists. The two parties demanded amnesty for political prisoners, equal rights for Jews, autonomy for Poland, and expropriation of landed estates for the peasants. The

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 113 Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and the Socialist Revolutionary Party boycotted the 2006 Duma. The demands of the two largest parties were totally unacceptable to the government which used its powers to dissolve the Duma. In early 1907, new elections in Duma were held; the Social Democrats did very well becoming the third largest party, behind the Kadets and the Trudoviki. Twelve Mensheviks and eleven Bolsheviks were elected in the Second Duma. After the unsuccessful attempt to pass the agrarian reform offered by the premier Stolypin, the tsar dissolved the Second Duma. By changing the electoral law in favor of landowners and wealthier townsfolk the Third of 1907 and the Forth of 1912 Duma were friendlier to the government. It had only six Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, respectively. The leading bloc in both Dumas was the Union of October 17 (known as the Octobrists), whose strength was among the landowners of the Russian heartland. They accepted Stolypin’s agrarian program as well as his desire to strengthen the position of the Russian nation throughout the empire. However, the Stolypin reform was blocked by the State Council. The government looked dysfunctional. Russia continued to suffer severe military losses. In 1917, a shortage of bread in St. Petersburg led to riots; the soldiers in the city joined the rioters. The Tsarist regime was overthrown (Nickolas II abdicated his throne) and replaced by the Provisional Government announced by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma. The Provisional Government published its manifesto declaring itself the governing body of the Russian Empire. The manifesto proposed a plan of civic and political rights and the installation of a democratically elected Russian Constituent Assembly. A moderate socialist Kerensky became prime minister. In Soviet historiography, this event is known as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution. During 1905–​1907, parallel to the Duma, the Soviets (the workers’ councils, representative bodies of workers and soldiers), elective political organizations, were created. With the failings of the Duma, the Soviets were seen as the legitimate workers’ government. They challenged the power of Nicholas II and attempted to enforce promises made in the October Manifesto such as the freedom of the press, assembly and association. After the overthrow of Nicholas II the Soviets played a decisive role in the events following the February Revolution. In the early months the Soviets were dominated by the Mensheviks, who called for a party modelled after Western European social-​democratic parties, and radical leftist members of Socialist Revolutionary Party. Although Bolsheviks presented only ten percent of the First Congress of Soviets delegates held in June of 1917, by October they gained

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majorities in Moscow, Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and other key Soviets and were ready to seize power. By the time of the October Revolution there were over 900 Soviets in Russia. The Bolsheviks controlled all the Soviets in the major towns and cities. The Soviets represented workers and soldiers, while the Provisional Government represented the middle and upper social classes. The Provisional Government represented an alliance between liberals and socialists who wanted political reforms. The Provisional Government included nine Duma deputies and six from the Kadet party to represent interests of the bourgeoisie. Its goal also was to implement democratic policies—​the repeal of the death penalty, amnesty for political prisoners, and freedom of the press. The Soviets appealed to the low class, uneducated people, unable to evaluate how realistic the promises were: land to peasants, the abolition of exploitation for workers, the eight hour day, freedom of speech, a road to socialism and communism. The Provisional Government, as a transitional organ focused to create a permanent democratic-​parliamentary institution for Russia, was overthrown by the Bolsheviks as a result of the 1917 October Revolution, sometimes called the Bolshevik Revolution. Using the slogan All Power to the Soviets, meaning all power to democratic elected councils, Bolsheviks with a help of the armed forces occupied the government buildings and established the Soviet Communist government. The fact that a small Bolshevik faction organized the October Revolution and got power by force was unacceptable for other parties that decided to fight for the Russian political future. The Civil War that lasted about five years and accounted for 7,000,000–​12,000,000 casualties, mostly civilians, ended in victory for the Communists (Bolsheviks). Several parts of the former Russian Empire—​Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland became independent states. The rest of the former Russian Empire was consolidated into the Soviet Union. A reasonable question is: why a small group of communists was able to seize power and keep it for more than 70 years. The first reason lies in the economic conditions before the February Revolution. Russia had a predominantly agrarian economy, and the peasants who worked the land formed the largest portion of the population. The government was unable to fulfil successfully the agrarian reform that would modernize the whole existing production system. Agriculture, which was technologically underdeveloped, remained in the hands of former serfs and former state peasants, who together constituted about four-​fifths of the rural population. As indicated earlier, the Russian industrial base could supply well only its military. But Russia did not keep pace with western technological developments in the construction of rifles, machine guns, artillery, ships, and naval ordnance. Russia also failed to use naval modernization as a means of developing

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 115 its industrial base in the 1860s. Russia’s industrial regions included Moscow, the central regions of European Russia, St. Petersburg, the Baltic cities, Russian Poland, some areas along the lower Don and Dnepr rivers, and the southern Ural Mountains. By 1890, Russia had about 32,000 kilometers of railroads and 1.4 million factory workers, most of whom worked in the textile industry. Russian cotton textiles and sugar refining industries were relatively successful. Thanks to its Urals mines, Russia was one of the main producers of pig iron. Coal, iron, and steel production served mostly internal needs, but a significant percent of the total grain crop was exported. It is impossible to deny the economic progress after the serfdom and land reforms giving Russian peasants legal recognition and the right to own property. The Russian government took a number of measures to stimulate economic growth through industrial development, improvement of public finances, stabilization of the ruble by the introduction of the gold standard, protectionism, and expansion of transport infrastructure. In the financial sphere, Russia established the State Bank in 1866 and the Nobles’ Land Bank in 1885. The ambitious but costly economic programs, requiring foreign loans to modernize the country, accelerated development of heavy industry and a trans-​Siberian railroad. The most intensively developed branch of industry was metallurgy, textile and construction; manufacturing started showing signs of strength. In the European part of Russia, especially in Moscow, Donbas, Volga and St. Petersburg regions, numerous factories were built. However, the government efforts to elevate economic growth had only partial success because of the inefficiency of the pyramidal control system amplified by specifics of Russian bureaucracy. Government officials, whose numbers steadily increased, were badly educated and poorly paid. They were afraid of making decisions: responsibility was pushed higher and higher up the hierarchy, until thousands of minor matters ended on the emperor’s desk. Centralization of responsibility meant slowness of decision. It is impossible for one person to control such a huge empire from the top of its pyramid. The leaders of its provinces were chosen by the emperor based on recommendations of his close circle, which usually were not reliable. There were also many antiquated, discriminatory, and contradictory laws. During the 1890s, Russia’s industrial development led to a significant increase in the size of the urban bourgeoisie and the working class. However, because the state and foreigners owned much of Russia’s industry, the working class was comparatively stronger and the bourgeoisie comparatively weaker than in the West. The working class and peasants were the first to establish political

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parties (Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) in 1898; Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR) in 1902) because the nobility and the wealthy bourgeoisie were politically timid (see academickids.com/​encyclopedia/​index.php/​Russian_​ history, 1892–​1920). During the 1890s and early 1900s the bourgeoisie developed different parties, both liberal and conservative (Constitutional Democratic Party in 1905; the Labor Group (Trudoviki), a breakaway Party of SR faction in 1905). By the end of the 19th century, there were over 2 million industrial workers in Russia. Conditions in the factories were harsh—​an 11 hour day and little concern about workers’ health and safety. Those who attempted to form trade unions were likely to be imprisoned. Strikes were illegal and the Russian government would often call out the Russian Army to deal with workers during industrial disputes. In 1903, Father Gapon, a priest from St. Petersburg, formed the Assembly of Russian Workers. Within a year it had over 9,000 members. When its four members were dismissed at the Putilov Iron Works, Gapon called for industrial action. During the next few days over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went out on strike. Gapon decided to make a personal appeal to Nicholas II. He drew up a petition outlining the workers’ sufferings. The petition contained a series of political and economic demands that “would overcome the ignorance and legal oppression of the Russian people.” Over 150,000 people signed the petition and on 22nd January of 1905 Gapon led a large procession of workers to the Winter Palace in order to present the petition. When the procession of workers reached the Winter Palace it was attacked by the police and the Cossacks. Over 150 workers were killed and some 200 wounded. This event is considered as the start of the 1905 Revolution. After the 1905 Revolution the Russian government decided to change the laws that prohibited trade unions. The trade union law of 1906 gave workers the right to organize, join labor unions, collectively bargain through representatives of their choosing, and strike. Although these trade unions had no any political power and their statutes had to be approved by the authorities, the law resulted in the rapid expansion of trade union membership. Devastating impact of World War I on the Russian economy made the political and economical situation in the country unstable. The new working class consisted of predominantly peasant population. The number of urban workers exceeded 12 million; about 4 million worked in large industrial enterprises. However, because its fast formation, the Russian working class, compared to the other European nations, was more separated from the urban society and only began to take shape. By 1914, only less than one percent of the industrial workforce were members of either the Bolshevik or the Menshevik factions of the RSDLP, and

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 117 trade union membership encompassed 1.2 to 4.6 percent of the industrial workforce (Hasegawa, 1981). At the beginning of World War I the Russian labor movement came close to a halt. A  substantial part of the workforce was subject to mobilization. At the same time, skilled workers were sought after by the war industry. In August 1916, 94 percent of all workers and 61 percent of all factories in St. Petersburg worked to fulfil the army’s demands. In St. Petersburg the working class grew by 62 percent; most of war-​time political strikes were organized by skilled metal workers. Between the outbreak of the war and the February Revolution, metal workers organized 71.8  percent of all strikes and provided 83.6  percent of all strikers. In St. Petersburg the metal workers, who constituted about 1  percent of Russia’s industrial working class, displayed the most intensive and numerous strike activity—​45.7 percent of all political strikes (Hasegawa, 1981). Their activity spread to the cotton factories with its mostly female workforce. When female workers in St. Petersburg took to the streets on 23 February of 1917 to protest against food shortages, the protests widened into a political general strike in the capital that brought the fall of the Tsar. The Provisional Government declared strikes and street demonstrations legal; all political parties were allowed to operate openly. The Soviets—​workers’ councils, which emerged during the 1905 Revolution—​reminded again about their existence. The St. Petersburg Soviet acted as a parallel power to the Provisional Government. The Soviets increased their influence especially in the provinces, they gradually replaced governmental organs. Trade unions grew substantially and acted as intermediators between employers and employees; in some cases they even took control over many aspects of production. However, the Provisional Government lost support because of its failure to end the war that took a lot of lives and its failure to implement social reforms. The Russian army was disintegrating, with soldiers deserting in large numbers; by autumn 1917, an estimated two million men had unofficially left the army. Large anti-​war demonstrations took place, the political strike movement gained new momentum throughout September and October of 1917. Support for the restoration of order was strong even amongst the politicians who formed the Provisional Government. The Commander-​in-​Chief of the Russian Army General Kornilov decided to restore order by using the military force mostly against the Petrograd Soviet of Soldiers’ and Workers’ Deputies (with the goal to eliminate the Soviet and strengthen the Provisional Government). However, the prime minister of the Provisional Government Kerensky, who was also the vice-​ chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, ordered to arrest him and other officers and to

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distribute arms to the St. Petersburg workers. This unwise political move allowed the Bolsheviks to take over the military arm of the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets, to launch the October Revolution and seize power in Russia. The transformation of societal structures in West Europe was the result of the Industrial Revolution and the changes in the production structure, population structure and its ideology. As mentioned earlier, in its development Russia was about a century behind most of Western European countries. Their influence accelerated Russia’s development at the end of the 19th century. But Russian mentality still reflected the essence of the predominantly agrarian country—​the autocratic ideology supported by the Church. It was not accidentally that the 1905 Revolution started with a peaceful demonstration headed by the priest Gapon to deliver the petition from workers to the tsar. Marxism was spread among Russian middle class and, in contrast to West Europe, included a small part of the population—​mostly from liberal intelligentsia and bourgeois. Democracy had not spread in the country. Trade unions were young and their activity increased because of the devastating war. It was a mistake to think that democracy would come automatically after the monarchy had been abolished and the top of the existing societal pyramid had changed to the Provisional Government consisting of different parties with various political views. The constitution confirming freedoms intensifies social changes in the country. But it cannot change immediately the public conscience which, as a rule, falls behind a new ideology. Most of Russians believed in the autocracy as a guarantee of safety and order. However, the injustice and cruelty of the ruling cast create social antagonism and serve as a potential reason of dividing the society in hostile groups. In Russia, the antagonism was inspired by the Bolshevik’s propaganda of the Soviets that declared themselves as the only legal government. The announced democratic rules of a new ideology cannot produce immediate results—​change dramatically the life of ordinary people. The lag of the public conscience explains the fact that after the premature revolution there exists a probability for a society to return back to the regime similar to the existing before the revolution. Since the most of Russian population still hold on to the autocratic ideology, the Provisional Government policy makers should have understood this sociological fact. Democracy cannot be established in one day by laws. Moreover, the laws alone do not guarantee freedom, order, and safety. The government should prove by actions that it can guarantee freedom, order, and safety for all people. The Provisional Government consisted of persons having no knowledge and experience in dealing with social processes and how to control them. Property rights are the important components of freedom. The abolition

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 119 of serfdom and land reforms that enable peasants to own a land were important events demonstrating societal progress toward democracy. Bolsheviks in the Soviets agitated against property rights of bourgeois, against the exploitation, etc. General Kornilov evaluated the critical situation better than Kerensky who, instead of allowing him to restore order, arrested him and supported the Soviets. This was evaluated as the weakness rather than strength of the government, and it lost the trust of the people. That is why the Provisional Government policy had led Russia to catastrophe.

Formation and Destruction of Pseudo Democratic Societal Structures The collapse of the Russian Empire and the arise of the new societal structure based on Marxist theory, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), became the main event of the first half of the 20th century. The Constitution of the USSR stated: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a socialist state of workers and peasants… The socialist system of economy and the socialist ownership of the means and instruments of production firmly established as a result of the abolition of the capitalist system of economy, the abrogation of private ownership of the means and instruments of production and the abolition of the exploitation of man by man, constitute’ the economic foundation of the USSR …. Socialist property in the USSR exists either in the form of state property (the possession of the whole people), or in the form of cooperative and collective-​farm property (property of a collective farm or property of a cooperative association)…. In the USSR work is a duty and a matter of honor for every able-​bodied citizen, in accordance with the principle: “He who does not work, neither shall he eat.”…. Citizens of the USSR have the right to work, that is, are guaranteed the right to employment and payment for their work in accordance With its quantity and quality. Citizens of the USSR have the right to rest and leisure. The right to rest and leisure is ensured by the reduction of the working day to seven hours for the overwhelming majority of the workers, the institution of annual vacations with full pay for workers and employees and the provision of a wide network of sanatoria, rest homes and clubs for the accommodation of the working people…. Citizens of the USSR have the right to maintenance in old age and also in case of sickness or loss of capacity to work. This right is ensured by the extensive development of social insurance of workers and employees at state expense, free medical service for the working people and the provision of a wide network of health resorts for the use of the

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working people…. Citizens of the USSR have the right to education. This right is ensured by universal, compulsory elementary education; by education, including higher education, being free of charge; by the system of state stipends for the overwhelming majority of students in the universities and colleges; by instruction in schools being conducted in the native language, and by the organization in the factories, state farms, machine and tractor stations and collective farms of free vocational, technical and agronomic training for the working people.

At first sight, the above statements look impressive. The country that considers free health care, free education, the reduction of the working day to seven hours, and annual vacations as the rights of its citizens can be a pattern to be followed by other countries. And these rights had been realized in practice during the USSR’s existence, although the quality of the related services was not necessarily high and depended upon a person’s status. However, a more attentive examination of the Constitution may disappoint. As if it focuses only on workers and peasants; the middle class, the persons who offer innovations and new ideas, who inspired the creation of the new societal structure and wrote the Constitution—​this class is assumed to be presented by the word citizens. The nonworking classes and groups were deprived of their political rights. As a result, after the Revolution many talented representatives of Russian intelligentsia immigrated, and the Communist government focused on bringing up scientists, doctors, writers, etc. to create normal living conditions for the population and to develop the economy that would guarantee such conditions. Sociological ignorance of the proletariat and its envy to rich people who ran factories allowed Marxists to get power and expropriate all means of production. By acting in this way they destroyed the existing production system. By confiscating land of the nobility and distributing it between peasants communists got peasants’ support that enabled them to win the Civil War. However, without the production base the country was on the edge of death. The Communist government decided to allow small private enterprises as a part of the so-​called NEP—​the New Economic Policy of 1921 which should last several decades at least until universal literacy was accomplished. The NEP represented a move away from full nationalization of certain parts of industries. The Soviet Union hoped also to obtain foreign investments in order to fund industrial and developmental projects. As the result of the NEP, the live in the country improved. After the NEP was instituted, agricultural production increased greatly and peasants were given the opportunity to sell crops from their farms to the government in exchange for monetary compensation which could be used to buy necessary products. Peasants who produced more began to acquire surplus goods and cash which they

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 121 used to buy more land or hire labor. Russia’s agricultural production recovered fast and by 1925 reached before World War I levels. However, this process did not last long. In seven years the NEP was abolished; the small businessmen and managers, as well as successful farmers, who flourished in this period, lost their property and were repressed. Private enterprises in both industry and agriculture were eliminated. By using the term socialist property, that abolishes property rights, to formulate its economic policy the government violated its promise “land to the peasants.” The peasants found soon enough that “land to the peasants” meant forced collectivization—​a huge mistake made by ignorant communists that created permanent food shortages in the country during the existence of the Soviet Union. Prohibition to run own businesses, risking with money trying to create something useful for people, suppressed personal initiative, transferred people to robots following commands from the top. The Constitution of the USSR proclaimed the unbreakable alliance of workers and peasants and the leading role in it of the working class as the most advanced and most organized class in Soviet society. It recognizes that the superior guiding and directing role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in all spheres of life of Soviet society is the most important political guarantee of the realization of the principle of popular sovereignty, the principle that the authority of a state and its government is created and sustained by the consent of its people through their elected representatives (rule by the people) who are the source of all political power. The principle of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot was introduced. The CPSU was the only political party permitted by the Constitution of the USSR and was the party of the dictatorship of the proletariat. This means that with the formation of the USSR the one form of dictatorship (Tsar/​Emperor) changed to another one which follows from the structure of the Communist party and the principle of its decision making—​the so-​called democratic centralism that entails democratic and open discussion of policy issues within the party followed by the requirement of total unity in upholding the agreed policies. The supreme body of the CPSU was the party congress that elects the Central Committee directing the party’s work between congresses. The Central Committee elected the Politburo to direct the work of the party between plenums of the Central Committee, and it elected the Secretariat for day-​to-​day work. The Central Committee elected its General Secretary and organized the Committee of Party Control. Under Stalin, the General Secretary determined the composition of the Politburo and Central Committee. This tendency decreased to some extent

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after Stalin’s death, though in practice the Politburo remained a self-​perpetuating body whose decisions de facto had the force of law. The local party organizations were integral parts of the CPSU; they covered the entire territory of the USSR and followed the decisions of the Central Committee. The Communist party’s pyramid is obvious. Its General Secretary is at the top of the pyramid. His advisors form the Politburo that consisted of 5–​15 members and 25 in 1990, when it was decided to include all heads of republican communist parties. The duties of the Politburo included also governing the state. This means that the administrative structure of the Soviet Union was controlled by the Communist party—​its Politburo and General Secretary. The USSR government implemented decisions made by the CPSU. Formally, the highest organ of state authority of the USSR, its legislative body, was the Supreme Soviet. It consisted of two chambers: the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. The Supreme Soviet elected the Presidium which, in turn, elected its chairman, who functioned as head (President) of state, and Secretary of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The constitutionally based judicial branch of government included a court system, headed by the Supreme Court that was responsible for overseeing the observance of Soviet law by government bodies. The Supreme Soviet oversaw the Council of Ministers which acted as the executive branch of the government. The chairman of the Council of Ministers, whose selection was approved by the legislative branch, functioned as head of government. The most important duties of the Council of Ministers lay in the administration of the economy. The Council was thoroughly under the control of the CPSU, and its chairman, the prime minister, was always a member of the Politburo. The number of ministries exceeded 100. Unlike parliamentary systems in which ministers are members of the parliament, Soviet ministers were not necessarily members of the Supreme Soviet and did not have to be elected. Usually, the party appointed officials fully acquainted with the affairs of the ministry. All-​union ministries oversaw a particular activity for the entire country and were controlled by the all-​union party apparatus and the government in Moscow. Republic governments had no corresponding ministry, although all-​union ministries had branch offices in the republics. Almost all Soviet industry directly or indirectly was a part of the military complex. The eighteen ministries of the machine-​building and metal-​working complex were under the control of the Defense Council. The ministries responsible for research, design, and production of military equipment and weapons or their components consisted of the Ministry of the Aviation Industry, the Ministry of the Communications Equipment

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 123 Industry, the Ministry of the Defense Industry, the Ministry of the Electronics Industry, the Ministry of General Machine Building, the Ministry of the Machine Tool and Tool-​Building Industry, the Ministry of Medium Machine Building, the Ministry of the Radio Industry, and the Ministry of the Shipbuilding Industry. They directed the production of thousands of plants and design bureaus making weaponry and its components and the research in the related areas. The Communist party considered a strong military as the priority number one since it was a guarantee of keeping power and maintaining order inside the country. In addition, there existed around ten agencies. Among them—​the State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan, was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Its main task was the creation and administration of a series of five-​year plans governing the economy of the USSR. Committee for State Security focused to fight counter–​revolutionary activities and maintain public order in the country. State Committee for Science and Technology (SCST) played a coordinating role between ministries and the USSR Academy of Sciences. The Communist Party made the development and advancement of science a national priority. Unlike in many Western countries, most of the scientific research in the USSR was conducted not at universities but at specially set up research institutes. Many of them were under the auspices of government ministries, but the more prestigious of them were parts of the USSR Academy of Sciences. The bureaucrats of the SCST served as intermediators between the Academy and ministries. The Committee for State Security (KGB) was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 and a direct successor of preceding agencies such as the All-​Russian Extraordinary Commission (Cheka), the People’s Commissariat for State Security (NKGB), the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), and the Ministry for State Security (MGB). It was the chief government agency acting as internal security, intelligence and secret police. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union operated through its around 20 departments (Defense Industry, International, Propaganda, Culture, Science and Education, Agriculture, etc.). The party placed its members in leadership positions of government ministries, agencies, and legislative organs. In addition, each organization had its own party committee to control its activity. Any decision should be approved by this committee. (During the USSR’s existence, there were some changes in the Constitution, the names of its organs, numbers of ministries and other government and party units; we use the terms that are usually used in the literature.) The CPSU created the Communist League

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of Youth, the organization for young people aged 14 to 28 that was primarily a political organ for spreading Communist teachings and preparing future members of the Communist Party. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the CPSU which controlled its activity and used as an important propaganda tool. The Soviet Union was a federal state made up of fifteen theoretically “freeborn republics.” The republics had their own constitutions, which, along with the USSR Constitution, provide the theoretical division of power in the Soviet Union. However, the CPSU and the central government retained all significant authority, setting policies that were executed by republic, provincial, and district governments. It is impossible even imagine how such a huge country could function efficiently by following the commands from the central government which should be approved by the CPSU. In turn, the CPSU has its own pyramidal system with all its drawbacks. All wealth of the country became controlled by the leader of the CPSU. Formally, the parliamentary system of government assumes a leader of a party becomes the prime minister. But members of parliament are elected through a popular vote and the government is formed by the majority party or coalition led by a prime minister selected by the majority party. In the USSR, the Communist Party was the only party and people vote for the only representative chosen and approved by the CPSU. The so-​called socialist democracy was a mockery of democracy, and people as slaves followed the commands from the top. Fear was the moving force of the Soviet society. Persons who did not show to vote or expressed views criticizing the Communist policy were included in a special list of unreliable persons, sent to a prison or a forced-​labor camp. During the Stalinist era the country changed from a backward agricultural state to a major industrial power. But at what cost! The Soviet people were subjected to an unbelievable reign of terror. Millions disappeared into the Gulag (Main Administration of Camps, the government agency in charge of the Soviet forced-​labor camp system that was set up under Vladimir Lenin); millions labored as slaves in horrendous conditions. The so-​called Great Construction Projects were built by millions of repressed people from the forced-​labor camp system. Thousands of political prisoners and dispossessed peasants worked under secret-​police surveillance. In 1930s, the Soviet Union needed educated persons—​engineers, scientists, and qualified workers. During the NEP the government made first attempts to attract experts from the capitalist world. In order to build the industrial base western manufacturers were allowed to establish and operate plants in the Soviet Union. The Soviets purchased and imported foreign production plants. Foreign experts, especially American, supervising Soviet workers and engineers, set these

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 125 plants into operation. Promising scientists were sent abroad for training. Some industries were developed by means of a massive transfer of technology. Similar to the approach of Peter the Great to westernize Russia, the Soviet government resorted to the tested ways of importing technology, the hiring of foreign experts and skilled workers, and the purchase of equipment and processes. The realized projects educated Soviet engineers and workers in western technology. By using the “advantage of backwardness” the Soviet Union developed relatively fast the industries on which other countries spent more time testing various approaches to get the desired results. It is easier to borrow and adapt the existing equipment and technologies than to create them. In addition, the Soviet government expand the espionage network abroad. It supported the creation of communist parties in other countries. The words democracy, socialism, free education and health care attracted sympathy of many liberal and simply good hearted people, especially during and after World War II in which the Soviet Union lost 27 million both civilians and military, the people who had no information about the reality of the Soviet life. They did not understand that the Soviet democracy was fictitious: the citizens were forced to vote for a person chosen by the party; there was no any alternative. They did not know that under Stalin’s rule between 20 and 60 million innocent people were killed. They did not understand that the Soviet society was a closed society, that only a few people were allowed to travel abroad, mostly those people whose job was directly connected with foreign countries:  diplomats, members of Soviet trade representations, international pilots, sailors, athletes, some artists and writers. A potential candidate had also to go through an interview at the directorate for travel abroad and be officially recommended; the KGB issued a statement that it did not object to such journey. However, some of the persons travelling abroad shared truthful information with their friends and relatives. In such a way the seeds of real democracy were sowed into the Soviet soil, and later some representative of the Soviet intelligentsia started protesting openly against certain government decisions. Specially trained Soviet agents took valuable information from real democracy naïve uninformed persons in the Western Europe and United States concerning new advanced technological projects. This helped the Soviet Union to create a nuclear weapon. Taking as prisoners of war German engineers and scientists dealing with missile technology the Soviets succeeded in this area and created not only sophisticated missiles but also became first in space exploration: the first satellite, the first crewed spaceflight, the first person to orbit the Earth. The Soviet economy was military oriented. The country experienced food shortages, lack of products that would satisfy the demand of its population. The

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broken agriculture forced the government to import food grain. Soviet living standards were significantly behind western standards. The Soviet Union trailed behind Western nations in its yearly consumption of meat products. By 1980, only 9 percent of the population had automobiles. To increase availability of consumer goods the USSR looked to Europe, primarily West Germany, to provide hard currency financing through massive loans. Timid attempts to revive the economy were not enough to overcome its inefficiencies; the economy remained technologically backward and full of corruption. Economic planners were frequently unable to diagnose and remedy problems, since they were given false reports by officials. The country with the command economy, with the economic system, in which the means of production are publicly owned and economic activity is controlled by a central authority that assigns quantitative production goals and allots raw materials to productive enterprises, cannot survive. History proved that the Soviet Union naturally collapsed from its own inefficiency and inhumanity and ceased to exist in 1991. The reasons for its demise are obvious from the system analysis of its pyramidal control system of the production process (its production unit). As we indicated earlier, the government economic policy of the dictatorial regime is military oriented. It means that the country lacks many important consumer products; its export is limited and unable to bring necessary hard currency to satisfy the population’s needs. The salaries of all working citizens are fixed and structured by the government depending on the position and years of service rather than skills and performance. Most population has low wages—​a llowing to live, as people say, from salary to salary, and the government is forced to print money rather than to get them from exporting the produced products. The abolition of property rights on land and means of production makes producers-​ bureaucrats uninterested in increasing productivity. Their salaries are fixed and do not depend upon the quality of their performance. The chiefs of the bureaucratic machine, whose salaries are higher than ordinary bureaucrats as well as workers and who got orders from the higher levels of the existing hierarchy, are afraid of being sacked and/​or punished. They choose to provide false information to survive. The long ladder of the hierarchical pyramid delays significantly the information to the top (it may even to be lost) so the strategy of lying justifies itself. The lie at the bottom moves up since a chief on each upper level is afraid of being guilty for the lie below. As a result, a train of lies arrives at the top. To minimize the necessity to lie some chiefs, especially those who are responsible for the most important areas, create a tense working atmosphere; employees are

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 127 forced to work overtime. The upper level of administration uses privileges inaccessible to ordinary people. This group is devoted slaves of a dictator or a ruling elite. However, this is not enough to make the pyramidal control structure work efficiently. The main factor that influences productivity is the public conscience which should correspond to the autocratic ideology. That is why each chief tries to hire persons sharing his views and demands their loyalty. In addition, the administrative apparatus has a special division focused on propaganda of autocratic views and praising the existing societal system and its leaders. First of all, it targets a low educated people who are more receptive to properly designed propaganda persuading them that the system works for them and protects them, since they lack sophisticated logical thinking and have limited knowledge about the world. It is easier to poison the brains of such persons. Among the efficient methods developed by communists was propaganda of nationalism based on the creation of enemies inside the society. It was the fight against counterrevolution, Zionism, admiration of the West. The organized campaigns against innocent people cost deaths and imprisonment of those who showed even an insignificant sign of disloyalty to the existing regime. Usually, the goals not based on a real economic and political situation in a country cannot be formulated precisely and have a low chance to be realized as planned. The governing body can punish some persons (this happens often); but to keep its authority among the population it prefers not to admit the failure of its goals. Autocrats know that only the demonstration of strength keeps them in power. To compensate failing promises the ruling group robs neighboring countries. This requires the increase of military spending. Although such a policy creates the impression of might, it presents a burden to the society and a hurdle to the country’s development. Despite all drawbacks of the centralized command economy, in a relatively short period the Soviet Union became an industrial power. (However, this success was accompanied with hundreds of thousands executed in the Great Purge, plus around 2  million perishing in labor camps.) Metallurgical facilities were constructed or built near the main coal and iron ore deposits in Ukraine, the Ural Mountains, and Siberia. Similarly, production plants for aluminum and nonferrous metals were constructed at a rapid pace. Electrification was ensured through the construction of dozens of hydroelectric and fuel-​operated power stations. Railroads and waterways were modernized and built, automobile and aviation industries were built from scratch. Whole plants were purchased in the West, mostly from the United States. New weapon systems were developed and put into production at the expense of consumer goods.

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As mentioned earlier, all these achievements were reached by means of a massive transfer of technology and with a help of foreign engineers. Understanding the potential danger of strengthening the Soviet authoritarian system but, nevertheless, hunting for profits, the Americans and Western Europeans maintained trade relations with the Soviet Union which had huge gold reserves. Stalin understood that for the country that lacked foreign currency gold should be one of the key pillars for the economy’s rapid industrialization. However, despite all the foreign consultants, advisers, and equipment at the end of the First Five-​Year Plan period (1928–​1933) the results were so far behind that schedules were moved forward to the end of the subsequent Second Five-​Year Plan which goals were more moderate. Five-​year plans results continued to be published until the fall of the Soviet Union. Of course, the population was told that all was going ahead of schedules and the first plan was officially considered completed in four years. Impossibly high production figures for factories could not be justified by any existing norms. But under the command economy the dictator did not need any norms; Stalin established the norms that became the goals and punished those who did not achieve them. According to Kenez (1985), “planning was reduced to naming target figures which had little more than propaganda significance” and many of 1932 goals for industries were not reached until 1960. Moreover, trying to reach the unrealistic goals industrial managers closed eyes on the poor quality of products. Stalin believed that collectivization would improve agricultural productivity and produce sufficient grain reserves to feed the industrial work force. In reality, forced collectivization enabled the party to extend its political dominance over the peasantry but destroyed the agriculture and created food shortages in the country. Shelves in stores were often bare. People were unable to buy a decent food, cloth and other necessary products for a normal life. Living conditions of the most of population were awful. An average city apartment contained 4–​5 families, several persons in a room. Despite low salaries, unable to buy necessary goods, some people put the remaining money on a saving bank account or simply kept them at home (usually, those who distrusted the communist system). The government was forced to print regularly money to pay salaries. At the end of 1940s, the government determined that a huge amount of money was accumulated out of banks accounts. By the decree on December 14 of 1947, the cash ruble was devalued 10:1 and that bondholders had their bonds honored on the basis only a 3:1 ratio. The savings of citizens were automatically reduced to a tenth of what they had been. The decree explained that this was a necessary reaction to the actions of speculative elements who took advantage of the fact that

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 129 “market prices” were 5 to 10 times “state prices” and thus enriched themselves. Contrary to the Kremlin claim that the devaluation was aimed at “speculators” and benefitted workers, devaluation was connected not only with prices but with production. Food prices were subsidized and the supply of consumer goods was not increased. The government aimed to increase the industrial output as much as possible and were not concerned with shortages on the consumer market. The currency reform was focused to get rid of inflation (the term repressed inflation, used in the literature, characterizes the situation when there is persistent excess demand for goods and services; by reducing the savings of citizens the government forcefully decreased the demand). By artificially fixing prices and repressing inflation the Soviet system of price controls created persistent shortages of food and consumer goods. These problems continued, to varying degrees, for the rest of Soviet history Stalin’s goal was a quick growth of heavy industry. As to light industry producing the consumer goods, this sector of the economy was neglected and underdeveloped. In the post-​Stalin era there were several changes in the central government apparatus. There were unsuccessful attempts to decentralize partially the Soviet government and involve more the republican governments and regional bureaucrats in economic decision-​making. By stating “the aims of the dictatorship of the proletariat having been fulfilled, the Soviet state has become the state of the whole people” and including a series of civil and political rights (freedom of speech, press, assembly and the right to religious belief and worship) the new 1977 Constitution as if tried to persuade the population that the country was moving successfully toward communism. The government unable to feed decently its population was convincing its people that they already lived under socialism. The Soviet propaganda presented the country as a paradise, where life was better than in capitalist countries. For the closed country such propaganda worked. In reality, the society was structured in an unusual way. Several upper layers of the party officials, old communists, writers and media bosses had special distributors (depending of their rank) of food that could not be bought in ordinary stores; they had special clinics. This contradicted the Constitution statement indicated above. Only a few people travelled abroad, and those people were afraid of telling what they saw. Foreign radio stations were jammed, so that it was difficult to get any information about the outer world. As to the above mentioned freedoms, they were a part of lies about the real situation in the Soviet Union. In 1939–​1940, acting as an autocratic regime, to extend its power and assert its might, the Soviet Union occupied a part of Finland and Romania and absorbed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In 1945, after World War II, it established satellites

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in Eastern Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania). Although consumer products from these countries compensated partially the lack of necessary goods inside the Soviet Union, they could not change drastically the situation with consumer goods in the country and improve the struggling Soviet economy. The inefficiency of the Soviet command economy forced the ruling elite to make some concessions (more persons were allowed to travel abroad, small changes were made in the administrative structure). The elite witnessed the slowing economy, permanent necessity to subsidize food prices and print money, and the inefficiency of many state enterprises. The attempt to adopt something from the capitalist system, remaining politically “correct,” could not be successful since the communist elite did not want to lose their power. By 1988, private ownership was permitted in certain manufacturing industries to satisfy consumer needs. However, this law actually caused the Soviet economy to deteriorate further, as unprofitable private enterprises were now subsidized by the state, and the lack of state oversight of supply lines resulted in shortages of food and clothing which were unknown even earlier. Under the Gorbachev rule more persons were allowed to travel abroad and to see the lie of the Soviet propaganda. When this had become evident to a sufficient number of people, the communist regime collapsed. The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the result of fight inside of its communist elite who tried to get power or at least survive. The winners supported democracy with multi-​party system and multi-​candidate elections. They destroyed the Communist Party’s mechanisms of power but to satisfy their own political aspirations. Between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991 all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union became independent. Then they reformed their administrative structure and constitution. The term competitive authoritarianism, that characterizes a regime democratic in appearance but authoritarian in nature, can be applied to many states which became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the Russian Federation continued to be governed according to its Soviet-​era constitution. The office of president had been added to the political structure of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic in 1991. However, the constitution did not specify which branch, legislative or executive, held supreme power. The 1993 Constitution of Russian Federation specifies that the President is the Russian head of state, setting domestic and foreign policy and representing Russian both within the country and internationally. The president is also the “Supreme Commander-​in-​Chief of the Armed

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 131 Forces of the Russian Federation” and also has the power to dissolve the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly—​the national legislative organ. Although instead of the only communist party many parties representing different groups with different views arose, the country was not ready to switch automatically to the market-​based economy. The command economy cannot prepare skillful managers and entrepreneurs. The new economic system required new laws and regulations, new financial institutions, effective tax code, etc. This was a painful transition period with many mistakes made. The economic reform—​the privatization of Russian industries was not thought out properly. Criminal elements tried to enrich themselves by threats and killings of new business owners. Lack of rigorous laws allowed a group of people to use holes in the existing legislature and become oligarchs, while ordinary people lost almost all that they saved because of the hyperinflation in 1990s. President Yeltsin, who started reforming Russia, did not belong to any political party and believed that the president should be neutral. In 1999, he promoted former KGB officer Vladimir Putin in his place. Promising both political and economic reforms to keep the country as a global power, Putin set about restructuring the government and launching criminal investigations into the business dealings of high-​profile Russian citizens. Being the leader of the United Russia party, that held more than 70 percent of seats in the State Duma, Putin was able to consolidate his power. In 2004, he signed a law allowing the president to appoint regional governors; he established control over media and eliminated opposition. This allowed some reporters to state that Russia is in between democracy and dictatorship. Maybe this is a too critical evaluation of the situation in Russia which is now not a closed society, as it was under the communist rule. Now the people have incomparably more freedoms than in the Soviet Union. Russia sees a time of national revival, veritable rebirth of art, literature, music, and education. Almost all aspects of life can be criticized, even local authorities. But not Putin; it is risky. (There are even several anti-​Putin TV channels. However, they exist on subscription fees and have significantly less viewers than main TV channels.) Putin and its circle enriched themselves; they try to keep power and destroy the dissent. For Russia that during all its existence was ruled by autocrats it is difficult to accept full democracy. Time is needed to change the social conscience of Russians. At the end of 1990s, the author attended an international conference where he met a department chair of a Moscow technical university, a representative of the middle class intelligentsia, and asked him why in the 1996 presidential elections Gorbachev, who ran as a social democrat, got a humiliating percent of votes.

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The answer—​who would vote for a person unable to keep power—​explains why Putin continues ruling the country. The road to democracy was different for Belorussia and Ukraine. Belarus is widely regarded as Europe’s last dictatorship although it has a multiparty system. Its president is known for jailing and harassing opponents and silencing the press. Ukraine struggled to implement reforms and the economy stagnated. As a result, the power struggle was tense and accompanied by the mutual accusations in corruption. However, it is clear that Ukraine moves towards the West by liberalizing its political and economic systems. The same tendency is seen in Georgia. Unlike Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova completed negotiations on their initial EU association agreement in 2013, placing the country on a firmer path towards full membership. As to the Baltic republics Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, which were under the Soviet boot since 1940, their transition to a market economy and the transformation of the societal structure went significantly smoother that in other republics of the Soviet Union. They can be considered as real consolidated democracies. They became parliamentary republics, rapidly turned west, joining first the EU and NATO and later the Eurozone. The Republic of Armenia was a reasonably stable democratic state, although its party structure was fractious and its legislative branch ineffectual. Armenia needs to pursue additional economic reforms to improve its economic competitiveness. The remaining former Soviet Union republics with predominantly Muslim population were and remained the agricultural societies. They accustomed to an autocratic rule. That is why there was no any drastic changes in the life of their population after they became independent. The violation of human rights, rigged elections, widespread corruption, mismanagement, unemployment, and a low living level characterize these countries. Azerbaijan is in better conditions because of its oil and natural gas reserves, despite the suppression of basic freedoms and political dissent. Turkmenistan is among the most corrupt and repressive countries on earth, according to watchdogs. As to the countries that became the Soviet satellites after World War II, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union they transferred fast to the parliamentary republics and were accepted to the family of other West European democratic countries. If American politicians had examined deeper the Russian road to democracy during last 100–​150 years, they would have not made democracy promotion—​ freedom by force and regime change, a one of the cornerstones of former American foreign policy—​and would have not supported military actions in Iraq and Libya.

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Modernized Autocratic Structures After the collapse and dissolution of the Soviet Union, only North Korea and Cuba continue using its autocratic pyramidal structure to control the life of the society. China, remaining formally a communist country, chose a capitalist way of developing its economy, but under a tight communist control. Vietnam chose the Chinese approach and built similar administrative structure. Similar to the Soviet Union, China’s government is that of a one-​party rule. In theory, according to the Constitution, the highest organ of the government is the legislature called the National People’s Congress (NPC). It elects the President and is responsible for all appointments of all major positions; but they should be approved by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the General Secretary. In practice, the executive power is in hands of the General Secretary and the cabinet, called the State Council, headed by the Premier who is nominated by the President. NPC are chosen in indirect elections by the provincial congress. The provincial congress selects these members on the recommendation of the CCP. In China, the CCP gives all the positions of power to their loyal members and loyal members of the head of the CCP. The structure of the CCP reminds the structure of the CPSU. It has the Communist Party Central Committee and the Politburo consisting of 5–​7 members. The Central Committee of the Communist Party operated through its departments. The Organization Department is one of the key agencies of the Central Committee, along with the Central Propaganda Department and International Liaison Department. It holds over personnel throughout every level of government and industry. Such a grip on any appointment means that the CPC tries to control all aspects of activity and life of the population. It looks even tighter than in the Soviet Union. The Central Propaganda Department operates through its five segments (theory; propaganda and education; arts and culture; news and publishing). It controls the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. It serves also a regulatory body that assist in controlling censorship within the country and has a leadership role within the media control system. The Publicity Department of the Central Committee (CCPPD) is an internal division of the Communist Party of China in charge of ideology-​related work, as well as its information dissemination system. Similar to the Soviet Union, China uses the Communist Youth League as a part of its ideological machine. Contrary to Marxism considering the working class as a main force in a communist revolution, Mao Zedong believed that appealing to the China huge class of peasants was the key to establishing communism in Asia. With the support

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of China’s peasants Mao successfully took over China and became the founding father of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), when it was established in 1949, then as Chairman of the PRC and Leader of the Communist Party of China. Similar to Stalin’s rule, Mao Zedong policy (complete collectivization of farming and industry as a stage of communism) resulted in deaths of millions of people. Only a shameful and senseless Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (to purge the society from remnants of capitalist elements) resulted in the deaths of at least 1.5 million innocent people, with tens of millions more publicly persecuted. Across the country, millions of people were persecuted and suffered a wide range of abuses including public humiliation, imprisonment, torture, hard labor, and seizure of property. As if Mao followed Stalin’s steps to strengthen power, develop heavy industry, and spread the communist ideology. Similar to the Soviet planning, the system of Five Year Plans, with the Soviet equipment and technical aid to construct many industrial plants, extend of the railway network, etc., brought positive results. However, later the economic growth slowed down, the plan goals had not been achieved. The centralized command economy demonstrated its deficiency. After the death of its founder and leader Mao Zedong, the communist China significantly modified the control of its production unit and its structure. Deng Xiaoping, the PRC leader from 1978 until his retirement in 1992, who had studied Marxism from the works of the Bolshevik leaders and was familiar with the success of the NEP in 1920s, led China through market-​economy reforms and has been called by many as the “General Architect of the Reforms.” In 1985, he openly acknowledged that “perhaps the most correct model of socialism was the New Economic Policy of the USSR.” (Pantsov and Levine, 2015). Deng started the reform with the modernization of agriculture, defense, industry and science and technology. Later economic reforms increased the role of market mechanisms and reduced the government control over the economy. The measures included privatization or liquidation of many state-​owned companies, except large monopolies, de-​collectivization of agriculture, encouraging business entrepreneurship, establishing special economic zones, ending state planning, introducing deregulation, and reforming the banking system. The Chinese economy began to show massive growth, averaging 10 percent GDP growth over the last 30 years. By 2000, China’s output had quadrupled. For much of the population living standards improved dramatically. The property right law was finalized in 2007 to satisfy the created new class of rich and middle class which wanted protection of their own property. Currently around 70 percent of the Chinese industrial output is produced by non-​state controlled business

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 135 firms, and over 80 percent of the industrial workforce in China is employed in the private sector. Private businesses have built modern China; they were the growth engine of its economy. Searching new markets they started expanding overseas. Liberalizing its economy China continues maintaining an authoritarian form of government. The government controls the society with an iron fist. Playing in democracy the CCP permitted several minor political parties (they have less than a million members) to operate in China under the condition that they must accept the leading role of the CCP. The CCP branches exist within approximately 13  percent of private Chinese firms, a figure which rises to 53  percent among larger private firms. There exists a tough censorship of publications and media. Authorities cracked down on China’s top video-​streaming websites, intensified their crackdown of virtual private networks, and removed foreign TV shows from online platforms. It is difficult to agree with sociologists who believe that the CCP’s control of the society is tougher than it was in the Soviet Union. The USSR was a closed society, China is not. China’s government copied all methods of Soviet communists applying to the internal and foreign policies. Both countries use dishonest stealing of a technological documentation of foreign countries violating the laws relating to the intellectual property rights. Simply Chinese leaders act smarter. Both countries needed a foreign help and investments to grow their economy. However, if the Soviet Union was buying what was cheaper, that is, an obsolete equipment and technology, China paid for the most technologically advanced equipment. China used successfully the United States policy against the Soviet Union during the Cold War and excluded itself from the Soviet bloc in the exchange for the American help in various fields related to its economic progress. If in the 1950s Soviet universities and colleges had many Chinese students, in the 1980s China was sending its students to get education in American universities. It was because of the United States support China became a member of the World Trade Organization. Americans were naïve, thinking that they would be able to use China’s desire to become a member of the World Trade Organization as a lever to force far-​reaching changes in China’s trade regime. China continues cheating in trade by using various unlawful methods including currency manipulation. China conducts an espionage warfare with the United States, exploiting America’s comparatively open society and free-​market economy to steal critical information, trade secrets and technology tools. In the 21st century the percentage of educated persons is on the rise. The Internet serves as a source of information in all areas of interest. Now it is more

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difficult than a hundred years ago for a modern society to agree with the rules established by a group of persons who try to persuade the whole population how to live: what is good and acceptable and what is bad and unacceptable. Only fear of punishment can force people to live the life they do not like. In China, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 and Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 are the lessons of punishment for disobedience demonstrated by the CCP. The comparison of the living standards in China and the former communist Russian Federation shows that despite the impressive economic growth the 2018 GDP per capita of China ($9.627) is lower than of Russia ($11.47) and significantly lower than in the United States ($59.53). According to the corruption index that ranks countries based on the public’s observation of corruption in the government, China “beats” Russia by 39:28. In Russia two form of corruption—​ administrative corruption and state capture—​are the most popular. The term state capture is a type of corruption when private interests significantly influence a state’s decision-​making processes to their own advantage and also when high-​ level government officials “capture” profitable private firms, allocating their assets or top management positions to political allies. The second meaning of this term is applied completely to China, where the Organization Department controls the top positions of private enterprises. The CCP anti-​corruption campaign refers to many “dangers” that may threaten the very existence of the party, “including the slacking of officials, incompetence, isolation from the people and corruption.” However, the administrative structure of the Chinese government linked with the CCP pyramidal structure is a source of corruption, and it is unlikely that an anti-​corruption campaign can improve the situation. Based on the above material it is logical to conclude that for both countries decisive steps toward real democracy are needed to increase the living level of their population. Which country will become real democracy first? The Russian Federation has a multi-​party system (as of 2018, six parties have members in the federal parliament), its people have more freedom than China’s population. That is why its road to real democracy should be shorter than Chinese one.

