Socialism still exists in Ukraine, despite the fact that the Soviet Union has been gone for more than three decades. The influence of socialism in Ukraine lives in the minds of Ukrainians and migrates from generation to generation. Yet, no one notices it or wants to notice. This is exactly what socialism is – living in a system where collectivism prevails over individualism, the impersonal tries to dissolve the individual, and most people, instead of squaring their shoulders and taking risks and responsibility for their lives and countries, meekly wait for a miserable social security from a faceless bureaucratic system without a desire to change it. In general, socialism or capitalism is primarily a system – a system of redistribution of material wealth in society. In socialism, wealth is distributed through varying degrees of coercion or direct violence. The harshest examples of socialist coercion include the USSR, North Korea, and Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. “Mild” socialist coercion is excessive taxes, permits and licenses for production, excessive duties, inspections, searches, control of activities by law enforcement agencies, etc. Capitalism is also a system of redistribution of wealth, but this redistribution occurs at the expense of free will and free contractual relations between individuals, personalities. Many people are mistaken when they think that this is exactly what is happening in Ukraine. Indeed, when you come to a gas station and buy coffee and a hot dog along with your gasoline, it seems to you that everything is based on free will and voluntary exchange, but this is not entirely true. The company that owns the gas station has already suffered numerous abuses from the collective bureaucracy, when it has to pay almost 50% of the price of fuel to bureaucrats in the form of taxes. Inspections, excise taxes, fines, licenses, and permits are also part of socialist “gentle” violence. The worst part is that all this “bureaucratic coercion and control” is included in the price you pay for a hot dog, coffee, gasoline, and any other goods.
Socialism in the economy
Socialism in Ukraine
Ukraine has not had a free market for more than 30 years of independence, despite the fact that we are formally recognized as a “market economy”. We are a socialist country that has failed to realize the importance of adopting the doctrines of capitalism. If we had done so 30 years ago, we would have long since overtaken our neighbors in development. We have resources and hardworking people. If we had economic freedom, Ukrainian families would have prospered. But Ukraine today continues to be a kind of socialist center of Europe. We have more than 1 million officials, we are in the top 5 of the Tax Hell rating, we are the poorest in Europe… Despite this, instead of easing the tax burden, we have an increased tax burden; instead of reducing the number of officials, we have a bloated state apparatus; instead of deregulation, we have deeper regulation. Ukrainians do not realize that it was the socialists they elected who turned our economy into a stray, hungry puppy that is sometimes fed by neighbors. Let’s be honest: if not for the help of our partners, Ukraine would have lost the war. The war would not have lasted long on people alone – the army needs weapons. Weapons are provided by the economy. But since independence, the socialists have brought the economy and the military-industrial complex to a point where we are considered weak.
Socialism as a system of collectivism
The socialist approach has led to the system stealing. Almost no one in the system manages to break it, because socialism suppresses the individual, is based on collectivism, which creates a circular corruption. Socialists are collectivists by nature, and as a result, they begin to oppress, destroy, and absorb everything individual and private. This is the substantive realization of socialism: the eradication of the individual, the neutralization of private initiative and entrepreneurship, and the tacit consent of society, most of which depends on handouts from officials and a miserable but stable social security. It is the socialist, collectivist system that has led to a level of poverty we have never seen before. Nine million people in Ukraine live in poverty. The minimum wage or pension is not enough for a normal life. The socialist system has destroyed Ukraine’s economy and is not going to move towards capitalism (individualism, private property, and initiative).
I, Yana Matviychuk, have joined the Platform to change the socialist system of Ukraine. I believe that Ukrainians deserve a prosperous and secure life. That is why the collectivist socialist syndicate should be deprived of the opportunity to influence the economy. It is a decisive transition from the old system and the construction of a new one that Ukraine should follow.
