Here is another throwback entry to when I was still in Moscow.
Today we woke up after having only
three hours of sleep and went to Red Square to see Lenin’s mausoleum. We
arrived early in the morning around 9:50 when the line was only 25 people long
and by 10:05 it was over 100. Lenin’s Mausoleum ins right in the middle of Red
Square directly across from the entrance to the GUM Mall. We had to cross
through a security checkpoint on the far end of Red Square before we could
enter. Once we arrived at the entrance to the mausoleum, there were three
security guards posted around every corner. As we walked down a slope towards
the underground chamber we passed approximately 12 security guards. When we
arrived in the main chamber, there Lenin was, in the center of the room with
four security guards posted up in each corner of the room. His body lay inside a glass encasement that looked almost like
sleigh. In order to preserve the body, Lenin’s skin looked like it was made of plaster. Looking down at his body, there was one thought that came to mind –
eerie. All over Moscow there were statues of this dead man, standing strong and
orating into large crowds spreading a new way of socialist thinking. This
larger than life figure had been immortalized in death, as if he were a
Pharaoh, but with the collapse of that system, what were we to think of him now?
After the
trip to Lenin’s Mausoleum, we finally had a morning to ourselves before heading
to the Railroad office. When we arrived at the metro stop under one of
the Seven Sisters, there was a beautiful blonde Russian girl waiting for us, wearing a blue business professional suit. We followed her into the building where a man with a suit was dressed to
meet us and led us into a large conference room. The room had a conference
circle/table with the capacity to fit 20 people on either side. Each seat was
equipped with microphones, headphones and name plates. We took our seats and
found goodie bags with pens, key chains, notepads and a plate. This was
wayyyyyy too legit. Since we were planning to ride the Trans-Siberian in the
evening – all of us were under dressed.
Super Intimidated Right Now
Main Conference Room of Russian Railways
Then
promptly at 2:00pm, 4 women and 8 men walked into the room in full business
professional attire – Finance Officer, Director General at JSC Institute of
Economics, Head of HR and Advisor to the President - basically the mini (hah) oligarchs of the railroad. We heard two speeches on the Russian Railroads,
specifically the trans-siberian and the role it plays in the current Russian economy.
The railroads are used to connect large regional cities that span the entire
Russian nation state. There are also many reserves of gas and oil all across
the Eastern part of Russian that are moved to the West using the train system.
After speaking with the leaders of the Russian Railroad, the
importance of the industry becomes apparent on economic, political and cultural
level. On an economic level, they are able to transport people and cargo across
the Russia. Without a highly developed network of trains there would be no way
to mobilize the natural resources of the country. On a political level, the
train station connects all the smaller provinces and connect them to Moscow. Moscow serves as the center of Russia because the railways make it
easy for resources to be pooled to the center Lastly there is culture. Culture from Moscow can be disseminated to the
countryside via the railroads. People can also go to the countryside and become one with what it means to truly be a Russian.
Learning the scope of the Russian Railroad system also made
me think of the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. In the plot, the Taggart
Transcontinental is a large railway that is at risk of being nationalized by
the government. Many of the industries that face competition are either
nationalized or wiped out completely, making it impossible for private
enterprise to thrive and this is a critique of socialist thinking.
Although Ayn Rand strongly advocates for capitalism and materialism, I believe that Russia shows a
different world where a system of nationalization is necessary. If there was
not a monopoly on the resources of the railroad, it would be impossible to
mobilize the resources in the first place. Although the entity is in itself extremely
powerful, and possibly too much so, without nationalization of these core
industries the government would be unable to tap into them on any level.
Sitting in the room with the most powerful people from the
Russian Railroad was incredible exciting and eye opening. After we had the
discussion, I spoke with Emiliano, our Russian expert, about his thoughts on Russia. Emiliano
told me that he had heard that Russian Society was filled with oligarchs that
made all the decision for Russian society. All of these mega-owners of wealth had conflicting interests and Putin
was the man who was able to reign them in a build consensus among them for the
national interest of the country. Although Putin holds incredible amounts of
power, the oligarchs also hold power to challenge him if need be and he must
work with the oligarchs, not against them. Vladmir Yanukovich, the oligarch
that runs the railways, holds incredible amounts of power, because without him
Gazprom and other industries would be unable to function.
Office of the Russian railways
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