References Carneiro, R. (1970). A Theory of the Origin of the State. Science, 169 (3947), 733–​738. Claessen, H. and Skalnik, P. (1978). The Early State: Theories and Hypotheses. New York: Mouton Publishers. Hasegawa, T. (1981). The February Revolution of Petrograd, 1917. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

Pyramidal Societal Structures | 137 Kenez, P. (1985) The Birth of the Propaganda State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Myers, A. (1971). England in the Late Middle Ages. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Pantsov, A. and Levine, S. (2015). Deng Xiaoping: A Revolutionary Life. New York: Oxford University Press. Tilly, C. (1985). War Making and State Making as Organized Crime. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wimmer, A.  and Feinstein, Y.  (2010). The Rise of the Nation-​State across the World, 1816 to 2001. American Sociological Review, 75 (3), 764–​790. Wright, H.  (2006). Early State Dynamics as Political Experiment. Journal of Anthropological Research, 62 (3), 305–​319.

5

Democratic Societal Structures

“Democracy is worth dying for, because it’s the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.” —​Ronald  Reagan

Introduction In the previous chapter we analyzed the command economy and on the examples of the present-​day China and Russia showed that the advantages of the market over command economy became clear even to the most autocratic regimes. In its purest form the command economy is seen in the pyramidal societal systems where an autocrat was the chief lawmaker, the chief administrator, and above all, the commander-​in-​chief of the army. In many feudal societies the power of a ruler was weakened by nobles who were micro-​autocrats (governors) in their manors. They fought for this right since they had own strategies how in the best way to enrich themselves, how to control the economy in the manors. As we indicated in Chapter 3, the king ruled through a council of his leading nobles. In this case, the pyramidal structure is more complex: the base of the main pyramid

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consists of separate small pyramids. This demonstrates the first step of decentralization of the command economy. The ruler benefits from taxation but is unable to dictate what to produce, how to produce, and in what quantities. But this structure is not efficient as well since the mansions’ economy is still a command economy. However, for small size mansions and predominantly agricultural production plus a skillful management the results can be tangible even in this case. The communist NEP proved in practice the inefficiency of the command economy. China’s economic progress in the last 40 years is one more example how the decentralization of the economy and the property rights legislation can drastically improve the economy. As indicated earlier, property rights are the rights of people to acquire, use, and dispose of property freely, the right to freely control their wealth. Persons who possess the property can exchange it, give it as a present to others, etc. This right is an important component of freedom, independence, and liberty—​the ability to act without constraints. A  private property system gives individuals the exclusive right to use their resources to maximize their well-​ being criterion. Well-​defined and strongly protected property rights open doors to prosperity for all members of society. Adam Smith (1776) believed that they should be a foundation of the government structure: “The first and chief design of every system of government is to maintain justice: to prevent the members of society from encroaching on one another’s property, or seizing what is not their own. The design here is to give each one the secure and peaceable possession of his own property.” In the feudal societies, property rights had not spread on all members of the society. Only a small part of the society had these rights and was able to prosper at the expense of the remaining part. The attack on property rights can be found in works of the earliest socialists Welshman Robert Owen (1771–​1858), Henri de Saint-​Simon (1760–​1825), and François-​Marie-​Charles Fourier (1772–​ 1837). Owen believed that the creation of independent “utopian communities,” where would be no private property, was the approach to end inequality based on ownership of property. Saint-​Simon and Fourier were not strictly opposed to all private property and believed that individuals should be free to own their, for instance, home and domestic goods. What they objected to was property used to extract wealth from the labor of others: factories, mines, railroads, etc. More precisely this was formulated in the Communist Manifesto by Marx who dismissed the early socialists as idle utopians. According to Marx, “The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property… Every demand for the most simple bourgeois financial reform, for the most ordinary liberalism, for the most commonplace

Democratic Societal Structures | 141 republicanism, for the flattest democracy is forthwith punished as an assault upon society and is branded as ‘Socialism’.” This is not a precise definition of socialism. But it is clear that democracy is a necessary condition for the existence of a socialist society. The well-​k nown Marx slogan “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” serves as a definition of a communist society. It was popular within the socialist movement that considered socialism as lower stage of communism. With his definition of communism Marx joins the idle utopians he criticized. Socialism is a very fuzzy term which has various definitions: social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole; any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods; a political theory advocating public ownership of the means of production and the sharing of political power by the whole community; social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources; a political term applied to an economic system in which property is held in common and not individually, and relationships are governed by a political hierarchy; a political system with the aim of creating a society in which everyone has an equal opportunity to benefit from a country’s wealth. The above definitions follow only indirectly from the Marx theory which defined socialism as the intermediary stage between capitalism and communism. Contrary to the Marx’s definition of communism, the principle “To each according to his contribution” (introduced by David Ricardo (1772–​1823), the founder of a movement that is known as Ricardian socialism, which was popular among the labor socialist movement) is used also to characterize socialism. Everyone in society receives a share of the production based on how much each has contributed—​this sounds as a reasonable and fair principle of the wealth distribution. However, socialism assumes the cooperative nature of humans to work ignoring the competition, a situation in which someone is trying to win something or be more successful than someone else, and there exist no rigorous rules how to measure properly one’s contribution. In the 1977, the Soviet Union declared that it had completed a definite stage along the Marxist road to communism, and enjoyed the system of developed socialism or real existing socialism, the stage from which the gradual transition to communism begins. The cynicism of this propagandistic statement is obvious. The country lacked the necessary consumers goods and food products, its agricultural sector of economy was inefficient, its citizens were not able to travel abroad, were

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deprived of elementary freedoms (e.g., even to live in Moscow and St. Petersburg required a special permission). As if communists forgot Marx statement about democracy as a road to communism. China, with the property rights law of 2007, succeeded in its intensive economic development and took a giant step towards socialism; it planned to complete the first stage and become a xiaokang society by 2020, which Prime Minister Wen Jiabao described as “a society in which no one is poor and everyone receives an education, has paid employment, more than enough food and clothing, access to medical services, old-​age support, a home and a comfortable life.” China is slowly changing to a form of democracy. Its leaders state that they run a socialist democracy where the Communist Party of China is a central authority that acts in the interest of the people. However, the Democracy Index, that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories measuring pluralism, civil liberties, and political culture, scores China a 3.1 out of 10, classifying its government as authoritarian. Currently, democracy is unworkable in China, so that it is early to discuss socialism in China. Two types of democracy—​parliamentary like the UK, Canada and many West European countries or presidential like the United States—​correspond to different societal structures, both demonstrating their effectiveness. People elect their representatives belonging to various political parties to make decisions and pass laws in the best interests of the people. Without a healthy democracy it is impossible to reflect properly the desires and interest of the majority of a society population. The mentioned democratic societal structures differ in their administrative units. The difference in production units depends upon the degree of government involvement in the production process. Socialism is primarily an economic system that can exist under the both mentioned administrative structures. Cooperative (private and government) ownership or a pure government ownership of enterprises and/​or organizations is an example of the socialist economy. The widely used term public corporation defines business organizations or enterprises set up, controlled and managed by the government in order to provide goods and services to people. Socialist systems emphasize equal distribution of wealth among the people although, as it was mentioned earlier, it is impossible to determine rigorously what equal distribution means. The Soviet distribution system based on the command economy demonstrated its absolute inefficiency and was one of the reasons of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Contrary to socialism and a socialist economic system, under capitalism and a capitalist economic system a country’s trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. A market economy is the basis

Democratic Societal Structures | 143 of the capitalist system; in a pure form it assumes the absence of government intervention in the economy. In defining the types of government of the world it is essential to remember that many countries have mixed economic systems with elements of both capitalism and socialism. In the United States, a capitalist nation, there are many government-​run programs; in Sweden, considered as a socialist society, there are also private businesses. Below we will analyze separately the pure capitalist and socialist societal structures and then provide a comparative analysis of these systems.

Capitalist Societal Structures Capitalism is defined as an economic and political system in which property (real and intellectual) is owned by private individuals and not by the state. When capitalism is considered only as an economic system, a more detailed definition is used: a system where the means of production are owned by private individuals who own and operate private companies. In a capitalist society, companies are usually treated as individuals: they can sue and be sued; they can buy and sell property; they exist to make money and bring profit. Under capitalism, everyone tries to optimize the own well-​being criterion—​to work for own wealth. As seen from the above definitions, the law concerning property rights, spread on all population of a society, is the pivot of capitalism. Under capitalism, capital goods are produced by private individuals or businesses. The production of goods and services is based on supply and demand (market economy) rather than through central planning (planned economy or command economy). In its purest form the so-​called market mechanism corresponds to free market, an unregulated system of economic exchange, according to which private individuals are completely unrestrained in deciding where to invest, what to produce or sell and where prices for goods and services are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses operating without checks or controls. The feedback principle is an indispensable part of the market mechanism, the process by which the forces of demand and supply determine prices and quantities of goods and services offered for sale in a free market. The law of supply and demand explains the interaction between the sellers of an economic good (a product or service) and the buyers of that good. The theory defines how the relationship between the availability of a particular economic good and the desire (or demand) for that economic good influence its

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price. In a free market, when a given economic good is in high demand due to either shortages or high quality, sellers will supply more of the economic good at higher prices (producers will seek to produce more of it), thereby increasing its profitability. Higher production satisfies more of the demand, but at higher prices buyers will demand less of the economic good. As a result, eventually the prices decline. As profits decrease, fewer quantity of the economic good is produced and an equilibrium (enough of the economic goods are produced to satisfy the demand at a price low enough for consumers to buy and high enough for producers to get profit) is finally reached. The equilibrium is characterized by the equality between the quantity supplied and the quantity demanded; it is the state in which neither prices or quantities show any tendency to change. The equilibrium is a result of self-​regulation, the process which Adam Smith (1776) called “invisible hand.” It corresponds to the so-​called Pareto optimal solution—​no one can be made better off without someone being made worse off. The profit attained by a producer serves as feedback regarding the buyers’ appreciation of his economic good. Based on this information the producer makes decisions about this and other economic goods. Market forces (demand and supply—​the actions of buyers and sellers) cause the prices of goods and services to change; they control the production and distribution of goods and services. Producers are interested in increasing productivity by using innovations to decrease the production cost. Competition between producers results in decreasing prices on existing products and services and the creation of new products and services that would satisfy the needs of a society. Capitalism plays a significant role in expanding the range of products and services available to many people. Capitalism creates the efficient production of goods and services offered at the lowest possible prices and the highest quality that meet the consumer needs. It is almost obvious that in the so-​called perfectly competitive markets (with many buyers and sellers and without barriers to entry or exit) economic profits (the excess of revenue over cost) are zero in the long-​run. Indeed, if firms in a perfectly competitive market are profitable, there would be an incentive for new firms to enter. As a result, supply would increase, causing an increase in quantity and the price to be driven back down to zero equilibrium. If firms are suffering a loss, some firms would choose to exit the market. As a result, supply would decrease, causing a decrease in quantity and the price to be driven back up to zero equilibrium. It means that in the long-​run in a perfectly competitive market profit equals zero, that is, the price of a product or service tends to its cost. The free market encourages investment. Modernization of production brings profit and usually improves working conditions. The role of workers in decreasing

Democratic Societal Structures | 145 the production cost and increasing productivity is, as a rule, passive and insignificant. Profit is the result of the intellectual and creative labor of technological experts and skillful entrepreneurs and managers. Marx’s statement that labor exploitation is a source of profit is a false conclusion based on a deliberate exclusion from the consideration the most important labor components produced by entrepreneurs, managers, and scientific-​technical intelligencia. The profit from previous investment is defined as capital accumulation. It presents the core dynamics of the capitalist mode of production. Being reinvested it becomes a source of the capitalist economy to grow. That is why capitalism is considered as an engine of economic growth. The competitive forces of capitalism made their own contribution to people prosperity by continually producing more cheap goods which effectively raised the common standard of living. In modern societies there exists three categories of legal ownership of a business. A sole proprietorship consists of a single individual who owns the company and serves as its only employee. A partnership presents a formal arrangement in which two or more parties cooperate to manage and operate a business. Corporate ownership can involve any number of owners; it turns the business into a corporation which is a distinct legal entity. Corporate ownership allows a business to set itself up for selling stock in the future. In this case, stockholders become owners of a corporation. Corporate ownership also protects owners’ liability; if someone files a lawsuit against the business, the owners are not personally responsible, and their personal assets are protected. The goal of the corporation is maximizing shareholder wealth, and a lot of workers, by buying stocks directly or indirectly through retirement-​plan mutual funds, become formally owners of enterprises, banks, etc., so that, using the Marxist terminology, it is difficult now to draw the line between proletariat and capitalists. A more precise definition of capitalism is: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of economic goods, by investments that are determined by private decisions and by prices, production, and the distribution of economic goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market. The free market of economic goods cannot be analyzed separately from the labor market, in which employees provide the supply for labor and employers—​ the demand for labor. These markets are interconnected. Similarly to freedom to choose what to produce or buy in the market of goods and services, persons in the labor force are free to compete for the best satisfying job and employers compete to hire the best. When a particular type of labor is in high demand, applicants ask higher wages. A person can leave a job if he/​she has a better offer. In turn, an employer can fire a person if he/​she does not bring profit. Wages of employees

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influence the cost of economic goods and their market prices. In turn, the wages determine a standard of living and the market demand for the produced goods. The free market is a theoretical concept. In reality, the described market mechanism does not operate properly when too few producers are involved or when the feedback information is distorted or misused. As to the labor market, unlike in the market of economic goods, the relationship between a seller and a buyer is not temporary and has specific features related to human life conditions. It is characterized by a certain stability for similar jobs. A rise in the price of labor offered by a particular employer does not necessary cause employees of other firms receiving fewer wages to leave their jobs and go to the high wage employer. Moreover, the price that is set tends to be fixed for a certain period of time; employers do not want wage rates to fluctuate with every change in demand and supply conditions. The role of government is to “correct” the imperfectness of the real markets by imposing and enforcing laws and regulations to protect consumers and regulate how companies operate their businesses to ensure fair competition (to prevent unfair dealing, deceptive pricing structures, and monopolies over essential goods and services, etc.); the labor laws protect worker’s rights, improve worker safety, and increase workers’ bargaining power relative to their employers. The United States has a capitalist political-​economic system that allows individuals to own the businesses that make the goods and services to satisfy the consumer—​k ing of the economy. America’s Founding Fathers understood that property rights and prosperity of the country were inextricably linked. James Madison, the principal author of the Constitution, wrote, “as a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.” The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution prevents any person from being “deprived of … property, without due process of law” and requires compensation when “private property [was] taken for public use.” The Constitution was designed to give the federal government only limited powers over property; the states, not the federal government, are the primary protectors and regulators of property. Congress is authorized to protect intellectual property by authorizing copyright and patent laws; it has authority to punish piracy, a crime directed principally against property (Article 1, Section 8). The Founders gave Congress an unlimited power to dispose of public land (Article 4, Section 3), but only limited power to acquire or hold land (Article 1, Section 8) and certain incidental powers. America’s Founders wanted most publicly-​owned land to be transferred to the private sector. They understood also that private property is the foundation not only of prosperity but also of individual freedom and liberty. The fourteenth

Democratic Societal Structures | 147 Amendment prohibited the states from depriving any person of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” All related to the enforcement of the property rights laws are included in the government obligations, and taxes based on ownership of property are a revenue source of government. Unlike other countries, to buy land in the United States a person does not have to be a citizen. There are no limitations in terms of who can buy land in the United States. However, land taxes and other property taxes are a major source of government revenue on the state or/​and local level. States usually do not impose property taxes or they are significantly smaller than local taxes. Rules and procedures vary widely by jurisdiction. Land is taxed in one state according to quantity, in another according to quality, and in a third not at all. Courtesy of the Homesteading Act of 1862, many US citizen willing to settle on and farm the land for at least five years were able to receive free land. During the 1900s, many jurisdictions began exempting certain property from taxes. Many jurisdictions exempted homes of war veterans. Some jurisdictions also tax some types of business personal property, particularly inventory and equipment. The Corporate Tax Rate in the United States stands at 21 percent. It averaged 32.58 percent from 1909 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 52.80 percent in 1968 and a record low of 1 percent in 1910. The Constitution gives the government the power to regulate some commerce. The government is a friend both businesses and consumers honestly using the advantages of free market. The so-​called antitrust laws were created to promote competition among sellers, limit monopolies and give consumers more options. They apply to nearly all industries and sectors, to every level of business, including manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and marketing. In 1914, Congress passed the Federal Trade Commission Act banning unfair competition methods and fraudulent, deceptive acts or business practices (for example, price-​ fixing conspiracies, corporate mergers that are likely to cut back the competitive fervor of certain markets, and predatory acts designed to gain or hold on to monopoly power) and established the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), a federal agency to enforce federal antitrust laws and protect consumers by providing information to help them spot, stop, and avoid scams and fraud. The government requires companies to make financial information public, thereby protecting the rights of investors and facilitating further investment. This is generally done through filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office offers protection of inventions and certain products from illegal infringement by competitors. The U.S. Commerce Department offers valuable assistance to businesses exporting goods and services.

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Many state and federal agencies work to protect the rights of employees. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration, for example, is an agency under the Department of Labor (DOL) that should ensure a safe and healthful work environment. The Equal Opportunity Commission protects employees from discrimination. Despite the useful role of the government in helping businesses to prosper, the taxes they pay increase the cost of their products and services. Naturally, businesses oppose some aspects of restrictive laws, taxes and regulations (especially, environmental restrictions). Nevertheless, the business community still enjoys considerable freedom and that is why the United States is the most powerful nation on Earth—​the best military nation in the world, the most fastest growing technological country in the world, and the world’s biggest economy.

Socialism vs Capitalism The origins of socialism lie in the Industrial Revolution, and visions of socialism of the earliest socialists Owen, Saint-​Simon, and Fourier reflected their still largely agrarian thinking. Being accustomed to a quite agrarian temp of life and witnessing the vast societal changes they could not accept the fact that owners of means of production increased significantly their wealth for a short period of time while workers remained poor. They believed that an entrepreneur should share his success with all participants of his venture. For them reinvestment of a profit was a greed and competition looked wild. Saint-​Simon advocated central planning of the economic development by the most knowledgeable and productive members of a society (industrialists, scientists, and engineers) who would be able to anticipate social needs and direct the energies of society to meet them, rather than the self-​interest and capitalist competition. Owen believed that human nature can be changed if people would be taught to live and work together in harmony. The earliest socialists disagreed among themselves concerning property rights. Some of them thought that almost everything except personal items such as clothing should be public property; other were not against private ownership of farms, shops, and other small or medium-​ sized businesses. As indicated in the introductory section, the earlier socialists—​most notably Owen, Fourier and Saint-​Simon—​were criticized by Marx and Engels as idle utopians. The Communist Manifesto presented Marxist radical views and ideas of the class struggle and social revolution as the moving force toward a higher goal.

Democratic Societal Structures | 149 As Engels explained, the word communism carried with it the idea of common ownership. This statement helped to distinguish the ideas of Marx and Engels, considered as the founders of scientific socialism, from those of the so-​called utopian socialists. According to Marx and Engels, socialism is a stage to communism characterized by an egalitarian distribution of wealth and power in society through a democratic ownership and distribution of society’s means of production. The modern socialist movement dates from the publication of the Manifesto in 1848; social democratic and labor parties arose in Europe, drawing mainly from Marxism. The trade union development in the 19th century focused on higher wages, shorter hours, and better working conditions. Formally, the socialist ideas were not their goals, partially because they had been formulated differently and not precisely. Socialist and labor parties needed the unions’ support and advocated the creation of the unionized labor. In turn, trade unions preferred to have a political support and had at least friendly relations with these parties, since their main goal was to protect and strengthen the interests of labor within the existing system. In Europe, labor parties competed in elections on socialist platforms and sometimes won, though Marxist ideas were hardened by Lenin (1870–​1924), whose doctrine of democratic centralism and the role of the Communist Party as the vanguard of the proletariat pricked up the ears of many socialists. That is why in Europe socialist and labor parties rarely implemented more than a few of their more modest goals, such as nationalizing railroads, mines, and some other industries. After World War II, social democrats were more successful, particularly in Scandinavia, following a gradualist approach which involved high taxes to enforce relative economic equality, government regulation of industry, nationalization of large industries, and social welfare. As mentioned earlier, socialism is a very fuzzy term. But generally socialists advocate a democratically controlled economy run for the benefit of all. In its pure form socialism is an economic system where society (that is, each its member) represented by a democratically elected government owns or at least controls property for the benefit of all its members. A socialist economy, similar to a command economy, is based on central planning as the strategy of allocating resources to meet both individual and social needs. The important social needs include defense, education, health care, transportation, and preservation of natural resources. A socialist economy assumes free education and free health care, as it was in the former Soviet Union, and some others social programs. However, the

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decisions concerning these and other programs are made by the elected officials based on free elections, rather than by a communist dictator or communist elite, as it was in the Soviet Union. The confusion with the term socialism resulted in many frivolous and non-​ rigorous statements in the literature and in statements of politicians. The United States is considered as a capitalist country since the private sector share of its GDP is about 90 percent. In the so-​called socialists countries as Sweden, Norway, and Denmark the private sector share of the GDP exceeds 60–​70 percent. These countries are not socialist in the true sense of the word. They have strong socialist systems: health care, education, and pensions. Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Guyana, India, Mozambique, Portugal, and Sri Lanka have references to socialism in their constitutions (e.g., Portugal seeks to establish a socialist society). However, this is only an intention and far from the reality. Although there exist many papers comparing capitalist and socialist systems, there is no a country which characteristics would satisfy the above given definitions of socialism. The mentioned countries have no central planning in the form used in the Soviet Union and China. The governments only allocate resources for some programs. As to the Soviet Union, the only country that announced that it had reached the stage of socialism, this was a false propagandistic statement since the condition of socialism “to each according to his contribution” had not been satisfied: the standard of living in the country was low and the distribution of “wealth” was not fair. The country used the Marxist socialist principle of handling its economy—​ central planning and control. However, the planning and control were in hands of persons who had not been chosen by the society; these persons got power during the revolution, and the country’s policy reflected their views rather than the societal needs. In the definition of socialism, applied to the existing so-​called socialist countries, central planning has a more narrow meaning than it was used in Marxist doctrine of socialism. It relates only to special important societal programs. Since it is impossible to find a country representing a socialist economy in a way the Unites States represent a capitalist economy, the comparative analysis of these two types of societal systems loses its rigorousness. Nevertheless, according to the basic definition, a socialist system meets the basic needs of the whole society. Socialism assumes the collective ownership by all the people of the factories, railroads, airlines, media, postal services, banks, land and all other means of production. A socialist economic system operates on the premise that what is good for one is good for all. Everyone works for his/​her own good and for the good of everyone else. Everyone works for wealth, and the government decides how

Democratic Societal Structures | 151 to distribute it among the people. The system eliminates poverty. The capitalist competition is replaced by cooperation and centralized planning which should eliminate recessions and economic crises. On the one hand, state own enterprises, an organizations owned and controlled by the government, provide services to the people at cheaper and affordable rates than capitalist enterprises owned by private individuals, since the private enterprises have a sole aim of making profit. State owned enterprises help the government to control certain strategic sectors of the economy. There are certain industries which, if not being monitored and controlled properly, could pose serious risks to the public. On the other hand, state own enterprises are characterized by high levels of bureaucracy and corruption, favoritism, mismanagement, and negative work attitudes by workers (such as laziness and dishonesty). As a result, they may be inefficient, produce low quality products and charge relatively high prices. The main reason for a low efficiency of many centralized systems is its dependence upon the quality of the information obtained by the center from the local subsystems, i.e., from the system feedback channels. Their workers have no motives to be competitive since it is not their business; in a case of losses they will be subsidized. A regulated economy based on state owned enterprises only creates an impression of economic stability and that it protects the safety and health of the general public as well as the environment. In reality, it creates a huge government bureaucracy that stifles growth. Sweden, which is considered a socialist country, presents an example how its economy aggravated in the 1960s, when it started to redistribute wealth. Between 1870 and 1950, it had the highest per capita income growth in the world and became one of the richest countries. By the mid-​1990s, the country had growing economic problems because it continued to redistribute wealth which it was not creating. It happened because many of the wealthy and entrepreneurs were leaving Sweden. It resulted in a fiscal crisis in the early 1990s. When the government does not encourage innovations and takes a significant part of income from the most talented and skillful persons, these persons try to leave the country and find a better place where they would be rewarded properly for their skills. As indicated earlier, free education and affordable health care are the most attractive social programs. But they require substantial government spending. However, the limited resources result in rationed health care. Long waiting lines are the norm. The personal income tax rate in Sweden averaged 56.78 percent from 1995 until 2018, reaching an all-​time high of 61.85 percent in 2017 and a record low of 51.50 percent in 2000. Now Sweden personal income is taxed at

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a rate of 61.85 percent plus a 7 percent social security tax rate for employees; in addition, Sweden has a 25 percent consumption tax. It is a misconception that people do not pay for free education and government-​run health care. They do pay for them through higher taxes. Although the United States and Sweden are called capitalist and socialist countries, respectively, as we mentioned earlier, there exist no pure socialist and capitalist countries. The role of a democratic government is to serve the society—​to serve its people. It means that any democratic government carries out some social programs, that is, socialist features are a part of all democratic societal structures.

Mixed Democratic Societal Structures The United States have a relatively smaller amount of social programs compared to the socialist countries (e.g., Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Belgium), where their governments provide a high level of social support. But in the indicated above countries most businesses are privately owned. This makes them essentially capitalist. Most modern countries practice a mixed capitalist system that includes government regulations of business and industry and central planning in areas of vital importance to the nation’s safety and growth—​defense, transportation, telecommunications, and cybersecurity, as well as control of some other special programs (e.g., health care and education). Founding Fathers of the United States of America included the promotion of the general welfare in the Constitution. In 1935, the Social Security Act extended the definition of the general welfare. It included unemployment compensation, retirement income, and aid for mothers with dependent children. The U.S. government controls or partially controls many goods or services, such as education, health care, courts, and postal delivery. (see e.g., Kleinbard, 2015 and Yanushevsky, 2018). It also provides subsidies to agricultural producers, financial companies, and utility firms. Private businesses need to register with government agencies, and many types of professionals can only operate with government-​approved licenses. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must approve consumable foods and medicines before they can be sold and requires producers to provide very specific disclaimers. The hiring, compensating, and firing of employees must comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and many other regulations from agencies such as the Department of Labor.

Democratic Societal Structures | 153 The U.S. government also plays a role in the economy via fiscal and monetary policies. The Federal Reserve is charged with controlling monetary policy (which deals with the quantity, velocity, and availability of the money supply). Congress and the executive branch handle fiscal policy (controlling the levels of government revenues and spending). After the Great Depression in 1929, the U.S. Government introduced legislation to regulate financial markets and protect investors from misrepresentations and illegal transactions. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that insures depositors’ money (so that even if banks fail, the depositors would not lose their deposits) and the Securities and Exchange Commission that regulates the stock markets and ensures honest disclosure on all stock transactions are examples of the government efforts to regulate free market. All this is done for the public good. Since free education and universal health care are the main attractive features of socialism, the countries with these programs are called socialist. However, it does not mean that in the United States such programs are absolutely ignored. Nowhere in our history has this been more evident than in the 19th and 20th centuries when floods of immigrants reached America’s shores and took advantage of the free education offered them in its public schools. With their help and intellect the United States became a superpower capable of great achievements with a diverse, complex, flourishing, and productive economy that made it the richest country in the world. But we live in the 21st century, and the last fifty years show that the level of public schools education has famously fallen behind many less wealthy or powerful nations. As to higher education, its rising cost becomes a serious obstacle for many Americans to get college/​university education. Local government grants allow the best students get free education at local universities. Some private universities accept students of low income families. The U.S. Department of Education plays a leadership role in the national dialogue over how to improve the existing education system. However, there exist many problems to improve education and to make it easier for millions of Americans to get higher education. The United States Department of Health & Human Services, also known as the Health Department, aimed to improve the health, safety, and well-​being of America. Established in 1965, the government health insurance programs Medicaid and Medicare help with medical costs some people of all ages with limited income and resources insufficient to pay for health care and Americans aged 65 and older, younger people with some disability status, people with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The Environmental Protection Agency focuses to protect people and the environment from significant health risks; it

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sponsors and conducts research, develops and enforces environmental regulations. In addition to the above mentioned programs the United States spends on national research and development about 3 percent of its federal budget as a percentage of GDP. The above indicated government programs and regulations are direct controls of the production unit from the administrative unit (its subdivisions). In a case of a pure socialist system, the administrative unit controls the whole production process, and its programs also reflect the needs dictated by the country foreign policy. The societal structure of such systems is given in Figure 5.1a. The demand here means not only the traditional market demand but also the production needs determined by the foreign policy; the output denotes supply in the generalized form—​not only production dictated by market. In control theory such type of systems is called the open-​loop control system. The quality of such systems is poor since they cannot react to unknown or untaken into consideration factors (called disturbances) that decrease the system performance. Figure 5.1b corresponds to the pure capitalist societal structure: the administrative units is responsible only for law, order and safety. This is a completely consumer driven system in which free market realizes control based on the negative feedback. In control theory such type of systems is called the closed-​loop control system. Such systems are widely used to control technological processes since they are able to decrease a negative effect of unknown or unmeasured factors. However, their accuracy and efficiency are limited by the system stability requirements. The societal structure shown in Figure 5.1c corresponds to a real mixed democratic societal structure. The most sophisticated control systems contain the feedback loop and an additional feedforward control channel, as shown in Figure  5.1c. The additional open-​loop channel makes the work of the feedback control more efficient (it is known from control theory that high control gains can make feedback systems unrobust and unstable; the open-​loop channel helps to resolve the contradiction between stability and accuracy in the feedback channel). After World War II, Western European countries with strong socialist parties nationalized some major branches of industry and commerce (e.g., airlines, telephones, electric power, fossil fuels, railways, postal services, banks, and water); many large industrial corporations were also nationalized or created as government corporations. The socialist leaders believed that the government would be able to run the industries in the best interests of society. On the one hand, the profit would become a part of the government revenue. Nationalization of the oil, gases, and minerals resources can be used to achieve economic development and implement important social programs (e.g., in Norway Statoil was a state-​own

Democratic Societal Structures | 155 a)

demand

Administrave unit

Production unit

b)

Administrave unit

Production unit

output

output

demand

c)

demand

Administrave unit

Production unit

output

Figure 5.1  Types of societal control

oil company; it was privatized in 2001 but the government’s share is still about 70 percent). On the other hand, the government could control prices and wages in these industries to make their products more affordable for people and improve working conditions. Some of them were subsidized, and usually unprofitable companies were later sold and became private (e.g., steel companies in Britain) or simply disappeared. The efficiency of the mixed societal system (see Figure 5.1c) that has elements of both free markets and centrally planned economic control by the government systems depends on the ratio between the market and non-​market oriented components and regulations that hinder the economic growth. Despite the expensive government programs, such as Social Security (the program that provides monthly benefits designed to replace, in part, the loss of income due to retirement, disability, or death), Medicaid and Medicare, incorporate some socialist principles, socialism has never presented a serious challenge to capitalism in the United States. Government-​own (partially or completely) enterprises can be a part of the free market economy. During the 2008 financial crisis, the United States government saved from bankruptcy General Motors, a leading American auto manufacturer, providing the company with the financial aid required to operate.

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Such a decision was based on the view that if the auto industry was allowed to collapse, several thousand people would be unemployed and, as a result, the government would have to pay a lot for unemployment benefits. Moreover, and this is of importance, experts concluded that by a proper restructuring the company would be able to restore its power. The U.S. government never intended to gain ownership of General Motors but it became one of the largest shareholders of this corporation. Five years later, after an unprecedented government equity investment, General Motors reestablished its leading role in the auto industry, and the government received back the invested money with profit. Many politicians were against the government bailout of the auto industry stating that this strategy contradicted the essence of capitalism and free market economy. Ideologists without a deep knowledge in a subject can only hurt any useful initiative. This is a wrong point of view that government can only influence the market economy by regulations and fiscal and monetary policies. The above example proves that. And it is not the only one. The above presented material proves the following:

Theorem 5.1. Democratic societal structures with properly created feedforward (regulations, governmental ownership and control) and feedback (market economy) channels are viable and efficient systems with a high standard of living.

References Kleinbard, E.  (2015). We are Better than This:  How Government Should Spend Our Money. New York: Oxford University Press. Smith, A. (1994). The Wealth of Nations. New York: Random House, Inc. Yanushevsky, R. and Yanushevsky, C. (2018). Applied Macroeconomics for Public Policy. London, Oxford, UK: Academic Press, Elsevier.

6

Globalization and Politics

“Globalization has made national boundaries more porous but not irrelevant. Nor does globalization mean the creation of a universal community.” —​Joseph S. Nye Jr.

Introduction As it follows from Theorem 5.1, democracy is a fertile soil for progress and prosperity. Starting from 1970s, the developed democratic countries created and widely used computer and communication technologies that changed not only production processes but also the way people lived and communicated. Computerized devices simplified housework; people became able to spend more time on education and entertaining. A higher level of education became a must to succeed. The information technology and Internet turned into an open book to get information in any field and about the world. Exchange of information from various parts of the world takes only minutes. Information, processed and analyzed data, became a special type of product offered by the related companies. Services that were a distinctive mark of the post-​Industrial Revolution acquired the new

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branch dealing with processing data for storage and retrieval. The so-​called informatics, the science of computer information systems, allowed scientists to operate with a huge amount of information, analyze it and obtain new important results in synthetic biology (living cells designed for specific purposes), photonics (to transfer data much faster than ever before), cybersecurity (to protect against the criminal or unauthorized use of electronic data), etc. The speed of changes in many aspects of human life for the last 50 years exceeds significantly the changes during the Industrial Revolution. This period characterizes the new era of the information revolution. The emergence of the Internet as a worldwide system of communication, information exchange, education, entertaining, and commerce presented opportunities for eliminating the barriers to communication existing earlier and made possible universal access to information and services at very low cost. Initially the Internet was established in 1969 by the U.S. military to serve as a backup communications system in the case of a nuclear war. Over the following two decades, it became a fast and convenient way for universities and research institutions to exchange electronically information and messages. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the spread of personal computers in businesses, government, schools, and homes along with the growth of local area networks provided a means for millions of individual users to link into the system. These developments propelled the growth of the Internet from a thousand or so networks in the mid-​1980s to about 60,000 connected networks in mid-​1995. By the middle of 1997, the Internet provided instantaneous low cost access to global sources of information and commercial markets to more than 100  million register users. Electronic mail has drastically reduced the cost and increased the speed of written communications. Twitter and Facebook enable people all over the world to get and exchange news about what is happening in the world. LinkedIn enables the world’s professionals to communicate; this helps them to be more productive and successful. Now the Internet is the means of the rapid exchange of information and ideas between virtually everyone. Today, instead of the newspapers, the people use the Internet to access the news not only from the top newspapers but also from various different news channels from all over the world. Even the live video news from the news channels can be accessed through the Internet, overpowering the other media, even including the television. Websites, blogs, instant messaging systems, e-​mail, social networking sites and other Internet-​based communication systems have made it much easier for people with common interests to connect, exchange information, and collaborate with each other. The Internet provides a

Globalization and Politics | 159 new medium for education that will transform the way educational institutions deliver knowledge. It allows everyone to get the best available knowledge and expertise. The Internet combines the functions of mail, telephone, fax, television, radio, newspapers, libraries, schools, conferences, and discussion groups. Now the intellectual work of any individual can reach a far wider audience than it was is possible before the Internet. Immediate access to information and ability to fast transfer and receive it accelerate decision-​making and allow businesses to use foreign employees in their projects. Now cheaper labor of developing countries is used by many companies of developed countries that use the companies of the developing countries as their subcontractors. Multinational corporations use widely information technology to acquire inputs from multiple different geographic locations and serve diverse markets. Information technology allows companies, by using marketing, research and development, and production experts with the knowledge of a particular market, to respond fast and adapt with products and services that are tailored for customers in that market. The Internet provides a new medium for commercial transactions and easier access to world markets. It makes possible for businesses to advertise and market all over the world different types of products and services. It makes possible for job seekers and job recruiters to find one another. It provides a very rapid means of personal communication between individuals located anywhere in the world. Moreover, the Internet makes possible for any person or group to publish and broadcast views to the world community, allowing people to fully exercise their democratic right of free speech. The Internet is a generator of democracy. Born in the democratic country with the words “We the People,” the Internet spreads all over the word progressive views and ideas. It demonstrates the advantage of the democratic structures, and their success serves a stimulus for developing and underdeveloped countries to choose a proper way of development. With its open access the Internet operated as a global organ. Moreover, information technology and the Internet were the means necessary to speed up globalization representing a mutually fruitful and beneficial cooperation of the integrated world—​the developed world with the developing world. More precisely, the term globalization derives from the word globalize, which means to make global, to make worldwide in scope or application, to extend to other or all parts of the globe. Sociologists define globalization as a process of changes in the economic, cultural, and political spheres of society as a result of increasing integration of these aspects between nations. The introduction of information technology significantly accelerated the mentioned cooperation and have a profound effect on

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culture, society, economies, social life and politics as we move through the 21st century. Below we describe the details of this process.

Economic Globalization Some sociologists link globalization with capitalism, more precisely with the creation of the capitalist economy. Marxism considers globalization as a natural capitalist expansion since profit-​making has no boundaries. But this is a pure propagandistic statement without any scientific justification. The argumentation that the growth and expansion of the capitalist economy results in a globalized economy looks very weak and unpersuasive. It is more logical to link globalization with the process of democratization, with changes of autocratic ideologies. The devastating World War I and World War II and the creation of nuclear weapons persuaded many world leaders that mutually beneficial willful cooperation, mutual respect, and mutual trust were cornerstones on which relations between nations should be built. Capitalism is an important factor of this period. However, capitalism itself had not brought globalization. Capitalism did not bring the United Nations, which goal was to promote peace and stability. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were not created to bring capitalist profit. Their goal was to help developing countries to reduce poverty and to stabilize the international monetary system. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to provide mutual defense and stability in Europe and peacekeeping in Europe and beyond. The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization was created to pursue similar goals in this region. These are real examples of globalization based on the desire to create normal living conditions for the population. The statements that political globalization (as international non-​governmental organizations and social movement organizations) diminishes the importance of the national governments are laughable. We define the term economic globalization as a process of interaction between national economies and their integration through international trade into a single world market. The roots of the globalization process had come from the colonization period; colonial empires have laid the first basis of international economic relationship. However, such a type of relationship has nothing common with globalization since it lacks the most important component of globalization—​ willful cooperation. An example of the real willful cooperation is the European Economic Community and the European Union which Common Market constitutes one of the major economies of the world (see also Chapter 2).

Globalization and Politics | 161 Trade was always a sign of mutual cooperation between societies. It helped increase human interaction and brought cross-​cultural contacts to a whole new level. The mutual benefits from trade are almost obvious. In his book Principles of Political Economy and Taxation Ricardo (1817) wrote: “When an inefficient producer sends the merchandise it produces best to a country able to produce it more efficiently, both countries benefit.” In the pre-​industrial societies, longer-​distance trade was slow and often dangerous but was profitable for those who decided to make the journey. In the 20th century, the growth of technology offered new fast ways of communication and transportation that opened doors for trade all over the world. There were only political obstacles created by autocratic governments that were afraid of penetration of democratic ideas of the technologically advanced Western European countries and the United States. If the European Economic Community, which started economic integration in 1957, had only 6 members, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), established in 1961, included 18 European nations plus the United States and Canada. Now the OECD was an intergovernmental economic organization with 36 member countries founded to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of democratic countries providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members. Most OECD members are developed countries. As of 2017, the OECD member countries collectively comprised 62.2  percent of global nominal GDP and 42.8 percent of global GDP at purchasing power parity. Similar to the EEC formed for economic cooperation in Western Europe, in Latin America were created Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA since 1961 and ALADI since 1980)  and Central American Common Market (CACM since 1960)  to facilitate regional economic development through free trade and economic integration. Their members made considerable progress in expanding commerce and manufacturing in the region. Many trade barriers between its member states were eliminated or reduced, and between 1961 and 1968 trade among them significantly increased. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) established in 1967 presented the third largest economy in Asia. The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-​Pacific economies. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), a free trade area with twenty-​one member states, was formed in 1994. The North American Free Trade Agreement of 1993 between the U.S., Canada and Mexico was a practical step of economic globalization (with the

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formation of the European Union the Europe it moved even further). Influenced by the ideas of globalization and considering them as a catalyst for democratization, the World Trade Organization was created to facilitate free trade by mandating mutual most favored nation trading status between all signatories. A rigorous meaning of the term free trade is the unrestricted purchase and sale of goods and services between countries without constraints such as tariffs, duties, and quotas. This corresponds to Adam Smith (1776) understanding this term, who considered all justifications of import and export controls as dupery, which hurt the trading nation as a whole for the benefit of specific industries. He wrote: … every extraordinary, either encouragement or discouragement that is given to the trade of any country more than to that of another may, I think, be demonstrated to be in every case a complete piece of dupery, by which the interest of the state and the nation is constantly sacrificed to that of some particular class of traders…. By diminishing the number of sellers, therefore, we necessarily diminish that of buyers, and are thus likely not only to buy foreign goods dearer, but to sell our own cheaper, than if there was a more perfect…. To expect, indeed, that the freedom of trade should ever be entirely restored in Great Britain is as absurd as to expect that an Oceana or Utopia should ever be established in it.

