Graham 1

context on the college admissions scandal

• the answer is not just "a planned economy doesn't work"
• "so long as Soviet citizens had faith in their system it seemed to work fairly well" p. 4

Story of Palchinsky's execution--be careful about what you believe: what he was accused of and executed for may not be true

Palchinsky grew up before the revolution, when Russia was ruled by a Tsar
his family did not have money--he got an engineering degree but had to then work for the government to pay back his financial aid

1901 (well before the revolution) Palchinsky was part of a team to study how to increase production of coal mines in Ukraine

• set out to collect statistical information on the workers since the mine owners didn't do so
• workers lived in crowded barracks (better than zemlianki)
  
• reporting on bad conditions was politically sensitive

Palchinsky became interested in politics

• became convinced that the answer to capitalist exploitation was communal ownership in the form of small cooperatives, initially from Kropotkin's anarchism
• over his lifetime all sides seem to have seen him as a political threat
  
• he was a moderate who sympathized with the those who wanted revolution, which was enough to get him arrested
• he escaped to western Europe
• spent 5 years working as an engineering consultant
• criticized Russian engineering education for teaching only technical skills, not economics and sociology
  

Peter Palchinsky and his wife Nina were both politically progressive and struggled with what that meant for their personal lives
are these personal details relevant?

they returned to Russia in 1913 and he established an institute

• he had become less radical--now a democratic socialist
• was part of the democratic Provisional Government, which was overthrown by the Bolsheviks
  
• was assigned to defend the Provisional Government in the Winter Palace but did not do it with much commitment

what are the possible answers to capitalist exploitation?

• completely unchecked capitalism--if you can't make money you will starve
• minimal safety net, give people as much incentive as possible to work
• capitalism limited by protective laws, programs to help the poor (particularly if they can't work), government provides free education to give everyone a more equal chance
• democratic socialism: reduce inequality, the government gives the poor more of a chance and make sure everyone has the basics, higher marginal taxes on the rich.  like Sweden
• anarchism
  
• communism; no private property--the government owns everything. ideally the government manages the economy for everyones benefit and distributes things more equally.