Every social revolution has been triggered by changes in the productive forces. It’s not just about the emergence of a new class of wealthy individuals; rather, scientific and technological progress allowed food to be produced with fewer and fewer hands. This meant that society could afford to support, first, classes not engaged in food production (artisans), and later, classes not engaged in production at all (the military, aristocracy, clergy).
The capitalism that replaced feudalism, with its mechanism of surplus value and the principle of capital exploitation, simply allowed society to acquire yet another non-working layer, by saving human resources not only in food production but also in industry.
Modern society cannot be called “pure” capitalism. It is “regulated” capitalism. This seems good, but an interesting question arises: who regulates it? Ultimately, we come to understand that the current system is distinguished from capitalism by the presence of another ruling class above the capitalists—the bureaucratic class.
Here and hereafter, the term “official” will refer not only to government employees but also to the hired management of corporations. Officials have existed for a long time, but it is only now that their purely executive function has transformed into an operational one. Officials have the power to close and open businesses, redistribute material goods, gain exclusive access to resources, and be the primary beneficiaries of any… corrupt systems. They exist because society is currently able to support even more idle mouths. Officials, wielding power, entrench their rights and privileges, manage other people’s property, write laws that clearly do not go against their interests, and even pass on their class status to their heirs. Can the son of a deputy minister become a minister? No, because the minister has his own son.
Who provides money to officials and supports their apparatus? Capitalists, shareholders (supposedly the owners), and other people. How do they do this? Through funding political parties, mega-bonuses for corporate management, paying taxes, giving ordinary bribes, and non-ordinary bribes that can be termed as super-corruption.
Who depends on officials? Everyone. It’s not wise to quarrel with this class. Who do the officials depend on? No one. All the signs of a ruling class are evident.
You are reading this text in Russian and trying to apply the conclusions drawn here to the former USSR. (In other language versions, it saysthe host country of the languageHowever, such a system is present everywhere, especially in countries with developed corporate capital. Never before has an assistant to a mayor of some small town held so many powers, privileges, and real authority as they do now.
Look at who owns the most expensive cars, who flies on private jets, and who has privileges enshrined in law or corporate bylaws, and you’ll see it all clearly.
The conclusion of this article is as follows: We have a new social order, the knowledge of which is carefully guarded by the ruling class, as this ruling class now not only parasitizes on society but also controls science and education. This ruling class has concentrated in its hands a power that previous rulers could only dream of.
They control the army, the police, the tax system, money, finances, and even every individual. This system began to take shape with the emergence of the first totalitarian regimes like “socialism” or Nazism, when the state apparatus took the helm of society.
However, right now, any developed society is in a state of this social order. It’s time to come up with a name for this order so that we can refer to it specifically. Let’s call it Informism By the way, the ruling class already has a name that is even more compact than “bureaucratic elite.” The ruling class can be called… netocracy Текст для перевода: ..