However, as in many other cases with the social terminology, there exist also the softer definitions: international buying and selling of goods, without limits on the amount of goods that one country can sell to another, and without special taxes on the goods bought from a foreign country (The Cambridge English dictionary); trade based on the unrestricted international exchange of goods with tariffs used only as a source of revenue (Merriam-​Webster dictionary). A frivolous interpretation of this term enables governments to manipulate with taxes on import and export to increase their revenues and benefit from the international trade. Trade is the action of the exchange of goods and services whereas market is a means this action takes place without restrictions where to invest, what to produce or sell and at which prices to exchange goods and services. It means all what was considered concerning markets earlier relates also to international trade. As indicated earlier, free market is a theoretical concept. A real market is a subject to certain regulations. However, if the regulations of an internal market focus to protect both buyers and sellers, the regulations of the international exchange of goods and services have its own specifics and depend upon many factors including the state of relations between trading countries. The fewer tariffs and other

Globalization and Politics | 163 taxes or restrictions there are on goods coming in and out of countries, the easier it is to conduct trade and the higher trade volumes are likely to be. Since neither free market not free trade exists, usually the word free is interpreted as open. The open trade assumes the open market for goods and services. Every enterprise can offer their products and services. However, when the market and trade are internal, the government acts in the interests of both—​buyers and sellers; in the case of international trade, buyers and sellers belong to different countries, and each country acts in its own interest. For each commodity (an economic good) buyers and sellers try to optimize their criteria (to sell higher and buy cheaper). But the government strategy is mostly to maximize the GDP. One more goal can be the creation of favorable conditions for local industries and protecting domestic producers from foreign competition by establishing limits on imports of certain products. Tariffs and quotas (a governmental restriction on the quantities of a particular commodity that may be imported within a specific period of time) serve as controls to achieve this goal. However, by helping local industries government can hurt consumers who would be forced to pay higher prices for some products. Many high tech products consist of parts which, in many cases, are produced by different enterprises. If needed auxiliary parts can be produced cheaper in a foreign country, it is a common sense to order them or invest money and produce there. On the one hand, such an approach decreases the production cost and, as a result, can also increase the product sales. On the other hand, this cooperation increases profit of a company producing and exporting the auxiliary part. Usually, countries with a weak economy have a cheaper production costs, so that such a cooperation strengthens their economy. From this stand point globalization is mutually beneficial. However, as we indicated earlier, when characterizing market some sociologists are forgetting about the existence of the labor market (as if repeating Marx’s mistake). If a work that can be performed in a country is shifted abroad, that is, a country’s labor force is transferred overseas, the country increases a number of persons looking for a job. In means that globalization hurts workers of countries transferring jobs overseas. Ruthless price competition among U.S. manufacturers and the opportunity to use a cheap foreign workforce shifted some of their production abroad without evaluating properly whether such step can hurt the U.S. economy and national security. U.S. products that contain foreign components make the U.S. technologically dependent on the foreign countries producing such components. Moreover, the cooperation makes it easier for foreign nations to steal U.S. technology. Some of them are possibly hostile, namely China. The offshoring of American

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manufacturing that occurred when China entered the World Trade Organization damaged U.S.  national security. China’s efforts to steal American technology, ranging from military secrets to medical research, were widespread and in many cases successful. The offshoring of American manufacturing that occurred when China entered the World Trade Organization damaged U.S. national security. The current coronavirus crisis unmasked America’s real national security vulnerabilities. America is dependent on China for most of our pharmaceutical supply. Masks used by all medical professionals to protect themselves from contagions were blocked from export by China. The U.S. is too dependent on China for vital drugs. According to a U.S. Department of Commerce study, 97 percent of the antibiotics used in the U.S.  now come from China and 40  percent of over-​the-​counter and generic prescription drugs used in the U.S. now come from India. It is obvious that if we are dependent on China for thousands of ingredients and raw materials to make our medicine, China could use this dependence as a weapon against us. There is a hope that this crisis and increasing government demand for American-​made drugs and medical products will provide an incentive for companies to make their products in the United States, rather than China. The described approach, called outsourcing, relates also to services. Such operations as accounting, technical support by phone or using the Internet can be performed abroad. Moreover, multinational corporations and worldwide or global enterprises, organizations that own or control production of goods or services in one or more countries other than their home country, are responsible for doing many overseas manufacturing. Taking advantage of lower wages and operating costs abroad they forget that the development of manufacturing industries determines the economic strength of the country and is important for the nation’s economic stability and security. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, “U.S.  multinational corporations, the big brand-​name companies that employ a fifth of all American workers… cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million.” Outsourcing adds to U.S. unemployment. U.S. manufacturing, as measured by the number of jobs, declined 34 percent between 1998 and 2010. Other industries have also dried up. As a result, U.S.  competitiveness in the global marketplace declined. More serious consequences of unthoughtful globalization is a fast industrialization of communist countries. The United States and Europe helped unwillingly to transfer the Soviet Union into a superpower. Seeing that they had let the genie out of the bottle, the United States started helping China to gain more leverage over relations with the Soviet Union. Now China presents a real threat to

Globalization and Politics | 165 the U.S. leading position in the world. In its relations with the U.S. China acted smarter than Soviet bureaucrats. Similar to the Soviet Union, Chinese tried to acquire and steal advanced technological documentations, but in their investment they focused on new technology, rather than bought old obsolete equipment and technology. A cheap labor force in China attracted American and European companies. Consumers of these countries benefited from low-​price goods produced in China. However, the government revenues did not show that the trade was mutually beneficial. The U.S. trade deficit with China was $419 billion in 2018. It exists because U.S.  exports to China were only $121 billion, while  imports from China were $540 billion. The biggest categories of U.S. imports from China were computers and accessories, cell phones, apparel and footwear. A lot of these imports are from U.S. manufacturers that send raw materials to China for low-​ cost assembly. Once shipped back to the United States, they are considered imports. Having free access to foreign markets China, in turn, put a condition of transfer technology to Chinese firms to gain access to its market. In such a way China “politely” steals other countries technologies. During the past two decades China used export and import substitution subsidies in sectors as diverse as automobiles, textiles, advanced materials, medical products and agriculture. It has repeatedly deployed illegal export restraints, such as export quotas, export licensing, minimum export prices, export duties and other restrictions on scores of raw material inputs, as determined in multiple WTO cases brought by the United States and other WTO members. The illegal export restraints gave substantial cost advantages to Chinese producers at the expense of foreign producers, while creating pressure on foreign producers to move their operations, technologies and jobs to China. However, in general, according to the statistics maintained by the World Trade Organization, China abided by the WTO rules. The problem is in the formulation of the existing rules and in the availability of necessary Chinese documents to check whether the related government official statements correspond to reality. The WTO’s aim was and remains to lower trade barriers around the world and thus facilitate increased global trade. The WTO’s global rules of trade between countries are the result of its 164 member nations negotiations, primarily through multi-​year rounds of multilateral negotiations. The most important rules mainly serve to do the following: restrain anti-​import tariffs, ease customs procedures, discourage domestic laws and taxes that may be classified as protection, and reduce quotas and subsidies. The world’s trading nations have agreed to scrap import quotas. Export quotas were only discouraged. According to the WTO

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rules, tariffs give a price advantage to locally-​produced goods over similar goods which are imported, and there is no legally binding agreement that sets out the targets for tariff reductions. While multilateral efforts have successfully reduced tariffs on industrial goods, it has had much less success in liberalizing trade in agriculture, textiles, apparel, and in other areas of international commerce. The area of intellectual property requires special consideration. The absence of rigorous rules allows China to benefit significantly from the international trade and use successfully loopholes in the existing rules. For example, to raise the price of rare-​earth materials, which are used in the production of smart phones and other electronics, China imposed quotas on their export. The Chinese argument was that it needed to protect the natural environment from excessive exploitation of these resources. There are some exceptions to the WTO rules of free trade based on environmental protection. They enable China, with the reputation of one of the worst air quality countries in the world, to justify its imposed quotas. Although almost all economists think free trade is desirable, since free international trade policy creates a large benefit to the general population, protectionism, the policy of restraining trade between countries, is widely used. Developing countries benefit from free trade more than developed countries. The developing countries welcome their industrial growth stimulated by free trade but they resist imports of agricultural products from developed countries. This fact explains the difficulties for the WTO in liberalizing international trade between a large number of its members. The bilateral approach looks more encouraging. For example, the NAFTA agreement gradually eliminated most tariffs and other trade barriers on products and services passing between the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with the exception of a limited number of agricultural products traded with Canada. Twenty five years of the NAFTA agreement showed that it was not fair to the United States that had big trade deficits with these countries. The U.S. demanded to improve U.S. opportunities to trade with Canada and Mexico and revise North American trade deal. The separate U.S.-​Mexico Trade Agreement includes new rules concerning auto parts production, maintains duty-​free access for agricultural goods on both sides of the border and eliminates non-​ tariff barriers while encouraging more agricultural trade between Mexico and the United States. Later, Canada established a greater market share to U.S. dairy farmers, and the United States and Canada agreed to a deal to replace NAFTA, which will be called the USMCA—​the United States-​Mexico-​Canada Agreement. The NAFTA and USMCA agreements show that, as a rule, absolute free trade does not exist. The WTO permits the formation of free-​trade areas, such as

Globalization and Politics | 167 European Free Trade Area (FTA), which is composed primarily of Scandinavian countries that eliminated all tariffs on trade with each other but retain autonomy in determining their tariffs with other WTO members. The FTA countries have relatively similar legal and economic frameworks that ensure and enforce certain quality and labor standards. Most of WTO members are so different that there is no a common base for absolute free trade. As indicated earlier, the analysis of markets focuses mostly on goods and services neglecting the influence of the labor market. The multilateral WTO approach does not take into account certain labor and environmental standards (e.g., minimal wages and working conditions, ambient air quality and air emission). Trade is always controlled by governments. Tariffs, quotas, and some other rules become instruments of the government policy. The actions of participants of the global international market focusing on maximizing their profitability are governed by the policy of their governments, in most cases—​maximization of the GDPs. The problem of the so-​called vector optimization has not a unique solution and it is obvious that for a separate country the free market solution is not optimal. A trade agreement, which is advantageous for several countries can hurt another country or countries (the USMCA agreement prohibits to manufacture auto parts in China). Trade agreement between a coalition of countries or simply bilateral trade agreements are a more practical and realistic approach than an attempt to realize free trade by creating the World Trade Organization. The WTO and OECD are the key multilateral economic organizations. However, it is impossible as part of the WTO to resolve complicated and often contradictory trade conflicts between countries with different legal and political systems. Such a global organization should demand its members to follow the precisely formulated global principles of fair trade relations. As to the details of trade agreements, this should be determined based on bilateral agreements between the countries.

Political Globalization In the previous chapters we showed that the changes in the production unit (technical innovations that influenced the living conditions of people) had an effect on the administrative unit, government domestic and foreign policies. The nuclear revolution, the creation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction, changed drastically the conditions of human existence. These weapons have necessitated not only new norms of behavior in international relations but new principles of political thinking relevant to the realities of the atomic age. It became clear that for

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the first time in human history war with the use of nuclear weapons could be not genocide but omnicide—​total extermination of humanity. Political globalization is a direct reaction to the new realities. If earlier the problem of war and peace related to several countries, in the atomic era it has become a global problem for the whole human society. In 1919, the League of Nations consisting of 58 members was founded “to promote international cooperation and to achieve peace and security.” However, more precisely, its primary goal was to maintain peace throughout Europe through diplomatic means and by using economic sanctions on any member that violated either the Treaty of Versailles or posed a threat to international peace. The United States did not join the League. Germany, as an initiator of World War I, and Russia, as a communist nation, were not permitted to join it. The absence of these countries diminished significantly the League efficiency. World War II proved that. The United Nations was thought as an improved version of the ineffective League. The ideas of its creation were discussed by Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin during World War II, but they were unable to reach an agreement concerning its structure and responsibilities. However, in June of 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on October 24 of 1945. The participants of the UN Conference did not know about the U.S. atomic bomb and only found out at the time of the bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945. On 24th of July 1945, at the Potsdam Conference the U.S. President Truman mentioned to Stalin that he had a new extremely powerful weapon. Stalin expressed hope that it would be successfully used against Japanese and did not pinpoint his attention on it. But there are grounds to believe that Stalin knew a lot more about atomic project than Truman himself. It was known that Germany was working on its own uranium bomb. In the Soviet Union nuclear research was underway; Soviet agents were gathering information about American research, and Stalin was in full charge of it long before Truman took office. Although the available information does not allow to conclude that the U.S. success in developing the atomic bomb speeded up the creation of the UN, the bombing of Hiroshima in October 1945 and its devastating effect demonstrated to the whole world the power of democracy and assured that the UN goals of the maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international cooperation, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and upholding international laws, initiated and supported by the United States, can be realized

Globalization and Politics | 169 in practice. The United Nations prohibits nuclear weapons. The treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons was adopted in 2017. The fact that the number of the UN members grew from 51 in 1945 to 193 sovereign states now demonstrates the importance of this organization. These states have voluntarily joined the UN to coordinate efforts for a safer world for this and future generations, promote friendship among all nations and support economic and social progress. The UN has about 100,000 military personnel contributed by national armies from over 120 countries for peacekeeping operations around the world. The UN has been deploying military personnel for service in peace operations since 1948, when the Security Council authorized the deployment of UN military observers to the Middle East to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The weakness of the League of Nations was in the absence its own armed force to enforce its resolutions. The work of the UN is divided into five geographical regions that are Africa, America, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and the Middle East. The UN system includes entities dedicated to areas ranging from health and humanitarian needs to economic and cultural development. The UN specialized agencies are autonomous organizations working with the United Nations. They serve many diverse functions, including collecting information and monitoring trends (e.g., the World Meteorological Organization established in 1947), delivering services and aid (e.g., the World Health Organization (WHO) established in 1948), and promoting worldwide protection of property rights (e.g., World Intellectual Property Organization established in 1967). Affiliated with the United Nations the International Monetary Fund, an international organization of 189 countries, and the World Bank, working in over 100 countries, focus on preventing economic crises and fostering global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitating international trade, promoting economic development and sustainable economic growth, and reducing poverty around the world. The primary United Nations organ for the settlement of disputes is the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, founded in 1946. The UN has taken a leading role in efforts to create the international judicial system (e.g., Court of Justice of the European Union; European Court of Human Rights; Central American Court of Justice recognized by the newly created Central American Integration System; the Inter-​A merican Court of Human Rights; the International Criminal Court) that contributed to peace and stability after World War II. The post-​war creation of the Soviet bloc—​the Soviet Union and its satellites—​ and increased tensions between the block and the United States with its allies,

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especially after the Soviets tested an atomic bomb of their own, undermined the efficiency of the UN because its two main players, the United States and the Soviet Union, had veto powers over any ruling that the UN had voted on. American response to Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe was a strategy called containment, also known as the Truman Doctrine. The goals of the United States were to rebuild war-​destroyed regions, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, improve European prosperity, and halt the spread of communism. According to the so-​called Marshall Plan, Western European countries Great Britain, France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium obtained from the United States over $12 billion in economic assistance to help rebuild their economies. By the target date of the four years program, Western European industries were producing twice as much as they had been the year before the war. The Marshall Plan is also considered a key catalyst for the formation in 1949 of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to provide mutual defense between ten Western European countries plus the United States and Canada. Now NATO has 26 members; it focuses on stability in Europe and peacekeeping in Europe and beyond. Military and foreign policy integration among Western European states has been the result of NATO aims and programs. A sense of danger is a natural drive to integration and cooperation. The Cold War and confrontation between West and East (the Warsaw Pact of 1955, as a response of the Soviet bloc to NATO) promoted the establishment of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which activities covered three areas: the politico-​military (security issues such as conflict prevention), the economic and environmental, and the human (promoting the full respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms). Consisting initially of 35 countries, it was created in 1975 to serve as a multilateral forum for dialogue and negotiation between East and West. After the fall of the Soviet Union its membership sharply increased and with 57 countries from Europe, Central Asia, and North America the OSCE became the world’s largest regional security organization. The scope of its activity also increased sharply; it includes arms control, security-​building measures, human rights, national minorities, democratization, policing strategies, counterterrorism, economic and environmental activities. More commonly, the emphasis of integration was placed on joint foreign policies for the associated states rather than on joint defense and military planning. The United Nations and the European Union (see also Chapter 2) are examples of international political collaboration that goes beyond mere economics or military action. Organization of American States (OAS, since 1948) consisting of

Globalization and Politics | 171 20 Central and South American nations plus the United States was created to promote peace, economic development, territorial integrity, human rights, and democracy in the region. Now the OAS has 35 member nations; 47 additional nations and the European Union are its permanent observers. Arab League, a regional organization of Arab states in and around North Africa, was formed in 1945 in an attempt to give political expression to the Arab nations. Started with 5 members, currently the League has 22 members. For many years, closer political unity among members was hampered by a division between pro-​Western member countries and neutralist or pro-​Soviet ones; more recently the division has been between militant Islamic fundamentalists and Arab moderates. In 2015, the Arab states agreed to establish a voluntary joint military force to counter Islamic extremists and Iranian influence. Decolonization has brought political independence to many nations in Africa, Asia, and America, which leaders should choose a road of the future development. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the communist propaganda tried to persuade their leaders that the Western and U.S. help was a new form of colonialism—​neo-​colonialism, the continued exploitation accompanied with political intervention. As the first step, these countries created regional organizations to resolve conflicts and promote trade and economic development among neighboring countries:  the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN, since 1995), the Organization of African Unity (OAU, since 1963), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, since 1975), the Southern African Development Community (SADC, since 1992), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC, since 1981). Political globalization helps countries to deal with problems that need international approach and that is difficult to resolve alone. Poverty, security, economics, and environment are examples of such problems. The indicated above international organizations are often used by their members as instruments of foreign policy to justify their actions and to constrain the behavior of other states. The solution of the indicated internal problems depends on the chosen administrative structures and dominant ideologies. The economic success of Western European countries, the U.S., and Canada and the collapse of the Soviet empire have proved the efficiency of their governmental systems. The 21th century witnesses a wide wave of democratic political globalization, an increased influence of western democratic thinking adapted by many countries. Even the communist countries like China and Vietnam modified partially their economic structure understanding the advantage of market economy and became more open than the former Soviet Union. Arab Spring, pro-​democracy uprisings against autocratic regimes

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that embraced several largely Muslim countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain), is the direct influence of political globalization inspiring the movement toward democratic forms of government. As a sociological term political globalization can be defined as a process of creation of the world system of nations with similar democratic governmental systems and ideologies. The historic examples of forceful democratization (e.g., Iraq, Libya), as a result of military invasion, show its inefficiency since the social conscience of the population was not prepared for such sharp changes. As discussed in the previous chapters, the societal development process consists of several stages, and rapid industrialization and economic growth can facilitate the spread of democratic ideas in agrarian countries and the process of political globalization.

Cultural Globalization Sociological definition of culture differs from its common meaning applied to a concrete person:  cultured means being well-​educated, well-​read, knowledgeable in art, music, literature, etc., and well-​mannered. Sociology considers art music, literature, film, television and radio that are consumed by the majority of a society’s population as cultural products. The term culture in sociology means the ideas and self-​concepts of a group or society (e.g., attitudes, beliefs, customs, norms, symbols, and values). Cultural globalization refers to the process of spreading of ideas, norms, and values around the world to extend and intensify social relations. In today’s world of six billion people increasing numbers of people interact and share resources globally. The Internet, popular culture media, and international travel serve as means of marketing of the mentioned cultural products. From this stand point cultural globalizations looks as a trend toward a certain homogeneity, which cannot be considered as a realistic development. This would have been one more Thomas More’s utopia. In reality, the main impact of cultural globalization is the infusion of ideas of democracy in the social conscience of the world population. The success of developed countries implemented these ideas in practice serves a persuasive example for imitation. Economic and political globalization influence cultural globalization which, in turn, effects them as well, since all of them are facets of the complex multilateral process. Surprisingly, sociologists pay more attention to such examples of cultural globalization as food promoted by fast food giants

Globalization and Politics | 173 such as McDonald’s, Coca-​Cola, Starbucks, Subway, and Burger King or jeans produced by Levi Strauss, the father of all jeans, and some other companies as if food and clothing are the face of a national culture. There are many reasons to think that the media (the produced films, music, and literature, broadcasting and Internet materials) of the leading industrial countries, especially the U.S., play significant role in cultural globalization. However, most of media information requires knowledge of the related foreign languages, so that it is accessible only to high educated persons. Some countries have special foreign broadcasting for the countries with autocratic regimes. The Soviet Union demonstrated how to jam foreign radio stations to make impossible to hear the transmitted programs. Blocking some information from the Internet presents a more complicated but solvable problem; simply it requires more resources for its realization. The methods to block information are known and used by rulers of existing autocratic regimes. As to the exchange of the media products among democratic countries, they enrich people’s cultural life and enhance their knowledge about the world. Various festivals, sport events, performances including foreign participants—​a ll this brings together persons from countries with different development views, with different religions and cultures, from former colonial countries and their old colonies. The relationship between cultural globalization and cultural diversity is one that actually produces greater diversity. Some sociologists question positive effects of globalization on culture. For example, one of concerns relates to the issue of language. With certain languages being used more than others (in terms of overall number of people that speak that language), smaller languages might one day become extinct. On the one hand, such cases are known; they happened in the past. On the other hand, the so-​called Esperanto language, invented in the late 1800’s as an international auxiliary language, intended to facilitate communication between people of different native languages, which was granted official support by the United Nation (in 2015, there were about 2 million Esperanto speakers) was not adopted officially by any country. People decide and choose what is more convenient for them and better serves their needs. A more serious concern is violence in the media and entertainment. The World Health Organization has defined violence as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.” Studies show that violence is present in mass media in the U.S., whether consumed through television, video games, music, movies, or the Internet (see, e.g., Seawell, 1998). Studies have found that 91 percent of movies on television

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contained violence, even extreme violence (see, e.g., Worth, 2008). Hollywood movies spread all over the world glorify violence. This is an example of a real negative influence of globalization. Unfortunately, the U.S. government and government of other countries do nothing to stop this dangerous cultural trend. Culture strongly influences how a society educates its citizens. Concentration on cultural programs relating to the protection of human rights, gender equality, and universal education should bring positive changes in the countries that resist to democracy. Among them are various Arabic speaking countries which themselves have certain cultural differences. In Chapter  1 we discussed the influence of religion on the life and development of the world societies and indicated that it effected different societies in different ways and influenced their development. Special attention was paid to the most influential world religions—​Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Judeo-​Christian religious teaching establishes a high level moral standard for the followers. It stresses human equality before God and the law. Christianity profess that their religion is based on preaching of Jesus Christ, a victim of wrongful execution who chose death to save humanity from their sins, who taught peace and nonviolence and became a moral authority. His teachings have been deeply influential in Western culture. The modern roots of our individual rights and freedoms in the Western world are found in Christianity. The key difference between Christianity and Islam is the difference between Jesus and Muhammad. Jesus was a spiritual leader who chose death to save the world. Muhammad was a spiritual leader, who became a violent political and military leader. Jesus accomplished his mission as a savor by dying on the cross. Muhammad accomplished his mission by the power of sword. For thousands of years, Arabs lived in an autocratic culture and were headed by autocratic men. Their mentality dictated them to obey orders, to follow directives of rulers. The system was pyramidal, and all people were to serve at the pleasure of the top. Each its lower level was subordinate to the upper one. At the family level, a small pyramid existed with a father at the top with his iron grip over the women and children. During last ten years religious fanatics, manipulating by various versions of Islam and promising paradise in heavens, use such obey mentality to transfer young Muslims into live guided bombs and kill innocent people. It is not accidentally that efforts to forge all-​A rab unity on the basis of the purely intergovernmental Arab League failed. Their ruling elite, following different interpretations of Islam, cannot agree with the opponents and, as a result, this part of the world is still the most unstable and dangerous.

Globalization and Politics | 175 The so-​called Arab Spring—​beginning in 2010, a series of pro-​democracy protests and uprisings spread across Arabic-​speaking countries in North Africa and the Middle East—​demonstrated the existence in the Arab world forces challenging some of the region’s authoritarian regimes. The experience of 2003 Iraq war shows that democracy cannot be brought by foreign military forces. Pro-​democratic protests ended up toppling the governments of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. However, the attempt to install democratic leadership was only partially successful; the uprisings also led to armed conflicts in some countries, including civil war in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. Taking into account that Islam is projected to be world’s largest religion by 2070, globalization cannot advance without significant positive changes in this region.

Nationalism and Globalism As we mentioned earlier, most sociological terms are not precise; they are interpreted differently, and their meanings often change with time. Nationalism is an ideology and movement characterized by the promotion of the interests of a particular nation, especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining the nation’s sovereignty over its homeland. In its early use, from the end of the 18th century, for a number of decades nationalism was interchangeable with patriotism, defined as a general love of one’s country and willingness to sacrifice for it. Later in the 19th century, meaning of nationalism changed; it also includes loyalty and devotion to a nation and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups. As to globalization and globalism, they are modern terms. Globalism is an ideology and movement based on the belief that people, goods and information ought to be able to cross national borders unrestrained. In the literature, often this term is interchangeable with internationalism which has several meanings. However, internationalism is not called an ideology, although there exist many articles discussing nationalism vs. internationalism. It is defined as a political principle which advocates a greater political or economic cooperation among nations and peoples. Some political commentators argue that nationalism vs. globalism is emerging as the main political divide in global politics. Nationalism vs. globalism have also been described as the main political divide in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, considering Donald Trump a nationalist and Hillary Clinton a globalist, or the 2017 French presidential election, considering Marine Le Penas a nationalist

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and Emmanuel Macron a globalist. If Macron can be called a globalist since his presidential program espoused free trade and a strong European Union, an attempt to present Hillary Clinton as a globalist looks laughable. Foreign governments gave millions to Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as the U.S. Secretary of State. This is Clinton’s globalism. As indicated in the Rosenboim (2017) book, intellectuals in Britain and the United States thinking about the future of democracy and the prospects of liberty after World War II identified, without using the term globalization, a shift toward technological, economic, cultural, and political interconnectedness and developed a globalist ideology to reflect this new postwar reality. However, the assumption of some political scientists and commentators that globalism would tend to the eventual unification of humanity under one-​world government and the statements that this is the goal of globalism are groundless. Moreover, such a formulation of the globalism goal reminds the communist ideology in the Marx and Engels Manifesto: “Workers of the world, unite!” (This is the popularized in English original text “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”) The so-​called globalists favor free trade. Some of them interpret free trade as a trade with open borders. The one-​world government sounds as a centralized government. That is why globalism is supported by many liberals. The one-​world government is a perfect example of big government. That is why globalism is not supported by conservatives. According to some political scientists, nationalism is a political ideology that uses the idea of nation to achieve political goals. This is correct that in difficult periods (during wars, crises, etc.) requiring unity and devotion of people leaders appeal to national feelings. But in quiet periods during a normal functioning of states this is an obligation of their leaders to care about well-​being of people and promote national culture and interests. Countries with governments chosen by people that work for people should behave as big families, and it is natural that such governments place their citizens’ welfare above that of foreigners, just as most people believe that their own spouse, mother, children or friends should care more about them than about a stranger far away. That is why the term nationalism in the above given interpretation does not contradict internationalism. In Chapter 1 we characterized the human actions from the position of optimal theory. The basic responsibility of government is to maximize the welfare of citizens rather than to pursue some abstract concept of the global good. The citizens’ economic welfare is the prime goal; but this goal should not be achieved by hurting other states. Any international agreements should be mutually beneficial. Rich nations can and should help poor underdeveloped countries. They

Globalization and Politics | 177 benefit from this as well since they would make friends and acquire prestige among the world community. President Trump is blamed by the so-​called globalists for reconsidering trade agreements with several countries, for building a wall to stop illegal immigration, and for his slogan “America first.” Liberal politicians easily accept, without any serious consideration, such slogans as international cooperation and free trade. They do not want to understand that liberal trade policies are, at a certain degree, equivalent to redistribution of wealth, which is very attractive subject of their constituencies—​their base. Countries with lower standard of living and a cheap workforce benefit from free trade more than country with higher standard of living and more expensive labor. President Bill Clinton, who signed the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, considered its importance in creating “an economic order in the world that will promote more growth, more equality, better preservation of the environment, and a greater possibility of world peace.” For him this was the first step toward a worldwide trade agreement that “could make the material gains of NAFTA for our country look small by comparison.” However, during the 2008 Presidential campaign Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton blamed NAFTA for growing unemployment. Both candidates promised to either amend or withdraw from the agreement and halt any new ones. But President Obama had done nothing. Using frivolously, without deep understanding, the term free trade, American politicians signing trade agreements strongly believed that they were good for their counties in the globalization era. President Clinton said: “NAFTA means jobs. American jobs, and good-​paying American jobs. If I  didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t support this agreement.” He was wrong. President Clinton opened the way for China to be a member of the World Trade Organization and to use all advantages of its membership. Now China is the most important competitor for U.S. exporters in markets around the world. It is no coincidence that China is also the world’s foremost currency manipulator which uses this strategy to raise its trade surplus at the expense of other countries. The most recent trade agreement, the Korea U. S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), which went into effect in March 2012, was also a mistake. Nevertheless, President Obama asked Congress for fast track trade authority to move forward on the two trade agreements that have been in negotiations behind closed doors for the past four years: the Trans-​Pacific Partnership Agreement and the Trans-​Atlantic Trade Agreement. It looks like the incompetence of current politicians has no limits. Failed free trade agreements and lowered tariffs have added more than $10 trillion to the

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national debt. That means that the nation’s cumulative trade deficit is directly responsible for a significant part of the national debt. The free trade agreement destroyed the nation’s very important manufacturing sector which lost ground to competitors not only in China but also in Germany, Japan, and Korea that have pursued advanced industrial and trade policies. The jobs in manufacturing have been shipped to China, India or Mexico. The offshoring of manufacturing of so many products has resulted in the loss of 5.8 million American manufacturing jobs, nearly a third (32 percent) of manufacturing employment, and the closure of over 57,000 manufacturing firms. As a result, the government created unemployment and lost tax related revenues. According to Scott et al. (2013), Global currency manipulation is one of the most important causes of growing U.S.  trade deficits, and of unemployment and slow economic growth in the United States and Europe. Currency manipulation distorts international trade flows by artificially lowering the cost of U.S.  imports and raising the cost of U.S. exports. This leads to goods trade deficits that displace U.S. jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

Currency manipulation involves artificially reducing the value of a country’s own currency, in effect providing a subsidy for national exports. Eliminating currency manipulation would reduce the U.S. trade goods deficit by at least $190 billion and as much as $400 billion over three years, allowing the U.S. to “reap enormous benefits” without any increase in federal spending or taxation; this would create between 2.2 million and 4.7 million jobs; between 620,000 and 1.3 million of those jobs would be in manufacturing; in addition, the U.S. GDP would increase between 1.4 percent and 3.1 percent (see Scott et al., 2013). President Trump deserves credit for attracting attention of a wide public to the U.S. trade deficit with China, Mexico, South Korea, and Japan and the currency manipulation problem. However, his proposed solution to raise tariffs against foreign competitors and related undertaken measures were labeled by many politicians as protectionism. Some globalists cannot understand what is happening in Europe and why it is happening in some of the most economically successful countries in the world. In the Scandinavian countries, which are considered as a bastion of socialism, surging support is seen for right-​wing parties with strongly anti-​immigrant and anti-​EU views. Political commentators indicate a rise of nationalism in Europe, meaning right-​wing nationalists. Many of related parties are attempting to organize into a pan-​European power bloc that would be a backlash against the political establishment and its attitude

Globalization and Politics | 179 to globalization and immigration, as well as against the European Union itself. Brexit, the scheduled withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union based on a referendum held in the UK in 2016, in which 52 percent of those voting supported withdrawal, was a first significant blow to the EU that questioned whether globalism has the future. Cheap labor in developing countries attracted many companies of developed countries—​mostly specialized in manufacturing. Later some services transferred certain operations abroad, and even consulting companies (e.g., Mckinsey & Company) found a profitable market for their services—​advising in improving the economy and advertising globalization. Its proponents, believing that economic globalization contributes to the economic growth for both developing and developed countries, ignored the important factor of national economic security. According to the U.S. National Economic Security Strategy Act of 2018, a national economic security strategy should support the national security strategy. The 2019 coronavirus spread all over the world from China which, violating the core tenets of WHO membership, not only misled the world community, did not warn about what happened and concealed initially its dangerous consequences, but also decided to profit from its treatment by raising significantly (up to 2-​ digit times) prices on medical equipment and medicines. Moreover, China even threatened to cut supply of the medicines and equipment to the countries that criticized its behavior during the coronavirus crisis. Developed countries, especially the United States, supporters of economic globalization, helped China to create the medical supplies manufacturing industry—​supporting materials and supplies for surgery and dentistry, such as medical fillers, surgical dressings, suturing materials, bandages, absorbable hemostatic materials, dental materials and vacuum capsules used for medical purposes, personal protective equipment (PPE) and pharmaceuticals. China became a global supplier of PPE, medical devices, antibiotics, and active pharmaceutical ingredients. According to the globalist ideology, during the pandemic coronavirus crisis all countries should work together, exchange information and combine their efforts to kill the virus. China demonstrated that it had been using globalization in its national interests and exploited this crisis for own geopolitical gains. The reduced export of medical supplies from China has led to shortages of critical PPE and medicines in the United States. In early February of 2020, the Chinese government nationalized control of the production and distribution of medical supplies in China and instructed its industry to secure supplies from the global market. Based on political calculations the government selectively releases some

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medical supplies only for certain designated countries. Moreover, the medical products made by U.S. firms in China cannot be exported to the United States without authorization from the PRC government. The 2020 coronavirus crisis is one more example that demonstrates the lunacy of globalism, especially when it embraces communist countries rather than free and open societies. The WHO with its commitment to monitor public health risks, coordinate responses to health emergencies and combat diseases proved not only its inability to perform the imposed obligations, but also its corruption and deliberate misinformation. In 2017, scientists outside of China warned that its four biohazard labs were not secure and that a virus might escape one of the facilities. There was no any reaction from the WHO. China knew about the virus weeks before they informed the world community about the epidemic. China’s Communist authorities have lied, concealed and misled about the origins of the epidemic and the impact of the coronavirus. Instead of sounding an alarm and insisting upon access, openness and transparency from China, the World Health Organization has acted as the Beijing puppet or maybe also accomplice. The WHO Director-​General Ghebreyesus praised the Chinese regime for its “transparency” in the crisis. When President Trump ordered a travel ban against entry to the United States from China and other coronavirus “hot spots,” he, in resonant with Chinese authorities, criticized the decision, insisting it would “have the effect of increasing fear and stigma, with little public health benefit.” It is not a surprise that the World Health Organization continues spending nearly $200 million of its approximately $2 billion annual budget on travel expenses, although in 2017 the agency pledged to rein in travel abuses following an Associated Press investigation. The question is not either Dr. Ghebreyesus is complicit or simply incompetent. This person is a product of a huge centralized inefficient bureaucratic organization, and the U.S., its largest financial contributor, giving five times as much money as obligated, should reconsider its current policy supporting this organization. For globalists the coronavirus crisis should be a wake-​ up call to reconsider their utopian ideas of global governance. Globalization is a real process reflecting mutually beneficial cooperation on an international scale. If internationalism is a political principle which advocates a greater political or economic cooperation among nations, globalization can be considered as a realization of this principle. However, globalism with its one-​world government goal looks like a utopian concept. If this is a dream, it is strange to think about the one-​world government, when the world still has autocratic states that enhance their military forces and some of them are on the verge of war. Such a concept does not correspond to the scientific level of the 21st century.

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Global Labor Organizations The beginning of the workers movement for better wages and normal working condition coincides with the early days of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries. As indicated earlier, this was the start of market economies, the so-​called transient period. Entrepreneurs tried to maximize their profits and reinvest them to extend the production. A huge difference between their income and the income of workers created an impression that workers were robbed by their employees. At least many workers thought so. At the time, industrial cities and towns grew dramatically due to the migration of farmers and their families who were looking for work. The brutal working conditions that accompanied this period and a very weak labor market gave the birth of labor movement for higher wages, improving working conditions in relation to hours of work, women’s and children’s labor, and the use of hazardous materials. Originating in Great Britain, trade unions became popular in the industrialized parts of the world during the Industrial Revolution. Karl Marx wrote about trade unions: The value of labor-​power constitutes the conscious and explicit foundation of the trade unions, whose importance for the … working class can scarcely be overestimated. The trade unions aim at nothing less than to prevent the reduction of wages below the level that is traditionally maintained in the various branches of industry. That is to say, they wish to prevent the price of labor-​power from falling below its value.

Initially governments were on the side of owners, and workers’ unions were rendered illegal. For example, in England the House of Commons continually rejected minimum wage laws put forward by workers. However, strikes and other methods that labor used fighting for better working conditions, made the Parliament to pass what is now known as the 1802 English Factory Act that restricted work hours to 12 per day. The International Workingmen’s Association (IWA) (also known as the First International), the first attempt at international coordination, was founded in London in 1864. The major issues included the right of the workers to organize themselves and the right to an 8-​hour working day. The Association included trade unions, Marxist, and anarchist groups. Marxist thinking at that time focused on parliamentary activity and influenced significantly the labor movement furthered the formation of democratic parties that enacted labor laws meeting the main trade unions’ demands. In 1922, its anarchist group decided to re-​found the First International as the International Workers Association which

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promoted the principles of revolutionary unionism—​eventually to abolish capitalism; now it lost most of its branches. The International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU) (also known as the Amsterdam International) was an international organization of trade unions, existing between 1919 and 1945, mainly a European body with social democratic orientation after the American Federation of Labor dropped out in 1925. The IFTU dissolved in 1945 to be replaced by the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). After a number of Western Europe trade unions left it in 1949 to form the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the WFTU was made up primarily of unions affiliated with or sympathetic to the Soviet bloc. In turn, in 2006, the ICFTU merged with the World Confederation of Labor (WCL), a confederation of trade unions associated with the Christian Democratic parties of Europe, founded in 1920, to form the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The ITUC is a global organization, and its primary mission is the promotion and defense of workers’ rights and interests through international cooperation between trade unions, global campaigning and advocacy within the major global institutions. Its main areas of activity include the following: trade union and human rights; economy, society and the workplace; equality and non-​discrimination; and international solidarity. Its U.S. affiliate, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-​CIO), is composed of 56 member unions representing 12.5 million members. The trade union and labor movement and related organizations at the initial stage of capitalism are justifiable; it was a natural human reaction to unsatisfactory working and living conditions. The representative of intelligentsia, who understood this, encouraged and supported this movement. Among them there were also those who use this movement in their purposes—​to attract attention, make a political career. These persons tried to exploit such human self-​preservation instincts as envy, jealousy, and rivalry to create antagonism between poor and rich. Initially, when the market of goods, services and labor only started mustering up strength, mostly the bourgeoisie benefited from the industrialization. Slowly but surely workers understood that there were legal avenues to resolve the conflict peacefully and reach their goals. The trade union and labor movement serve this purpose. But in the second part of the 20th century the situation changed drastically. Now a specialized United Nations agency, the International Labor Organization (ILO) that employs about 2,700 officials from over 150 nations, focuses to advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labor standards. The ILO has developed a system of international labor standards

Globalization and Politics | 183 aimed at promoting opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, and security. Workers reached a shorter working day, safer working conditions, etc. A reasonable question is why such a huge and powerful organization as the ITUC exists if most of its goals duplicate the ILO goals. Trade unions in communist countries were and are supported by government and serve its propagandistic goals; they are called schools of communism. In democratic countries, to justify their existence, trade unions are involved in negotiating labor contracts, mostly concerning raise in wages. Trade union organizations exist on the membership fees. Formally, union membership is voluntary. However, only in 2018 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that non-​union government workers cannot be forced to pay dues or other fees to support a public employee union. This fact shows that the AFL is also a political organization that uses workers’ fees to support politicians who, in turn, had enacted the law forcing non-​union government worker to support the AFL. First trade unions were created by workers who chose their leaders. Now trade unions joining together as a federation or confederation are ruled by professionals for whom this is a means to earn good money and an attempt to reach elite levels. As if they follow the rule: pay us and we will protect you. As to the protection, now there exist labor standards developed by the ILO, so that to justify their existence trade unions support not infrequently wages raise in the areas requiring improvement of services rather than higher salaries. For example, the AFL supported higher wages for teachers although the teachers labor market could satisfy everyone if teachers would demonstrate a good qualification. Unfortunately, although the quality of American education does not correspond to the requirement of the 21st century, the demand of higher wages accompanies Democratic views on education (especially before elections; as a rule, trade unions are top contributors to the Democrat and Liberal causes). During a difficult period for the steel and coal industries the AFL supported higher workers’ wages. As a result, several major companies either became bankrupt or were on the verge of entering bankruptcy. As shown in Chapter 5, in the perfectly competitive markets profit equals zero, that is, the price of a product or service tends to its cost. It means there is no place for trade unions in such markets. In reality, workers have right to defend their interests. However, the developed democratic countries do not need trade union federations or confederations. They have labor laws relating to the rights and responsibilities of workers. Both strikes and picketing are protected activities under the National Labor Relations Act under certain conditions and to varying degrees. Each strike paralyzes the whole industry and, as a result, raises prices on

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its products or services. This hurts to a country’s economy and many consumers. Employee representation can exist in organizations to resolve conflicts on local levels. Economic success of the United States can be explained partially by a low union membership (around 10  percent). Negative publicity about corruption within high-​ranking union members damaged their reputation and resulted in lower labor involved in their membership (see Horowitz, 1999). Still powerful union contributions to political campaigns and their increased efforts to mobilize union voters have kept union’s political influence to this day, although union power has declined in recent decades.

References Horowitz, C.  (1999). Union Corruption:  Why It Happens, How to Combat It. Springfield, VA: National Institute for Labor Relations Research. Ricardo, D.  (1817). On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. First Edition. London: John Murray, Black Horse Court. Rosenboim, O. (2017). The Emergence of Globalism. Cambridge: Princeton University Press. Scott, R., Jorgensen, H., and Hall, D. (2013). Ending currency manipulation by China and others is the place to start, Economic Policy Institute, Briefing paper 351, http://​w ww.epi.org/​ publication/​bp351-​trade-​deficit-​currency-​manipulation/​. Seawell, M. National Television Violence Study. Volume 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 1998. Smith, A. (1994). The Wealth of Nations. New York: Random House, Inc. Worth K, et al. (2008). Exposure of US adolescents to extremely violent movies. Pediatrics, 122 (2), 306–​312.

7

Human Nature and Politics

“Politics doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt politics.” —​A mit Kalantri

Introduction The words human nature are widely used by many psychologists, linguists, and biologists, not to mention philosophers and scholars. However, there exists no a rigorous definition of this term, and this leaves a lot of space for improvisation depending on the area in which this term is used. The first theories concerning human nature belong to Plato and Aristotle. Plato considered humans as rational social animals, and he connected our nature with our souls and ability to reason, rather than with our bodies. Aristotle believed that both body and soul contributed to our human identity. English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–​1679), known as the father of political science, considered human nature as humans in “the state of nature” (what we would now call indigenous peoples and what corresponds to hunter-​gatherer populations). Descartes (1596–​1650) expanded Plato’s ideas, describing people

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as thinking spirits. Darwin believed that humans had come from predecessors and were another form of primate, so that human characteristics are a product of nature. Like Darwin, Marx believed that humans are characterized by their species’ traits more than a spiritual character, and human nature is revealed through the natural progression of history. Freud (1856–​1939) believed that the central part of human nature is as a result of id (the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest) and the control of human decisions by super-​ego. The above scientists defined the term by providing the characteristics of the object and each of them empathized the features close to his field. That is why now the Webster dictionary gives the following definition of human nature: the common qualities of all human beings (as a noun) and the pattern of responses inculcated by the tradition of the social group (in sociology). The responses present the human output—​human behavior. In Chapter 1, we offered a criterion approach to characterize human activity and indicated the norms of behavior for members of a society necessary for its normal functioning and development. The Founding Fathers of the United States understood properly human nature, and the American Constitution proves that. James Madison stated clearly that government was needed because people are not perfect and it should establish and enforce the laws which reflect moral and ethical codes of conduct: “What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” The laws represent the will of the people who have their own cultural and ethical perceptions of reality, so that they reflect the ethical and moral values of the people. The laws describe what is right and acceptable in society, so that to affirm their quest for a just society citizens are expected to adhere to the provisions of the laws. It is expected the leaders ensure that the society is just and orderly for all. And the leaders should meet the highest moral and ethical standards. Ethics and a society are inseparable due to the fact that ethical standards are the adhesive of a healthy society. When people expect less of their leaders, they start to expect less of themselves. The tone at the top dictates the culture at-​large. The 2020 presidential elections attracted more than 25 democrats competing for the place at the top. In 2016, when 17 republicans participated in the presidential elections, this number was considered as unusually high. What can such a high participation say about the political climate in the United States and about the presidential candidates? A logical question is whether the presidential candidates understand that such a big and diverse country as the United States requires a person with an outstanding leadership skill and a proper background. If in

Human Nature and Politics | 187 the pre-​industrial period the executive power was usually in hands of military leaders, now the situation is different. Although the Cold War finally ended and the democratic block of countries grew, it is difficult to imagine that the scope of problems, such as the unstable Middle East, increased terrorism, striving for nuclear weapons Iran and North Korea, unfriendly to the United States China and Russia, limping from crisis to crisis Europe, immigration, a huge U.S. debt, etc., can be resolved successfully the current presidential candidates who have no real practical experience dealing with political and economic issues, especially with economic and business problems which are the most important in the era of the global economy. As usual, politicians dominate in the 2020 race. The same was in the 2016 presidential elections, and it looks like the current presidential candidates do not understand why President Trump had been elected. The big number (usually, only several persons run for president) of 2016 and 2020 presidential candidates is not a surprise. The essence of human nature helps prove this. President Obama looked as a charming human being with an attractive smile and excellent oratorical skills. These qualities attracted people to his candidacy. Moreover, Americans as if felt a guilt for the past (the race discrimination lasted directly or indirectly till 1964) and were ready to demonstrate that racism is in the past (see Garner, 2009). However, to be fair, President Obama had no strong leadership skills and knowledge to lead such a powerful country as the United States. President Clinton helped him choose a proper staff, and a strong U.S. market economy (with a small 21  percent federal public sector) can work without any substantial government control. Being an ideologist, President Obama hurt the economy by multiple regulations. During the 2008 economic crisis he was advised to choose an excellent economic team from different economic schools of thought. But he was unable to listen proper persons and, as a result, the recovery was very slow. Nevertheless, he had “ruled” eight years. Comparing their skills with Obama’s ones, the presidential candidate concluded “I am smarter,” and that is why such a queue to be the president was formed. It looks like because the candidates understand their small chance to win, their without any ground anti-​Trump campaign of impeachment testifies the unknown earlier low level of moral among certain members of American high society. However, a more troubling case is the decision of Joe Biden, the Vice President under the Obama administration, to run for president. Being 36 years a senator, Biden produced an impression of an ordinary working class guy and he constantly introduced himself as the poorest senator who did not own even a stock or a bond and who openly criticized corruption stating that “Corruption is a cancer: a cancer that eats away at a citizen’s faith in democracy, diminishes

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the instinct for innovation and creativity.” However, the investigative journalist Peter Schweizer (2015, 2018, and 2020), an expert in uncovering corruption (his book exposes a number of get-​rich-​quick schemes utilized by family members of famous elected officials), provides a different portrait of Biden who he calls “the king of the sweetheart deal.” When Biden led the Obama administration’s policy toward Ukraine, his son Hunter without any background in the energy area and any experience in Ukraine became a member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings that paid him $3.1 million over a 16-​month period. Shortly before Hunter Biden was appointed to Burisma’s board, the firm was under legal scrutiny. Biden played a key role in a dismissal of a Ukrainian prosecutor, who had opened a corruption investigation in Burisma, by threatening Ukrainian President that the Obama administration would pull $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees. (When Biden decided to run for president, the son left Burisma.) Biden is being also accused of using his influence to help his son land billion-​dollar deals with the Chinese government. In 2013, Vice President Biden included his son in the U.S. delegation to China, and ten days later Hunter Biden’s firm scored a $1.5 billion deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China. His deals with China may have serious national security implications for the United States. One such deal was with the automotive subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a major Chinese military contractor accused of frequently stealing U.S. military technology. It is not just Biden’s son—​five family members got rich while he was Vice-​President benefiting “from his largesse, favorable access and powerful position for commercial gain.” (see Schweizer, 2020). It looks like Biden surpassed President Clinton and his wife Hillary who used the Clinton foundation and lectures fees to justify their bribes (see Schweizer, 2015). Schweizer (2015, 2018, and 2018)  considers his books as the material of undetected corruption, and he believes that they “will fundamentally transform the way people view the Obama-​Biden administration.” It looks like Joe Biden thinks differently if he decided to run for president. Anton Chekhov (1860–​1904), a Russian playwright and short-​story writer, once said, “Man will become better when you show him what he is like.” There is a little chance that Chekhov would repeat this phrase now. For one century, especially such tragic as the 20th century (two World Wars, nuclear weapons tests, etc.), most societies and their culture changed considerably, especially in capitalist societies, where someone with more money has more opportunities than those who have less and each one would always be looking out for himself above anyone else. What is unprecedented about capitalism is that all members

Human Nature and Politics | 189 of society get the same opportunity to find their fortune. But not everyone has talents and not everyone can turn his talents or skills into profits. The American Dream is a national ethos, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success. Persons are valued if they have achieved a high level of success. We live in a money-​oriented society, where for many persons the American Dream is identified with money; money is a metric of the person’s success and the person’s value. Moral and ethical standards are losing their value. Every society has its standards of behavior. Religion has played an important role in human society for many years and encouraged moral behavior. High society had distinguished itself by the etiquette rules and high standards of behavior. Often a misconduct of some its members could be known without any reaction, as if nothing had happened. However, if an improper behavior was publicly announced as inadmissible, violating the official code of behavior, such an individual became persona non grata and for such a person the doors of high society became closed for ever. Unfortunately, nothing similar happens now. President Clinton’s political sex scandal that involved 22-​year-​old White House intern did not hurt his political career. Moreover, he was reelected for the second term and remains one of the most influential Democrat who later made, according to Schweizer (2015), a lot of “Clinton cash.” If Clintons had succeeded, why cannot Biden do the same. Moral and ethical conducts are always legal. The inverse statement (immoral and unethical are always illegal) is not valid. Immoral and unethical behavior can be legal or it would require a lot of efforts to be proved as illegal. If money are taken from a foreign country, the probability of legal actions is low. As to ethics and moral, many current politicians do not care about it, and unfortunately, as it mentioned above, such philosophy has a negative effect of on simple people and on the moral climate in the society. The Democratic Party promotes income equality. But its elite or those who try to enter this group do not prove this by their actions. Politicians like to talk about the American Dream. But many of them do not care about ordinary Americans who they consider deplorable or damned fools. Hillary Clinton’s word deplorable during her presidential campaign became a measure how the elite treats now simple people. Considering in Chapter 1 the criterial approach to human behavior we indicated that for rulers prestige was the prime factor; many of them were rich. With a high probability we can state that the same type of criterion characterizes Trump’s intention to run for president. However, for most of 2020 presidential candidates the criterion is different. They do understand that their chance to become the president is low since based on his results Trump

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is one of the most successful American presidents. Most of the current presidential contenders simply seek more publicity that can bring them more money in the future; private sector positions would pay significantly more than their government compensation. As to their political and economic programs, which will be discussed later, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates believe that deplorable can swallow everything. They do not treat simple people as equal, despite multiple slogans about equality, and underestimate the current level of knowledge and understanding of the 21th century even low educated Americans. On the one hand, for politicians dealing with human nature is a part of their political life. On the other hand, their actions reflect specifics of their own nature. As indicated by Graham Wallas (1921), an English social psychologist, Political acts and impulses are the result of the contact between human nature and its environment. Ethical difficulties are often created by the relation between the quickly changing opinions of any individual politician and such slowly changing entities as his reputation, his party name, or the traditional personality of a newspaper which he may control.

