The Success of Venture Capital following the Death of Communism
by
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The bankrupt Communist Party was officially ended by Boris Yeltsin in 1992. Thus, some may say I have not written about the death of communism, but, rather, I have written a story about collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). No, communism as created is dead; but political dreams of autocracy and empire are not dead. Old leaders, now the new oligarchs, have learned that profit can be a good thing. Profit-making now thrives in the new oligarchy of Russia. The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), consisting of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is keeping alive the dream of empire. President Putin has, unfortunately, added Ukraine as a goal for future membership but, obvious to many, the EEU is no more than a political ploy to reestablish a Russian empire under autocratic control of a new Russian Authoritarian State. Seventy two years after its birth, the death of communism led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Life had not been easy long before Ronald Reagan said, "—Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Millions of people had suffered loss of food, medical care, housing and personal freedoms promised to them by the command and control State. I have written some of their stories. Failure of the bankrupt State is complex and will be be the topic of many writers to come. I choose to offer some simple stories; some are just brief glimpses of scenes observed during my work, mostly within the failed communist environments of Poland and Armenia. My reasoning appeals to the logic of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who, in 1964, said “I know it when I see it.” when giving his definition of pornography. In my scenes of the death of communism, you can begin to see the meaning of a "bankrupt State". Simple examples can say more than books. I will never forget seeing an old man in Poland cry as he watched a long line of flatbed rail-cars roll slowly by; each one was filled with tanks and other armor of the failed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and now headed home to Russia. I said, "May I ask why you are crying? He said, " —because I have waited all my life to see this and now I am too old to enjoy it."
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About the Book
The US Secretary of Agriculture named this work as USDA's most successful international project in 2002. Successors to the work continue in an Armenian Foundation —Armenian Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development and in the new Armenian National Agrarian University —whose roots are in the Agribusiness Teaching Center of USDA Marketing Assistance Project (MAP). Results can be seen at CARD.AM and at ICARE.AM as these efforts document Armenian continuation of work begun in MAP by the author during 1998-2000. An important lesson learned from this history concerns how rule-makers of communism easily used the legal rules of communism for corrupt black market gain, resulting in ultimate death of communism. New US Rules: Concern is raised for how new US rules for gun control and voting rights threaten US democracy. Absence of new US rules for commerce have allowed a bi-model income distribution to become a disruptor of US market economy. Economic policy solutions to this problem are presented.
About the Author
Beginning with Karl Marx, the master rule-maker of communism, the narrative continues with some rules of communist rule-makers in Hungary, Poland, Ukraine and Russia where the harsh environment created by the rule-makers reveals an environment of limited opportunity and stagnation. This environment reached a low point in Armenia. There, the concept of a bankrupt State was fully revealed as one that failed to provide citizens what was promised. Example: The bankrupt State promised, but could no longer provide food. In the early nineties, one of every two loaves of bread in Armenia came from American wheat. The initial American response began as a typical government-to-government aid program to create a Federal Extension System to support agriculture. But, under the author’s direction, in 1998-2000, the work evolved into a program using venture capital in direct support of local producers and local consumers. Results of the work include accomplishments of 65 new agribusiness firms now supported by a successful non-profit Armenian Foundation; see CARD.am. Also, see a new Armenian National Agrarian University (ANUA) that grew from the Agribusiness Teaching Center initiated by the author. In Armenia the rules of communism are rapidly being replaced by the rules of democracy and market economy. The soft power of using venture capital as diplomacy is apparent. Viewing failure of the rules and the rule makers raises concern about the role of rules and rule-makers in the US economy. Many believe the US Supreme Court’s First Amendment ruling on guns and their Second Amendment ruling on Corporate free speech, significantly altered the daily life and cultural fabric of the nation. Of greater concern is that no new rules are being proposed to change the rules on increasing the national debt. Attention is called to the direct relationship between national debt and the growing social safety net. Both the size of the debt and the social safety net are directly determined by national income. New to America, national income is being transformed by a non-competitive and a non-democratic concept of bi-modal income distribution. This concept is defined and some policies for control are presented.