To succeed politicians should choose proper political tools, be able to defend their views, and remember that they are responsible for high ethical norms in society. Unfortunately, the conditions of political life in many countries do not often meet these requirements.

Trade as a Political Tool Historically trade started with the intent to establish mutually beneficial relations inside a society between buyers and sellers. Barter trade, the act or practice of trading goods or services for other goods or services, is a direct implementation of trade goals. Formally, governmental trade policy pursues the same goal only on a higher level—​between independent states. As Adam Smith (1776) said, “Commerce, ought naturally to be, among nations, as among individuals, a bond of union and friendship.” In the ancient times barter was the only form of trade. With the emergence of money the opportunity to use trade for profit was widely used in the autocratic states. Since antiquity trade tariffs have long been part of trading relationships, and governments have taxed products coming through their territories as ways to raise funds either directly for the ruler or to increase government revenues. The doctrine of mercantilism dominated the trade policies of the major European

Human Nature and Politics | 191 powers from the 16th century to the 18th century. According to the mercantilists, by maximizing exports and limiting imports via tariffs a “favorable” balance of trade can be obtained if the value of one’s exports would exceed the value of one’s imports. The mercantilist trade policy assisted local industries through the use of tariffs and quotas on imports. By prohibiting also exporting tools, capital equipment, skilled labor or anything that might help foreign nations compete with the domestic production of manufactured goods, such a trading policy was a trade protectionist policy. One of the examples of the mercantilist trade policy during that time was the British Navigation Act of 1651. Foreign ships were prohibited from taking part in coastal trade in England, and all imports from continental Europe were required to be carried by either British ships or ships that were registered in the country, where the goods were produced. In a more general form, trade protectionism is defined as national policy restricting international economic trade to alter the balance between imports and goods manufactured domestically, usually executed via policies and governmental regulations such as import quotas, tariffs, taxes, anti-​dumping legislation, and other limitations. The mercantilism, as a general principle, was criticized by Adam Smith and David Ricardo, who argued that it was needless and counter-​productive for government to control the import or export operations to maintain a presumed “favorable” balance of trade. As Adam Smith explained in The Wealth of Nations (1776): To give the monopoly of the home-​market to the produce of domestic industry, in any particular art or manufacture, is in some measure to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, and must, in almost all cases, be either a useless or a hurtful regulation. If the produce of domestic can be bought there as cheap as that of foreign industry, the regulation is evidently useless. If it cannot, it must generally be hurtful.

He believed that governments would misdirect scarce resources and labor into wasteful and inefficient uses, if they force, through regulations and controls, a product to be produced in their country despite that it can be purchased cheaper from abroad. According to Ricardo (1817), “Under a system of perfectly free commerce, each country naturally devotes its capital and labor to such employments as are most beneficial to each. This pursuit of individual advantage is admirably connected with the universal good of the whole. By stimulating industry, by rewarding ingenuity, and by using most efficaciously the peculiar powers bestowed by nature, it distributes labor most effectively and most economically: while, by increasing the general mass of productions, it diffuses general benefit, and binds

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together by one common tie of interest and intercourse, the universal society of nations throughout the civilized world.” Ricardo explained the comparative advantage of trading with other nations and showed that for two independent nations specialization and trade could result in increased total output and lower costs than if each nation tried to produce in isolation. The works of the above indicated scientists helped many governments to reconsider their protectionist policies in favor of trade liberalization or free trade. Great Britain was the first country that dropped most protectionist policies on British imports by 1850, although Adam Smith doubted that free trade could be realized in practice: “To expect, indeed, that the freedom of trade should ever be entirely restored in Great Britain, is as absurd as to expect that an Oceana or Utopia should ever be established in it.” Most Western European countries followed later Britain’s example. However, during a severe depression in 1873 only Great Britain maintained its adherence to free-​trade policies. Contrary to the Western European powers, the United States, having achieved independence, for a significant period of time used protectionism as a base of its trade policy. Some historians believe that a tariff wall (an eloquent synonym of protectionism) built by Washington, Hamilton, Clay, Lincoln, and the Republican presidents who followed was the main factor of the transformation an agrarian republic in the world superpower. Of course, this is an exaggeration. However, Alexander Hamilton’s argument in favor of protectionism (the young republic needed to have its own manufacturing case to help infant industries grow) is reasonable. Adam Smith’s arguments in usefulness of free trade are based on the assumption of friendly relations between nations. Such an idealistic model does not correspond to reality; it was too far from reality before the 20th century. Rich countries, as Great Britain, can allow themselves liberalization of trade. For young developing countries such a policy could be harmful. In the United States, the first wave of protectionism peaked in 1828 with the so-​called Tariff of Abominations. Average tariff rates rose to nearly 49 percent. As early as 1832 Congress began to scale back tariffs with further reductions enacted the following year. In 1842, tariffs were again raised; but by 1846 they were moving downward, and further lowered in 1857. Following the 1857 Act, tariffs averaged 20  percent. However, the Taussig (1888) research shows that these tariffs did nothing to promote domestic industry. Nevertheless, Taussig (1912) favored protecting the beet sugar industry with a tariff on sugar imports. Such contradicting statements accompany many research works in economics, political science, and sociology. President Harry Truman said: “Give me a one-​handed economist. All my economists say, ‘on the one hand…. on the other.’ ” This statement is applicable not

Human Nature and Politics | 193 only to economists. The validity of scientific results depend upon the considered model, a number of the chosen factors and the accuracy of their estimates. The applied tools of the 19th and beginning of 20th centuries were not very reliable to judge the validity of the results in the areas where the influence of human factors is significant. The quality of social research was improved significantly after the 1929 economic crisis. Tariffs can influence a certain industry directly and indirectly. There are many ways how government can help local industries indirectly (e.g., improving education, regulations, etc.). The infamous Smoot-​Hawley tariff of 1930 was a big mistake that undermined protectionism as a wise financial policy. Forty percent tariffs were imposed on imports. This was a mistake similar to mistakes made by many West European countries during the 1873 economic crisis. The increased tariffs aggravated the economic situation that later resulted in the Great Depression. Neither economists nor politicians had foreseen and evaluated a possible effect of retaliatory measures, retaliatory tariffs of the U.S. trade partners. Retaliation from foreign governments contributed to the worsening worldwide depression, a steady decline in the world economy until 1933. The Smoot-​Hawley tariff blunder has changed the American trade policy. After World War II, a guiding principle of U.S. international economic policy has been that tariffs and other trade barriers should be reduced, that trade wars must be avoided, and multilateral negotiations should be the best way to achieve fair trade relations. The United States took the lead in establishing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that reduced global tariffs in the decades following World War II and organized major GATT rounds of multilateral trade liberalization resulted in an acceleration of international trade. The end of World War II marked the beginning of a new era. There have been a proliferation and growth of international treaties and unions aimed at fostering economic integration, such as the World Trade Organization and the European Union. The policies toward liberalization and globalization were discussed in the previous chapter. More sophisticated mathematical tools were used to build socio-​economic models to examine the effect of globalization. The central theoretical conclusion of some theorems (e.g., Heckscher–​Ohlin theorem, Stopler-​ Samuelson theorem) has been that free trade is the best policy for most countries most of the time. More rigorous statements of the related theorems did not make them close to reality since the assumptions accompanying them were unrealistic. Political scientists were closer to reality than their economic colleagues. For them the Cold War period was an indicator that the sharp political differences between democratic and communist countries present an obstacle to globalization. Their

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publications described a real trade situation in various countries. It is almost obvious that countries which are military allies trade more with each other. When countries are allies in a system containing other opposing alliance group, as was the case during the Cold War, they tend to trade the most freely among themselves. As to the less developed countries (LDCs), for most of the postwar period they have used trade barriers extensively, many of them for the explicit purpose of import-​substituting industrialization, with the same goal the U.S. implemented earlier its protectionist policy. However, the tendency of decreasing tariffs (trade liberalization by the developed countries, reducing trade barriers in many areas of key interest to the LDCs, such as textiles and agriculture) was growing and many developing countries began to liberalize trade. In the early 1990s, the transition to a market economy of the former Soviet Union block of communist countries further accelerated the trend toward global trade liberalization. The material of Chapter 6 shows that since consumers are main beneficiary of trade liberalization, politicians may back up such a policy to get voters support. However, because of an extensive debt of many developed countries, and the trade imbalance contributes to this debt, the conventional benefits of liberalization become muted. The current United States policy to reconsider the earlier signed trade agreements, a U.S.–​China trade war and the United Kingdom withdrawal from the European Union characterize the current trend in the policy, whereas several years ago free trade and globalization were its important components. In his speech to the United Nations, President Trump made the compelling case against globalism. “The future does not belong to globalists—​the future belongs to patriots,” Trump explained. “The future belongs to sovereign and independent nations who protect their citizens, respect their neighbors, and honor the differences that make each country special and unique.” The above described trade policy is a part of government fiscal policy. However, in the new postwar era, trade policy serves also as a powerful tool of foreign policy. Under the impact of the two world wars, especially as a result of World War II, the nature of the international system radically changed. Before World War II, only European nations, particularly Britain, France, Germany and Italy, played the major actors in world politics. The USA followed a cautiously neutral policy. In 1935 and 1936, the United States Congress had passed Neutrality Acts to prohibit the U.S.  from selling goods to countries at war. This was the first time the trade policy became a part of the foreign policy. The acts focused to protect the U.S. from falling into another war like World War I. After World War II, USA became the most influential political force. In the post-​war period, the U.S. adopted the policy of fighting the spread of communism. The emergence of

Human Nature and Politics | 195 China as a communist power in 1949 gave further strength to communist movement. After the fall of the communist bloc in Europe, the influence of China on the world arena amplified significantly. The presence of nuclear weapons, capable of destroying the entire world, divided the nations into nuclear nations and non-​ nuclear nations, the former enjoying superiority in power relations over the latter. Nuclear weapons changed the nature of war from a simple war to total war, and the need for securing peace became stronger than ever before. According to the United Nations Charter, the UN objectives are to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations on the basis of equality and the principle of self-​determination, and to foster worldwide cooperation in solving economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems. The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Under the UN Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council decisions. As a Member of the Security Council, the United States urged: prohibition against the supply, sale, transfer or carriage of conventional arms, nuclear-​related items or ballistic missile-​related items to Iran; prohibition against the sale of auto parts, commercial passenger aircraft, and related parts and services to Iran; prohibition against the supply, sale, transfer or carriage of arms or related materiel or ballistic missile-​related item from Iran; prohibition against Iran’s trade in gold and other precious metals. These actions focused to stop Iran’s steps toward the development of nuclear weapon. The United States forbade almost all trade with Iran. It was joined by much of the international community which imposed significant economic and political sanctions. As a result, banking and other critical sectors of Iran’s economy suffered, and its currency plummeted. The new toughest U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran target critical sectors of Iran’s economy, such as the energy, shipping and shipbuilding, and financial sectors. Of course, it would be naïve to expect from trade sanctions an immediate positive effect, especially dealing with autocratic states. However, the sanctions unite the participating nations and, as a rule, help the opposition forces inside the targeting country strengthen their position. Concerning the same efforts of the North Korea, the Security Council placed severe sanctions: blocked North Korean exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore, seafood and textile, curbed oil imports and called for inspections of ships that have visited the North’s ports. Other countries were also affected by the UN sanctions. For example, sanctions were imposed in response to the Syrian government’s support of international terrorism and violations against democratic and human rights in the country; currently imposed sanctions include trade

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restrictions imposed on the sale, transfer, supply or export of jet fuel and fuel additives. Moreover, trade sanctions were placed by the EU and the U.S. when they failed to get the UN Security Council’s support. For the post-​war era the world peace and stability are a number one priority, and the trade policy as a peaceful weapon to achieve this goal is an important component of international relations and foreign policy.

Media as a Political Tool The term media is defined differently in various dictionaries. Depending upon the definition, the history of media looks differently. The most basic definition of media—​newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the Internet considered as a group—​does not include telegraph. However, it was the first efficient means of fast communication, so that it is reasonable to believe that the history of media starts from 1844, when the first telegraph message was sent. A telegraph short message resembled today’s Tweets—​140 characters/​words. Telegraph presented a new revolutionary way to deliver news and information. Although it is not considered as a political tool, it had been used by President Lincoln to win the Republican nomination and later the presidency. Two other important inventions in the last decades of the 19th century, telephone and radio, enabled people to communicate across great distances almost instantaneously. The discovery of computers in the middle of 20th century and the Internet, a networking infrastructure, in the 1980s made possible to connect millions of people—​businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, and individuals. Traditional forms of media, focusing on delivering news to the public, include print publications (newspapers and magazines) and broadcast news (television and radio). Nowadays the so-​called social media, websites and computer programs that allow people to communicate and share information on the Internet, has become an integral part of all of our lives. We use it to connect with friends and family, to entertain ourselves, to find the latest news, to obtain scientific information, etc. This is why 91 percent of Americans and 3 billion people globally use social media. Social media became world-​wide popular with sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Now it is impossible to think of the world without social media, and politicians use it widely to advance their interests. Traditional media play a central role in setting and shaping the public agenda by highlighting vital to society and public interest issues. In the period preceding the future elections media focuses on the political agenda. Social media became

Human Nature and Politics | 197 an additional powerful channel of political communication and an influential political tool. Its utilization in propagating a certain agenda is widespread as never before (see, e.g., Graber, 2010). Media was widely used by politicians to increase their popularity and, as a result, to help with fundraising and voters support. At the beginning, newspapers and radio performed mostly these functions. In addition, posters, banners, and door to door campaigning helped to win over voters. The properly prepared material, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view, is called propaganda. A German Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany Joseph Goebbels was one of the best among the persons who succeeded in preparing such materials; he even tried to develop a scientific base for their creation. His words “There are two ways to make a revolution. You can blast your enemy with machine guns until he acknowledges the superiority of those holding the machine guns. That is one way. Or you can transform the nation through a revolution of the spirit…” demonstrate his almost fanatic faith in the power of propaganda. According to Goebbels, propaganda must be planned and executed by only one authority, and propagandist must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion; to be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-​getting communications medium; material from enemy propaganda may be utilized in operations when it helps diminish that enemy’s prestige or lends support to the propagandist’s own objective. Among his known phrases there are the following: “It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise. A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth. If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself. Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not the intellect. Truth was unimportant and entirely subordinate to tactics and psychology.” The Goebbels views were influenced by the communist propaganda of the Propagandist Institutions of the Communist International (Comintern) presenting to the world public, outside of the Soviet borders, an entirely false picture of Bolshevism. According to the rules laid down in 1920 at the Comintern’s Second Congress, communist parties abroad were to be created either afresh or else by splitting Social Democratic parties; in either case, they were to be accountable to Moscow and not to their domestic constituencies. The result of the communist

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propaganda brought to power not what was expected. Planning to split Social Democratic parties, in reality, the Soviet propaganda helped to create National Socialist parties, and the new governments were emulated not by elements sympathetic to communism but by nationalistic radicals hostile to it, such as Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany. The communist world propaganda methods of deception, slander and falsehood were successfully used by Gobbles to help his political career. Vladimir Lenin’s phrase “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” he often repeated and constantly used in practice. After World War II, the focus of the Soviet sophisticated attacks shifted to the United States when it rose to superpower status. For example, the United States Communist Party newspaper The Worker, which was supported by the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, publishes a false article about an awful life of American workers accompanied with a picture of a street beggar. Immediately in the Soviet leading newspaper Pravda (Truth) there would be a related article with the reference to the American media. As a result, the lie about the American life would look as the truth. Unfortunately, such methods became known and are used being amplified by social media. Any digital newspaper, article, tweet or blog on the Internet can be considered as a reliable source of information. It is also possible to use the term anonymous source if someone, who is interviewed by a reporter, but does not want to be named in the reporter’s article. Regrettably, this term is also used deliberately to attract attention to unreliable and/​or false information. Misinformation can travel now with a high speed reaching millions of people. TV channels are catching information from newspapers and social media, and political analysts and reporters spread it to viewers. President Trump was the first politician who used social media in the most efficient way. Social media is used to encourage voters in joining in online petition, posting short messages on Facebook and Twitter, expressing political support through blogs and uploading videos on YouTube. Political advertising spending in the 2016 United States election season (in billion U.S. dollars: broadcast TV 6.06, cable TV 1.1, digital 1, newspaper 0.85, radio 0.83, out-​of-​home 0.37) demonstrates that the Internet was not used efficiently by politicians with the exception of President Trump. Trump’s campaign spent a disproportionate amount of its advertising budget on digital, outspending Clinton on digital ads as of September 2016, according to data from Pathmatics. According to Trump’s digital director Brad Parscale, the social media giant Facebook was massively influential because Trump’s campaign embraced Facebook as a key advertising

Human Nature and Politics | 199 channel in a way that no presidential campaign had before, and it helped generate the bulk of the campaign’s $250 million in online fundraising. Trump was a “perfect candidate” for Facebook:  his content was engaging in the way that Facebook rewards. “Facebook and Twitter were the reason we won this thing,” Parscale says. “Twitter for Mr. Trump. And Facebook for fundraising.” Clinton spent more than $200 million on television ads in the final months of the election, while Trump spent less than half of that; but he did it online and cheaper. Social media was Trump’s primary communication channel for interacting with supporters. Trump demonstrated that his personal use of Twitter was a very effective political tool for speaking his mind, especially as a method of “fighting back” against stories he considers inaccurate or unacceptable. According to professor of political science Laurie Rice, “Twitter is also a useful form of two-​way communication between candidates and campaigns and voters. Candidates and campaigns can gauge reactions to their messages in real time, voters can easily share their views, and campaigns can track and respond to voters’ evolving views over the course of the campaign.” Facebook and Twitter control the content of messages, and they must do this. However, the filtering criterion should be well argued and fair. By controlling the flow of information shared by persons with various views the chief executives of these companies should not demonstrate a political bias. Of course, these companies are not responsible for checking the information accuracy or validity; the senders are responsible for that. However, rigorous rules should be established what information is inadmissible. Unfortunately, this has not happened yet. Since the 2016 election, both Facebook and Twitter have dealt with questions of neutrality —​whether their platforms truly and unequivocally unbiased. During the 2020 presidential elections these powerful Internet companies demonstrated openly their anti-​Trump position by blocking material on the Internet that was harmful for Joe Biden. For example, they blocked the New  York Post article concerning Hunter Biden, considering it as “potentially false information.” This shows that social media can be used not only as a pure propagandistic tool; now it is able also to suppress opposing political viewpoints. After the 2016 elections the United States became a sharply divided country, and media, rather than the presidential candidates, are responsible for this sad situation. The leading American newspapers and the TV companies CNN, NBC, MSNBC, and ABC support Democrats and three years incessantly have been discussing the impeachment of the president. Their political analysts, investigative reporters and editors ignore the rules of objective journalism. The media created a toxical political division in the country. False anonymous sources, similar

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words-​labels repeated by hosts of the mentioned TV channels create an impression as if all misinformation is controlled from one center. As if these media organizations forgot that “journalism is not about taking sides—​it is about showcasing all sides.” The Fox channels side with Republicans. Hosts of these channels operate with the absolutely different information obtained from different sources. The hosts, to their credit, invite Democrats to comment the information and participate in discussions. The owners and CEOs of the leading media organizations became powerful players in the country’s political life, since they are a powerful source of information or misinformation. In democratic countries, free speech laws allow everyone to express opinions, and it is difficult to prove that an expressed opinion is a deliberate misinformation. Social media opened wider the door for misinformation. The rise of fake news presents a challenge to those who try to stop the spread of false information. However, politicians often create fake news and use them to win elections. The media’s goal should be to seek the truth rather than to be a part of a certain political campaign. Democratic countries have no propaganda departments that would order to spread information approved at the top. But political parties use skillful political advisers who understand psychological aspects of the acceptance of misinformation. The research in cognitive psychology shows that people believe things which support their prior thoughts and desires without questioning them. That is why many politicians target low income and poorly educated people promising them what government will not be able to deliver. The media should expose such false promises. Donald Trump has often been critical of the media, especially those who criticized his policies or have tried to dig in his business practices or foreign dealings. He has even labeled some journalists as the “enemy of the people,” which can be considered as a direct challenge to the First Amendment rights of free speech and freedom of the press guaranteed to journalists. Politics is a tough business. The above statement about journalists is inadmissible. But the 3 years impeachment campaign of the leading media companies against the president based on the deliberate misinformation can be characterized as a strategy to undermine the president’s ability to run effectively the government. Cruelty and dishonesty of some journalists, although it is obvious that they followed instructions of their bosses, reached such a level that they should be ashamed of themselves and do not deserve to be called journalists. Noam Chromsky, an American philosopher and political activist, is right when he wrote: “The money in politics is a cash cow for the media.”

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Social Control Peace and stability are necessary conditions for the successful societal development. The political climate is an indicator of the level of stability in a country. If the elected representatives ignore the established ethical norms, this undermines the people’s trust in government. Fighting politicians use similar approaches to justify their actions; the constitution and democracy are the words used to defend their behavior. Identity politics became the most popular strategy focusing on the concerns of particular social groups. By separating a certain group from the others and emphasizing the difference, such a strategy creates a hostile environment. The media takes sides, and the public is showered by contradictory materials. Usually, in such a situation at least, as a minimum, one social group violates the existing ethical norms or even the existing laws. In Chapter  1 we indicated that human behavior is subjugated to certain restrictions (norms of behavior) which depend on the existing dominant ideology. In sociology, these restrictions are presented by the term social control which refers to social mechanisms that regulate individual and group behavior, leading to conformity and compliances to the rules of a given society or social group. There are various definitions of social control; but all of them in a different way describe its essence—​to maintain social order, without which society cannot exist. Human behavior is regulated by the norms (informal social control) and laws (formal social control). Norms are the ways an individual expects all the people to act in a given situation. Traditional society (a nonindustrial predominantly rural society which is presumed to be static and contrasted with a modern changing industrial society) uses mostly informal social control embedded in its customary culture. In democratic societies, formal social control is determined and conducted by government using law enforcement mechanisms and related sanctions, such as fines and imprisonment. Law is the most important formal means of social control. Informal social control of autocratic governments, such as the former Soviet Union or the current Cuba, North Korea and China, includes severe sanctions such as censorship, expulsion and limits on political freedom. To strengthen their power some rulers used even force to demonstrate that they represent a new order drastically different from the past. Since culture reflects the moral values and ethical norms governing how people should behave and interact with others, they organized campaigns focused on destroying national cultural treasures.

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In 1933, shortly after Hitler seized power in Germany, his Nazi organization targeted books viewed as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to the National Socialist agenda. The Nazi German Student Association’s Main Office for Press and Propaganda proclaimed a nationwide “Action against the Un-​German Spirit,” a literary purge—​“cleansing” by fire. The book burning was accompanied by “fire oaths” being pledged; student leaders, rectors, professors and leaders of the Nazi party spoke to large audiences; torchlight parades held in the evening. Among the world-​k nown writers, whose books were burned, were Stefan Zweig, Heinrich Heine, Heinrich Mann, Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Theodore Dreiser, etc. Some 30,000 different titles with subject matter from poetry to educational publications used in schools were eliminated. These events, planned as the promotion of “Aryan” culture, were yet another Nazi efforts to “purify” Germany. Young persons for these actions were chosen not accidentally. On the one hand, students were still not sufficiently educated persons; they could be easily indoctrinated. German university students were among the vanguard of the early Nazi movement, and in the late 1920s many filled the ranks of various Nazi formations. On the other hand, young people personify the future of the nation. By the book burning, Gobbles had demonstrated his propagandistic skills and his choice of young persons for deliberate destruction had not gone unnoticed. The so-​called Cultural Revolution (1966–​1976) in China was thought up as the young generation movement. During the Cultural Revolution much damage had been done China’s traditional culture. Buddhist temples where looted. Relics, temples, scrolls, and books containing vast amounts of cultural heritage were burned and destroyed. To instill Communist Party culture into the minds of the Chinese people and transform China from an agrarian society into a modern industrial society its communist leaders, Mao Zedong and his advocates, decided to destroy traditional Chinese culture, the Chinese morals and values, their traditions and beliefs. Priceless antiquities were shattered to pieces, even families’ long-​held genealogy books and ancestor paintings were confiscated or burned to ashes. Libraries were ransacked, monuments destroyed or severely damaged, and religious sites and tombs of historical figures were looted and desecrated. This vandalism toward priceless cultural relics was the movement started by groups of young people (students, ranging from as young as elementary school children up to university students) who called themselves “Red Guards” fighting the Four Olds Things—​old customs, old culture, old habits, and old ideas. As the Cultural Revolution gained momentum, younger workers and peasants joined the movement. Houses of the middle-​class people, considered to be bourgeois,

Human Nature and Politics | 203 were searched and ransacked. The Red Guards also publicly humiliated teachers, monks, former landowners, or anyone else suspected of being “counter-​ revolutionary” by placing mocking placards around their necks; thousands of innocent people were killed or committed suicide. Changes in social control reflect changes in the dominant ideology. Similar to all societal changes this is a dynamic evolutionary process. Any attempt to speed up them by using force, revolutionary means, as a rule, can bring at best only temporarily success. Usually, the forced changes in social control are not supported by the majority of population. That is why they are less efficient than it was expected, and their life period is limited. Nazi’s regime existed only 12 years. The Cultural Revolution in China ended with the death of its creator Mao Zedong. Many Chinese leaders saw its harmful results—​the Chinese economy plummeted, but the cult of Mao and power struggle delayed the decision to end this dark period of the Chinese history. In theocratic states, where norms of behavior are dictated by the established religion, vandalism is usually a part of religious wars. Formed in 1999, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL), a Sunni jihadist militant group with a particularly violent ideology that called itself a caliphate and claimed religious authority over all Muslims, destroyed much of the cultural heritage in the areas it controlled in Iraq. Existing theocratic states belong to a class of developing or less-​developed countries that face significant structural challenges to sustainable development. However, it is surprising that recently the acts of cultural vandalism took place in the United States, the most advanced industrial country in the world. All destructive acts were initiated mostly by young people, assumed to be the future hope of the nation. The decision of Charlottesville (the picturesque town where Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia) council in February of 2017 to remove from the recently renamed Emancipation Park (formerly Lee Park) a statue of General Lee, a commander of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and a tragic event during the public dispute over this decision ignited acts of cultural vandalism all over the country. Duke University officials removed a statue of Robert E.  Lee from the campus chapel after vandals knocked off parts of his face. The Lee’s statue in New Orleans, Louisiana, was removed and moved to an unknown location. The mayor of Baltimore agreed to take down its Civil War statues (among them Robert Lee and Thomas Jackson monument). But the city decided that this was not good enough and unanimously voted not only to remove but also to destroy the statues. A  Louisville, Kentucky, statue

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memorializing the founder of the American Saddlebred Horse Association was doused in orange paint the day after Charlottesville’s riots because John Breckinridge Castleman was a major in the Confederate Army. But he later served also in the U.S. Army (as a United States Army brigadier general) and was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson, a Democrat. His positive contributions to the Union and Kentucky mattered nothing to some protesters, who a week later draped the statue with signs reading “No room for racism” and “Take it down.” At Pepperdine University, a Christian liberal arts college in California, the Christopher Columbus statue was removed after students’ protest. Confederate Statues were removed from the parks in Memphis, Tennessee. An early Confederate flag and six other flags that flew above Mud Island River Park in Memphis for decades were also taken away. A century-​old monument to a generic Confederate soldier in Durham, North Carolina, was destroyed by a student at a rally against racism. In Santa Barbara, California, the statue of Junipero Serra, known as the Apostle of California, was defaced with red paint and the word “Murder,” as well as a swastika. Following the Charlottesville protests, the Abraham Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC was vandalized with the words “F-​ck Law” in red spray paint. The monuments dedicated to Christopher Columbus, who is credited with the discovery of the Americas, were targeted as well. In Boston, a statue of Christopher Columbus was coated in red paint and emblazoned with “Black Lives Matter.” In Baltimore, a 225-​year old monument to Christopher Columbus was destroyed by a sledgehammer. The destruction was accompanied with signs “Racism:  Tear it down” and “The future is racial and economic justice.” The Christopher Columbus statue in the Elmwood historic district of Providence, Rhode Island, was doused in blood red paint from head to toe on the holiday honoring him. A sign “Stop Celebrating Genocide” was tied around the pedestal with a chain. There were voices to place a wonderful movie Gone with the Wind in a museum, to rename federal holiday—​Columbus day. Before the 2020 United States presidential election signs of the cultural revolution reappeared again, mostly in Democrat-​run cities and states. In June of 2020, Confederate statues (of Albert Pike, an American author, poet, orator, and jurist, in the U.S. capital; Francis Scott Key, who wrote the U.S. national anthem, and Ulysses Grant, who was the U.S. president, in California; Thaddeus Kosciuzko, a designer of the fortification that would eventually become West Point Academy, in New Jersey; Jefferson Davis and Williams Carter Wickham in Virginia; Jefferson Davis in Wisconsin; Robert E. Lee and Charles Linn in Alabama; two statues of the North Carolina State Confederate Monument; Confederate soldier grave marker in Maryland) and statues of other prominent historic figures

Human Nature and Politics | 205 (Spanish missionary Junipero Serra in California; Christopher Columbus, who opened up America to Europe, in the Massachusetts, Illinois, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Virginia capitals) were vandalized with red paint and/​or toppled. Even the Founding Fathers, who were slaveholders, were targeted. A statue and memorial to George Washington in Maryland was vandalized with red paint. In Oregon his statue was toppled. In Virginia and Oregon a statue of Thomas Jefferson was torn down. The words “slave owner” were spray-​painted on the base of the Oregon Jefferson high school statue. The sad fact that in the nation’s capital such monuments as the Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, memorials honoring U.S. Navy and Law Enforcement Officers were vandalized demonstrates a low level of social studies in most American classrooms. Students should know that slavery was not only in the United States. The abolition of slavery occurred at different times in different countries: Russia abolished slavery (serfdom) in 1861; the U.S. abolished slavery in 1865 with the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. American schools should teach that, for example, Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a believer in the rights of racial minorities and in his will he left instructions to buy out and free slaves, that Christopher Columbus was not a slave owner and that by destroying monuments in a blind rage a nation erases its history. By keeping silence the leading Democrats, whose predecessors controlled the Confederacy and supported segregation up to the 1960’s, tried to benefit from the unstable situation while making people think they were trying to fix or solve it. Some of them have announced their decision to have a monument or memorial removed. House Speaker called for the removal of 11 Confederate statues from the halls of Congress. The 2020 Democrats’ strategy repeats their 2017 position. According to The New  York Times, 08/​16/​2017, “After the violent clashes in Charlottesville, VA, many city leaders and even some governors around the country have urged the removal of Confederate monuments in their jurisdictions.” A reasonable question is: Who created this inadmissible political climate in the country and why the executive organs of the cities and states cannot restore it? Democrats in local governments are responsible for the riots and vandalism. Where was the police? The police were ordered to stand down. It is not clear why the local governments considered and made decision concerning the problem related to the nation’s cultural heritage. They can change the name of a street or a park. But heritage is a property of a nation rather than a city. The population of the whole country, rather than a city council or a governor, should make decisions related to cultural heritage.

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The persons participating in the mentioned acts of vandalism do not know American history. For example, Christopher Columbus was the explorer that found the New World and he never owned any slaves. Why were his monuments targeted? The hooligans were indoctrinated and used by the political forces trying to get power in the future. The above indicated cultural vandalism looks, based on accompanied statements (e.g., No room for racism, Stop celebrating genocide, Black lives matter), like a protest against racial discrimination and white supremacy. If this is the case, do the protesters have any grounds to state that? Barack Obama was the first African American who was elected and served eight years as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. African Americans are members of the U.S. Congress and senators. They served as the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The U.S. Supreme Court has seated two African-​A merican justices. African Americans hold high positions the United States Army. Based only on this limited information it is ridiculous even to pronounce the word racism. Only ignorant and uninformed persons can state that Americans are racists. The number of college-​educated African-​A mericans increased drastically compared to the 1950s. If in 1950 approximately 75,000 blacks were enrolled in colleges and universities, by 1970 approximately 700,000 blacks were enrolled in college, three quarters of whom were in predominantly white institutions. If in 1976 black students comprised 10 percent of all U.S. residents enrolled in degree-​ granting postsecondary institutions, in 2016 it jumped to 14 percent. Moreover, from 1968 to 1971, hundreds of African-​A merican studies departments and programs were developed. Approximately 500 colleges and universities provided full scale African-​A merican studies programs by 1971. Up to 1,300 institutions offered at least one course in African-​A merican studies as of 1974. Some estimates place the number of African-​A merican studies programs reaching its peak at 800 in the early 1970s and declining to about 375, due to the lack of resources and support, by the mid-​1990s (see, e.g., Woodyard, 1991). The mentioned decline can be explained by the drastic change of the racial climate in the country. Now an ideology of anti-​racism prevails at most American colleges. The persons participated in the above described acts of vandalism have been cultivated in ignorance and hatred by education institutions. The civic education programs from elementary through college levels are imbued with factually false anti-​A merican leftist indoctrination. The public schools are being used as socialist indoctrination centers rather than institutions of learning. The American history textbooks are biased in the way they talk about race, religion, politics,

Human Nature and Politics | 207 gender, and war. The American Pageant considered as one of the American history textbook and widely used at high schools and colleges. The leftist bias of this popular textbook was indicated by a historian Burt Folsom who criticized its “the flawed ideas… that mislead students into thinking that the United States is fundamentally corrupt, and that the world is often worse off because America exists and has so much global influence.” During and after World War II institutions of higher learning increasingly became breeding grounds for socialism and radical liberalism. College courses, which are often taught by biased professors, who embrace socialist and leftist ideologies. During this period many Americans sympathized the Soviet Union that paid the harshest price during World War II. Some of them became members of the U.S. Communist Party that was ideologically committed to foster a socialist revolution in the United States or were favorably disposed toward socialist ideas. College campuses were targeted by Soviet spies trying to get secrete information and/​or recruit new agents. The success of the Soviet Union in defeating fascism raised its authority so that college professors, especially in the social field, paid more attention to the Soviet propaganda and Marxist literature and believed the false or misleading information about the Soviet life. The presence of trade unions in the area of education was also a factor increasing the penetration of social ideas in education. According to a George Washington University survey of 2011 published in The Washington Post, 72 percent of professors teaching at American universities and colleges are liberal; conservatives, by contrast, comprise only 15 percent. Sociologists consider education as a means of social control; the fundamental concern of school is behavioral control and occupational control. However, the assumption that the above described acts of cultural vandalism were the result of the indoctrination in American universities enables one to conclude that education can also disrupt the existing social order. Liberal leftists believe that removing monuments that honor America’s slave history means correcting injustice and is useful to heal society of the painful past. Many nations had slaves in their past. Should they do the same? In reality, this is a part of anti-​Trump campaign organized by the anti-​Christian and anti-​A merican left who constantly label falsely President Trump as a racist and fascist. The groundless anti-​Trump campaign of impeachment demonstrates the unknown earlier low level of moral among certain members of the American elite, especially its political elite. If in the described acts of cultural destruction in Germany and China social control was utilized to strengthen power of the existing autocratic regimes, the sad cultural events in the United States demonstrated

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social disorder inside a democratic society created by small radical groups with silent support of the current Democratic elite whose members ignore lessons of the past—​anarchists and leftists will not stop to eradicate them if they have a chance.

Democracy and Human Nature In the previous chapters the word democracy was widely used assuming that readers know its meaning. However, since politicians, presenting their views, use it in a combination with different words forming new terms, here we provide the definitions of this word and related terms. Merriam-​Webster dictionary defines democracy as a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. The definition in Cambridge dictionary is more accurate: democracy is the belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. Social democracy, the political ideology of many modern European countries, represents a change in Marxist basic doctrine. It rejects the use of revolution to establish a socialist society and advocates a peaceful evolutionary transition of society from capitalism to socialism including government regulations (state ownership—​in the initial definition of this term) and extensive social welfare programs. Social democracy, as defined above, presents a revisionist form of socialism that broke with communism. From the second half of the 20th century, social democrats, for practical purposes, abandon the principle of abolishing capitalism. Moreover, a German social-​democratic Marxist Eduard Bernstein (1850–​ 1932) criticized the views held by Marxism related to the imminent collapse of capitalism In his book Evolutionary Socialism, Bernstein (1961) challenged the Marxist orthodoxy that capitalism was doomed pointing out that capitalism was overcoming many of its weaknesses, such as unemployment and the unjust distribution of wealth. In his 2019 State of the Union address President Trump said: “Here in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. Tonight, we resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” Although his statement had been met with overwhelming support of all members of the Congress and Senate, several months later several Democrats decided to run for president in the 2020 presidential elections based on the social

Human Nature and Politics | 209 democratic platform. Senator Warren included in her political program “Medicare for All” (a single-​payer system administered by the federal government from a financing standpoint, but delivery of care would be left to private entities), universal child-​care policy, and free public higher education. In the 2016 presidential race, Senator Sanders was the first candidate offering “Medicare for All.” In 2017, he presented the failed bill “To establish a Medicare-​for-​a ll national health insurance program.” In contrast to Sanders, Warren speaks about Medicare-​for-​a ll more in terms of expanding public options for health care, rather than eliminating private insurance altogether. For her, the existing capitalist economic ills can be resolved with certain regulatory tools and interventions. She said, “I believe in markets, I  believe in the benefits that come from markets, that two people coming together, or two companies, or a company and a person coming together to exchange goods and services.” The Cambridge Dictionary defines liberal democracy as a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of liberalism, that is, the actions of elected representatives are limited by a constitution that emphasizes individual liberties, equality and the rights of minority groups. The indicated liberties include freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of religion, the property right, equality before the law, and due process under the rule of law. They are guaranteed through various controlled institutions and statutory laws. Additionally, the constitutions of most contemporary liberal democracies prohibits the so-​called majoritarianism (the view that a majority of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society and has the right to make decisions that affect the society), when it harms those in the minority. According to Adams (2001), all American parties are “liberal and always have been.” In contrast to classical liberalism, the so-​called social liberalism, a left-​wing ideology of liberty and equality, focuses on providing more equality of opportunities to poor people but not at such a degree as social democracy with its extensive social programs. Since the 1960s, the Democratic Party is considered liberal and the Republican Party is considered conservative and, as a group, liberals are referred to as the left and conservatives as the right. Running as a Democrat, the mentioned above Senator Sanders represents to so-​called democratic socialism, a political ideology advocating political democracy alongside social ownership of the means of production with democratic management of enterprises within a socialist economic system. The term democratic socialism is sometimes used a synonym for socialism and the adjective democratic distinguishes it from the Marxist-​Leninist interpreting of socialism, which is widely viewed as being non-​democratic. According to The New  York Times

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journalist Maggie Astor, “if you ask five self-​described democratic socialists what the term means, you are likely to get five different answers.” Maria Svart, national director of the Democratic Socialists of America, told The Times, “Our ultimate goal really is for working people to run our society and run our workplaces and our economies.” It means that democratic socialists do not support capitalism but unlike communists they believe that socialism should be achieved democratically. They want workers to control the means of production. But being unable to offer any real practical structure of the societal production unit democratic socialists support many social-​democratic policies. Both Warren and Sanders cannot explain how they can realize in practice their proposals. Instead Ms. Warren says, “I do not understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really cannot do and should not fight for.” Instead of proposing something real, Mr. Sanders contrasts his democratic socialism views against what he called the corporate socialism practiced by the president and the Republican Party. He said the president “believes in corporate socialism for the rich and powerful; I believe in a democratic socialism that works for the working families of this country.” By introducing a new term corporate socialism Mr. Sanders forgot the existing terms democratic capitalism or capitalist democracy defining a political, economic, and social system and ideology that involve a capitalist market-​based economy, economic incentives through free markets, fiscal responsibility, a democratic policy and a liberal moral-​cultural system which encourages pluralism. The current United States political-​economic system corresponds to the above definition of democratic capitalism. Mr. Sanders believed that such a system works for rich. However, his income increased significantly after he announced his presidential ambitions in 2015. Being a long-​serving congressman and later senator, Mr. Sanders was not known in the country as an author of any proposed important legislation. Moreover, multiple commentators indicate that his political platform does not fully correspond to his democratic socialism principles. Some of his statements present him as a social democrat. But his entire agenda, as Mark Levin, an American lawyer, author, and commentator has found out, is a page taken straight out of Josef Stalin’s Bill of Rights; his “Bill of Rights” nearly identically parallels Articles 118–​122 from Stalin’s 1936 Constitution. Mr. Sanders says that he got “a little bit tired of Democrats afraid of big ideas.” But his “bid ideas” are old communist lies. Does he really care for working people? It looks like his presidential 2016 and 2020 campaigns tactic he borrowed from communists. By appealing to young insufficiently educated and low income people

Human Nature and Politics | 211 and promising them what they dream of, but what he will not be able to deliver, Mr. Sanders has reached his goal—​he became popular, what has not been able to accomplish for thirty years in the Congress. In the capitalist world, popularity means money. Bernie Sanders, who has made income inequality a hallmark of his presidential campaign, and his wife earned $1.7 million in past two years. He and his wife were in the top 1 percent of all taxpayers for those two years, according to an Internal Revenue Service calculation. Vermont magazine reported “Bernie Sanders now has one thing in common with the millionaires and billionaires and other 1 percenters he so frequently attacked on the campaign trail: he now owns his very own summer home.” It would be naïve to think that Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders really believe in a possibility to win the presidential election. Only if they believe in the saying “Even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn.” Their campaigns remind a dark side of human nature. For Mr. Sanders the campaign is the means mostly to get publicity he lacked till 2016 and earn more money. It looks like Ms. Warren, who is richer than Mr. Sanders, pursues a different goal. To stay longer in the Senate she should improve her reputation as an honest person. For many years she identified herself as a Native American. This lie helped her future career. The Post obtained Warren’s 1986 registration card for the State Bar of Texas, providing a previously undisclosed example of Warren identifying herself as an “American Indian.” Although Ms. Warren denies she used ethnicity to further her career, the Boston Herald revealed that in the late 1990s Harvard Law School had promoted Warren as a Native American faculty member. Trying to improve her reputation, she took a DNA test to demonstrate her purported heritage. The test results showing that Warren may be anywhere between 1/​64 and 1/​1024 Native American prompted a ferocious backlash even from her many allies. “I can’t go back,” Warren said in an interview with The Washington Post. “But I am sorry for furthering confusion on tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenship and harm that resulted.” Psychologists can say that people lie all the time even to themselves and, surprisingly, it does work. However, Ms. Warren demonstrates another psychological fact widely used in practice by communists and fascist propaganda; we provided earlier the quotes how the lie can look like the truth. The Democrats’ program reflected in proposals of the 2020 presidential contenders—​single-​payer health care for all including illegal immigrants, free public college, open borders, the so-​called Green New Deal, and higher taxes on the wealthy—​is prepared based on trivial political rules how to lure voters. They promise what would be desirable for people (free public college, affordable health care). They created an “enemy”—​a climate change as a national emergency—​and

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present themselves as rescuers offering the way to avoid planetary destruction (to wean the United States off fossil fuels and curb planet-​warming greenhouse gas emissions across the economy). A significant part of the Democrats’ proposals presents a copy of programs implemented in Western European countries rather than fresh own ideas. This has been done without a thoughtful analysis of possible consequences taking into account the U.S. specifics. Of course, free health care and education, as any useful presents, cannot be unpopular. But how to pay for all that? Keeping many years silence Bernie Sanders added to his single-​payer health care and free public college proposals also a $16.3 trillion climate plan calling for the United States to move to renewable energy across the economy by 2050 and declared climate change a national emergency. Sanders describes his plan, as a “ten-​year, nationwide mobilization centered on equity and humanity” that would create 20 million new jobs. In his plan, Sanders notes that communities of color are disproportionately affected by the climate emergency, and his plan is an “opportunity to uproot historical injustices and inequities to advance social, racial and economic justice.” The words “equity”, “humanity”, “community of color”, “racial and economic justice” make the document purely political and demonstrate insincere intentions of its author. Do the Democrats remember what happened to Chile in 1970s when its President Salvador Allende, who sincerely believed in socialist ideas, started changing Chile’s economic structure? Do they know what is going on in Venezuela? Of course, they know how the socialist leaders of these countries ruined the economy and destroyed thousands lives. But the 2020 presidential contenders do not care about the working people. They care only for their own future. However, it looks like they do not want to understand that a sharp rebuilding of an existing social structure unprepared for changes can result in catastrophic consequences. For conservative politicians market forces are the solution of all economic problems. They do not understand or /​and do not want to understand that the ideal (pure) market does not exists. Although market forces are able to stabilize the economic situation, ignoring the government ability to control the economy is a huge mistake. In turn, liberal politicians believe in the power of government to guide and control the economy. They close eyes on inefficiency of government bureaucracy and inability of the planning economic system to react fast to the changing economic environment. Market forces is a source of self-​regulation and stabilization, whereas government actions guide a country’s economy in a certain direction. However, without factually accurate and well-​reasoned criteria guidance is useless. Unfortunately, some politicians link the country’s wealth criteria

Human Nature and Politics | 213 with their own benefits criteria (to keep their status, etc.). Many of them, being, for example, lawyers or physicians, are unable to formulate properly the needed criteria so that they substitute them with pure propagandistic statements. Copying social programs of Western European countries the United States Democrats deliberately do not want to see that all these programs link with high taxes. Understanding that high taxes cannot attract middle class voters they intensify the campaign against income inequality adding in it, as a flavor, the immigration and racism problems. Low income families readily accept any favorable for them offers. That is why the middle class becomes their main target since its representatives are educated people who need a reliable argumentation. The income inequality campaign creates a toxic climate in the society. And this situation is created by the political elite that supports globalism. To get power or to keep power the same persons, who advocate to unite the world, try to tear apart their society. It is known that politics is a dirty business. However, it looks like that a moral collapse in American politics had never been seen so obvious than during the period of the 2020 presidential elections.

References Adams, I. (2001). Political Ideology Today. UK: Manchester University Press. Bernstein, E. (1961). Evolutionary Socialism. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Garner, S. (2009).Racisms: An Introduction. London: Sage Publications. Graber, D. (Ed.) (2010). Media Power in Politics. Thousand Oaks, CA: CQ Press. Ricardo, D.  (1817). On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. First Edition. London: John Murray, Black Horse Court. Schweizer, P. (2015). Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich. New York: Harper Collins. Schweizer, P.  (2018). Secret Empires:  How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends. New York: Harper Collins. Schweizer, P.  (2020). Profiles in Corruption:  Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite New York: Harper Collins. Smith, A. (1994).The Wealth of Nations. New York: Random House, Inc. Taussig, F. W (1888): The Tariff History of the United States, 1931. Eighth Edition. New York, London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Taussig, F. (1912). Beet Sugar and the Tariff. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 26 (2), 189–​214. Wallas, G. (1921). Our Social Heritage. CT: Yale University Press. Woodyard, J.  (1991). Evolution of a Discipline:  Intellectual Antecedents of African American Studies. Journal of African-​American Studies, 22 (2), 239–​251.

8

Urgent Social Problems

“It is very easy to fool the people but difficult to convince them that they have been fooled!” —​Mark  Twain

Introduction Election campaigns are the hottest period for various political debates. Politicians try to create before elections a favorable situation for leaders of their party to be reelected. Based on opinion polls politicians build their political campaign platforms. The main issues of the 2020 United States presidential election are health care, education, immigration, and environment. Health care and education can be considered as a pure internal American problem. The major Democratic presidential contenders support universal health care and free college education that are available in many countries across the globe. Immigration and environment are hot topics generating a significant amount of coverage and discussion not only in the U.S. but also in many Western European countries. Immigration to and migration within Europe have significantly increased since the mid-​20th century. A lot of migration has been within Europe, especially

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by Eastern Europeans after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Soviet empire. Muslim populations have also grown throughout Europe over the past few decades. The UN refugee agency advocates for fair and effective asylum systems across Europe. Today, there are around 22 million immigrants legally residing in the EU. Supporters of globalization assert that immigration and successful integration can help maintain the competitiveness of the EU economy since Europe has an ageing population and forty percent of employers in the EU report difficulties in finding employees with the required skills. However, huge numbers of refugees in Europe have posed significant challenges for asylum systems and reception facilities in many countries, especially when a special care was needed for children. In 2016, close to 100,300 refugees and migrant children arrived in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, and Spain—​and one in three was unaccompanied or separated from their family. The settlement of Muslim communities in Europe has caused heated debates about European immigration and integration policies. According to the European Union immigration law, the EU members retain the right to determine volumes of admission for people coming from third countries to seek work. To prevent and reduce irregular immigration the EU should use “an effective return policy” and “manage borders effectively.” Despite the EU efforts to resolve the immigration problem, many states in North-​Western Europe felt overburdened and took steps to restrict asylum seekers’ access to their territories and to limit asylum seekers’ eligibility, thus shifting the burden to other member states. National interests have persisted, and European solidarity on this issue has remained incomplete. In 2016, Angela Merkel, a German politician serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005, took responsibility for her party’s disastrous showing in Berlin’s state elections, admitting mistakes had been made in the open doors policy. However, if the influx of asylum seekers in Europe is mostly the result of turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, the illegal immigration from Latin America to the United States has different roots. This is simply a natural desire of people to have a better life and asking for asylum in most cases is groundless. Illegal immigration has been a matter of intense debate in the United States since the 1980s and has been a major focus of the current administration. Global warming, the long-​term rise in the average temperature of the Earth’s climate system, is the main aspect of climate change and a heated topic of discussions among environmentalists all over the world. In 2018, a report by the United Nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that emissions of carbon dioxide would have to be cut by 45 percent by 2030 in a bid to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5°C. “The climate math is

Urgent Social Problems | 217 brutally clear. While the world can’t be healed within the next few years, it may be fatally wounded by negligence until 2020,” said Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, a German atmospheric physicist, climatologist, founder and now director emeritus of the Potsdam Climate Institute. In July of 2019, addressing foreign ministers from around the Commonwealth, Prince Charles publicly supported the claims, saying: “I am firmly of the view that the next 18 months will decide our ability to keep climate change to survivable levels and to restore nature to the equilibrium we need for our survival.” The Telegraph advertised this statement as “We have 18 months to save world, Prince Charles warns Commonwealth leaders.” This statement found other supporters and savers of the world in the United States who proposed to eliminate all fossil-​fuel-​powered electricity, close every coal and natural gas power plant in the country, thus destroying the hundreds of thousands of jobs related to these businesses. To destroy a country’s energy might means to impoverish the country. “The climate math” can be “brutally clear” to only either low level or simply dishonest scientists who for money are ready to produce a shallow research to satisfy clients—​politicians who, hunting for votes, dream about sensations and make false promises thinking about their career rather than about the people they represent. Education and health care are not problems of such difficulty as climate change. They need a sober and rational approach since money is the main factor in the decision making process to resolve them. In the former Soviet Union there was free higher education. Moreover, students with good results received a stipend; students with all ‘A’s had a higher stipend. The Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957 proved that such an educational policy was successful. Many countries have free public higher education. Among them Denmark, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, and Mexico. According to the latest data of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development from 2011, the United States are among five countries with the highest annual average tuition fees for public universities. Over the last 30 years, tuition has increased 1,120 percent, and college tuition has risen three times as fast as the consumer-​price index and twice as fast as medical care in the past decade. Among the countries with the highest annual average tuition fees for public universities, having the fourth largest GDP in the world, Germany spends only 25 percent of its GDP on higher education. By comparison, the U.S. spends 47 percent of its GDP (the highest worldwide) on higher education, and yet its average annual tuition fees are the third highest internationally, while it also has $1.2 trillion student loan debt. Some schools offer free tuition and other financial assistance for students from families with an income below a certain level.

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There are twenty colleges providing free tuition. But they are mostly liberal arts or two-​three years colleges. There exist tuition-​free college programs provided at the state level. Twenty four states offer such programs. Universities themselves also offer several years free tuition to students with a high GPA. However, most of public colleges and universities have high tuition fees, and politicians who promise free college education close their eyes that the American education system is broken. They do not offer any concrete measures how to improve it. To do that it is important first to analyze and understand the main reasons why the level of graduated from high school students is low, why universities should repeat simple mathematical courses, which students should learn in high schools, why liberal arts colleges teach many unnecessary courses, why professors’ salaries are high and they continue growing, etc. Simple promises-​slogans like free education and free health care, without concrete programs of their realization, have zero value. But some the U.S. 2020 presidential candidates even extend these generous promises to illegal immigrants. The author of the quote “Good words are worth much, and cost little” did not mean politicians. The former Soviet Union had universal health care free of charge for all services including dental and vision care. However, to get a service, as a rule, people waited several days, hospitals were overloaded, the quality of service was poor. A better service was in special health divisions for the USSR Academy of Science and for old communists (the long-​time party’s members). The best service was in a special facility for high ranking officials; the Kremlin Clinic had foreign drugs and equipment, the treatment corresponded to the standards of modern industrial countries. The term universal health care applied to the former Soviet Union health care system has a little bit different meaning than the definition provided by the World Health Organization, which means that everyone has equal access to quality health care that improves the health of patients and that seeking such care would not cause financial harm to those receiving it, since a real quality health care had been provided only to a limited group of persons rather than to the whole population. Most European countries have three types (with some variations) of universal health care systems: single-​payer; socialized; privatized but regulated. In a single-​ payer system, the government is a health insurance provider, although, in reality, most health care is provided by private entities. In a socialized system, the government usually has control of both health insurance and the providers within the industry. It is essentially the only health insurance provider, and it also runs (and owns) hospitals and employs medical staff. Britain, France, Italy, Norway,

Urgent Social Problems | 219 Spain, and Sweden use variations of this system. Every citizen is enrolled in the national health care system, and a significant portion of medical services are provided free of charge by doctors who are employed by the government. Those who can afford to pay doctors not employed by the government are allowed to purchase supplemental policies. For example, France has a private system mixed in with the so-​called statutory health insurance system. Private health insurance can be purchased as a supplement to the national health care system. In a privatized but regulated system (used in Germany), employed citizens with an income below a certain level are required to be enrolled in the public health insurance option (in Germany, as in France, called statutory health insurance). Those making more than that amount are allowed to bypass the public system to purchase private health insurance (although the vast majority of Germans choose to keep the public option; over 90  percent of the population currently receives health care through this program). In Netherlands and Switzerland, health insurance is not provided by the government. Citizens are required to purchase insurance. But they are free to do that through whatever company they choose. Insurance premiums are partially funded through subsidies provided by the government so that policies are affordable for everyone. The existing health care systems are funded by tax dollars collected from employers and the public, as well as special funds coming from income taxes and some other sources. The American health care system functions differently than health care in Europe and most health care systems in other world countries. But some of its features have analogs in the existing health care programs. In the U.S., Medicare is the federal health insurance program that is basic health insurance for people who are 65 or older, and supplemental policies can be purchased through private insurers. The 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, was a step to creating universal health system in the United States. Government subsidies enabled to reduce the number of uninsured Americans by 20 million. However, health insurance premiums of many Americans increased. Any health care program and related health care system depends upon the available funds to support it. It is easy to declare “Medicare-​for-​a ll.” But is it possible to realize? Unfortunately, politicians ignore such questions. They do not understand or do not want to understand that health care costs are a substantial part of government expenditures. Total health expenditure per capita in the U.S. is the highest in the world. Any repair costs money. It would be unwise for the country with a high debt to make drastic changes in its health care system. But politicians know that “promises and pie-​crust are made to be broken.” This part of human nature, skillfully used by politicians and eloquently described

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by Irish poet and satirist Jonathan Swift (1667–​1745) many years ago, remains unchanged.

Health Care Problem Private medicine in the United States is too expensive. Existing channels to maximize physicians’ profit are a lure for a possible fraud, which insurance companies would not fight since their profit is the result of a “productive cooperation” with private medicine. Presently it is unrealistic to expect from government any substantial decrease of private health care costs. Health insurance companies give healthy donations to political parties. In the period of the 2008 financial crisis, instead of focusing on the country’s economy the U.S. president spent time fighting for the promised so-​called Obamacare to provide with health insurance more than 10 millions of Americans. Health care is the main fiscal problem. Its cost is main reason for our fiscal malaise. As indicated above, the U.S. spends today on health care more than any other developed country in the world (measured as a percentage of GDP or per capita). The U.S. failed affordable health care system is the result of the absence of a rigorous approach to this complex economic problem. President Obama and his surrounding, having no solid knowledge in basic science, made decision based on their ideology without understanding that the establishing an expensive health system in the period of a severe economic crisis is equivalent to suicide. Without any doubt, all citizens of such a powerful and prosperous country as the United States should have affordable health care (right up to a universal health care system). But it is also obvious that the modification of the U.S. current health system would require a significant amount of money the government lacks. Having a huge debt the country cannot allow itself such a luxury. It was clear not only to economists (excluding those who decide to make money for fuzzy calculations) but any educated person based on common sense. However, politicians involved in the 2010 Affordable Care Act found economists who justified the efficiency of the future affordable health care system. They stated that the Act was designed to reduce government spending on health care. Moreover, according to the Congress Budget Office (CBO) analysis, the Affordable Care Act would reduce the debt by $143 billion over first ten years (2010–​2019) and by more than $1 trillion in the second decade. But reality proved the opposite. The program costs and will cost (if it is not abolished) the government more $100 billion yearly and was one of the reasons of a slow economic recovery.

Urgent Social Problems | 221 Professor Gruber, an MIT economist, the director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and an architect of the Affordable Care Act, cynically admitted that the “stupidity of the American voter” and a “lack of transparency” were key to passing the Affordable Care Act. After ten years of malfunctioning of the current health system, Republicans, who voted unanimously against the ACA, witnessing its deficiencies, could not agree to offer something better since many of them are slaves of their ideology and selves—​interests; others are simply unable to think properly. Government-​run health systems exist in many industrialized countries and they cost government less money than the public health system in the United States. The 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Senators Sanders and Warren decided to propose similar systems in the United States under the name a Medicare-​for-​a ll knowing that Hillary Clinton failed earlier with such a proposal. Although according to several studies Senator Sanders’ health care plan would increase the federal government health care spending about $33 trillion over 10 years, he stated that his “Medicare for All” proposal would save Americans $2 trillion. Elizabeth Warren declared that her plan would cost more than $20 trillion over the next decade and would not require raising middle class taxes. These senators are selling the empty promises to get people’s votes. They forgot even elementary mathematics. They do not know how to approach to the solution of such a difficult problem as the universal health care that would require a drastic transformation of the existing health care system. However, they do know that for money it is possible to find economists who would offer the solution which can be never realized and are sure that nobody will get all details to claim that this is nonsense. As we indicated earlier, the goal of such politicians is to offer something tasty to lure voters. They pursue their selfish goals but act, luckily, as bad actors trying to persuade the country that they pursue the public interest. Most Democratic presidential candidates offer a public option plan—​a form of health insurance provided by government that citizens can purchase to pay for their health care; this plan does not prohibit people to buy private insurance. A public option health insurance program would be run by the government but could be implemented just like private health insurance. One option is to require a public insurance to be self-​sustaining, that is, the system is funded only by the premiums paid in by those who use that program. Formally, the realization of such a program can be done on the federal or state levels. However, a realistic option is with the premiums subsidized by the government. The most difficult problem is how to subsidize the program to make the health care affordable. Of

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course, if such government health system would operate as a non-​profit organization then private insurance prices would come down. However, the only realistic way of self-​sustaining is higher taxes or/​and the increased debt, similar to the above indicated proposals of the universal health care. The Republican Party believes in a patient-​centered health care system based on the principles of the free market that would foster competition driving health care costs down. A consumer-​driven model for health care works well on paper than in practice, although its practical realization can be a little bit better than under the existing system. All U.S. insurance companies are regulated on a state-​ by-​state basis, so the companies have to be licensed in each state they sell policies in. Insurance markets in the U.S. are different in various states, and health insurance prices depend on state-​specific health care laws. The health care markets differ significantly form from traditional markers of goods and services. For example, car insurances determine their prices based on a car’s type and age, reliability and prices of its components as well as the existing service prices. Such an approach cannot be used dealing with the health care market, where health insurance companies influence health care prices by selling insurances to both health care providers and their patients. Health insurance companies are suppliers of health related services through health providers who, in turn, buy liability insurances, that is, influence the demand of insurance services. On the one hand, higher costs of liability insurance command higher prices for health provider services; trying to maximize their profit insurances try to increase liability costs. On the other hand, to increase the profit many health providers use unnecessary procedures decreasing the profit of insurance companies. Both sides understand these strategies. The existing health care prices are the result of a compromise. Moreover, since the health care market does not function like the markets for other consumer goods, its quality and prices are not necessarily correlated. The above material explains why health care prices are hugely different not only between states but also within the same area. According to the 2016 research data, states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin had higher than average prices while others, such as Florida and Maryland, were cheaper overall; Arizona’s health care prices were generally cheaper, about 82 percent of the national average, while next door in New Mexico health care was more expensive, about 25 percent above the national average. Some researchers believe the reason of an expensive health care in the U.S. is that almost all health care prices are hidden; this hinders market competition and does not allow patients and their health care providers to make fully informed decisions. Of course, the lack of meaningful readily available price information raises costs. However, because

Urgent Social Problems | 223 of the indicated above specifics of health insurance, the efforts to produce such data are complicated, and the obtained results are not very helpful. The Affordable Care Act created the related health care market to obtain coverage from competing private health care providers. A set of insurance exchanges was created where Americans could enroll in private health plans with varying degrees of subsidy. Despite this market is more transparent than it was earlier, this is also not a traditional market of goods and services. If in 2013 there were 395 insurers participating in exchanges, that number is down to 181 for 2018. President Obama repeatedly promised that his signature health law, the Affordable Care Act, would reduce insurance premiums by $2,500 for the typical family. Instead, premiums have increased by a comparable amount. The promise to increase the number of Americans with health insurance and decrease its cost is an ignorant and shameless political statement. Those who had prepared the economic justification of such a lie are dishonest and/​or low level professionals. The fact that premiums have increased and the number of participating insurance companies have decreased significantly proves the absurdity of attempts to resolve health care problems in countries with a huge national debt by laws similar to the Affordable Care Act. The main characteristics of health systems of the leading industrial countries should not be ignored by the U.S.  policymakers since this information shows how America’s existing health care system compares to others. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. spends per person about $9,000—​at least $4,000 more than Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. In the mentioned countries the per-​ capita expenditures on health care are within the 9–​11.7 percent range of GDP, whereas in the U.S. it reaches almost 18 percent. Since the health system contributes significantly to the country’s debt, the solution of the health care problem should start with the admissible amount of money that can be now allocated for health care. This should be the starting point. Policies and alternative variants of their realization should be discussed and developed after this amount is established. Unfortunately, politicians start with policies and then ask an appropriate organization to estimate costs in 10–​ 20 years. Such future estimates are unreliable and misleading; in addition, they ignore the fact that under a proper economic policy in the future more money can be allocated and the health system can be improved. Formally, the two obvious ways to decrease health care prices (this would increase the number of insured persons) are:  reduce liability costs and reduce doctors’ salaries. Lower liability insurance costs can reduce health care prices.

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However, they depend on medical malpractice awards, which are different in various states; for example, in California they significantly higher than in Maryland. A proper legislation concerning malpractice claims could be the first important step to decrease health care prices. Now only some states have passed laws that place limitations on the amount of money that can be awarded in a successful medical malpractice lawsuit. In their attempts to increase profits some insurances, having no health care experts, use subcontractors. There exists insurances that insure almost all—​from dental practice to cybersecurity. It is difficult to imagine that such firms have experts in all fields to make proper judgements. Often they serve as subcontractors of large and more powerful insurances. Usually, any more complicated insurance structure increases liability costs. That is why liability coverage for health care professionals, insurance that financially protects doctors and other medical workers when courts award patients’ financial damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit, should be in hands of insurances specialized in the health care field. The mean yearly salary of a doctor in the United States is $294,000/​year according to a Medscape Report. It is far more than in other industrial countries: in Germany and the United Kingdom it is around $150,000 and $175,000, respectively. The mean yearly salary of family physicians in the U.S. is $209,000; in Germany and the United Kingdom it is around $120,000 and $85,000, respectively. As indicated earlier, the Republican Party believes the patient-​ centered health care system, which is based on the principles of the free market, will drive health care costs down. Republicans believe that a health care system that is run by the government less efficient; it increases the waiting period within the health care system, which is a component of the health care quality. As we indicated earlier, the traditional free market approach to health care does not work in reality. For example, the average yearly salary of a dentist in the U.S., Germany and the United Kingdom is around $155,000, $108,000, and $75,500, respectively. These prices jumped drastically in the U.S. during last ten years. The members of the state’s dental boards and insurance companies, rather than market forces, moved them up. The higher prices motivated students of social sciences departments to specialize in dentistry, and the number of dentists (dentistry is one of the simplest medical professions) increased. Instead of decreasing prices dictated by insurances some dentists prefer to work less (e.g., four days a week). And the government does not interfere; this would contradict to our capitalist system. As we indicated in Chapter 5, the most efficient societal structures should contain feedforward (regulations, governmental ownership and control) and

Urgent Social Problems | 225 feedback (market economy) channels. The United States health care system is a complex mix of public (government controlled) and private programs (market economy). Most Americans with health care insurance have an employer-​ sponsored plan. But the federal government insures the poor (Medicaid) and elderly (Medicare) as well as veterans, federal employees and Congressmen. State-​ run programs insure other public employees. Both types of public and private health care systems have positive and negative features. The reduction of health care prices should be a part of the government economic policy. Such policy should include measures to limit profits of health care insurance companies. The obvious solution is to use government as a competitive insurer with zero profit or less than of the existing insurance companies. The earlier mentioned option health insurance programs, to be self-​sustaining, cannot be implemented without doctors who are ready to accept lower salaries. Under the current situation, when the government is unable to invest additional money in the health care system and doctors would not agree to work for less money than they can get under the current system, such programs are not realizable. However, as a step to decreasing health care prices, the states with a help of the federal government can create integrated managed care consortiums, similar to Kaiser Permanente, where doctors’ salaries are lower than private practice doctors, with a low profit to compensate in the future an initial investment. Not every doctor wishes to run own business understanding the related additional load and liability; many doctors prefer to work for a smaller amount of money. A  state can use its public universities to create programs for future physicians without tuition fees with their obligation to work in its managed care consortiums (one or several depending on the available investment) for a certain period of time. Such market approach should decrease health care prices in the private sector, and this can be a road to extend it in the future. Politicians like to talk about health care of equal quality for all population. Unfortunately, this had never been in the past, and it is unrealistically to expect in the future. Now rich persons, members of the U.S. Congress and federal government employees have better health insurance than many retirees. Not all doctors accept patients with Medicare or Medicate, since these insurances are not good sources of revenue. For the same reason, old Americans should wait at least a week for office-​based medical appointments. That is why the described above possible way to improve the existing health care system can be efficient. Many people, especially young, do not need the highest quality physicians to treat them, and they can wait a week to get appointment. If the country has 8.8  percent of people without health insurance coverage and the insurance

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prices are high, the compromised approach is more realistic that empty proposals of politicians. As we indicated earlier, the U.S.  failed affordable health care system is a result of the absence of a rigorous approach to this complex economic problem. President Obama and his surrounding had not improved the U.S.  health care system. Republicans witnessing its deficiencies could not offer something better. The country with the 26 trillion national debt, which exceeds its GDP, and with spending on health care almost 18 percent of its GDP cannot spend on health care more. The United States economic health does not allow to do that.

Educational System Education has always been a path to success and freedom, and for more than a century American schools were the envy of the world, and the U.S. scientific and technological advances made this country a nation of innovators. Its schools help students to develop the knowledge and skills that made travel faster and cheaper than ever before, let their countrymen explore the heavens and took them to the moon. But we live in the 21st century, and new economic, cultural, and social changes have affected America. Technology has produced a revolution in every aspect of human life. In the future, we expect that the genetics, robotics, information, and nanoscience revolutions should make people’s lives easier. The success in these areas depends on our scientific potential. Americans still have some of the finest schools and students in the world, but the country has been lagging behind since the 1960s and in the last fifty years Americans have famously fallen behind many less wealthy or powerful nations. Although most American schools are modern and spacious, have state-​of-​ the art facilities, and classrooms are well equipped with computerized learning aids, the curricula of many schools being taught do not provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life. The textbooks are handsome and well written but do not seem to stress the fundamentals of reading, writing, math, and science. And most students are either being taught to the test or learning just enough to get by and move on to the next grade level. Many students graduate from high school without a real knowledge of their mother tongue because English grammar simply was not taught properly. They also know little about algebra and so are unable to move on to higher levels of mathematical courses that are necessary to perform in any science, especially in physics-​related subjects. The reluctance of many Americans to continue their education level

Urgent Social Problems | 227 beyond a bachelor’s degree—​to get at least a master’s degree, suggests that schools and parents did not instill in children a love of learning. A bachelor’s degree is considered essential to financial and social upward mobility, and most Americans who make it that far are satisfied with this minimal achievement; in fact for many, even this is not financially attainable. This lack of federal control over education and the different ways that national education policies are interpreted at the state and local levels are two key reasons why education still remains an unresolved problem. Local schools also tend to be reluctant to use experts in math, science, and technical fields in designing curricula. When A Nation at Risk was issued thirty-​seven years ago, its condemnation of the U.S. public schools must have been chilling for everyone to read. Rather than take immediate actions and attempt to stem the tide, the government let educational performance tumble downward. In all those years, few people with a stake in education really rose to the challenge or came up with viable and realistic approaches to address the issues facing schools. Compound the lack of national consensus with the monumental demographic changes over the last sixty years, and it was inevitable that many American schools would end up in the sorry state they are today. Some of the issues schools needed to address, in varying degrees, across the country were: schools had a hard time attracting and keeping good teachers; test scores in the fundamentals of reading, writing, math, and science were either stagnant or dropped to all-​time lows; high school graduation rates went down; drop-​out rates rose. In an attempt to get consensus on the status of education, the Department of Education issued a report in 2008 that reviewed how far Americans have come in the last twenty-​five years since A Nation at Risk was released. This new report was entitled A Nation Accountable, Twenty-​five Years After A Nation at Risk and its conclusions were a real blow to education: “If we were “at risk” in 1983, we are at even greater risk now. The rising demands of our global economy, together with demographic shifts, require that we educate more students to higher levels than ever before. Yet, our education system is not keeping pace with these growing demands.” Although the United States invests in each student significantly more than other countries, high school students in the United States lag behind the rest of the world in math, science, and language and this lack of scholarship threatens the American way of life. Education in modern times is a very powerful means of social control. It prepares the child for social living and teaches him the values of discipline, cooperation, tolerance and integration. The U.S. national security depends not only on our sophisticated arm forces but also on the educational level of our population.

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The educated young generation is the second line of defense. Education means to protect and defend the United States and its educational system should be modernized to work more efficiently. The survey of Harvard Business School shows that although American companies successfully compete internationally, U.S. workers are not able to do that. The questioned business executives believe that one of the reasons is the uncompetitive K-​12 educational system and that is why U.S. companies shift cautiously (fearing of a backlash) well-​paid technology jobs to India, China and other low-​cost centers. On the one hand, many high school graduates and bachelor degree graduates do not have enough knowledge to work efficiently in high tech-​companies. On the other hand, the inexplicable substantial raise of professors’ salaries in state and many private universities resulted in an increasing payment for higher education, which many potential students cannot afford; as a result, U.S.  companies lose highly qualified workforce—​ scientists prefer to teach at universities with their “free regime” rather than work at companies since the salaries are competitive—​and potentially able young people who cannot afford the rising tuition costs of colleges and universities. About fifty years a striking paradox underlies education reform: the political parties bicker over the issue but are unable to develop a successful education strategy. Although representatives of both parties advocate a good education for children, Democrats insist on increasing federal involvement in education accompanied with lavish federal funding, while Republicans oppose the intensive involvement. In Russia, the Bolsheviks came to power promoting the idea of mass literacy. With 45 percent literacy in 1917, Russia became a fully literate society by 1930. Soviet leaders always considered education to be an extremely important indicator of progress. The South Korea government does not spend an extraordinary amount of money on education (about 4.5 percent of its GDP). Middle school class size averages 40–​50 students, almost twice the average class size in most developed countries. It looks like American politicians and educators who fight for small classes and increased federal investment in education are not familiar with this data. There is one important factor that explains South Korea’s educational success. All its elementary and secondary schools follow the same national curriculum and use the same textbooks. Finland’s 15-​year-​old students earned some of the highest scores in the world. These students are way ahead of their American counterparts in math, science and reading. Finland considers education as a national priority. The Finnish parliament set the broad educational agenda, outlined the general principles of educational policies. The government, Ministry of Education, and National Board of Education (NBA) are responsible

Urgent Social Problems | 229 for the implementation of policy at the central administrative level. The NBA is in charge of the development of educational objectives, content, and methods used in education and training, as well as evaluation of education. It is also the board’s responsibility to prepare and adapt the core curriculum for the schools. The country has a national education policy and national testing. The government established a single straightforward curriculum for all schools and guaranteed well-​trained teachers respect and freedom to teach. Teaching is a prestigious career in Finland. Teachers are highly valued and teaching standards are high; a master’s degree is a requirement. The above examples of absolutely different countries, which for 30–​50 years created efficient education systems, cannot but suggest an idea of what factors contributed to this success. It does not require special knowledge to notice that in all three chosen countries the government determines and controls a national education policy, a national testing, and a national curriculum. It is more than 60 years since the former Soviet Union had declared about itself by launching Sputnik and drew attention to its education system. This event triggered America’s efforts to improve its public education system. But after 60 years, still there are no encouraging results. Maybe it is time to stop experimenting and examine seriously the educational achievements of other countries and to learn from their experience. Americans must ask themselves this:  as the world’s problems become more complex and interrelated, how can we ever hope to solve anything if our leaders are not the best and the brightest and best educated? can a nation of insufficiently educated people guarantee its security? without high education standards do we put our country’s safety and security in danger? In the United States, about 3.1  million public school teachers educate 49.7 million children in 98,000 public elementary and secondary schools (U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). Although education in the United States is provided mainly by government, with control and funding coming from three levels—​federal, state, and local, unlike the nationally regulated and financed education systems of most other countries, it is highly decentralized, and the federal government is not heavily involved in determining curricula or education standards. The United States Department of Education (ED) is a cabinet-​level department of the United States government with about 4,000 employees and $68 billion budget (2016). The primary function of the ED is to collect data on America’s schools that would help the states to improve their education systems, to focus national attention on key educational issues, to formulate federal funding programs involving education, as well as monitoring funds for these programs, and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and

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civil rights. However, the Department of Education has no direct public jurisdictional control over the quality of educational institutions; since the U.S. Constitution does not mention education, public education has always been controlled by the individual states. Now the involvement of the federal government in education differs from its activity many years ago. The ED engaged also in federal funding programs and monitoring funds related to these programs. By formulating national goals and supplying states with money to accomplish these goals, the federal government significantly increased its involvement in education. Now the expanding role of the federal government in public education became a subject of heated debates. On the one hand, some senators and members of Congress think that the U.S.  government is overstepping its constitutional bounds. On the other hand, many public officials believe that local and state control of schools was and still is the brake of educational reforms. According to the Institute of Education Sciences of the ED, the United States ranked the highest among the G-​8 countries, which represent the largest economies by nominal GDP, in terms of expenditure per student at the higher education level and at the combined elementary, secondary and higher education level. According to Department of Education data, the ED’s budget in 1979 was $14.5 billion. Today, its budget has grown almost fivefold. How much does America need to spend on public education? Being the richest country in the world America cannot squander money. No one country has so many educational organizations as the U.S.  feeding themselves from the ED’s purse and taking advantage of the existing educational mess. The properly restructured ED, which would work with several highly professional educational organizations responsible for curricula and testing and which stop wasting money on the so-​called research with obvious results, can significantly decrease federal education spending. Accountability should be not only a popular word. It must be a real measure of educational progress. The functions of the reorganized ED are simple and clear. Its activity should be focused mostly on core subjects. All other subjects, programs and actions related to these subjects can be resolved and should be resolved on local levels. The ED should not spend money in vain. The ED should formulate precisely educational requirements and check how they are followed by states. The states which do not perform in accordance with the requirements should lose the federal financial aid and should be known to the public, so that people of these states can force their officials to do better their job or choose the new more efficient leaders. Public awareness is the most important factor. But the public should not

Urgent Social Problems | 231 be misinformed and fooled by empty phrases and promises. The ED must be a real education policy maker and judge. The ED should establish standards for curricula designed for use at elementary, middle and high schools, and examine textbooks in consideration of their important role as the primary teaching materials. A state unwilling to participate in the national education reform will not receive any federal support. It makes the state government responsible for the progress in education, and its citizens will judge the state’s education policy. They are the main factor influencing possible future changes in the state’s education system. If a state accepts federal funding, it must follow the national goals incarnated in a national test and curricula. In this case, the state would face two auditors:  its citizens and the federal government. The federal government will evaluate accountability on the federal level, i.e., how effective its funds were spent, whether they brought the expected results; the state’s citizens will evaluate accountability on the local level, i.e., whether their state and local taxes are used properly to improve education. It would require a small group in the ED which, working with various existing educational organizations, would handle textbooks recommendations, basic curriculum issues, as well as annual tests in the basic subjects. Making the ED responsible for the basics of curriculum and annual tests will save money of the states and districts, and they would be able to reduce their staff performing these functions. The federal government efforts to improve education failed because of its inability to formulate properly the national education goals and functional requirements for state education systems as part of the stimulating strategy. A  national standard test should be introduced in all public schools altogether with curricula and recommended textbooks for the basic subjects. Any half-​ measures cannot bring the desired results. The United States has a huge scientific potential to develop the necessary standards and implement them in practice. Once a year the tests should be prepared by the U.S. Department of Education and sent to the state and district boards of education which should be responsible for carrying out the tests and processing the results. Possible modifications of the curricula and recommended textbooks could be discussed, for example, every five years. A high level of information technology in the country makes this process of communication with state and local education departments an elementary procedure. Identical final exams all over the country would provide a reliable statistical data for analysis and decision making. This statistical material would allow the central government to make proper decisions concerning the financial help, various initiatives and recommendations that would improve the level of education of separate groups of the population and decrease dropouts. Systematic

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testing would provide all departments of education with data that sheds light on which schools are not teaching basic skills effectively, so that interventions can be made to reduce the achievement gap. Assuming that in the future Americans will establish the above indicated high education standards, develop curricula for basic subjects and work out the sophisticating testing system, can all these measures guarantee the expected educational progress? The positive answer can be only if these measures are accompanied by money directed to schools and by the decreased size of educational bureaucracy. Disproportional sizes of the boards of educations of various states translate into the swollen educational bureaucracy. Information technology is the bitterest enemy of bureaucracy. The regular national basic subjects’ standard tests can decrease the size of local educational departments, i.e., decrease states’ money spent on education. It is difficult to get rid of bureaucratic thinking accompanied by long and expensive bureaucratic procedures. Fighting bureaucracy means to decrease the unnecessary state and federal educational staff. Establishing high education standards means to get rid of unqualified teachers, which is not simple since most of educational workforce has trade unions’ support. The U.S. education system can function effectively only if the state and local systems of public education will pursue the goals formulated by the federal government and if the U.S. Department of Education will induce the state and local departments of education to evaluate identically their efficiency and degree of progress and provide the ED with reliable information. The establishment of a single national system of education standards, tests, and curricula for the basic subjects accompanied with the regulations allowing the competition among the educational workforce and providing the job opportunity only for those who satisfy certain requirements—​only under these conditions the United States system of public education can produce the expected results. Until the public understands that educational progress can be achieved only if students of all states are tested identically in the basic subjects, until the public demands the politicians not to refer to the U.S. Constitution of 1776 as a weapon to oppose a national standard test, and until the public demands trade unions not to interfere in the educational process, education reform will not bring any tangible positive results. If the U.S. public schools and universities do not provide American children with proper knowledge of mathematics, physics, and other important scientific disciplines, the future generation will not be able to compete with the world workforce. Without decent initial knowledge of mathematics many school graduates apply to universities to get a degree in a liberal art. As a result, American

Urgent Social Problems | 233 public education system prepares too many “talkers” rather than persons who are able to create something useful for society. It is natural that many persons who got, for example, a degree in political science are unable to find a job in this area, and they are forced to make a living in absolutely different areas. Usually, their salaries are not high. With higher education diplomas, they want to get paid as scientists and engineers in high-​tech companies, research centers, etc. But their desire is at odds with reality, since none business will pay much if you are not an expert. Bitterness and non-​satisfaction make them critics of American capitalist system, the system that in a short period of time transferred the United States into a superpower. The U.S. education system is guilty in not producing enough workforce which determine technical and scientific progress (its schools do not foster in children a love for mathematics and science; its universities do not restrict the number of yearly produced degrees in the liberal arts). The familiar everybody words academic freedoms assume non-​interference of state governments in academic affairs of institutions of higher education, their autonomy and independence. Throughout the last sixty years the relationship between state government and the institutions of higher education became more strained; regulations limited institutional rights to govern themselves. The main reason for these changes was the accountability problem and the growing cost of education. During the last sixty years, states created various coordinating and governing boards that exist in the 21st century. In the 1980s, as if responding to the increased government involvement in education, states reevaluated its higher education system in terms of quality, accountability and efficiency; states broadened responsibilities of the boards—​up to firm control of the institutions rather than working as advocates for them. A  certain coordination between faculty interests, campus interests and state-​level concerns was established. For the early 21st century, an urgent need of jobs in such areas as business and health care and the continuing boom in information technology and communications required an appropriate shift in the educational programs of institutions of higher education. Not all colleges and universities wish to adjust their programs to the new requirements of time. The pressure coming from coordinating and governing boards is damped by the trade union organizations and the academic rules established earlier, so that the expected changes slow down, similarly to the changes in primary and secondary education. By creating governing and coordinating boards state governments tried to build a rational system (regarding educational programs and educational costs) of higher education. However, the desire of the governing boards to set guidelines for higher education meets resistance of institutions which want the governing

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boards to be mostly advocates for funding. The relationship between states and state institutions of higher education more and more reminds the relationship between the federal government and states in the area of K-​12 public education. The state’s leaders lack of logic when they stand against federal involvement in education and insist on their right to evaluate how effectively the federal money on education were spent; but when it relates to the state money on higher education, they do not trust their institutions of higher educations and want to control the educational costs. The mixture of money and politics does not favor a healthy educational climate and hinders the educational progress. Currently, state governments fund higher education using mostly the so-​ called incremental funding system, i.e., the next year funding is based on the previous year budget. But state funding is not the only source of financing. To balance their budget, institutions of higher education use private sources and endowments. Despite increased higher educational funding, tuition and fees grew with a significantly higher rate (more than 3 times) than funding, i.e., states increasingly relied upon tuition and fees to provide necessary funding for their higher education institutions. Americans now owe more than $1.53 trillion in student loan debt. This debt is owed by 44.5 million people across all demographics. Most Democrats have gotten behind the idea of some form of tuition-​free or debt-​free college, but they disagree about how much of the tab should be covered. Several 2020 presidential candidates called for making four years of public college tuition-​free for students under a certain income threshold, while others would cover only community colleges or technical schools. The higher education problems cannot be resolved without a tough state control of state colleges and universities. High tuition fees are the result of increased salaries of teaching staff. In 2016–​2017, the average salary of full-​time instructional faculty on 9-​month contracts in degree-​granting postsecondary institutions was $76,121. In fields with high-​paying nonacademic alternatives (e.g., medicine, law, engineering, and business) earnings exceed these averages, whereas in such fields as the humanities and education they are lower. Many faculty members of four-​year colleges and universities have additional earnings from consulting, teaching additional courses, research, writing for publication, or other employment. As to the colleges and universities, in our opinion, the widely spread system of establishing salary of the instructional staff is obsolete and unfair. The existing system is not only the reason for rising tuition fees but it also does not award properly many hard working professors. Salaries of professors of high-​quality

Urgent Social Problems | 235 universities with an extensive research, usually reflect more their high scientific potential than their teaching skills. But their high salaries influence, at a certain degree, the salary range of less gifted professors, which is also high enough. The normal teaching load in such universities is significantly lower than in pure teaching colleges; on average a professor teaches five courses a year; each one-​semester course consists of two or three lectures a week. As a result, professors have a lot of free time, which is assumed to be spent on research. Various publications in journals increase a university’s prestige and help to bring grants and contracts to the university. However, there is no an efficient mechanism that would encourage professors to write proposals and participate in research. This does not relate to real scientists devoted to their profession, who try to make contribution in science and technology. However, they present only a part of faculty. Other, usually, are very active to reach a certain position and salary and then stop at what has been accomplished. Having a lot of free time, they use it on consulting, open their own companies and even do business that has nothing common with their profession. They do not bring money to the university, and the university pays them more than they deserve. Scientists rarely generate ideas continually. During certain periods, mostly when becoming older, they stop bringing money to the university. Moreover, they are reluctant to prepare new courses that would attract more students than the old ones they have been teaching for many years. As a result, the university pays out their former rather than current services. Usually, when a professor receives a grant or a contract, he gets additional money for up to three months in accordance with his basic salary. It is unclear why professors who write proposals have no right to set their salary for various projects. If a limit for a teaching salary were established and more freedom were given to professors in setting their research salary, both the university and its highly qualified and hard-​working professors would benefit from such rules. Those who are involved in research would get more money than they have under the existing system, and those who prefer only to teach would earn less. The existence of tenure, a granted professor’s permanent job contract, is one of the reasons for the above-​indicated lessening productivity of some faculty members and the rising cost of higher education. A professor who achieves tenure is secure, his position is permanent until retirement. Moreover, even after reaching the retirement age he cannot be fired. Lifetime tenure, permanent employment, does not serve as a stimulus to work hard. Vice versa, it induces laziness, stifles initiatives and decreases job performance because tenure professors are accountable to no one.

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The concept of academic freedom, like most abstract terms, is fuzzy and admits ambiguous interpretation. Formally, it assures faculty the right to pursue any line of inquiry in the course of their teaching or research without being censored, penalized or fired by university administrators. Then it is not clear why academic freedom cannot flourish without tenure. More productive would be the system with a limited tenure, a granted professor’s five-​seven year job contract. After this period of time, a faculty committee and the governing board of the institution should evaluate the professor’s performance and make the decision whether to renew the contract. Such system exists in many countries; it was also in the Soviet Union. Valuable faculty members should not see any danger in this modification of tenure, while the university administration would have more freedom to get rid of non-​productive and not diligent faculty members. Universities, whether or not they abolish tenure, must develop new personnel policies to adapt to the new requirements of the 21st century. Only a free-​market employment structure can guarantee institutional flexibility and high quality public education. Education is a huge part of the U.S. economy. It is representing about 15 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product and is second in size only to the health care industry. Federal and state expenditures on education total $1.2 trillion. They can be cut. The United States has a huge national debt. A  great British physicist Earnest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, wrote: “We haven’t the money, so we’ve got to think.” Maybe this is the best recommendation to educators and politicians, to all who care for the future of their country.

Immigration Problem America is a nation of immigrants. Since 1607, when the first English settlers reached the New World, over 42  million people have migrated to the United States (Kennedy, 1964). British colonists along with New York’s Dutch and later Germans settlers had created an American branch of European civilization. At the time of the Declaration of Independence, they with other immigrants from Britain, Holland, Germany, and Sweden deserved the right to form a nation and choose their own government: they lived almost 170 years in Virginia, over 150 in Massachusetts, and 100  years in Pennsylvania. The millions of immigrants have come to the United States from Europe, most in waves beginning in the 1840s. In the 1850s, Chinese workers migrated to the United States starting Chinese immigration. A  variety of reasons caused people to immigrate to the

Urgent Social Problems | 237 U.S.; among them the most important: to seek personal, religious or economic freedom; poverty and unemployment in their homelands; economic opportunity. Many immigrants and their descendants have contributed mightily to the United States, and when the country became a superpower the economic opportunity became the main factor stimulated people to immigrate to the U.S. However, the immigration problem arose soon after the United States had been founded. In his book President Kennedy (1964) wrote: “In 1797 a member of Congress argued that, while a liberal immigration policy was fine when the country was new and unsettled, now that America had reached its maturity and was fully populated, immigration should stop—​an argument which has been repeated at regular intervals throughout American history.” The Pros and Cons of immigration have been an important and serious issue for decades. As a rule, immigrants are a source of low cost labor. Indirectly, the labor cost reductions pass on to the consumer, so that host country consumers benefit from this, since goods created by a cheaper labor force can be sold at lower prices. In many cases, immigrants take jobs that most citizens prefer not to take. However, when immigrants take jobs from the country’s population they become personae non gratae. The U.S. encouraged relatively free and open immigration during the 18th and early 19th centuries and rarely questioned that policy until the late 1800s, when the economic situation in the country worsened. In 1875, the Supreme Court declared regulation of immigration a federal responsibility. The 1875 Page Act, commonly referred to as the Asian Exclusion Act, was the first restrictive federal immigration law and prohibited the entry of immigrants considered “undesirable.” It prohibited the entry of Chinese women, marking the end of open borders. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers who worked particularly on transcontinental railroads, such as the Central Pacific Railroad, and in mining. Political and labor organizations rallied against the immigrants of what they regarded as a degraded race and “cheap Chinese labor.” The Alien Contract Labor Laws of 1885, 1887, 1888, and 1891 restricted the immigration to the U.S. of people entering the country to work under contracts made before their arrival. Alien skilled laborers, under these laws, were allowed to enter the U.S. to work in new industries. The Naturalization Act of 1790 established a uniform rule of naturalization and a residency requirement for new citizenship applicants. The law required immigrants (“any alien, being a free white person”) to live in the United States for two years and in the state where the application was filed for at least one year prior to applying for citizenship. Immigration laws of 1875–​1918 established

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the policy of direct federal regulation of immigration by prohibiting for the first time entry to undesirable immigrants (excluded criminals and prostitutes; political radicals; aliens, with some exceptions, under contract for the performance of labor or services of any kind; illiterate aliens; persons likely to become a public charge) creating national control of immigration and boards of special inquiry to decide the admissibility of alien arrivals. Naturalization Act of 1906 combined the immigration and naturalization functions of the federal government, established fundamental procedural safeguards regarding naturalization, and made knowledge of the English language a requirement for naturalization. The Immigration Acts of 1903–​1917 added rules to exclude persons with physical or mental defects or tuberculosis, anarchists, and children unaccompanied by parents. The first quantitative immigration law was adopted in 1921. It set temporary annual quotas according to nationality. Being formulated mainly to restrict the large influx of Jews fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe, the Act added two new features to American immigration law:  numerical limits on immigration and the use of a quota system for establishing those limits. In the 1924, the first permanent immigration quota law established a preference quota system which made permanent in 1929. After World War II and the Holocaust, there were many displaced persons in Europe (Jews who had survived the Holocaust and many others trying to escape persecution by communist regimes). In his 1947 State of the Union, President Truman stated, “We are dealing with a human problem, a world tragedy.” He believed that refugees and displaced persons merited special consideration separately from immigrants who sought a better life. As a result of his efforts, in 1948 the first U.S. policy was adopted for admitting persons fleeing persecution. Refugees became an important component and a major factor of U.S. immigration. The people admitted under this program represented nearly one-​half the 900,000 legal immigrants admitted to the United States from 1949 to 1952. The multiple laws which governed immigration and naturalization to that time (the 1917 and 1924 Acts) were brought into one comprehensive statute, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 which reaffirmed the national origins quota system, established preferences for skilled workers and relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens, and tightened security—​screening standards and procedures. Subsequent legislation (Refugee Relief Act of 1953, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, The Refugee Act of 1980, The Immigration Act of 1990) specified the future immigration quotas and the new criteria and procedures for refugees’ admission.

Urgent Social Problems | 239 The significant wave of Mexican workers coming into the United States began, when the Unites States entered World War II. The Mexican government agreed to export Mexican workers as contract laborers to enable American workers to fight overseas. Nearly 4.6 million Mexican citizens entered the U.S. temporarily to work on farms, railroads, and in factories between 1942 and 1964. However, by the time the program ended in 1964, the number of Mexican workers who had entered the U.S. illegally surpassed the indicated number of legally-​ processed temporary laborers (many of them as seasonal agricultural workers). Following the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, Mexicans for the first time had to compete for visas with immigrants from other areas of Latin America. Population growth and declining economic conditions in Mexico caused the numbers of undocumented workers to soar. In turn, the Mexican government benefited from Mexicans going abroad. In 1986, when the United States passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, 2.3 million Mexicans residing illegally in the United States were granted amnesty. The Act established sanctions prohibiting employers from hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee aliens known to be unauthorized to work in the United States, created a new classification of temporary agricultural workers provided for the legalization of certain such workers, and indicated the necessity of increasing enforcement resources at the border. In 1993, President Clinton built a 325-​mile fence along the border between California and Mexico. He established the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform to examine both legal and illegal immigration issues. Its recommendations were included in the 1996 Act that established penalties for undocumented immigrants who committed crimes while in the United States or who stayed in the U.S. for statutorily defined periods of time. According the 2002 Homeland Security Act, all immigration enforcement and adjudication is located within the Department of Homeland Security. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 amended the 1996 Act to authorize the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the Mexican border. The described above U.S.  postwar immigration policy does not leave any doubt in its liberal attitude toward immigrants. The country is ready to accept immigrants from various parts of the world and allow them to achieve the American dream. It welcomes those who can contribute to American society. But immigrants must follow the existing immigration laws establishing the quotas for immigrants from different countries and the related procedures. Unfortunately, the normal functioning of the U.S. immigration system was destroyed by illegal immigration. In 2007, despite the opposition of a majority of Republicans, President Bush decided to legalize an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, most from Latin America, and to create a temporary worker

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program sought by business groups in exchange to tough border security and workplace enforcement measures. But he failed to persuade Republicans who believed that such a plan was an amnesty rewarding illegal immigrants. During the next ten years the situation with illegal immigration worsened in such a degree that drastic measures to stop it became obvious. Learning loopholes in the U.S. legislation, paid human smugglers instructed and brought into the United States thousands of illegal immigrants. According to a RAND Corporation report, Central American migrants paid human smugglers more than $2 billion in 2017 to get them into the United States. It became known that if a person crossed the U.S. border, even if he/​she was detained (caught) at the border, by acting properly he/​she can stay illegally in the U.S. The existing process of treating illegal aliens creates legal obstacles to deport immediately illegal immigrants caught at the border. U.S. law requires the government to allow anyone who shows up at the border to apply for asylum. A person claiming a “credible fear of persecution” has the right to a court hearing. Minors caught at the border should not be detained for more than 20 days. Usually, each year tens of thousands of aliens are caught and then, based on the existing immigration laws, released into the interior of the United States. Many never show up for their immigration hearings to escape deportation. A loophole—​unaccompanied alien children from places other than Canada or Mexico have to be turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services and placed in the “least restrictive setting”—​resulted in human trafficking of children from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras into the United States. Between February 2014 and September 2015, 80 percent of unaccompanied alien children from these countries were placed with sponsors who are present illegally in the United States. In 2014, the number of apprehended unaccompanied alien children grew to 69,000. According to Department of Homeland Security, the number of unaccompanied alien children coming across the border almost doubled in 2016 compared to the same period in 2015 exceeding the 2014 level. In April of 2017, a group of men, women, and children, mainly from Honduras, began a march through Mexico to the United States border and requested asylum there. In March of 2018, another Central American caravan of 10,000-​ plus migrants entered Mexico and intended to reach the United States. Mexico’s National Immigration Institute reported it had processed a total of 10,343 migrants. About 75 percent were from Honduras, with the rest coming from El Salvador, Guatemala, and a small number of Haitians, Nicaraguans, Cubans and Brazilians. The strategy of the migrants was obvious—​to reach the border and apply for asylum within the U.S. allowing them to disappear into the country

Urgent Social Problems | 241 without ever appearing to their immigration court date. The above described events highlighted the issue of border security as well as the whole problem of illegal immigration. According to Pew Research Center, in 2016 there were an estimated 10.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. That is 3  percent of the U.S.  population of 320  million and 25  percent of the immigrant population. Half of them have lived in the United States for at least about 15  years. The number of undocumented immigrants has tripled since 1990, when there were 3.5  million in the U.S. In 2017, there were 7.6  million undocumented immigrants in the workforce. They are mostly in farming and construction. Illegal immigration became a national crisis that threatens our national security, puts a burden on our economy, and destroys American lives. A  continually growing population of illegal aliens and the federal government’s ineffective efforts to secure our borders present significant national security and public safety threats to the United States. Illegal immigration costs Americans billions of dollars each year. According to a 2017 report of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, there were approximately 12.5 million illegal alien residents in the U.S. and the total cost of illegal immigration for the United States—​at the federal, state, and local levels—​was approximately $116 billion. The Federal government spends a net amount of $45.8 billion on illegal aliens and their U.S.-​ born children. This amount includes expenditures for public education, medical care, justice enforcement initiatives, welfare programs and other miscellaneous costs; it takes into account also the meager amount illegal aliens pay to the federal government in income, social security, Medicare and excise taxes. The country with a huge national debt cannot allow itself such a luxury. Almost 50 percent of federal crimes were committed near the Mexico border. Illegal immigrants accounted for nearly 75 percent of federal drug sentences in 2014. The Mexican drug trafficking organizations are particularly well known for the growing, processing, and distribution of various illegal narcotics including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamines. They not only bring illegally drugs in the U.S. but also use illegal immigrants in the illegal drug trade. In addition to the drug trade, the Mexican cartels are involved in human trafficking (i.e., prostitution) and human smuggling. The ease with which thousands of tons of drugs and millions of illegal aliens are crossing the border indicates that the United States has lost control of its Southwest border. Members of al-​Qaida, Hezbollah, other terrorist organizations, and dangerous criminals from other countries can easily infiltrate the border to perform terrorist acts, kidnap and murder U.S. citizens. The public safety requires not only to deport these people

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but prevent them from entering the United States in the first place. Comprehensive immigration reform must begin by securing the border. In the situation when thousands of people from different countries want to cross the U.S. border and the existing loopholes in the U.S. immigration system made it difficult, and in some cases nearly impossible, to deport aliens the simplest common sense solution is to build a reliable fence. On October 26, 2006, President Bush signed the Secure Fence Act of 2006 into law stating, “This bill will help protect the American people. This bill will make our borders more secure.” But this was more than 10 years ago. Now Congress refused to provide funds to build the fence. House Speaker Pelosi sarcastically offered President Trump “one dollar” for wall funding. This is one more example that human nature is not obliged to be consistent. But there are more serious reasons explaining Democrats’ resistance to Trump and the Republicans. Democrats declared publicly their support of open borders. Partially this reflects their passion for globalization ignoring that it makes both migration and terrorism much easier. In reality, they support immigration from Latin America and Africa, since these mostly low-​skilled immigrants are their potential voters. Some able persons from the indicated regions of the world—​immigrants of the first and second generation—​got a higher education and became active members of Democratic Party and even members of Congress. Being from poor families they support socialist ideas, from which they could benefit, and for them it is difficult to comprehend truly the dominant American ideology and adjust to American culture which is primarily of Western origin. That is why it cannot look strange that such persons support open borders—​to get more people close in spirit. Over the last several decades immigration reform has been a part of campaign promises and Congressional debates. Unfortunately, the U.S. Congress and presidents have not been able to pass any significant laws. President Trump included “a wall” in his campaign program; he wants also immigrants to come based on skills, rather than family ties, and insists on limiting the number of relatives lawful permanent residents can petition to join them in the United States. The country with more than 10 million undocumented low-​skilled aliens and the illegal immigration rate growing by 700,000 per year cannot keep the superpower status without rebuilding radically its immigration laws and procedures—​ establishing a simple merit-​based immigration system. The U.S. borders should not be open, and the border fence is a proper solution. However, the entrance to the U.S. should be simple for legal immigrants whose skills correspond to the country’s needs. Republicans and Democrats in Congress must work together to

Urgent Social Problems | 243 create such a system rather than to wage a political war that divides the country and brings victory to no one. The only loser is the United States.

Environmental Problems It is impossible to deny the fact that the environment, we live in, has a profound effect on our health and well-​being. There exists a positive correlation between life expectancy and environmental quality which is a very important factor affecting health and morbidity. Air and water pollution, depletion of natural resources, soils deterioration and the like are all capable of increasing human mortality and reducing longevity. The rise of advanced technological processes and industrialization generated hazardous substances, wastewater, and industrial sludge that entered the environment. They deteriorated the environment since there were no laws concerning the production waste, protection systems and devices that would remove hazardous materials from the environment or prevent from entering it. Industrial waste has contributed to wide-​ranging environmental damages, especially in the past few decades. Air and water quality, directly influencing people’s health, were the first symptoms of the worsen environment that brought attention of governments on local and global levels. Environmental scientists identified seven major international environmental problems: oil pollution from tankers, acid rain, stratospheric ozone depletion, pollution of the North and Baltic seas, mismanagement of fisheries, overpopulation, and misuse of agricultural chemicals. In addition, scientists noticed other ecological regional changes: melting or forming ice, changing the water cycle, changing currents in the oceans and air flows in the atmosphere. They were defined as climate changes, and global warming was determined their main reason. Of course, the mentioned environmental changes are the result of the intensive human activity during the second part of the 20th century. Waste management, the activities and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal, was the first step undertaken by governments to improve air and water quality. In the advanced industrial countries, the environmental laws obliged industries to take special measures to meet certain requirements concerning the air and water quality. Since many environmental scientists concluded that the main reason of climate changes and global warming is increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) in the atmosphere, politicians decided to take the climate change problem in their hands.

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Most nations of the world joined together in 1992 to sign the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The treaty, also known as the Climate Convention, focused mainly on potential human-​induced global warming. The UNFCCC objective was to seek “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” The Climate Convention parties agreed to attempt to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide and methane. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol committed the industrialized nations to specified, legally binding reductions in emissions of six greenhouse gases. The United States met the Kyoto Protocol’s carbon emissions targets in 2012 without ever embracing the treaty. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, carbon emissions from U.S. energy consumption in 2012 were at their lowest level since 1994. The 2016 Paris Agreement established new limits on greenhouse-​gas-​emissions (as of November 2019, 195 parties signed it, including the U.S.). President Trump officially notified the United Nations of the United States’ intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, since it will hurt the U.S. economy. According to the State Secretary Pompeo, “President Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the Agreement. … The United States has reduced all types of emissions, even as we grow our economy and ensure our citizens’ access to affordable energy.” Several environmental indexes were developed to rank countries based on the environmental performance changes. According to the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), in 2018 the United States is 27th, with strong scores on sanitation and air quality but weak performance on deforestation and greenhouse-​ gas-​emissions (China and India rank 120th and 177th). The mentioned strong scores, where the U.S. is among the best ten countries, relate to the Environmental Health (health impacts, air quality, water and sanitation) that links directly with people’s health and longevity. As to greenhouse-​gas-​emissions, its impact on environment continues to be a subject of discussions among environmentalists and politicians. Unfair limits on such emissions hurt the economy of the United States that has the emissions level significantly lower than many other countries. To blossom in their career politicians dream to find the people’s enemy to fight with. And they found it, when some environmentalists declared that global warming is a danger to human life in the close future. Environmental scientists obtained generous funding from governments to examine the global warming problem. The authors of the 2018 report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on

Urgent Social Problems | 245 Climate Change have stated that urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target established in the Paris Agreement. The world’s leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. Immediately, a new American politician warned: “The world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change.” When a mathematician makes a questionable statement, as a rule, he is asked whether there exists a related theorem, that is, whether a rigorous proof exists. The same question environmental scientists should answer. There exist many climate change models built under certain assumptions which are questionable. Proxy temperature reconstructions of the last 2000  years performed for the northern hemisphere and over shorter time scales for the southern hemisphere, and tropics cannot be considered reliable for developing robust dynamic models. More detailed climate information exists only since 1850, when methodical thermometer-​based records began. From the available data, a more persuasive conclusion is that the climate change represents a non-​monotonous process. Fluctuating changes of temperature should be examined more accurately (for example, an average period and amplitude of these fluctuations). If the temperature fluctuates why we should expect “the world is going to end in 12 years”, as some politicians state. The human prehistory starts from the first appearance of Homo sapiens in Africa 300,000 years ago; later some humans moved to cooler areas. But people still live in Africa. How to explain this fact based on the existing global warming theory? How to explain global cooling in Europe in the 6th century? Something is wrong with the existing theory. Gradual changes in Earth’s climate have been frequent during the Earth’s 4500 million year existence and most often are attributed to changes in the configuration of continents and ocean sea ways. The existing environmental models operate with parameters that influence, as scientists found out, temperature directly. But maybe they missed other factors since their models fail to be accurate. That is why there are scientists who reject the assumption that greenhouse-​ gas-​emissions can destroy the life on the Earth. One of them, Patrick Michaels, a past president of the American Association of State Climatologists and a program chair for the Committee on Applied Climatology of the American Meteorological Society, who was a contributing author and a reviewer of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007, characterizes negatively the existing climate change models: “It is nowhere near as warm as it’s ‘supposed’

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to be. The computer models are making systematic, dramatic errors.” There are 32 different computer models used to predict the climate, all of them run by government entities. And all of those models, except for the Russian model, are predicting far, far too much warming. The Russian model pretty much matches reality. The research results that the Earth’s average temperature rose about 0.6° Celsius (1.1° Fahrenheit) in the 20th century is not considered as false. The effect of human activities on climate cannot be denied. However, the quantitative analysis based on the existing models does not correspond to the reality. It means that the scientific results and related theoretical statements are not persuasive to be used in practice. Analyzing the effect of carbon dioxide emission into our atmosphere on warming Michaels (2003) found that “The effect of increasing the rate of carbon dioxide emissions, coupled with the fact that more and more carbon dioxide produces less and less warming compels our climate projections for the future warming to be pretty much a straight line.” This statement looks plausible since real characteristics of many objects are nonlinear with the saturation effect. According to the Greening Earth Society, global warming, at a certain degree, is real; but the rate of global warming during the past several decades has been only “about 0.18°C per decade.” Daniel Kish, vice-​president of the Institute for Energy Research, supported this view: “We’ve had 17 years of no global warming, yet we have an energy policy right now that continues to harm American communities and will lead to much higher electricity prices all based on the ‘fact’ that the world is warming,” One more disbeliever of climate change John Christy, distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at the University of Alabama Huntsville, stated: “I compared the models with observations in the key area—​the tropics—​where the climate models showed a real impact of greenhouse gases. I wanted to compare the real world temperatures with the models in a place where the impact would be very clear. Using datasets of actual temperatures recorded by the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (NASA GISS), the United Kingdom’s Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research at the University of East Anglia (Hadley-​CRU), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), satellites measuring atmospheric and deep oceanic temperatures, and a remote sensor system in California, all show a lack of warming over the past 17 years…. Global temperatures collected in five official databases confirm that there has been no statistically significant global warming for the past 17 years… All 73 models’ predictions were on average three to four times what occurred in the real world. The closest was a Russian model that predicted a one-​degree increase.” Dr. Michaels supported the above

Urgent Social Problems | 247 research results: “October 1st marks the 17th year of no global warming significantly different than zero. And those 17 years correspond to the largest period of CO2 emissions by far over any other 17-​year period in history.” Environmental scientists, supporting the views that climate change poses the dangers to humanity, get funding from governments and international organizations, while their opponents get money from industrial companies and related organizations. Christy’s research was funded by the U.S.  government; he was awarded NASA’s Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and testified before the U.S. House and Senate Committees. It means his opinion that there is no need for urgent action on climate change was known to the members of the U.S. Congress. But politicians, in their endeavor to persuade people that they care for them, were overzealous when in 2019 they proposed the Green New Deal legislation. It is better to “promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers” (a Soviet statesman Khrushchev quote about politicians) than frighten “the world is going to end in 12 years” when there is no such a threat.

References Kennedy, J. (1964). A Nation of Immigrants. New York: Harper & Row. Michaels, P. (2003). Posturing and Reality on Warming. Washington Times, October 16.

9

Difficulties to Keep Being the World’s Superpower

“You become a superpower by being strong but also by being wise and by being farsighted. But no state is strong or wise enough to create a world order alone.” —​Henry A. Kissinger

Introduction The United States had emerged as the sole world power after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The economic and defense factors are dominant in the existing estimates of the country’s power. The organization European Geostrategy broke global powers down into four categories: super power, global power, regional power, and local power. Based on its criterion, the U.S. as the world’s super power is significantly ahead of Britain taking the second place as a global power. The U.S. has the best defense system in the world. American forces possess ultra-​modern arms and weaponry including the best missile defense systems. It has a big arsenal of sophisticated nuclear weapons, and its defense budget ranks first in the world. The United States spends over 600 billion dollars a year on the military compared to 100–​150 billion dollars by China and 80 billion dollars by

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Russia. The U.S. economy is the largest and most stable in the world, and its currency dollar is used for all major transactions between different countries. America’s trade and economy have flourished since World War II. Americans are largest producers as well as consumers, and American companies are operating globally all over the world. Being energy independent, the U.S.  became unaffected by possible global energy supply disruptions, and it does not depend upon politically unstable states for its energy security. The U.S. is the global economy leader and any downfall in its economy brings economic crises to other countries. The excellent working conditions attract the world’s intelligent minds to work in the U.S., and America is the most advanced country in science and technology. Its Silicon Valley is the source of all major innovations in the information technology field. The United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank are headquartered in the United States. The U.S. played a leading role in creating these world organizations. The United States is the largest donor country with official development assistance at $34.3 billion in 2018. It is the biggest aid donor to the United Nation. The United States Agency for International Development is famous all over the world supporting the poor nations economically to help their development, as well as economic, social, and political stability. As the world’s superpower, the United States has been promoting world peace and a secure global environment. During the Cold War the U.S. participation in NATO pursued the single purpose: to protect Western Europe from a Soviet invasion. The Cold War is over, but America still keeps its military forces in Japan, South Korea, and Western Europe, although these countries are capable of defending themselves. This can be explained by the existing threat from North Korea, raising power and ambitions of China, as well as still ambitious Russia. A naïve foreign policy of Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations that believed in their ability to bring democracy by force to the Arab world (unnecessary wars in Iraq and Libya) contributed to a huge national debt. The foreign-​ policy elite had been closing eyes on this debt and refused to ask Germany, South Korea, and Japan at least to pay money for American military forces assuming that the U.S. would lose its influence on these countries. The Trump administration changed drastically such policy. Concerning NATO, the administration asked its members to pay regularly their established share, and the NATO states will increase their defense spending by $100 billion. South Korea has agreed to pay substantially more money to the United States in order to defend itself from North Korea. Japan also agreed to pay more for the security umbrella provided by the U.S. military. In each region of the world, the U.S. tries to establish ties with allies and regional organizations to resolve existing and emergent conflicts.

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 251 However, the Trump administration does not support a regime-​change international policy. It tries to defuse situations that might require military actions and instead focuses on an offensive economic policy to reach the desired goals. Military force is used mostly in a war against terrorism that has become a major concern since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Relations between the United States and Iraq, as well as between the United States and Taliban-​ruled Afghanistan, were already strained, especially in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. But the September 2001 terrorist attacks prompted President Bush to take action against terrorism. He selected the term “war on terror” to characterize the U.S. conflict with Islamic extremists. President Bush said: “Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.” The United States became the world’s counterterrorism leader. The American-​led campaign included also military from Britain, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, France, and Poland deployed with American troops in Afghanistan. The successes of the war on terrorism included the collapse of the Afghan Taliban theocracy and subsequent closure of terrorist-​training camps in Afghanistan, the capture or elimination of many of al-​Qaeda’s senior members, and the arrest of hundreds of terrorist suspects around the world. On December 13 of 2003, U.S.  soldiers captured Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein who was sentenced to death by hanging and executed for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2006. On May 2 of 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces during a raid at an Abbottabad, Pakistan compound. Critics of the U.S. invasion in Iraq, based on the assumption that Saddam Hussein was developing chemical and biological weapons and even on his possible link to al-​Qaeda, believe that this was a big mistake. The premature wind of democracy to this area only intensified the hostility and fight between religious groups and resulted in a series of antigovernment uprisings in various countries in North Africa and the Middle East. This region became unstable and a source of terroristic actions spread all over the world. In 2014, a powerful terrorist militant group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) seized control of large areas of the Syria and Iraq and declared the creation of an Islamic caliphate. Its former leader Abu Musab al-​ Zarqawi ran a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and was originally a part of Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda Network. In 2010, Abu Bakr al-​Baghdadi took power of this group and became later a caliph, the leader of the caliphate. He was directly involved in atrocities, brutal murderous assaults on civilians, public executions, rapes, beheadings and crucifixions, sale women into slavery, and

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forced religious conversions—​implementing his interpretation of sharia law. ISIS has claimed responsibility for hundreds of terrorist attacks around the world (in France, USA, Belgium, Germany, and Britain) in addition to destroying priceless monuments, ancient temples and other buildings, and works of art from antiquity (e.g., Iraq’s Mosul Museum and the Mosul Public Library, various churches, temples, mosques and shrines throughout the Middle East). The United States became the main arm force that destroyed the caliphate. Despite heavy losses in Iraq and Syria Al-​Baghdadi called on his followers to continue attacks around the world. In 2017, US State Department increased to $25 million an initially offered $10 million reward for Baghdadi. On October 26 of 2019, as a result of a daring overnight raid by elite U.S. special operations forces this monster was killed. In recent years, many feel that American dominance worldwide is fading. China with its growing economy and military might and Russia still reminding about its big nuclear arsenal seem to extend their influence over the world challenging America’s lead. Nevertheless, according to European Geostrategy, China and Russia are on the fourth and fifth places with 37.6 and 30.3 criterion points, respectively (compared to the U.S. hundred points). As mention earlier, the U.S. is at the top judged by the most important factors—​the economy and defense. America has gained popular support globally, and most of the countries are its allies in various fields. The top U.S. allies are Canada, Britain, Germany, France, Mexica, and Japan. However, America has also friendly relations with the top powers that may challenge its supremacy in future—​China, Russia, and India. The major sectors of collaborations include defense, education, trade, intelligence, and science and technology. Friendly relations are beneficial to the U.S. in terms of increasing its global dominance. The United States has its problems, from infrastructure issues and the $23 trillion national debt to the education and health care problems considered in the previous chapter. Some of these problems link directly with the growth of the government, bureaucracy and corruption, as well as the harmful influence of the increasing non-​political elite. The government’s ability to resolve these problems will determine the future development of the country and how long the U.S. will be the sole super power.

Bureaucracy and Corruption as a Social Harmful Force According to Cambridge Dictionary, bureaucracy is a system for controlling or managing a country, company, or organization that is operated by a large number

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 253 of officials employed to follow rules carefully. To strengthen their positions top bureaucrats usually try to create additional staff and divisions, complicated and unnecessary rules and regulations. Excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic is called red tape. That is why in cases of excessive regulations and redundant rules the term red tape is used to characterize the whole bureaucratic system which structure hinders or prevents action or decision-​making. There is broad consensus that bureaucracy and red tape offer both incentives and opportunities for corruption, dishonest or illegal behavior, the abuse of entrusted power for private gains. In Chapter 7, we indicated that a large governmental structure of the Roman Empire and corruption of its staff were one of the reasons of its fall. In the 21th century, we deal not only with large and complex governmental structures but also with large organizations. That is why today corruption is a persistent problem in the world. By definition, the term bureaucratic culture means the way a hierarchical and formal organization operates:  it has several levels, where tasks, authority and responsibilities are delegated between departments, offices or people. This structure is held together by a central or main administration, and it has led to the development of modern civilization. This culture becomes corrupt when the functioning of this structure is abnormal, that is, it violates the established societal norms. The simplest and wide spread examples of a corrupt bureaucratic culture that can be found in many governmental divisions are: a person reports a working day or hours when, in reality, he did not work; a person arrives at work several hours late, do personal business at work, or leaves work earlier; lavish meetings at expensive hotels. This is a small-​scale fraud and waste of taxpayers’ money. If the above examples is the result of bad management and they characterize an unhealthy climate in an organization, personal actions of separate, usually high ranking, public servants focused to enrich themselves demonstrate acts of more serious corruption. The opening pages of the U.N. report Global Program against Corruption state that “the most significant achievement in governance during the 1990s was the shattering of the taboo that barred discussion of corruption, particularly in diplomatic circles and intergovernmental institutions.” Since its inception in 1995, the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Transparency International’s research product, has become the leading global indicator of public sector corruption. The index offers an annual snapshot of the relative degree of corruption by ranking countries and territories from all over the globe. The 2018 CPI presents expert assessments to measure public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories, giving each a score from zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Its data shows

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that corruption is much more likely to flourish where democratic foundations are weak and in many countries where undemocratic and populist politicians can use it to their advantage. The index values around and below 20 characterize most countries of the Middle East and Africa. The values around 30 characterize Russia and the former Soviet republics (excluding Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Georgia for which it is 73, 59, 58, 58, respectively). For most countries of the former Soviet bloc the index is around 60. For China and Vietnam the index equals 39 and 33, respectively. For the United States it equals 72, Japan—​73, France—​ 72. For other West European countries and Canada (excluding Spain, Italy and Greece with the index in 50s) the index values are within the range 75–​88. The Baltic countries Denmark, Finland, and Sweden have the lowest level of corruption. The former Soviet republics from this area (Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia) have significantly lower degree of corruption than other former Soviet Union republics. This shows that culture influences the extent of corruption among employees. The collectively shared beliefs about right and wrong and what is permitted and what is not, which were made up of traditions and customs that are passed down from generation to generation, cannot be absolutely erased even by a corrupted environment of communist regimes. The CPI shows that not only for developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, but also for many European countries the level of corruption is high and this should produce dramatic effects on social well-​being. In an 2005 interview, the former World Bank President James Wolfensohn redefined corruption as an economic problem: “Ten years ago, when I came here, the Bank never talked about corruption, and now we are doing programs in more than a hundred countries, and it is a regular subject for discussion.” As shown in Chapter 7, bureaucracy under a commanded economy was one of the main factors hindering the economic development of communist countries. In a case of the planned centralized economy the administrative apparatus is extensive and relatively stable. Unable to satisfy people’s incessant needs, the whole system does not produce the expected results. Rigorously structured wages do not provide incentives to work better. Possible monthly premiums in the most important industrial areas for overfulfillment of planned goals usually were not a strong stimulus, as they were expected to be, since in all cases the real or cooked necessary results were sent to the upper levels of the bureaucratic system. In the former Soviet Union, after the death of Joseph Stalin, there was a low-​level of discipline in most of its organizations. The fear to be sent to the forced-​labor camps, that produced the results under Stalin’s rule, dissipated after his atrocities became known to the people and the commanded system showed clearly its drawbacks.

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 255 Constant supply delays of necessary materials and spare parts resulted in disruption of production at many plants, and workers were working hard during the end of a month to fulfill the plan and compensate idling during the interruption of production. In organizations that were not linked directly with production processes the situation with discipline was worse. If workers were not able to leave their guarded plants during working hours, employees of many Soviet organizations, that had no any working time control devices, could leave their work at any time. Several months in 1970s, in main Soviet cities police staged raids against employees attending shops, movie theaters, etc. during working time. The government demonstrated its impotence to control the economic activity of the population, which was its indirect admission that the communist bureaucratic structure is not an efficient tool for achieving the country’s sustainable development. In democratic countries with a substantial public sector of the economy, the inefficiency of red tape produces similar negative economic effect. Absence of incentives and a low discipline is only one factor of the inefficiency of red tape around the world. The most dangerous is bureaucratic corruption—​when a government employee, whose responsibility is to implement the government policies, allows an individual a privilege that he/​she is not legally entitled to, in return for a payment. Specifics of bureaucratic corruption in the communist countries with the planned economy is that to survive bureaucrats of one field were forced to bribe bureaucrats from other field. The mentioned above disruptions of production, because of lack of necessary materials or spare parts, created a profession of a supplier, a person who supplies materials, parts or services needed for a normal functioning of a plant or an organization. Under the centralized planning system such persons spent a lot of time lobbying the central bureaucracy to get the needed products and funds. When the planned goals are in danger, bribes remain as the only reliable approach. In democratic countries the term lobbing has a wider meaning. It is the act of attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbyists are professionals whose business is trying to influence legislation, regulation, or other government decisions, actions, or policies on behalf of a group or individual who hires them. Lobbying is trying to influence politicians to decide in your favor, while bribing means the same, except that there is an offer of money or property. Lobbying is legal (although contentious), while bribery is outrightly illegal. A favorable climate for bribery is in the following situations:  bribe levels are high when wages of civil servants are low, the probability of detection and fines low, the distinction between a corrupt act and a non-​corrupt act is unclear.

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Corruption is more motivated in poor countries or in countries with a weak government—​in places such as Africa or in some post-​Communist societies. It can be even approved by government as a tool to strengthen the power of the ruling elite. In Russia, during the Soviet period, corruption was functional in granting individuals access to goods and services in shortage. There existed the so-​called food distributors of several levers: for high-​ranking party officials, middle-​ranking party officials, old communists, writers and journalists. If in Soviet Russia unofficially paying a doctor was considered as a bribe, now it is perceived as more appropriate and ethical than adhering to official institutional regulations, since the formal system neither can satisfy users’ needs nor properly compensate doctors for their work; such a payment to a doctor is considered as a positive act that represents respect for the doctor’s effort and expertise. A high level corruption in Ukraine is explained partially by poor living conditions of its population. For its doctors and teachers bribery is the way to survive. A main reason for bureaucratic corruption is the government inability to pay civil servants appropriate wage for the labor. Many sociologists believe that a high level of corruption in developing countries is the result of low wages, and the bureaucrats are enhancing their wages by backhanded deals. A salary increase of civil servants is a well-​spread approach to fight corruption. It is used in many countries. However, as research shows, this approach has a small effect to improve the situation. The only winners are bureaucrats contributing from an increase of their salaries. Transparency International that developed the corruption perceptions index and created the corruption level database including 180 countries believes “corruption is one of the greatest challenges of the contemporary world. It undermines good government, fundamentally distorts public policy, leads to the misallocation of resources, harms the private sector and private sector development and particularly hurts the poor.” However, the harm from bureaucratic corruption is incomparably smaller than from political corruption, when the political power is used not only for personal wealth but also to sustain power and status. Forms of political corruption vary but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, influence peddling, graft, and embezzlement. Political graft occurs when funds intended for public projects are intentionally misdirected in order to maximize the benefits to private interests. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents, is also considered political corruption. Interviews conducted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) showed that bribery is the most common form of corruption affecting small and medium enterprises, which were forced to pay bribes in order

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 257 to access government services that they are entitled to or requested by law (such as licenses, permits, contracts or tax incentives) and to speed up government procedures. The bribery of government officials can bring large financial benefits to private firms through procurement contracts and the award of concessions. For example, the scandal related to the U.S. Department of Defense (see Noelker et al., 1997) resulted in a conviction by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 54 individuals and ten corporations for disclosing technical specifications on competing bids in return for money and jobs. In 2011, a CBS network investigation discovered that “members of Congress were routinely exploiting legal loopholes to engage in insider trading and line their own pockets,” which is a criminal offense for regular citizens. Moreover, the House Speaker John Boehner tried actively to obstruct the first ever investigation into Congressional insider trading. Two weeks before the 2008 economic crisis, several members of Congress pulled their money out of the stock market after getting information in secret meetings with the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, millions of Americans lost their homes and their life savings. Trading stock based on classified government information is not the only way U.S. elected officials used to benefit from the stock market. Companies give members of Congress special access to Initial Public Offering (IPO) stock before it is available to the public. In 2008, Visa offered Speaker of the House Pelosi IPO stock access just as legislation, which Visa strongly opposed, arrived at the House. Pelosi made $100,000 virtually overnight thanks to her Visa IPOs. Six American federal politicians under the Bush administration and seven under the Obama administration were convicted on corruption and fraud charges. A  number of convicted American state and local politicians is higher. The higher rank of a politician, the more difficult to use the existing anti-​corruption laws to convict such a person. High ranking politicians find legal loopholes to enrich themselves and use skillful lawyers to justify their actions. Jean-​Jacques Rousseau, a brilliant political mind of France, was famous also by his corruption. He received bribes from the leaders of Europe and Russia. Some American politicians, who cannot boast brilliance when serving their country, nevertheless, enriched themselves without even being investigated. As we mentioned earlier, the Vice President Biden used his position to transfer a large sum of money to his family accounts. Judicial Watch reported on the many times Hillary Clinton used her position as Secretary of State to enrich her family, reward her friends and line the coffers of Clinton Foundation. One of Hillary Clinton deals with Russia helped create “a major technology transfer initiative” that “may have substantially undermined U.S. national security,” according to Peter Schweizer (2015, 2018), president of

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the Government Accountability Institute. As a result, former President Bill Clinton traveled to Russia to deliver a speech, for which he was paid $500,000 by a mysterious Russian investment bank named Renaissance Capital, and the Clinton Foundation received a Russian gift of tens of millions of dollars. According to Hillary, the Clintons “were broke” in 2000. Surprisingly, the government has no desire to find out where their billions came from, although many publications exist showing unethical and maybe illegal source of their fortune. For example, Charles Ortel, the Wall Street analyst, who spent more than a year digging into the Clinton Foundation, labeled it as a “Charity Fraud of Epic Proportions.” He wrote:  “An educated guess, based upon ongoing analysis of the public record begun in February 2015, is that the Clinton Foundation entities are part of a network that has defrauded donors and created illegal private gains of approximately $100 billion in combined magnitude, and possibly more, since 23 October 1997.” The known saying “the fish stinks from the head” relatively to a society means that this is a dangerous situation for a country when the upper echelon of power, the political elite, is corrupt. In a healthy society, the role of the political elite is to fight corruption rather than encourage it by own example. In our contemporary society the political elite is only a part of a powerful elite presented by leaders of large multinational corporations and media companies. Moreover, they are mutually beneficially dependent on each other. In democratic societies a free and independent media—​a key ingredient of democracy—​should play a vital role to expose corruption. However, as a result of social media’s dominance in our life, traditional media (newspapers, TV channels, etc.) lost subscribers and money and became more dependent on government favors and owners of large e-​commerce companies that have special relations with politicians. Now the most influential news organizations became political tools controlled by the elite, so that news coverage is politically biased. Media corruption vary from bribery, in the form of cash or gifts for fake news and targeted advertisements, to favoritism toward special groups. Media companies’ ties to special interests present a real challenge to the integrity of their journalism. The owners and CEOs of the leading media organizations became powerful players in the country’s political life, since they are a powerful source of information or misinformation. In the UK, the Daily Mirror is considered as the Labor Party paper, the Telegraph reflects views of to the Conservative Party. In the United States., Fox News sympathizes Republicans, whereas most of other leading media organizations support Democrats. That is why most main media attacked vehemently, for example, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt for a below-​market rental agreement for a Capitol

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 259 Hill apartment he leased from the wife of then-​head of a prominent Washington lobby firm that represented energy clients regulated by the EPA, but nothing similar happened concerning Senator Bob Menendez who received gifts valued at more than a hundred thousand dollars. Difficulties to reduce corruption can be explained by the existing anti-​ corruption laws which are outdated and barely being enforced. They leave a lot of space for arguing how to interpret them. Lawyers may argue that bribes are political contributions, and political donations did not demonstrate an explicit “quid pro quo” agreement between the involved persons. That is why the above mentioned persons were not convicted. Former Attorney General Eric Holder had an office reserved for him at the high-​powered corporate law firm Covington & Burling for his whole tenure, to which he returned after repeatedly refusing to prosecute big banks or their employees for staggering crimes. It is simply impossible to prove in court such a type of bribes. Seeking contributions for their campaigns elected officials often request lobbyists to arrange for fundraisers. As mentioned above, lobbing is legal. But fundraising is an operation with money. Is not this a hidden bribery? Political corruption is worse than bureaucratic corruption since it undermines democratic institutions, threatens the rule of law, democracy and human rights. A practice known as rent-​seeking, the process of seeking income through special government favors (policies that can be wasteful, inefficient, or even harmful), which is used by political donors, firms, and lobbyists, has several negative effects on economic growth. If rent-​seeking is a successful strategy for businesses or individuals, it can impose great harm on society by slowing or even stopping economic growth. According to Nobel Prize-​winning economist Joseph Stiglitz rent-​seeking hurts economy because “the rewards of rent seeking become so outsize that more and more energy is directed toward it, at the expense of everything else.” He said: “Thus, rent-​seeking means getting an income not as a reward for creating wealth but by grabbing a larger share of the wealth that would have been produced anyway. Indeed, rent-​seekers typically destroy wealth, as a by-​product of their taking away from others.” Politicians get extraordinary sums of money in the form of campaign donations from the special interests who lobby them. In return, politicians create laws favorable to these special interests—​even when those laws hurt voters. Political extortion is a component of political corruption. Some government proposals could be considered a legalized extortion. One of the most notorious political extortion examples involves a proposal to impose price controls on doctors, hospitals, and the pharmaceutical industry. After the proposal was introduced, countless

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members of Congress were receiving vast campaign contributions from the medical industry. The enhancement of personal wealth rather than national wealth, as a result of bureaucratic and, especially, political corruption, can increase income inequality, cause social tension within society and political instability. Corruption is like a virus infecting a country. Left unchecked it can spread in a country’s vital organs, its institutions, first destabilizing their functioning and later completely destroying its main base—​the economic foundation of the country, hurting the most vulnerable members of the society and filling the middle class with a sense of hopelessness and distrust.

Reasons of the Fall of the Roman Empire The Founding Fathers of the United States considered the structure of the ancient Roman Republic as a political model designing, based upon republican principles, a frame of American government. Now the United States is a superpower which might can be compared with the Roman Empire. That is why historians and sociologists try to predict the future development of the U.S. by analyzing the reasons of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Trying to answer the question “why Rome fell” authors consider different time periods of the Roman Empire. Most authors state that the Roman Empire lasted over 500 years (more precisely, 507 years). Some of them exceed this period to 1000 years. According to Glubb (1976), most Empires do not last longer than roughly 250 years, with many of them lasting much shorter periods of time; his estimates of the stable and peaceful Roman Empire is 207 years (27 B.C.–​180). On the Internet one can see articles about the fall of America (e.g., see The United States Will Fall Like Rome with such a statement “The United States is a powerful nation that is around 250 years old replicating that of Rome whose Empire lasted 270 years” (https://​lawaspect. com/​united-​states-​will-​fall-​like-​rome/​); the 270  years estimate is based on the split of the Roman Empire around 258 into three states; but later the Empire was reunited). According to an American neoconservative political analyst Bill Kristol the U.S. is “recapitulating the decline and fall of Rome.” The comparison of the ages of the United States and the Roman Empire looks ridiculous, and to calm down those who thinks about the near fall and offer weak arguments we bring a counterargument:  the life expectancy in the U.S. is more than twice longer than in the Roman Empire, so that it is logical to assume that it should be also for the nation. Of course, this is unrigorous and

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 261 even unserious reasoning. However, it does not mean that we should not analyze the reasons of the fall of the Roman Empire and understand the factors that speeded up its decline. Various researchers empathize different number of the reasons. A German historian Demandt, an expert of the history of Rome, assembled 210 reasons of its fall. He included even such questionable and insignificant reasons as homosexuality and excessive freedom. The most common number of the reasons is 5–​10. However, they were not chosen as independent factors or the correlation between the factors was not established. We started analyzing societal changes from the production unit, that is, at first we analyzed the changes in a country’s economic development as the most important factor. A similar approach we use below. Rome’s economy was based on agriculture and trade. A  ninety percent of its population were farmers. The economy depended on slave labor, and Rome’s military might had traditionally provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples as an additional workforce. But when expansion came to a halt in the 2d century, Rome’s supply of slaves and other war treasures began to shrink. The Roman economy suffered from inflation (a rapidly rising prices) beginning at the end of the 2d century. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the Roman economy decreased. The amount of gold used in coins decreased, and the coins became less valuable. Merchants reacted by raising the prices on their goods. People bought fewer goods and shops closed. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter to get what they needed. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and growing taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables. Many persons simply did not pay taxes. In the hope of avoiding taxmen, many members of the wealthy classes had even fled to the countryside and set up independent fiefdoms. Most farming was done on large estates called latifundia that were owned by wealthy men who used cheap slave labor. Farmers who hired workers could not produce goods as cheaply and compete with wealthy land owners. They lost land and job. In the period just before the Roman Empire’s fall the income inequality sharply jumped up and the Roman middle class was crushed. During the latter years of the Empire, the cities were filled with unemployed people. At one time, the emperor was importing grain to feed more than 100,000 people in Rome alone. Apartment rental prices were high and those who could not pay the rent was forced to move out and live on the crime-​infested streets. All this led to hyperinflation, a paralyzed economy, disbanding much of Rome’s trade, heavy taxes, and a financial crisis that crippled Rome. All this widened the gap between rich and poor.

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Trade was vital to Rome and generated vast wealth. It was trade that allowed a wide variety of goods to be imported and exported. Rome imported (from Arabia, India, Southeast Asia, and China) beef, grains, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble, perfumes, purple dye, silk, silver, spices, timber, tin and exported wine, olive oil, and cereals. Historians point to a trade imbalance that eventually grew between Rome and China and India. By the end of the 3d century, almost all trade was mostly local using inefficient barter methods instead of any meaningful medium of exchange. By conquering other civilizations the Romans were adapting their technology. Its own scientific achievements were limited almost entirely to engineering and the organization of public services. But they failed to invent new machines or develop new technologies to produce more and better consumer goods. The high level of local consumption did not correspond to a low level of investment in the production of consumer goods. The main reason of the above described sharp decline in production, employment, and living standards of the Empire’s population is overexpansion and military overspending (see also Chapter 3). At its peak, the Roman Empire held up to 130 million people over a span of 1.5 million square miles. However, the city of Rome itself had only 1 million people. The greatest Romans expenditure was on the army. This was during the Roman Republic and continued during the Roman Empire. As indicated in Chapter 3, the wars required additional taxation that was a burden on the society. Frequently raised taxes led to increased inflation. The successful wars made the military leaders popular among the population. This allowed them to consider themselves as potential candidates to sit on the throne. Rome was thrust into tumultuous periods of civil wars during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire which created political instability. In the 3d century, during 35 years the Roman throne was claimed by several dozen usurpers and generals, nearly all of whom were eventually killed in battles with their rivals or assassinated by their own men. Conspiracies, intrigues and fights to the throne were destroying the Empire. Civil war thrust the Empire into chaos, and more than 20 men took the throne in the span of only 75 years, usually after the murder of their predecessor. Constant civil wars meant the Empire’s borders were vulnerable. It became difficult to protect the Empire from invaders. Unsafe borders made trade activities too dangerous for merchants. Military spending left few resources for the public needs, and Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire. The Empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or foreign mercenaries. Such an army

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 263 was not only unreliable to remain loyal but very expensive. Without a powerful army, that was an envy of the ancient world, the Roman Empire could not claim to be a world power. The decline and fall of the Roman Republic was a result of a conflict between the Senate and tribunate, which started with corruption related to the tax collection process and ended with the land reform which would protect the middle class (initially the Roman army was made up of a middle class of landowners). When the tribunes could not get the Senate to cooperate and addressed the people directly, the senators organized assassinations of their political opponents. The conflict eventually snowballed into civil wars after Roman governors were allowed to collect taxes and raise large private armies. Money was used to sway elections, influence policy in the Senate or even dictate foreign policy. Wealthy people, who sought power and prestige, began to purchase their way into political office or military appointments. Political corruption had become the norm and fair elections rarely occurred. The corruption virus spread widely to the Roman Empire. The Roman Senate corruption and incompetence made the situation with bribes worse than it was in the Roman Republic. Bribes were taken for a help with appointments in government, for not harming those with money. The very frequent antagonism behind the emperor and the Senate furthered political corruption. Public officials and bureaucrats were embezzling money, and military commanders were stealing goods from population when they travelled with their legions. As a result, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in their leaders. The Roman Empire presented a multilingual and multicultural society. As mentioned in Chapter 3, Romans succeeded to bring a wide diversity of peoples into one political unity; the status of citizen was extended by the government to various peoples throughout the Roman Empire as it expanded. However, there existed a limited form of Roman citizenship (e.g., such citizens could not vote or be elected in Roman elections), and the population of many conquered territories was a kind of immigrants. The overexpanded Empire included areas with the population that did not speak Latin or Greek (the official languages of the Roman Empire). For poor families it was difficult to learn these languages; they continued using their native languages and were unable to adopt the Roman culture. Although persons with different cultures tried to adapt to the new norms, they did not feel themselves free on their land and had no desire to fight defending the Empire. The local elite served Romans well because they were afraid of losing their limited wealth and status. But they dreamed to get rid of the invaders and waited for a chance to get power.

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As we indicated above, overexpansion and overspending were the main reasons of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The overspending was the result of a large governmental structure, corruption and incompetence of its staff. The overexpansion created two groups of people (slaves and persons with a limited form of citizenship) who did not enjoy full rights of Roman citizens. That is why when cracks in the Roman Empire had become seen, these “immigrants” presented a real threat to its existence. Historians believe that one of the reasons for the Roman Empire decline was a huge number of people from outside cultures, religions and ethnic groups different from the core populations who brought about the original Empire. Many historians even blame the initiation of Christianity for the decline. However, this factor is less significant. Environmental and public health problems also furthered the decline of the Roman Empire. Lead poisoning in water pipes caused infertility, loss of memory, a significant reduction of cognitive abilities among the Roman nobility and very high death rates among the citizens of higher status. The less intelligent ruling class speeded up of the fall of the Empire.

Destructive Forces in the U.S. Society The indicated earlier Bill Kristol’s 2017 statement about similarities between the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and the U.S.  was a direct reaction to President Trump’s attack of CNN network fake news. In eyes of Mr. Kristol and many other journalists and commentators Donald Trump is an ignorant and aggressive emperor, under whose leadership America will lose all its allies. This is a very shallow argument to make such a premature prediction. There are real reasons of a possible decline in the future which are worthwhile to discuss based on the material of the previous section (since the comparison with the Roman Empire has attracted attention of analysts and journalists). In 1950, the United States reached its peak relative to the world. It produced 50 percent of the world’s GDP and owned two-​thirds of the world’s gold reserves. Now the U.S. produces about 21 percent of the world’s GDP and holds three-​fourth of the world’s gold reserves. The average American income (the average income is the country’s gross national income (GNI) in a year divided by its population) was by far the highest in the world; today it ranks about 5–​9. (Official data is published by several organizations like World Bank or International Monetary Fund. Unfortunately, there are no standardized procedures to adjust inflation, currency fluctuations or real purchase power. That is why each

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 265 institution has its own ranking and varying results.) The state of the economy determines the standard of living in a society, and the economic factors enable one to predict a country’s future development. One of the economic factors that can worry is the United States national debt. In 2012, it has surpassed 100 percent of GDP. In 2014, it was near 19 trillion dollars. In 2019, it has grown above 23 trillion dollars. The consequences of a high debt can be dangerous. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (2010) stated that “Neither experience nor economic theory clearly indicates the threshold at which government debt begins to endanger prosperity and economic stability. But given the significant costs and risks associated with a rapidly rising federal debt, our nation should soon put in place a credible plan for reducing deficits to sustainable levels over time.” Harvard economists Reinhart and Rogoff (2009, 2010)  used the debt to GDP ratio to measure the impact of debt on the economy. According to Reinhart and Rogoff (2009), debt to GDP ratios below a threshold of 90 percent of GDP ratios have no significant impact on growth; above the threshold of 90 percent, median growth rates fall by 1  percent, and average growth falls considerably more. Recently, Herndon et  al. (2013) found an error in calculation of the threshold; they indicate that the average real GDP growth rate for countries carrying a debt to GDP ratio of over 90  percent is actually 2.2  percent, and the relationship between national debt and GDP growth varied significantly by time period and country. Despite the mentioned error, the obtained results of Reinhart and Rogoff (2010) are qualitatively correct:  higher government debt, as a percentage of gross domestic product, leads to slower economic growth. The European Union requires that member state’s national debt not exceed 60 percent of GDP, which is significantly higher than the current U.S. debt to GDP ratio that is above 100 percent. If a huge debt is a potential danger for the economic decline and, hence, a growing unemployment, its reduction became an urgent political problem. But the proposals of all 2016 presidential candidates focused on improving the U.S. economy would increase the national debt (see Yanushevsky, 2018). Only in 2017, the White House presented a plan containing the expected picture of the U.S. recovering economy up to 2027 with the goal to achieve a balanced budget by 2027. However, based on Yanushevsky (2018), the expected goal cannot be achieved. In 2019, Trump’s new plan will prolong federal deficits; the administration estimate shows that it would put the U.S. on track for a balanced budget by 2034, seven years later than it was planned earlier. This is a long way to go and it is difficult to predict what can happen during such a long period of time.

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A huge national debt is a certain obstacle to allocate sufficient resources related to military spending. Spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan limited funding of new projects related to more sophisticated military equipment. According to military experts, many U.S. airplanes should be replaced and the U.S. nuclear force (including submarines, cruise missiles, etc.) “is desperately in need of modernization and renewal.” If a country is unable to keep it military might, it can lose soon its superpower status. As indicated in Chapter 8, the U.S. national security depends not only on our military might but also on the educational level of our population, the second line of our defense. The weakness of the American education system, described in Chapter 8, undermines prestige of the United States and brings concerns over the country’s national defense; the system should be modernized to work more efficiently. Trade is a part of economic policy. Decades of free-​trade policies were responsible for the collapse of the American manufacturing industry. In 2018, trade deficit in goods alone was $891 billion, about 4.2 percent of the national debt. Among the top six trading partners are China ($419 billion deficit), Mexico ($81 billion deficit), Germany ($68.2 billion deficit), Japan ($67.6 billion deficit), Canada ($20 billion deficit), and South Korea ($17.7 billion deficit). The U.S. trade deficit is an urgent problem. Another factor influencing the country’s economic development is the size the government—​the size of bureaucracy and bureaucratic corruption. Medicare and Medicaid fraud is the result of inefficient implementation of these programs. “Our estimate is that the federal government, in Medicare and Medicaid alone, loses between $70 billion and $120 billion a year to crooks. You ought to be able to identify those,” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who criticized the federal government inability to fight health care fraud (see http://​www.factcheck. org/​2011/​05/​gingrich-​overshoots-​the-​truth/​0 http://​www.factcheck.org/​ 2011/​05/ )​ . In 2012, Donald Berwick, a former head of the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Andrew Hackbarth of the RAND Corporation estimated that fraud (and the extra rules and inspections required to fight it) added as much as $98 billion, or roughly 10 percent, to annual Medicare and Medicaid spending—​and up to $272 billion across the entire health system. According to the Government Accountability Office, 10 percent of Medicaid payments (about $36 billion) were found to have been improper in 2016 alone. A 2017 survey by Transparency International found that American adults believe corruption has increased in the United States and become the rule rather than the exception. Almost 7 out of 10 people believe the government is failing

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 267 to fight corruption and about a half of respondents gave fear of retaliation as the main reason not to report corruption. In December of 2018 polling by Caddell & Associates, 85 percent of Americans believe “the country is run by an alliance of incumbent politicians, media pundits, lobbyists and other powerful money interest groups for their own gain at the expense of the American people.” Clintons and Bidens enrichment discussed earlier are only a drop in the ocean of multiple corruption cases (see Schweizer, 2015, 2020). A country’s economic health is one of the most important life support products for politicians, the means to prolong their life in politics. Final economic decisions belong to politicians and reflect their political beliefs. Liberal politicians prefer spending increases to tax cuts. Moreover, not infrequently some politicians even insist on increasing taxes for the wealthy. At a certain degree this reflects a Marxists type of thoughts and plays well among the low-​income population, although the tax increases only stifle economic growth. Most of the 2020 presidential candidates representing the Democratic Party consider increasing taxes for the wealthy to implement the proposed programs focused on decreasing income and wealth inequality. Some of them include in their programs and repeat phrases from Marxist textbooks that the most important parts of democracy are social and social-​economic rights to work, to health, and to education. But all these rights have been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These rights are included in American declaration of the rights and duties of man. The proposals “Medicare for all” are not realizable because of a high level of the U.S. national debt. This is obvious to any cultured people. But politicians find economists who for money can justify any nonsense. Dishonest politicians try to sell the unrealizable proposals with a hope that their outward attractiveness can bring them votes. Unrealistic proposals concerning health and education without any plausible solution only divide the nation and create a dangerous climate inside the society. The country is divided as never before. The political elite who approves globalism cannot unite the country. According to Trevor Loudon (2013), there are 50 socialists or communists in the U.S. Congress. In 1960s, when the information about Stalin’s crimes spread all over the world and the communist parties lost their influence, and later also the financial support from Moscow, those who still believed in Marxism infiltrated the Democratic Party (some of them joined the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the largest socialist organization in the United States; see also Chapter 7 about democratic socialism) which starting with George McGovern advocated for a broad program of liberal social and

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economic reforms. Being a pragmatic politician, President Clinton promised a different agenda—​middle class tax relief, tougher on crime, pro-​death penalty, fiscal restraint and a balanced budget, education reform, and welfare reform. President Obama, a cautious politician ideologically close to left-​wing politics (his parents were Marxists) also carried out a moderate policy, partially because most Obama voters were moderate. According to the post 2012 elections poll, nearly three-​fifths of his support came from self-​described moderates and conservatives. Obama won also with huge majorities of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, who are now a bigger slice of the of the electorate (about 30%) and the result of the fundamental demographic changes in the country that have reshaped both party coalitions. The 2016 research results of Pew Research Center show that Democrats hold advantages in party identification among blacks, Asians, Hispanics, well-​ educated adults and Millennials. Republicans have leads among whites—​ particularly white men, those with less education, and evangelical Protestants, as well as members of the Silent Generation—​people born in the United States between roughly 1923 and the early 1940s. Today, non-​Hispanic whites make up 57 percent of all Democratic and Democratic-​leaning registered voters, down significantly from 76  percent in 1992. 34  percent of registered voters identify as independents, 33 percent identify with the Democratic Party, while 29 percent identify as Republicans. Among independents 48  percent either identify as Democrats or lean Democratic; 44  percent identify as Republicans or lean Republican. White voters—​who were roughly divided in their partisan leanings eight years ago—​are now much more likely to identify as Republican or lean Republican (54 percent) than to say they identify as Democrats or lean Democratic (39 percent). And voters with no college experience—​long a reliably Democratic bloc—​are now split in their partisan preferences: 46 percent identify as Republican or lean Republican, while 46 percent identify as Democrats or lean Democratic. Young voters remain overwhelmingly Democratic in their partisan affiliation. Today, nearly six-​in-​ten voters younger than 30 identify as Democrats or lean Democratic (59 percent) which is little changed from 2008 (60 percent). With the election of a white very rich person in 2016, socialists and communists in the House raised their heads and reminded about themselves. The Democrats 2020 program differs drastically from the 1992 Clinton’s program and 2008/​2012 Obama’s programs. The Democrats’ platform calls for: ending mass incarceration, abolishing the death penalty, free college tuition for millions, cracking down on big banks, a public option for health care, and the right to abortion without restrictions. The situation in the House and Senate reminds of

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 269 a conflict between the Senate and tribunate in the ancient Rome. Taking into account that the corruptive media supports Democrats, the idleness and even harmful activity of Democrats in the House do not obtain proper and fair consideration in the news-​media. A significant percentage of the electorate presented by Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians explains the policy of Democrats to support immigration. Democrats exploit the nation’s immigration issue for political gain. Moreover, some of them even call for open borders. Democratic National Committee deputy chairman and congressman Keith Ellison stated that national borders, specifically the southern border, create “an injustice.” A 2018 Harvard Harris poll shows that a striking 36 percent of Democrats support “basically open borders.” Democrats running for president promised that their government health insurance plans would cover undocumented immigrants. They also support sanctuary cities that protect low-​priority immigrants from deportation and where the local law enforcement often does not cooperate with federal immigration authorities trying to hold or deport aliens. Democrats’ support of the open border with Mexico, a country run by drug cartel that kills Americans indirectly, by sending and selling drugs in the U.S., and directly, by using weapons, allows barbarians to operate openly in the country. Democrats running such sanctuary cities as San Francisco and Los Angeles, offering a generous help to illegal immigrants, are unable to care for their citizens. According to Los Angeles Times, Here, men and women sleep in rows, lined up one after another for block after block in makeshift tents or on cardboard mats on the sidewalks -​the mad, the afflicted and the disabled alongside those who are merely down on their luck. Criminals prey on them, drugs such as heroin and crystal meth are easily available, sexual assault and physical violence are common and infectious diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS are constant threats… There are now more than 57,000 people who lack a fixed, regular or adequate place to sleep on any given night in the county, and fewer than 1 in 10 of them are in skid row. Homelessness burst its traditional borders several years ago, spreading first to gloomy underpasses and dim side streets, and then to public parks and library reading rooms and subway platforms.

Fox News reported about the homeless crisis in San Francisco: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definition of homelessness includes people who are living on the streets, in cars or in shelters. San

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Francisco’s own definition widens the category to people without a permanent address who are in prison, rehab or hospitalized. If the city used the same measurement it had in years past, the numbers would show an increase from 7,400 to 9,784—​or 30 percent in 2019. On any given day you can see… piles of human feces, puddles of urine and vomit caked on the sidewalks. The misery of homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction hits deep in San Francisco and has turned parts of a beautiful city into a public toilet.

Sadly, similar situation is in Seattle and Portland. All this reminds the situation in the ancient Rome during the Roman Empire’s decline and fall. Surprisingly, now the more experienced old Democrats are not the most active members in the Congress. The tone is set by the new members—​immigrants or children of immigrants from developing countries, where they could only dream about the life they have in the United States. They do not feel comfortable with the Western world and, although outwardly it looks like they assimilated themselves into American society, in reality they did not embody the American spirit and represent only their communities from Mexico, Africa, and Middle East. That is why they support open borders, talk about racism, inequality and freely juggle with the word democracy. They try to teach Americans how to live and shifted the Democratic Party far left. The U.S. is certainly undergoing a period of a certain political instability, with the country split on many issues and animosity rising between different sides. And its future development depends on how efficiently the U.S. government will be able to stabilize the situation and strengthen its position around the world.

How to Prolong the Superpower Status A nation is a complex living organism. Similar to organisms of its people whose life is limited, the life of the nation, as a stable community of people formed on the basis of a common language, territory, history, ethnicity and culture, is limited as well, although it lasts unspecified period of time which is significantly more difficult to estimate than a life of a separate individual. Although no one can predict how long they will live, it is well known that taking good care of themselves can help people to increase their chances of living a long life. Good care includes a healthy lifestyle following a healthy diet and keeping our stress under control. In a case of illness, properly prescribed vitamins and/​or medicines as well as, if needed, surgical operations can extend life. Usually, after a thorough examination, a doctor or a group of doctors provide a patient with

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 271 a treatment plan to follow. Good care of a nation is the main responsibility of the government. The decision making to improve the economic and political situation in the country is a result of a collaborative work of all branches of government which requires decisiveness to reach the desired goals. This requires a strong leader whose determination, perseverance and patriotic devotion towards the nation would motivate people to achieve the established goals. Below we discuss measures that can extend the U.S.  superpower status at least by several decades. As indicated earlier, it is premature to indicate the U.S. decline as a superpower. The United States keeps its economic might—​its GDP per capita is significantly higher than other nations. The country’s military might is indisputable, especially after recent increases of its defense budget and the related modernization of some weapons. The urgent problem to be resolved in the future is the U.S. national debt. Politicians like to discuss economic problems. To learn several economic terms do not present any difficulties. But to discuss economic problems without showing deep understanding, what we see almost every day is irresponsible. The so-​called entitlement programs (government programs that provides individuals with personal financial benefits or sometimes special government-​provided goods or services) that started devouring more and more money from government budgets attracted attention of economists. The modification of these programs focused on decreasing the national debt is offered by some economists as the “first medical aid” and necessary cure for the economy. In the U.S. the most important examples of entitlement programs at the federal level include Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, most Veterans’ Administration programs, federal employee and military retirement plans, unemployment compensation, food stamps, and agricultural price support programs. The U.S. entitlement programs represent about 18.5  percent of GDP. Medicare has had a cash shortfall every year since its creation, except two: 1966 and 1974. Medicare’s annual cash shortfall in 2012 was $472 billion. In 2015, it reached $ 546 billion. Medicare now covers nearly 51 million people at a cost of $586 billion. The program is responsible for more than 25 percent of all federal debt since 2000. Medicaid provides health care for 62 million poorer Americans. Its cost was $308 billion in 2012. In 2015, it jumped to $ 446 billion. Social Security costs $887.8 billion per year. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid already cost now about $1.9 trillion per year. In 2010, an estimated 49 percent of households received benefits from these three entitlement programs or other federal and state government assistance. Social Security and Medicare, as currently structured and financed, cannot come close to meeting the demand. Viewed from a GDP perspective, Social Security

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spending has been relatively stable. In 2005, spending was 4 percent of GDP. By 2015 it had increased to about 5 percent of GDP. For ten years Medicare costs increased by about 80 percent. As to Medicaid, its costs—​as a result of a huge influx of new beneficiaries due to Obamacare—​reached about 500 billion. The millions of retiring baby boomers will increase significantly the cost of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the U.S. and pensions plans in Europe. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, thirty-​six million Americans are already retired. During this decade and the next, the number of Americans age 65 or over will jump by 75 percent, while those of working age will nudge up by just 7 percent. During the next 17 years, 77 million workers will retire. The cost to make these programs financially solvent for the next 75 years is almost $40 trillion (see https://​w ww.uschamber.com/​report/​10-​truths-​about-​americas-​ entitlement-​programs). On the one hand, entitlement programs, not being adjusted properly to the requirements of the time, hurt economic growth. On the other hand, economic growth can help to improve these programs. A  smart economic policy should work in both directions—​create conditions for the GDP growth and, simultaneously, try to improve entitlement programs. The desire of many politicians (Democrats—​in the U.S.) to save entitlement programs by increasing taxes, mostly on the rich (a popular method to demonstrate the care for poor people) only hurts the economy and aggravates the situation with entitlement programs since tax increase cannot create new jobs. The only way to move in the right direction is to cut taxes (at least for businesses to stimulate capital investment) although, even being dosed properly, this measure alone is not sufficient. Practical measures to save entitlement programs include the increase of retirement age and/​or establishing occupational and individual funded pensions by moving substantial parts of retirement income from public pensions to private savings. Various related proposals present the implementation of two obvious but unlikely popular strategies—​work longer and save more. Well-​k nown drawbacks of governmental systems (sluggishness because of inefficient bureaucracy, corruption, overstaffing) present a real opportunity to save money needed to decrease the country’s debt. Medicare and Medicaid fraud is the result of inefficient implementation of these programs. It is difficult to evaluate precisely the level of medical fraud. Only in 2011, the government recovered $4.1 billion from health care providers billing for services that never being done: suppliers billing for equipment that never being sent, as well as for services, supplies and equipment obtained by stolen Medicare and Medicaid cards; for misleading diagnostics and unnecessary treatment, etc. With a help of current

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 273 sophisticated technology, the efficiently managed anti-​fraud system can save yearly on average $15–​30 billion (see also the previous section). The size of the U.S. federal government increased significantly in last decades, and there is no serious discussion how to decrease it. More bureaucracy means additional funding to support it. However, this does not bother politicians, since bureaucracy is a part of their suite, a measure of their power. At the beginning of the 20th century, federal, state, and local governments spent an amount equal to 6 to 7 percent of GDP. By 1950, the U.S. government expenditures, net of intergovernmental grants, had risen to 21 percent of GDP. Over the past 40 years the spending has drifted irregularly upward, and now is about 34 percent of GDP. In the early 20th century, federal, state, and local governments employed about 4 percent of the civilian labor force. By 1950, The U.S. government employment had risen to about 10 percent. During the past 40 years, it rose and fell: it reached a peak in the mid-​1970s at nearly 16 percent, then fell to its present level of roughly 14 percent; as a percent of GDP it was 7.2 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively. (This figure does not include the two million members of the armed forces.) However, the latest figure is deceptive and explained by the increasing outsourcing of government functions to private contractors that began in the 1990s under President Clinton’s “reinventing government” initiative. Many people who were classified as members of the private labor force actually worked for governments as contractors (or employees or subcontractors of contractors). Government has “privatized” more functions by contracting out the performance of tasks previously performed by workers on the regular government payroll. In addition to the above factors showing the increased role and size of government, a bigger factor in determining the allocation of economic resources, the distribution of wealth, and the rate of economic growth became increased regulations: statutes, executive orders, and judicial decisions as well as the directives of regulatory agencies (e.g., the Environmental Protection Agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission). The regulatory state had continued to grow and impede growth in the economy. Over last 10  years the non-​independent agencies added between $78–​$115 billion in estimated annual costs through the finalization of new regulations. Organizations, once created during crises and wars, tried to survive later and were supported by many politicians, since their existence would bring them votes of people who benefited from the related programs. The crises and wars contributed to shifting American views about the proper role of government in economic life, and this shift in the limited-​government ideology of 19th century was used by skillful politicians.

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By the 1970s, the entire economy had been thoroughly politicized. The Grace Commission, an investigation requested by President Reagan, focusing on waste and inefficiency in the U.S. Federal government, discovered that the federal government alone was conducting 963 separate social programs, many of them designated “entitlements.” Its revenue-​enhancing recommendations that “can be achieved without raising taxes, without weakening America’s needed defense build-​up and without in any way harming necessary social welfare programs,” to save $424 billion of “waste” in the Federal Government over three years remained unrealized. In his inaugural address, Ronald Reagan announced a recipe to fix the nation’s economic mess: Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the federal government and those reserved to the states or to the people.

In 1989 letter to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate, Ronal Reagan indicated, “The main role of government is to provide a stable economic environment that allows each individual to reach his or her full potential. Individuals and businesses must be able to make long-​run plans confident that the government will not change the rules halfway through the game. Government’s drain on the economy, both through its resources that could be used more productively by the private sector and through taxes that destroy individual incentives, must be minimized.” Reagan had a mandate to cut the federal government. However, he failed to radically reduce the size of government. Under Reagan, the federal workforce increased by about 324,000 to almost 5.3 million people. (The new hires were not just soldiers to fight the communists; uniformed military personnel only accounted for 26 percent of the increase.) His phrase “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” can be interpreted as an excuse for his inability to fulfil his promise—​to decrease the size of the federal government. It is difficult and almost impossible to cut government workforce in the crises and post-​crises periods, since the crisis ideology supports the expansion of government programs focused to improve life of the most vulnerable part of population during the crises.

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 275 Policymakers are divided as to whether government expansion helps or impedes economic growth. Advocates of bigger government argue that additional government programs and increases in government spending can bolster economic growth by putting money into people’s pockets. Proponents of smaller government have the opposite view. They explain that government is too big and that higher spending undermines economic growth. A government that grows larger than required to provide basic services may slow down economic growth in a number of ways. The larger the government, the greater its involvement in activities it does poorly. More government means higher taxes or borrowing. Taxes and borrowing drain money from the private sector. Compared to the private sector, government is less innovative and less responsive to change. Today, more than 18  million Americans work in government—​in health, education, defense and homeland security, and the government workforce includes also local, state, and federal bureaucracies. The federal government employs 2.1 million civilian workers in hundreds of agencies at offices across the nation. The federal workforce imposes a substantial burden on America’s taxpayers. In 2016 wages and benefits for executive branch civilian workers cost $267 billion. Since the 1990s, federal workers have enjoyed faster compensation growth than private-​sector workers. In 2015, federal workers earned 76 percent more, on average, than private-​sector workers (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), GDP & Personal Income, www.bea.gov/​iTable/​index_​nipa.cfm.) In 2015, federal civilian workers had an average wage of $86,365 whereas the average wage for the nation’s 112  million private-​sector workers was $58,726. According to the BEA data, when benefits such as health care and pensions are included, the federal compensation advantage over private workers is even larger. In 2015, total federal compensation averaged $123,160 or 76 percent more than the private-​sector average of $69,901. (In 1990, average federal compensation was 39 percent higher than average private compensation.) In 2015, federal workers enjoyed average annual benefits of $36,795, which compared to average benefits in the private sector of just $11,175. The 2012 CBO study concluded, “On average for workers at all levels of education, the cost of hourly benefits was 48 percent higher for federal civilian employees than for private-​sector employees with certain similar observable characteristics.” Federal workers receive health insurance, retirement health benefits, a pension plan with inflation protection, and a retirement savings plan with a government match. They typically receive generous holiday and vacation schedules, flexible work hours, training options, incentive awards, and generous disability benefits. Federal workers are almost never fired. Just only 0.5 percent of federal

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civilian workers a year get fired for any reason, including poor performance and misconduct. For the senior executive service in the government, the firing rate is just 0.1 percent. Although the persuasiveness of the above material is obvious, there are economists who, defending the size of the current federal government, assert that its size is relatively small when comparing to its history and with other developing countries if exclude military and health care (see Kleinbard, 2015). No surprise. In social science it is possible to justify almost everything. President Tramp’s campaign promises contained the decrease of the size of the federal government—​the elimination of about 3,200 staff positions including over 20 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency workforce. Based on the material of Chapter 8, it is clear that the size of the Department of Education can be decreased. It is obvious that cuts are possible in other departments and agencies. American politicians had paid no attention to one of the largest contributors to the national debt—​A merica’s failed trade policies. If in the early 1990s the U.S. net exports (the difference between the exports and the imports) were about -​1 percent of GDP; they were -​5.6 percent of GDP in 2006 and -​3.1 percent of GDP in 2018. President Trump has opened a new era in American trade policy that demands fairer treatment of the U.S. as a trade partner. The president also reconsidered America’s military help to other countries and asked NATO members to raise their defense spending to 4 percent of GDP. His pragmatic approach strengthens the role of the United States as the world leader. The country cannot function normally if its political elite splits up into two hostile camps. Congressional approval during past ten years has been too low. Under the President Obama administration the United States Congress was also exceedingly unpopular; during 2012–​2018 its approval rating was with the range just 9–​21 percent. The polling data from October 2019 puts the U.S. Congress approval rating at 25  percent. This marks the second highest approval rating since October 2018. Most of this period Congressional approval was around 17–​ 20 percent. Americans tend to see Congress as a group of ineffective politicians involved more in a political fight with opponents rather than in a fight for interest of their constituents. Most time Democrats spent to oppose the actions of the executive branch concerning illegal immigration, the confirmation of the Supreme Court justices chosen by the President, funding of the border wall with Mexico, and the impeachment of the President. The signed trade agreements were many months in Congress without consideration, although they are beneficial for the United States. The fight in Congress is accompanied by a torrent of

Difficulties to Keep Being be the World’s Superpower | 277 lies. It seems like fighting politicians forgot about an elementary decency. They shamelessly demonstrate worse features of human nature. Of course, they defend their personal interests and interests of those who support them. However, the methods they use are inadmissible for high ranking representative of the world’s superpower. It looks like the fight in the legislative branch of government influenced decisions of the judicial branch. Some judges ruled in favor of their allies in Congress. Under such a situation it is impossible to fight corruption in the country. United States federal judges have life tenure once appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Alexander Hamilton believed that “nothing can contribute so much to its (judiciary) firmness and independence, as permanency in office.” However, now some scholars argue whether lifetime appointments are still appropriate since some data suggests that many justices actually drift leftward as they age. The Supreme Court of the United States is the final court of appeal and final expositor of the Constitution of the United States. It is reasonable to keep life tenure for federal judges but establish the tenure condition for lower federal judiciary. For example, tenure can be ended if a judge’s decisions, overruled by the Supreme Court, would exceed the established admissible level of overruled decisions. Such additional condition can make judges more responsible for their decisions. Formally, judges may be judicially removed if they no longer meet the “good behavior” part of Article III of the U.S. Constitution. However, because of a rather fuzzy formulation of “good behavior” only 15 federal judges in U.S. history have ever been impeached by Congress—​a ll lower court judges—​and only eight have been removed from office. It is obvious that a judge must be independent and must interpret the law, rather than make the law. If this is the case, then why many decisions of lower courts have been overruled. It looks like judges interpreted the existing laws differently. Maybe some laws established many years ago sound ambiguously, and it is time to reformulate them? The constitution is a nation’s passport or identity card. Citizens are required to renew these documents to reflect personal changes. The United States age exceeds 230 years. Instead of the partisan fight, Congress should reconsider the existing laws to eliminate any ambiguity in them. This would make easier for all branches of government to work together for the benefit of the citizens. As mentioned earlier, the U.S. is undergoing a period of a certain political instability. This is the most significant factor that can influence the country’s development in the future. Nevertheless, the fact that before the Coronavirus world crisis, despite of such an abnormal situation, the U.S.  economy was

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booming, the unemployment rate fell to 50-​years low, and Americans have the most powerful military—​a ll this gives the full assurance that the country will remain a model for others to imitate and will keep its world’s superpower status for many years ahead.

References Bernanke, B.  (2010). Speech before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform: Achieving fiscal sustainability, April 27, www.Federalreserve.gov. Glubb, J. (1976). The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival. Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons Ltd. Herndon, T., Ash, M., and Pollin R. (2013). Does High Public Debt Consistently Stifle Economic Growth? A Critique of Reinhart and Rogoff. Political Economy Research Institute, Working Paper Series 322, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Kleinbard, E.  (2015). We Are Better than This:  How Government Should Spend Our Money. New York: Oxford University Press. Loudon, T. (2013). The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress. Las Vegas, NV: Pacific Freedom Corporation. Noelker, T., Shapiro, L. and Kellogg, H. (1997). Procurement Integrity Revisions Ease Burdens, National Law Journal19, 7. Reinhart, C. M. and Rogoff, K.S. (2009). This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Princeton, NJ: University Press. Reinhart, C.  M.  and Rogoff, K.S. (2010). Growth in a Time of Debt. American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings 100, 2, 573–​578. Schweizer, P. (2015). Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich. New York: Harper Collins. Schweizer, P.  (2018). Secret Empires:  How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends. New York: Harper Collins. Schweizer, P.  (2020). Profiles in Corruption:  Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite. New York: Harper Collins. Yanushevsky, R. and Yanushevsky, C. (2018). Applied Macroeconomics for Public Policy. London, Oxford, UK: Academic Press, Elsevier.

Afterword

I spent about 40 years—​first, in Kiev, Ukraine and then in Moscow, the capital of the former Soviet Union—​and tested on myself all “marvels” of the communist totalitarian system. My grandparents were murdered by fascists at Babiy Yar, the largest single massacre of the Holocaust. However, a monument specifically recognizing the fate of the Jews was installed only in 1991, the year of a global collapse of communism in the Eastern Europe and Soviet Union. Being a small boy, I  did not understand why people were crying when Stalin died. I  could not understand why my parents were scared when I asked them about that. The meaning of the word antisemitism I learned later. Although I graduated a school with a gold medal that, according to the law, enables a student to be accepted without exams at any university and department he would choose, this did not happen. Graduation from a university with distinction did not open for me a door to a research institute; my first job was at a machine tools plant. Ukraine was one of the most anti-​Semitic Soviet republics and I  decided to test a luck in Moscow applying for PhD at the Institute of Control Sciences of the USSR Academy of Science. The government paid special attention to science, and this was the area where persons with appropriate skills could succeed. Communist leaders understood the importance of science and, although it was mostly focused on military applications, they hoped that it would also turn the economy around.

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In five years I became a senior scientist of the mentioned institute. But as a scientist, I understood that the system itself was self-​destructive. The life in Moscow was different than in most parts of the country which was destined to die. After I decided to immigrate and became the so-​called ‘refusenik’ I spent more than ten years without a job—​remembering the parting words: “each jobless year you lose 15 percent of your qualification; in 7 years you will be useless even if you will be allowed to immigrate.” There was a lot of to compare when after more than ten jobless years, in December 1987, I arrived in the United States and started teaching at the University of Maryland which was not among the best American universities. But its libraries impressed me most of all during my first months in the U.S. The USSR Academic institutions had nothing even close. The university libraries demonstrated vividly the freedom of information, rights to information, knowledge and free expression—​the features which made the U.S. superpower and the lack of which condemned the Soviet Union to collapse. One more thing amazed me: volunteers in America. Russian subbotnik (subbota means Saturday) is a day of unpaid labor, usually on a Saturday, which only originally was voluntary promoting the ideas of socialism through labor; later subbotniks became obligatory events in the USSR, the means to get free work from employees under the cover of communist ideology. In the U.S., volunteering is a defining part of the American experience (colonists banded together to survive) and still an important component of the American character. I will remember all my remaining life a 70-​year-​old woman who I noticed near a metro station returning late from the university. We lived at the same building, and from the metro station it was long walk for a person without a car. She worked as a volunteer at the National Institute of Health and was surprised when I asked her whether the institute paid her metro expenses. For such persons “the essence of life is to serve others and do good,” although it is unlikely that they all are familiar with this Aristotle’s phrase. Over the last 30  years America has changed, although the rate of volunteering stays around the same 26–​30 percent of the entire country’s population. Internet, broadband, WWW (browser and html), PC/​laptop computers, mobile phones, E-​mail, open source software and services (e.g., Linux, Wikipedia), online shopping/​ecommerce/​auctions (e.g., Amazon, eBay), social networking via the Internet (e.g., Twitter, Facebook)—​these and other innovations brought to life a new very wealthy business elite. The dramatic shift of wealth of recent decades enables a part of the political elite to strengthen its position by addressing income inequality policies that redistribute income from the wealthy. The 21st century is the era of knowledge, and the new elite operates mostly with middle class

Afterword | 281 employees who are well paid, so that there is no labor movement similar to the Industrial Revolution. Now the political class is more concerned with own personal needs rather than that of the people. Fighting for power the political elite, rather than the labor movement, intensifies the political climate in the country. In the United States, nearly 70 percent of its citizens consider themselves middle-​ class, although now, according to a recent report (September of 2018) from Pew Research Center, the middle class makes up only over 50 percent of the U.S. total population (this percent varies because of the fuzziness of the definition). The new elite in many developed countries, including the U.S., exploits the fact that their middle class is shrinking. As to the low income families, politicians use well tested receipts of the past. The gene of democracy exists in the DNA of all Americans (as well as citizens of many other democratic countries), who understand the danger of autocratic regimes and for whom such regimes are unacceptable. That is why for Americans the theorems formulated in Chapter 4 are almost obvious. But many of them do not understand the weakness of some democratic structures, where government dominates in the sphere of production and distribution of wealth. As we indicated in Chapter  5, big government means more corruption and unnecessary government spending. Such structures have not only slow economic growth but experience a protracted economic collapse and even can be completely destroyed (e.g., Chile in 1970–​1973; Venezuela 2018). The 1929 Great Depression demonstrated the importance of having the government able to carry out efficient fiscal and monetary policies. The New Deal programs implemented by President Roosevelt—​the government economic relief measures, relief for the unemployed, support for farmers, social security, laws helping unions, and other bills—​made Democrats extremely popular, and they kept majority in the House of Representative and in the Senate for a significant period of time. However, many these useful programs required a huge government spending, and, unfortunately, they were introduced in the unsuitable time—​during the economic crisis. They increased significantly the role of the federal government in the economy, the size of the government, and the level of spending. Government debt started rocketing. According to September of 2019 Gallup polling, 31  percent of Americans identified as Democrats and 29 percent—​as Republicans. People living in urban areas, women, millennials, college graduates, blacks, Latinos, Jewish and Asian Americans tend to support the Democratic Party that advocates social and economic equality, as well as greater government intervention in the economy. Its 2016 platform includes the following provisions:  fight for economic fairness and against inequality; raise

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incomes and restore economic security for the middle class; combat climate change, build a clean energy economy, and secure environmental justice; provide quality and affordable education; ensure the health and safety of all Americans. In the 2022 platform Democrats intend to include Medicare for all United States residents, and free higher education. The above indicated goals sound attractive for many people, especially for those who are unable to evaluate how realistic they are. Many famous actors openly embraced the agenda of the Democratic Party. Most CEOs in the media business are Democrats and donate to Democrats. According to a report of the Center for Responsive Politics, individuals and firms in the television, movie and music industries gave $84 million in campaign contributions during the 2016 election cycle, with 80 percent going to Democrats. Moreover, now most of the celebrity world and the mass media, which are inextricably tied together in a mutually beneficial relationship, became a part of the Democratic Party propaganda machine. Partially, it can be explained by the specifics of actors/​actresses thinking; they are not political scientists or economists and their emotions dominate reasons (Plato described emotion and reason as two horses pulling us in opposite directions). As never before, the political elite depends on the business elite, especially, on the media elite which became a powerful source of propaganda that potentially can break the healthy societal mechanism. Party leaders of the former Soviet Union accompanied they speeches, to make them more persuasive, by words “according to Marx and/​or according Lenin,” although in most cases these references were false. Sad analogy:  these days leading congressional Democrats use too often the word constitution and quote America’s Founding Fathers, although in reality they confuse Constitution. The highly toxic political climate in the U.S.  before the 2020 presidential elections created by showers of lies and hatred is dangerous for the country which, being the world’s superpower, should serve an example for other nations. Although the Democrats were the party of slavery in the past, no Democratic presidential nominee has received less than 82  percent of the black vote since President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and made employment discrimination illegal based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. To get or/​and keep power the Democratic elites use any accident related to black people to play the race card by asserting that racial discrimination is intertwined and rooted throughout U.S.  history and shows up in all aspects of American society. This ignites unrests which in many cases result in a wave of civil disturbances accompanied with sporadic violence, rioting, looting, and even death

Afterword | 283 of innocent persons, especially when the media supports misleading statements and pouring oil on the fire. For an educated person it is difficult to accept that the country where only 12.3 percent of its population is black can be racist if its people elected twice a black president and many African Americans hold senior policy-​making and managerial positions in the government and private sector. It is illegal under U.S. federal law to discriminate against people based on their race or color. Unfortunately, violations of the existing laws may happen in any country. This is a demonstration of human nature. Separate individuals of different social groups dislike persons belonging to other groups and in some cases may express their attitude in violent forms. However, discrimination against blacks is not the official government policy, and any such violations are used by the political elite in its own interests. The Democrats try to present themselves as racism fighters although they cannot boast of any accomplishments that would improve life of black people. President Obama did nothing for them. He failed to improve education in the sorry state public schools with a lot of minority students. He opposed school vouchers for poor or middle income black parents who wanted the ability to provide their children a better educational opportunity. The Democratic elites succeeded only in worsening race relations. The current leaders of the Democratic party do not care that such actions undermine the U.S. prestige in the world and affect the political climate in the country. The persons responsible for this political crisis demonstrate the worst features of human nature. The Democrats’ obsession to impeach President Trump with imaginary crimes (first, for colluding with Russians and even being a Russian spy and now for working with the Ukrainians) is accompanied with a blind hatred and boundless malice flavored with hypocrisy and lies. They wanted to destroy him. Understanding that this is impossible they chose to humiliate him. To hold power Marxist regimes used show trials to destroy and humiliate their enemies. Is this a road the Democratic Party offering to Americans? Autocratic regimes use their security forces to avenge themselves on opposition, to repress political opponents. In democratic countries, security apparatus is banned from political participation. As to media, its impartiality is core of the code of ethics: “Seek truth and report it.” Journalistic obligations are to side with none of the parties. During last four years the U.S. political climate has been poisoned as never before. The country had not experienced the situation when not only a group of the political elite but also the top officials of the security agencies, as well as some judiciaries, took on the legitimately elected president and several his supporters who became innocent victims of the broken out power struggle. False accusations were amplified and spread by most of the media. Following orders of their

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superiors, journalists, who assumedly considered themselves decent and cultured persons, shamelessly lied without thinking about consequences of their behavior. Moreover, to defend their previous lies they lied more violating elementary ethical norms of journalism. Being a part of the witch-​hunt they witnessed how the falsely accused persons were losing their life savings on defense to escape prison. This is a dangerous “evolution” of the media, and politicians use it as a powerful ideological tool. There is no place for such journalists in democratic societies. Americans have a strong immune system to battle a toxic atmosphere of lies and dishonesty created by the leaders of the Democratic Party and its backers. These persons care only for power and money. The fact that the described situation took place in the world’s strongest democracy cannot but prick up the ears of other democracies and, as a result, the American image suffers internationally. The country future depends on able honest members of the United States government committed to serve the people rather than to use their positions to fight for privileges and power. It looks like the current Democratic elites forgot the warning of John Adams “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” They do not understand that political polarization and their desire to split the society would not necessarily bring them to power. The Democrats target poor minorities and young people, those who are more inclined to demonstrate offensive behavior and violate social norms than other societal groups, the actions that attract attention of the whole population. However, looting, riots, destroying the monuments and churches are disapproved by the most of Americans. Extreme actions are not the best approach to change ideology. Economic development and technological innovations are the important factors that bring ideological changes. Politicians who are guided by these factors benefit to the society. Politicians who are guided only by their own ambitions can hurt the country. Polarized government does not further to the societal progress. It is of importance for political conflicts to be resolved through dialogue, rather than violence, and the results in political outcomes to reflect the demands of all citizens. The U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution and it has only been changed 27 times. It is the time to adjust it to the requirements of the 21st century; the events of past four years showed need for changes. Special laws should be introduced for the media; the free press cannot be uncontrollable and deliberately false coverage of events, deliberate misinformation, should be punished. The educational level of the members of Congress should be higher than high school diplomas. To keep its world’s superpower status the U.S. must resolve two main

Afterword | 285 problems: to balance its budget, decrease the debt, and, to meet requirements of the knowledge era, rebuild its expensive and inefficient education system. This should be done in the first half of the century. The Democrats dominate public schools, colleges and universities’ faculty and try to indoctrinate the young generation—​accept their leftist social thinking. Proper social education in our schools and universities is a necessary condition to fight corruption and not allow the political elite to dictate people how to live their life. In the era of knowledge the proper social education is a must. I am sure it can be done, and that is why this book was written. Democracy assumes that free elections bring individuals honestly and efficiently serving the people. But this is only necessary rather than sufficient condition, and democracy does not guarantee it will happen in the future. Unfortunately, as it wisely noticed Mahatma Gandhi, “Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable product of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.” However, in the knowledge era we can expect intellectual growth in population which would become an obstacle for electing incompetent and corrupt politicians. As an arbiter of the truth, knowledge is an enemy of corruption and disinformation, which is used as a political weapon to silence the opposition. Although the future development path can be bumpy (mainly as a result of power struggles within the elite or serious international conflicts), this gives a hope that democratic elections will bring bright persons of maturity and experience inspired and committed to doing good.

About the Author

Rafael Yanushevsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine. He received the B.S.  in mathematics and M.S. degree (with honors) in electro-​mechanical engineering from the Kiev University and the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, respectively, and the PhD degree in optimization of multivariable systems in 1968 from the Institute of Control Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. He worked at the Institute of Control Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences. His research interests were in optimal theory and its applications: optimal control of differential-​d ifference systems, signal processing, game theory and operations research. He had published over 40 papers in these areas and two books Theory of linear optimal multivariable control systems and Control systems with time-​l ag. He was an editor of 14 books of the publishing house “Nauka.” After immigrating in the United States, in December 1987, he started teaching at the University of Maryland, first in the Department of Electrical Engineering, then in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and at the University of the District of Columbia in the Department of Mathematics. Since 1999 he has been involved in projects related to the aerospace industry. In 2002 he received Letter of Appreciation from the Department of the Navy, the Navy Area Theater Ballistic Missile Program. He wrote the books Modern Missile

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Guidance, Taylor & Francis, 2007 (Extended Second Edition, 2018), which was translated in Europe and China, and Guidance of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Taylor & Francis, 2011. The author was invited to teach the short courses based on his books in the US, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. Starting in 2010, his company Research and Technology Consulting focuses on economic problems related to the 2008 economic crisis. He published with coauthors eight papers concerning the government fiscal policy in the period of high unemployment and debt, as well as effective decision making in stock market. Based on the mentioned above publications he published the book Applied Macroeconomics for Public Policy, Academic Press, Elsevier, 2018. Since the social behavior of human beings is an important factor in the macroeconomic and macrosociological models, macrosociology and societal development attracted the author’s attention during his work on the above mentioned book and motivated to write this book. Dr. Yanushevsky has published over 100 papers, was the Chair of the Lyapunov Session of the Second and Fourth World Congress on Nonlinear Analyst and a member of the Organizing Committee of the Fourth Congress and is a reviewer of several journals (e.g., Journal of Asset Management, IEEE journals, etc.). He is included in “Who’s Who in America,” “Who’s Who in Science and Engineering,” and “Who’s Who in American Education,” as well as “International Professional of the Year 2008,” and “2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century” (International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England).

Index

absolute monarchies  48, 58 active systems  8–​9, 13, 16 adaptation  12, 14, 76, 92 administrative unit  14–​17, 21, 23, 27, 31–​32, 36, 39–​40, 44, 64, 71, 74, 86, 92–​93, 97, 111, 142, 154, 167 AFL.  See American Federation of Labor (AFL) Africa  24–​25, 35, 43, 45, 51–​53, 57–​58, 72, 169, 171, 242, 245, 254, 256 African-​A mericans  206 Affordable Care Act  219–​221, 223 agricultural societies  3, 37–​46, 58–​59, 75, 93–​94, 96, 132 Albania  72, 78, 130 Algeria  26, 78, 150 Alien Contract Labor Laws  237 American Dream  189, 239 American Federation of Labor (AFL)  182–​183 anarchist  83, 181, 208, 238

ancient Greece  39, 62, 67, 77, 84 Angola  150 anonymous source  198–​200 Arab League  171, 174 Arabia  43, 262 aristocracy  41, 44, 48 63, 72, 97, 99, 104, 108 Aristotle  19, 72, 77, 84, 185 Armenia  78, 132 artisans  37, 101–​102, 108–​109 Asia  35, 39, 51–​53, 58, 65, 72, 107, 110, 161, 169, 171 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation  161 Asian Exclusion Act  237 Association of Southeast Asian Nations  161, 171 Assyria  40 Athens  39–​40, 62, 67, 77, 95 democracy  62, 77

atomic age  167 Austro-​Hungarian Empire  50

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authority  xii, 2, 64, 66, 69, 72, 75, 93–​ 96, 116, 121, 127 authoritarian  30, 130, 142 form of government  135 nation-​states  79 power structure  43 regime  175

authoritarianism, competitive  130 austerity  43 Australia  58, 223, 288 Austria  25, 78 utocratic structures  133 autocracy  67, 96, 112, 118 Azerbaijan  78, 132 Babylonia  40 Bacon, Francis  73, 80 balanced budget  265, 268 Baghdad  26 Bangladesh  150 bank  145, 150, 153–​154, 254, 259, 268 Baron de Montesquieu  65 Bavaria  25 behavior  3, 5–​13, 16–​18, 22, 47, 92–​93, 167, 171, 179, 189 purposeful  9, 92

behavioral genetics  xi behavioral sciences  5 beliefs  xiv, 2, 21–​22, 24, 30, 33, 72–​77, 83, 172, 175, 202, 208 Belgium  25, 47, 54, 78, 152, 170, 252 Berlin Academy  81 Bible  81 Bigmen  37 Bill of Rights  69 biological systems  9 biology  4, 31, 80 bishop(s)  41, 68 Blake, William  60 Bolshevik Party  106

Bolshevik Revolution  51, 114 Bolsheviks  51, 112, 114 Bosnia  78 Bosnian War  26 bourgeoisie  48, 102–​104, 114–​116, 182 Boyars  108 Boyle, Robert  80 British Navigation Act  191 Bulgaria  72, 78, 130, 216 Bureau of Economic Analysis  87, 275 bureaucracy  21, 151, 232, 252–​524, 266, 273 Bush, George  239, 242, 250–​251, 257 business  54–​55, 143, 145–​148, 151–​152, 158–​159, 196, 200, 217, 233–​235, 255, 272, 274 brain  7–​9, 127 Brexit  179 Buddhism  24–​25, 43 Buddhist Uprising  26 Burma  24 Canada  52, 58, 142, 161, 166, 170–​171, 223, 240, 252, 254, 266 capital  59, 108–​109, 117, 191, 204, 279 capital accumulation  145 capitalism  49, 55, 60–​62, 85, 89, 100, 104, 141–​145, 148, 155, 160, 182, 208 capitalist democracy  210 capitalist societal structure  143 capitalist system  61–​62, 119, 130, 143, 224 Catholicism  27 CBO.  See Congress Budget Office (CBO) CCP.  See Chinese Communist Party (CCP) censorship  112, 133, 135, 201 Central American Common Market  161

Index | 291 Central American Court of Justice  55, 169 Central American Integration System (SICA)  55, 169 Central Asia  25, 43, 72, 169–​170 Central Committee  121–​123, 133, 198 Central Propaganda Department  133 Charter of the United Nations  168 Chekhov, Anton  188 Chile  212, 281 China  24–​25, 42–​43, 58–​59, 76, 88, 133, 139–​140, 142, 163–​167, 177–​ 180, 188, 195, 201–​203, 249–​250, 252, 262 Chinese Communist Party (CCP)  133, 135 Christianity  23–​26, 34, 44, 50, 78–​79, 174, 264 church  10, 24, 41–​42, 48–​49, 68, 70, 79–​80, 118, 252, 284 Churchill, Winston  168 city-​states  38–​39, 58, 66–​67, 79–​80 Civil War  203, 262–​263 civilian  14, 273 Civilization(s)  class  2, 16, 23, 27, 30, 32, 37, 41, 45, 47, 49, 62–​63, 74, 76, 81, 82, 89, 96, 99, 221, 238–​239 middle  281–​282 upper  74, 76, 99–​100, 102

class struggle  21, 62, 83, 99–​100, 103, 148 Classical Age  40 climate change  21, 93, 211–​212, 216–​ 217, 243–​245, 247 Climate Convention  244 Clinton, Bill  177, 187–​189, 198–​199, 239, 250, 258, 267, 273 clan  14, 66 classical liberalism  62, 209 Clay, Henry  192 clergymen  62, 102

code of ethics  283 cognitive  8, 10, 200, 264 science  xi neuroscience  xi

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa  161 Commonwealth  217 Communist International  197 Communist League of Youth  122–​123 Communist Manifesto  62, 83, 104, 148 Communist party  51, 105, 121–​124, 131, 133, 149, 198, 207 Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)  121–​124, 133, 198 competitive authoritarianism  130 Comte, Auguste  30 conflict theory  59 Conformity  201, 253 Confucius  24 Congress Budget Office (CBO)  220 Congress of Industrial Organizations  182 constitution  64–​65, 67, 70–​71, 82, 84, 112, 118–​121, 123–​124, 129–​ 130, 146–​147, 150, 152, 209–​210, 230, 277 Constitutional Democratic Party  112, 116 Constitutional monarchy(ies)  58, 70, 112 conscience  93, 107 Conservatives  21, 176, 207, 209, 268 consumer  129 Constantinople  25 consumption  34, 47 Control actions  4, 8, 17, 27 control theory  7–​8, 154 classical  8

controlled variables  4, 283 Copernicus, Nicholaus  80 corporate ownership  145

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corporate socialism  210 corruption  132, 180, 184, 187–​188, 252–​254, 256–​257, 259–​260, 263–​ 264, 266, 281, 285 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)  253–​254, 256 Council of Ministers  70, 122 Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ), 55  court system  38, 44, 122 CPI.  See Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) CPSU.  See Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) craftsmen  46, 101–​102 Croatia  78 Croatian War  26 Crusades  26, 79 Cuba  55, 59, 85, 133 cultural revolution  202–​204 culture  2, 22–​23, 30, 34, 37, 39, 61, 63, 172–​175, 186, 188, 201–​202, 263–​264 currency  178, 195 manipulation  135, 178, 184

cybernetics  xi cyclical theory  30 Cyprus  78 Czechoslovakia  50, 72, 130 Dark Ages  78 Darwin, Charles  11–​12, 30, 186 debt  187, 194, 220, 222–​224, 234, 250, 265, 271–​272, 285, 288 decision making  15, 17, 20, 93, 98, 121, 129, 159, 217, 231, 253, 271, 288 Decembrists  83, 111 Declaration of Independence  82, 236 defense  14, 43, 52, 69, 71, 149, 152, 160, 170, 252, 257, 266, 274–​275, 284

deficit  178, 265–​266 demand  227, 274, 276 democracy  51, 58–​59, 67, 72, 77, 81–​82, 102, 104, 118–​119, 131–​132, 141–​ 142, 171–​172, 174–​176, 208–​209, 250–​251, 258–​259, 270, 284–​285 democratic  98, 132, 159, 161, 173, 183, 200, 255, 281, 283 elite  282–​283 leadership  175 capitalism  210 socialism  210

Democratic Party  189, 209, 242, 267–​ 268, 270, 281–​284 Denmark  67, 150, 152, 217 Department of  Commerce  164 Defense  257 Education (ED)  153, 227, 230–​232, 276 Health & Human Services  240 Homeland Security  239–​240 Labor  148, 152

dependent variables  5 Descartes, Rene  80, 185 Destutt de Tracy  73 development  1, 4–​5, 14–​16, 19–​20, 29–​31, 59, 81–​82, 85–​86, 91–​93, 98–​100, 158–​159, 171–​174, 252–​253 developed socialism  141 Dickens, Charles  60 dictatorship  55, 58, 72, 98, 105, 121, 129, 131 of the proletariat  129

discoveries  9, 12, 35, 45, 80, 103, 196, 204 dissolution  55, 60, 130, 132–​133, 216 distribution of goods  141, 144 distribution system  33, 142 Division of labor  2, 15, 33–​134, 36, 38, 47, 49, 59, 63 dominant ideology  2, 17, 22, 64, 72, 76, 84, 92, 171, 203

Index | 293 Drive theory  10 Duma  112–​113 Durkheim, Emile  30 dynamic processes  7, 60 dynamics of ideology  72, 75 earnings  234 East-​West Schism  25 Eastern Bloc  72 Eastern Orthodoxy  25 ECHR.  See European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ECJ.  See Court of Justice of the European economic activity  47, 84, 126, 255 Economic Community of West African States  171 economic development  20, 59–​61, 89, 142, 148, 154, 161, 169, 171, 254, 261, 266 economic growth  53, 59, 61, 84, 88, 98, 100, 115, 172, 259, 267, 272–​273, 275 policy  21, 86, 121, 126, 223, 225, 251, 266 system  4–​5, 60, 84, 126, 132, 141–​243, 145, 149–​250, 209, 212 theory  17, 265

economy  20–​21, 49–​50, 53–​54, 61–​62, 84–​88, 119–​120, 122–​123, 126, 128–​129, 132–​135, 139–​141, 150–​ 151, 163, 212, 244, 250, 265, 271–​ 274, 281 ED.  See Department of Education (ED), education  2, 21, 55, 63, 76–​77, 79–​80, 108, 120, 125, 149–​153, 157–​159, 207, 215, 226–​234, 236, 252, 267–​ 268, 275–​276, 282 EEC.  See European Economic Community (EEC) efficiency  14–​15, 17, 27, 82, 93, 100, 151, 154–​155, 170–​171, 220, 232–​233

ephors  39 Egypt  26, 44, 50, 52, 76, 78, 98, 172, 175 Egyptian civilization  39 elite  governing  20, 74 non-​governing  20, 74 political  76, 86, 96, 99–​100, 127, 130, 174, 256

elite theory  20, 73 emperor  67, 69, 77–​78, 96, 109, 112, 115, 261, 263–​264 Employee Retirement Income Security Act  152 employment  46, 92, 119, 142, 191, 234–​ 235, 262 endogenous variables  5 Engels, Friedrich  30–​31, 59–​60, 83–​85, 88–​89, 104, 148–​149 England  25, 43, 45–​46, 49, 67–​70, 78–​ 80, 104, 181, 191, 288 English Factory Act  181 Enlightenment  80–​82 environment  4, 7–​8, 11–​12, 14, 16, 18–​19, 92, 151, 153, 171, 215, 243–​244 external  6–​7 internal  7, 9 nonsocial  14 social  11, 83

Environmental Performance Index (EPI)  244 environmental problems  243 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  153, 258–​259, 273, 276 Equal Opportunity Commission  148 equilibrium  3, 9, 32, 144, 217 Esperanto  173 Estonia  114, 129, 132, 254 ethnicity  211, 270 EU.  See European Union Euler, Leonhard  82

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Europe  25–​26, 39–​45, 49–​52, 54, 68–​ 70, 72, 79–​83, 104–​105, 109–​111, 149, 160, 170, 178, 215–​216, 288 Eastern  52, 88, 107, 130, 170, 236, 238, 279 Western  42, 47–​48, 52, 68, 79, 81–​83, 88, 102, 104, 108, 110–​111, 113, 118, 125, 128, 154, 161, 170–​171, 192, 212, 215–​216, 250

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)  55, 169 European Economic Community (EEC)  54, 160–​161 European Free Trade Area (FTA)  161, 167 European Geostrategy  249, 252 European Union (EU)  20, 54–​55, 160, 162, 169–​171, 176, 179, 193–​ 194, 265 European Renaissance  45 evolution theory  12, 31 exchange rates  52 executive branch  65, 67, 71, 122, 153, 275–​276 exogenous variables  5 expected utility theory  17 expenditure approach  87 expenditures  223, 230, 241, 262 exports  126, 162, 164–​166, 178, 191, 195–​196, 276 external control  7–​8, 11, 21 external stimuli  6 Facebook  54, 158, 196, 198–​199, 280 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)  152 family  10–​11, 39, 41, 47, 75–​76, 79–​80, 94, 101, 103, 106, 128, 132, 153, 176, 181, 210, 216–​217, 281 farmers  42, 46, 121, 166, 181, 261, 281 fascism  51, 85, 105–​106

February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution Democratic Revolution  113 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)  257 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)  153 Federal Reserve  153, 257, 265 Federal Trade Commission  147 Federal Trade Commission Act  147 feedback  9, 17, 144, 225 negative  8–​9, 154 positive  8–​9 mechanism  9

feudal courts  68 feudalism  41, 62, 89, 100, 103 finance  80, 101 Finland  110, 114, 129, 152, 217, 228–​ 229, 254 First International  181 Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  152 foreign policy  20, 43, 109, 130, 135, 154, 167, 171, 194, 196, 263 Founding Fathers  82, 84, 134, 152, 186, 205, 260 Fourier, François  140 France  45, 47–​49, 52, 54, 67–​68, 70, 78–​81, 88, 104–​105, 218–​219, 251–​ 252, 254, 257 Franconia  25 Franklin, Benjamin  82 freedom  41–​42, 44, 69, 72, 101, 103, 112–​114, 129, 131–​132, 145, 148, 208–​209, 226, 229, 235–​236 of information  280 of religion  44, 209 of speech  69, 112, 114, 129, 209

free market  55, 143–​147, 153–​155, 162–​ 163, 210, 222, 224 free trade  161–​163, 166–​167, 176–​177, 192–​194

Index | 295 French revolution  27, 48–​49, 70, 73, 82–​83, 100, 106, 111 Freud, Sigmund  9, 186 FTA.  See European Free Trade Area (FTA) feudal societies  41, 62, 89, 100, 103 functionalism  32 GATT.  See General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Galileo  80 Gazette  45 GDP.  See Gross domestic product (GDP) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)  192 General Secretary  122 gens  14 Germany  45–​51, 78, 81, 105, 168, 194, 198, 202, 207, 216–​217, 219, 223–​ 224, 250–​252 global cooling  41, 245 global economy  187, 227, 250 global labor organizations  181–​184 global warming  244–​245 globalization  157, 159–​160, 162–​163, 173–​175, 179–​180, 193–​194, 216, 242 cultural  172–​73 economic  160–​161, 179 political  157, 159–​183

globalism  175–​176, 179–​180, 184, 194, 267 gold standard  115 goods and services  6, 15, 32, 45, 86–​87, 129, 142–​146, 162–​163, 167, 222–​ 223, 256 government  autocratic  75, 161, 201 democratic  40, 51, 72, 89, 152

federal  21, 64, 146, 225, 229–​232, 234, 238, 241, 266, 273–​276, 281 monarchial  72 republic  72, 122 socialist  55, 73

Grace Commission  239, 274 Great Britain  81, 152, 162, 170, 181, 192 Great Depression  51, 153, 193 Greece  67, 72, 84, 263 Greek civilization  40 Green New Deal  211, 247 Greening Earth Society  246 gender  33, 174, 207 Georgia  44, 78, 132, 254 Gosplan  123 Great Britain  81, 152, 162, 170, 181, 192 gross domestic product (GDP)  86–​88, 150, 154, 163, 167, 217, 220, 223, 226, 228, 265, 271–​273, 276 per capita  87–​89, 271 growth rate  87, 134, 265, 272

gross national income (GNI)  264 guild(s)  101, 109 Gulag  124 Gulf Cooperation Council  171 Guyana  150 Hamilton, Alexander  192 HDI.  See Human Development Index (HDI) Healthcare  2, 55, 149–​150, 152–​153, 209, 215, 217–​221, 223–​226, 233, 268, 271, 275–​276 private  22–​, 223, 225 public  221, 264 universal  153, 215, 218–​222

health care systems  219, 224–​226 privatized  219, 225 single-​payer  212, 218 socialized  218

296 | Sociology,

Politics, and Human Nature

health insurance  218–​221, 223, 225, 275 hereditary monarchs  70 hierarchy  44, 66, 110, 115, 126, 141 High Middle Ages  79, 101 Hinduism  24 Hittites  40 Hobbes, Thomas  75, 185 Holland  26, 46, 236 Homeland Security Act  239 Homeostasis  9 horticultural societies  3, 35–​38, 58, 61, 66, 75 human activity  6, 12, 17, 92, 186, 246 human behavior  5–​6, 8–​9, 11, 13, 18, 23, 27, 29, 186, 189, 201 human civilization  13–​17 human characteristics  4, 19, 186 Human Development Index (HDI)  100 human nature  2, 4, 6, 8, 10–​64, 76, 148, 168, 242, 258–​268, 276, 283–​ 284 human well-​being  11 humanistic theory  10 humanitarian models  13 hunter-​gatherer populations  34, 36, 185 hunting and gathering societies  3, 33–​ 34, 57, 91, 93 ICC.  See International Criminal Court (ICC) Ice Age  3 ICJ.  See International Court of Justice (ICJ) ideology  21–​22, 51, 57, 59–​93, 95, 172, 175, 202, 206, 210, 220–​221 autocratic  76–​79, 98, 102, 105–​106, 118, 127, 160 communist  51, 85, 134, 176, 280 dominant  242

globalist  176, 179 kinship  75–​77, 79, 97, 99 political  21, 85, 176, 208–​209

ILO.  See International Labor Organization (ILO) IMF.  See International Monetary Fund (IMF) immigration  21, 177, 179, 187, 215–​216, 237–​241, 276 Immigration Act  238 Immigration and Nationality Act  238 Immigration Reform and Control Act  239 imports  162–​163, 165–​166, 178, 191, 193, 195, 276 Incentive theory  11, 16 income approach  87 independent variables  5 India  24, 40, 43, 45, 58, 76, 79, 88, 150, 164, 252, 262 Industrial society  3, 30, 45–​47, 49, 57, 202 Industrial Revolution  45–​47, 50, 54, 60, 62, 70, 81, 101–​102, 104, 110, 181 industrialization  46–​47, 50, 55, 103, 128, 164, 172, 182, 243 inefficiency  78, 98, 115, 126, 130, 140, 172, 212, 274 inflation  78, 129, 261–​262, 264 infrastructure  32, 63, 78, 196 information technology  53–​54, 157, 159, 231–​233, 250 Initial Public Offering (IPO)  257 innovations  42, 48, 120, 144, 151, 167, 188, 250, 280 input variables  4 inputs  15, 5457, 159, 165 non-​human  x

Instagram  196 instinct theory  10 instincts  6, 9–​10, 12, 16, 18, 188, 197

Index | 297 institutions  2–​3, 32–​34, 36, 44, 49, 51, 73, 79–​81, 98, 112, 114, 159, 182, 196, 206, 209, 230, 233–​234, 236, 253, 259–​260, 265 insurance  49, 119, 209, 221–​222, 224–​ 225 Inter-​A merican Court of Human Rights  55, 169 internal controls  7–​8, 11 internal forces  7–​8 nternal stimuli  6 International Confederation of Free Trade Unions  182 International cooperation  52, 168, 177, 182 International Court of Justice (ICJ)  52, 169 International Criminal Court (ICC)  55, 169 International Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU)  182 International Labor Organization (ILO)  182–​183 International labor standards  182–​183 International Liaison Department  133 International Monetary Fund (IMF)  52, 160, 169, 250, 264 International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)  182–​183 International Workers Association  181 International Workingmen's Association (IWA)  181 internationalism  175–​176, 180 Internet  54, 135, 157–​159, 164, 172–​ 173, 196, 198–​199, 260, 280 investment  85, 135, 144–​145, 147, 165, 225, 262 IPO.  See Initial Public Offering (IPO) Iraq  26, 78, 132, 172, 175, 203, 250–​ 252, 266 Iran  25, 44, 59, 195

Ireland  152 Islam  23–​26, 34, 44–​45, 79, 174–​175 Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)  251–​252 Israel  23, 78, 169 Italy  25–​26, 47–​48, 51, 54, 78–​80, 85, 88, 105, 194, 216, 218, 251, 254 ITUC.  See International Trade Union Confederation Jainism  24 Japan  24–​25, 43, 48, 51–​52, 69, 76, 88, 178, 250, 252, 254 Jefferson, Thomas  57, 82, 203, 205 Jordan  78 Judaism  23–​24, 34, 174 judiciary branch  43–​44, 111, 277 Judicial Watch  257 justice system  38 Kadet party  114 Kalantri, Amit  185 Kennedy, John  236–​237 Kepler, Johannes  80 Kerensky, Alexander  117, 119 Keynes, John Maynard  85 KGB.  See Committee for State Security (KGB) Kievan Rus  107 king(s)  23, 38–​40, 42, 48–​49, 55, 66–​70, 75, 95–​96, 98–​99, 101–​102, 139, 146 kingdoms  58, 67–​69, 79–​80 kinship  14, 33, 36, 96 kinship ideology  75–​79, 97, 99 knights  42, 101 knowledge  4–​5, 15, 18–​19, 61, 73, 75, 159, 173, 226, 228, 280, 285 economy  54 era  285

298 | Sociology,

Politics, and Human Nature

Koran  26 Korea  25, 52, 177–​178 Korea U. S. Free Trade Agreement  Kissinger, Henry  249 Kuwait  78 Kyoto Protocol  244 labor  27, 33, 36–​38, 41, 45–​46, 59, 63, 103, 140, 145–​146, 149, 181–​182, 191 force  42, 53, 145, 163, 165, 237, 273 movement  50, 181–​182, 281

Labor Party  49, 104, 258 labor unions  49, 116 Lamartine, Alphonse  102–​103 Late Middle Ages  79 Latin America  52, 161, 216, 239, 242, 254 Latin American Free Trade Association  161 Latvia  114, 129, 254 law  39, 65, 75–​76, 79–​81, 84, 91–​92, 103–​104, 112–​116, 118, 130–​131, 146–​147, 165, 186, 201, 209, 237, 242–​243, 259, 277, 283 LDCs.  See less developed countries (LDCs) leadership  20, 34, 43, 66, 68, 75, 78, 85, 123, 133, 153, 175 League of Nations  168–​169 learning theory  8 Lebanese Civil War  26 Lebanon  78 Legislative branch  43–​44, 65, 67, 122, 132, 277 Lenin  27, 149, 282 Leonardo Da Vinci  80 less developed countries (LDCs)  194 Liberal democracy  209 Liberal Party  104

liberalism  104, 140, 207, 209 Libya  26, 78, 132, 172, 175, 250 Liechtenstein  78 LinkedIn  54, 158, 196 Lincoln, Abraham  192, 196 Lithuania  114, 129, 132, 254 living standards  98, 126, 134, 262 life expectancy  55, 86, 243, 260 life instincts  6 Locke, John  73, 81, 84 Lord  41–​42, 68–​69, 80 Luxembourg  47–​48, 78, 54 Macedonia  40, 67, 78 Machiavelli, Niccolo  80 macroeconomic analysis  88, 288 macrosociology  1, 3–​27, 288 Madison, James  88, 100, 146, 186 Malta  78 manors  41–​42, 139 manufacturing  46, 115, 147, 161, 164, 178–​179 market  94–​95, 103, 139, 144–​147, 154–​ 155, 159, 162–​163, 165, 167, 177, 209, 212, 222–​223 of goods  103, 182 of labor  62, 103, 145–​146, 163, 167, 181

market economy  55, 60, 132, 142–​143, 171, 181, 187, 194, 225 Marshall Plan  170 Marx, Karl  2, 27, 30–​32, 59, 61–​63, 84, 88–​89, 99, 103–​104, 107, 140, 181 Marx theory  63, 99, 107, 119 Marxism  19, 51, 83–​85, 88–​89, 111, 118, 133–​134, 149, 160, 208, 267 means of production  30, 46, 59, 89, 93, 120, 126, 141, 143, 148–​150, 209–​210 means of transportation  47 Mecca  25

Index | 299 media  63, 131, 135, 150, 158, 173, 196–​ 197, 199–​201, 258, 283–​284 mass  53, 173, 282 social  196, 198–​200, 258

Medicaid  155, 225, 266, 271–​272 Medicare  153, 155, 219, 225, 266, 271–​ 272, 282 Medieval Europe  41, 67, 82 Mensheviks  112–​113 mercantilism  190–​191 merchants  44–​45, 47, 61, 79–​81, 101–​ 102, 109, 261–​262 Mesopotamia  39, 44, 66, 75–​76, 98 Mexico  161, 166, 178, 217, 239–​241, 266, 269–​270, 276 Michelangelo  80 Middle Ages  41, 69, 80, 102 middle class  47, 49, 74, 76, 81–​83, 100–​ 103, 111, 131, 120, 134, 260, 263, 280–​282 Middle East  25, 35, 42, 44, 52, 72, 169, 175, 216, 251–​252, 270 Miguel de Cervantes  80 military  40, 43, 50, 65–​66, 74, 109–​110, 114, 122, 125–​126, 249–​252, 266 military expansion  97, 99 Millet system  44 mode of production  30, 35, 59, 62 models  4–​6, 17–​18, 63, 69–​70, 77, 91, 104, 193, 245–​246 macroeconomic  6, 17 macrosociological  6, 13, 288

moderate  21, 113, 128, 171 268 modernization  111, 114, 134, 266, 271 Monaco  58, 78 monarch  43, 46, 48, 58, 68–​69, 71, 76, 80, 82, 98–​99, 101–​102 monarchy  48, 50, 53, 58, 67, 72, 77, 83, 101–​102, 118 absolute  98 constitutional  58, 70, 112

monetary policy  153, 281 monotheism  23 Mongol Empire  43, 107 moral code(s)  11, 21 More, Thomas  80, 172 Morocco  26, 78, 172 motivation(s)  9–​11, 16, 73 extrinsic  11 intrinsic  10–​11

Mozambique  150 NAFTA.  See North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) NPC.  See National People’s Congress (NPC) National Center for Education Statistics  229 national debt  178, 223, 226, 236, 241, 250, 252, 265–​267, 271, 276 National Economic Security Strategy Act  179 National Fascist Party  105–​106 National Labor Relations Act  183 National People’s Congress (NPC), 133  National security  65–​66, 163–​164, 179, 188, 227, 241, 257, 266 National Socialism  85, 105 National Socialist parties  198, 202 nationalism  50–​51, 54, 79, 83, 85, 106, 127, 175–​176, 178 Naturalization Act  237–​238 NATO.  See North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Natural processes  15 sciences  15

natural selection  11–​12, 31 resources  54, 59, 85, 141, 149, 243

Nazi Party  51, 85, 105, 202 Nazism  51, 203 Neolithic period  35

300 | Sociology,

Politics, and Human Nature

NEP.  See New Economic Policy (NEP) Nepal  76 Netherlands  47–​48, 54, 78, 152, 170, 219, 251 network of communications  47 Neutrality Acts  194 neurons  7–​8 New Economic Policy (NEP)  120, 134 New Zealand  52, 58, 152 Newton, Isaac  80, 82 nobles  41–​42, 44, 46, 68–​69, 83, 99, 101–​102, 139 nomadic way of life  34, 36, 43 norms of behavior  13, 92–​93, 186, 201, 203 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)  55, 166, 177 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)  52, 72, 132, 160, 170, 250, 276 North Korea  51, 55, 59, 85, 133, 187, 195, 201, 250 Norway  67, 150, 152, 217–​218 nuclear weapons  52–​53, 125, 160, 167–​ 169, 195, 249 Nye Jr., Joseph  157 Obama, Barack  187–​188, 250, 257, 268 Obamacare  219–​220, 272 October Bolshevik Revolution  51 October Manifesto  112–​113 October Revolution  114, 118 OECD.  See Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) oligarchy  39, 67, 72 Optimal theory  176, 287 optimization of human well-​being  11 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)  161, 167, 217, 223

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)  170 Organization of African Unity  171 Organization of American States  170 Omnicide  168 order  20, 27, 43, 64, 66, 75–​76, 95, 97, 99, 117–​118, 123, 126, 154, 163, 177, 201, 273 organizational psychology  20 organism  9, 11–​12, 16, 30–​31, 270 Ottoman Empire  44–​45, 50, 79 outsourcing  164, 273 Owen, Robert  140, 148 Page Act  237 Pakistan  25, 52, 251 Palestine  44, 52 Paris Academy  81 Paris Agreement  244–​245 parliamentary monarchy  69 parliamentary system  58, 70–​71, 122 pastoral societies  3, 33–​37, 43, 57, 75, 93 Patent and Trademark Office  147 patricians  41 patriotism  194, 271 People's Republic of China (PRC)  24, 134 Perfectly competitive markets  144, 183 Persian Empire  40 personal income  151 Peter the Great  82, 108–​110, 125 Pew Research Center  241, 268, 281 pharaohs  39, 98 Philippines  52 Plato  38, 77, 84, 185, 282 pluralism  44, 142, 210 Poland  50, 67, 72, 110–​112, 114, 130, 251 Polarization  284 politburo  121–​122, 133

Index | 301 politics  20, 27, 36, 39, 51, 77, 98, 175, 200–​201, 207, 267 politicians  21, 177, 187, 189–​190, 193–​194, 197–​198, 200–​201, 215, 217–​221, 225–​226, 243–​244, 247, 257–​259, 267–​268, 271–​273, 284–​ 285 pollution  21, 243 polygyny  36 polytheistic  23, 78 population  4, 6, 12, 33, 41, 76–​77, 79, 81, 86–​87, 89, 93–​97, 99–​100, 103, 107, 109–​110, 114, 116, 125–​129, 132–​134, 172, 216, 218–​119, 237, 241, 255–​256, 261–​264, 267, 280, 283–​285 Portugal  26, 68, 78, 150 Portuguese Empire  43 post-​industrial societies  3, 53–​55, 57 Potsdam Conference  168 power struggle(s)  38, 74, 96, 132, 203, 283, 285 PRC.  See People's Republic of China (PRC) pre-​agricultural societies  59, 75, 93–​ 94, 96 pre-​industrial societies  47, 49, 94–​96, 100–​101, 103, 105, 161 presidential republic  58 Presidential system  58, 75 price(s)  61, 87, 94, 101, 129, 143–​146, 151, 162, 165–​166, 179, 181, 183, 207, 222, 224, 261 Prince Charles  217 principates  58 private sector  135, 146, 150, 190, 225, 256, 274–​275, 283 production  14–​16, 30, 32–​33, 45–​47, 54, 59, 61–​64, 87, 89, 93, 122–​123, 126–​127, 141, 143–​145, 148–​150, 154, 209–​210, 262 production approach  87

production unit  15–​16, 20–​22, 33, 47, 53, 64–​65, 71, 92–​93, 126, 154–​ 155, 210 productivity  7, 14–​15, 37, 59, 69, 89, 93–​94, 126–​128, 144–​145, 235 profit  49, 61–​62, 142–​145, 148, 151, 154, 179, 181, 183, 189–​190, 220, 222, 224–​225 progress  53, 59, 81, 86, 88–​89, 103, 109, 115, 135, 140, 157, 161, 169, 228, 231–​233 pro-​independence movements  71 proletariat  83, 103, 120–​121, 129, 145, 149 Propaganda Department  133, 198, 200 property rights  39, 41, 67, 70, 84, 93, 101–​103, 118–​119, 121, 126, 135, 140, 143, 146, 148 Protestantism  25, 268 Provisional Government  51, 102, 113–​ 114, 117–​119 pseudo-​democratic societal structure  97, 119 psychology  4, 8, 20, 197, 200 public corporation  46, 49, 85, 145, 257 Publicity Department of the Central Committee  133 pyramid  38, 44, 97, 109, 115, 118, 122, 139–​140, 174 pyramidal structure  78, 97–​99, 101, 139 Qatar  58 qualitative change  14, 57 Quantitative immigration law  238 queen  48, 101, 111 quotas  162–​163, 165–​167, 191, 238–​2239 Quran  23–​24 race(s)  2, 187, 206, 209, 237, 282–​283 racism  187, 204, 206, 270, 283

302 | Sociology,

Politics, and Human Nature

Raphael  80 Rational choice theory  17 Reagan, Ronald  139, 274 real GDP  87, 265 reform movement  104 Reformation  25 refugee(s)  216, 238 Refugee Act  238 relationships  1, 8, 11, 19, 63–​65, 141, 143, 146, 233–​234 collaborative  2

religion  22–​24, 26, 33, 38–​39, 44, 49, 63, 67, 96, 99, 173–​174, 206, 209 monotheistic  23, 99 polytheistic  78

religious,  beliefs  22, 24, 34, 92, 129 movement  79 persecutions  26–​27 pluralism  44 wars  25, 203

Renaissance  45, 80–​81, 258 Representative democracy  104, 209 Republican Party  79–​80, 186, 200, 221, 224, 228, 239–​240, 242, 258, 268, 281 Revolutionary movements  105, 111 Ricardian socialism  141 Ricardo, David  141, 184, 191–​192 Roman Empire  24, 42, 67, 77–​78, 88, 97, 260–​264, 270 Roman Republic  40–​41, 67, 77, 79, 96–​ 97, 260, 262–​263 Romania  72, 78, 129–​130 Roosevelt, Franklin  168, 281 Rousseau, Jean-​Jacques  81, 91, 257 royal courts  68 Royal Society of London  81 ruling class  27, 37, 63, 76, 103, 264 Russell, Bertrand  18 Russia  48, 50–​52, 69, 83, 104–​119, 121, 131, 139, 228, 250, 252, 254, 256–​258

Russian Academy  108 Russian Empire  71, 110, 113–​114, 119 RSDLP.  See Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP)  116 Russian Revolution  50, 107, 112 Rutherford, Earnest  236 Safavid Empire  44 Saudi Arabia  25, 58, 78 Scandinavia  47–​48, 149, 167, 178 Scientific Revolution  80, 82 Scotland  67 SEATO.  See Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Secure Fence Act  239, 242 security  10, 20, 52, 54, 84, 92, 123, 164, 168, 171, 195, 229, 238, 283 Security Council  169, 195–​196 Securities and Exchange Commission  147, 153, 273 sedentary human civilization  15 segregation  205 self-​determination theory  10, 195 self-​preservation instincts  9, 13, 182 self-​regulated processes  7 self-​regulation  9, 144, 212 Saint-​Simon, Henri  30, 140, 148 serfdom  110–​111, 115, 119, 205 serfs  42, 44, 62, 69, 83, 99, 102, 108–​ 110, 114 service sector  53 services  6, 15, 37, 55, 63, 86–​87, 142–​ 148, 151–​152, 157–​159, 162–​164, 169, 179, 182–​184, 190, 218, 222–​ 223, 255–​256, 271–​272 sexual instincts  10 Shah  44 Shakespeare, William  80 Shia  25, 44

Index | 303 Shintoism  24 shogun  69 SICA.  See Central American Integration System (SICA) Sikhism  24 slavery  34, 36, 40, 42, 62, 75, 103, 205, 251, 282 Slovakia  78 Slovenia  78 Smith, Adam  61, 81, 84, 86, 88, 140, 144, 162, 184, 190–​192 social categorization  19 social  change  27, 32, 48, 59, 62, 118, 226 closure  3 comparison  19

social control  2, 201, 203, 207, 227 social democracy  85, 208–​209 Social-​Democratic Workers’ Party  105 social equilibrium  3 social identification  19 social insurance  49, 119 social liberalism  209 social order  27, 66, 201, 207 social system(s)  2, 14–​16, 35, 65–​66, 103, 210 socialism  62, 83, 85, 100, 104, 107, 125, 141–​143, 148–​150, 153, 155, 207–​210 Socialist Labor Party  104 Socialist Party  104–​105 Socialist Revolutionary Party  105, 113, 116 societal dynamics  4, 57, 97 societal progress  30, 86, 100, 103, 106, 119, 284 societal structures  capitalist  61–​62, 102–​103, 143, 188 democratic  139, 141–​154 mixed democratic  152, 154 pseudo democratic  97, 119 pyramidal  78, 97–​99, 101, 115, 124, 126–​ 127, 139, 174

Social Democratic Party  50, 104–​105

social stratification  7, 19, 38, 73 socialist(s)  84, 86, 104, 112, 114, 142–​143, 149–​150, 153, 207, 209, 267–​268 socialist property  119 society  1–​3, 13–​17, 19–​22, 27–​33, 35–​40, 53–​57, 59, 61–​66, 71–​77, 79–​82, 84–​86, 91–​104, 133–​135, 140–​144, 148–​150, 186, 188–​190, 208–​210, 258–​260 closed  30, 61, 94, 125, 131, 135 open  30, 135, 180

sociological models  4–​5 sociology  5, 9, 29–​30, 57, 73–​74, 91, 97, 172, 186, 192, 201 Song Dynasty  42 Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)  160 Southern African Development Community  171 Soviet Union  51–​52, 55, 72, 114, 120–​ 313, 135, 141–​142, 150, 164–​165, 168–​171, 173, 279–​280 Soviets  113–​114, 117–​119, 122, 124–​ 126, 170, 198 Spain  78–​79, 216, 219, 254 Spanish Empire  43, 71 Sparta  39, 67, 77 Spencer, Herbert  30–​31 Spinoza, Baruch  80 Sri Lanka  150 St. Petersburg Academy  81 stability  9, 20, 24, 52, 55, 95, 146, 151, 154, 160, 164, 169–​170, 196, 201, 250, 265 standard of living  98, 126, 134, 262 state formation  95, 98 State Duma  83, 113, 131 State Planning Committee  123 state variables  4 status of nobility  43, 103, 264 Stendhal  1, 22 stimulation strategy  16, 231

304 | Sociology,

Politics, and Human Nature

Stone Age  3 stratification  2, 7, 19, 26, 38, 73–​74 Sudan  78 Sudanese Civil War  Sumeria  40, 67 Sunni  25–​26, 44, 203 superpower  52, 153, 164, 233, 237, 249, 260, 271, 280 superstructure  32, 59, 63 supply and demand  6, 94, 143 surplus  10, 34–​36, 54, 61, 93, 120 Supreme Soviet  122 Sweden  67, 143, 150–​152, 219, 236, 254 Swift, Jonathan  220 Switzerland  78, 217, 219 Syria  26, 40, 44, 78, 172, 175, 195, 251 Taoism  24 Tariff of Abominations  192 tariffs  162–​613, 166–​167, 178, 191–​193 taxes  42, 68–​70, 147–​148, 162–​163, 165, 191, 261, 263, 267, 272, 274–​275 technological innovation  42, 49, 284 technological processes  15, 21, 154 technology  82, 89, 125, 128, 134–​135, 161, 163, 165, 226, 250, 252 Thailand  52 theocracy  44, 58, 72 theories  behavioral  5 social  5, 57, 59–​60, 63, 105 of motivation  10

Thirty Years War  25 Tibet  24–​25 Titian  80 totalitarianism  51, 55 trade  14, 36–​37, 61, 94, 107, 109–​110, 161–​163, 165–​167, 171, 190, 192, 194–​195, 261–​262 deficit  178, 266 surplus  177 international  166, 178

trade policy  166, 177–​178, 190–​192, 194, 196, 276 trade unions  51, 83, 85, 103–​104, 116–​ 118, 149, 181–​183, 207, 232 Trans-​Atlantic Trade Agreement  177 Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)  55 Trans-​Pacific Partnership Agreement  177 Transparency International  256, 266 tribe(s)  14, 66 Truman, Harry  168, 170, 192, 238 Truman Doctrine  170 Trump, Donald  177–​178, 180, 187, 194, 198, 207–​208, 242, 244, 264, 276, 283 Tsar  69, 72, 82, 109–​111, 113, 117–​ 118 TTIP. See Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)  55 Tunisia  26, 78, 172, 175 Turkey  25, 40, 44, 58, 78, 251 Twain, Mark  215 Twitter  54, 158, 196, 198–​199, 280 Ukraine  127, 132, 188, 256, 279, 287 unemployment  20, 49, 55, 60, 62, 132, 164, 177–​178, 208, 237, 265 unemployment rate  278 UN.  See United Nations (UN) Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)  51, 119–​124, 126, 134–​ 135, 280 unions  113, 119, 122, 149, 181–​182, 190, 193, 204, 208, 238 United Nations (UN)  52, 71, 160, 168–​ 170, 173, 194, 206, 244, 250 United Nations Charter  195 Universal health care  153, 215, 218, 220–​222 universal male suffrage  49, 70

Index | 305 United Kingdom  64, 84, 88, 179, 194, 223–​24 United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)  256 United Russia  131 United States  51–​53, 70–​72, 146–​148, 152–​155, 164–​166, 168–​171, 179–​ 180, 186–​188, 192–​193, 203–​8, 212–​215, 219–​221, 226–​231, 236–​ 244, 249–​252, 260, 264–​268, 276–​ 277, 280–​282 United States-​Mexico-​Canada Agreement (USMCA)  166 unrobust  154 unstable  107, 187, 205, 250 upper class  74, 76, 82, 99–​100, 102 Upper Paleolithic  3 urban civilization  38 urbanization  47 U.S.-​Mexico Trade Agreement  166 USMCA.  See United States-​Mexico-​ Canada Agreement USSR.  See Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) utility  152 theory  17

variables  5 endogenous  5 exogenous  5

Vassals  42, 51, 68–​69 Vasco da Gama  45 Venezuela  212, 281 Vesalius, Andreas  80 viability of a society  17 Vietnam  59, 85, 133, 171, 254 warfare  33–​34, 36, 39, 98 Warsaw Pact  52, 72, 170 Washington, George  205

well-​being  2–​3, 11–​13 criterion  13, 17–​22, 61–​62, 65, 74, 89, 92, 95, 100, 106, 140, 143, 153, 176, 243, 254

wealth  2, 11, 14, 19–​20, 47, 53, 72, 74, 86, 103–​104, 140, 142–​143, 148–​ 150, 259, 280–​281 per capita  xiii

Weimar Republic  105 Western Bloc  72 Western Christendom  25 WHO.  See World Health Organization (WHO) Workers’ Party  105 Working class  2, 60–​61, 83, 89, 104, 115–​117, 121, 133, 181, 187 World Bank  52, 160, 169, 250, 264 World Confederation of Labor (WCL)  182 World Court  52, 169 World Federation of Trade Unions  182 World Health Organization (WHO)  169, 173, 180, 218 World Intellectual Property Organization  169 World Meteorological Organization  169 World Trade Organization (WTO)  55, 135, 162, 164–​167, 177, 193 World War I  World War II  51–​52, 54, 71–​72, 88, 125, 129, 132, 149, 154, 160, 168–​ 169, 193–​194, 198 WTO.  See World Trade Organization (WTO) Xia dynasty  76 Yemen  26, 175 Yugoslavia  26, 50, 78 YouTube  196, 198