Russian communists have settled on a surprise pick for its 2018 presidential candidate. Pavel Grudinin, 57, a farm mogul running a so-called “island of socialism,” will replace the party’s evergreen leader, Gennady Zyuganov.
It was widely expected that long-time leader Zyuganov, an ever-present who has only missed one presidential election since 1996, would again be the one to challenge the current head of state, Vladimir Putin. But the iconic leader of the Communist Party (KPRF) cleared up the issue, saying that Grudinin would be the party's only candidate. The new communist contender was subsequently backed by over 300 delegates, receiving just 11 “no” votes during a secret ballot at KPRF’s Congress Saturday.
The twist here, is that Grudinin is not even a member of the Communist Party, though he considers himself to be a communist sympathiser. Russian law puts no barriers to such a scenario, allowing parties to choose candidates who are not party members.
The Communist Party's presidential candidate initially came to prominence because of his unorthodox business style. In 1995, he was appointed as the Managing Director of the Lenin Sovkhoz, a large agricultural enterprise in suburban Moscow. Grudinin not only transformed it into a successful and flourishing business, but also into a small, self-sufficient community.
One of Moscow regions biggest producers of fruit and vegetables, as well as being Russia’s biggest strawberry farm, the Lenin Sovkhoz also takes pride in being a model enterprise with almost communist internal rules. Grundinin’s enterprise provides its workers with free housing, healthcare and school dinners, as well as subsidising many regular payments, such as communal fees.
It also actively invests in local infrastructure. Sovkhoz funded the construction of a school building and the renovation of a local clinic. And it appears that's not enough for the new Communist Party frontrunner. The enterprise also provides local medical specialists and teachers with zero-interest loans allowing them to purchase real estate in the neighbouring town, according to some reports.
Stop using liberal slurs. Putin's Russia is Marxist if not explicitly communist.
Zachary Green
Seems like a market socialist. I like him
What makes you think he's controlled opposition?
Michael Fisher
Eh Zyuganov was a Putin sycophant: the КПРФ under him voted for all the gai laws and supported the imperialist action in Krim. I Don't know much about Grudinin, but a lot of the membership will be glad that Gennady isn't the sole frontman of the party anymore…
Cameron Baker
...
Robert Nelson
He was a Putin puppet and also the a ☭TANKIE☭ of the worst kind (I mean his whole ideology was almost based more on Spengler than Marx), so no regrets.
Kayden Miller
Sorry Not sorry
He was allowed to run unmolested. He's an awful candidate who only appeals to nostalgic grannies. And what said. Only thing good about him was that he wasn't a neoliberal oligarch billionaire, which is what most opposition leaders seem to be these days.
Aaron Miller
False flag
Ayden Lopez
reminder there hasn't been a significant leftist presence in Russia since the 1930s
Joseph Watson
...
Caleb Bennett
Yes because smashing the neo nazi NATO backed separatists is somehow "imperialist".
Dylan Cox
Also, Putin himself is backing the far right in Western Europe. There's no good sides here.
Adrian Jackson
Isn't that party basically fascist with class collaborationist policies and ethnonationalism?
Jordan Gutierrez
Also something notable about Zyuganov is that to a lot of the younger members he was just some nostalgia candidate rather than an actual mover of the KPRF forward. I mean as a party and a movement, the KPRF is very much a live: over a third of its membership is under 30. It is not some nostalgia act, it is a presence on the political stage in Russia.
Reading into Grudinin, he seems like some weird Utopian cooperativists of the 1800s: A Robert Owen type. It is also weirder that his nomination comes not from some centrist wing: But "The Left Front", aka the non-KPRF leftists that aren't super ☭TANKIE☭s. I honestly don't know what to feel, but his candidacy was actually supported by the membership so eh.
Also apparently the original plan was to run a joint ticket with "National Patriotic Forces": they don't seem to be a political party and I can't find jack on them in English. I don't think they're fash although perhaps Nazbol.
REVOLUTIONARY DEFEATISM, EVER HEARD OF IT?
Elijah Anderson
seems like a jump to conclusion just because he's not being bothered that he is controlled opp
Aaron Richardson
Why can't we have something nice happen in the Left for fucking once?
James Baker
Nah the KPRF under Zyuganov has pretty much propped up the Putin government*: supporting military ventures overseas, helping his domestic agenda, refusing to even say "Putin needs to go".
*Also for the record, regime from a pol/sci standpoint is a perfectly acceptable way to describe the United Russia rule of Russia.
And just speaking to a Belarusian mate of mine, apparently Lenin State Farm (the company the new bloke runs) is actually basically just a collective farm coop: he doesn't own it, it is owned communally by all the workers who operate it. His role is more of a director of production. TL;DR: he is a neo-utopian cooperativist, which inherently isn;t actually a bad thing.
Noah Cruz
Liberalism at its finest.
A centrist who backs foreign far right parties for purely geopolitical reasons is a SIGNIFICANTLY lesser evil than NATO funded (literal) neo nazis.
Austin Rogers
How about revolutionary defeatism instead?
Lincoln Carter
...
Henry Turner
That is the trotskyite 'third camp' 'both sides are bad' position. Anti imperialism means supporting the side resisting imperialism, regardless of their imperfections.
Do you hold the 'revolutionary defeatest' line on Syria as well?
Ayden Morales
That's literally orthodox Leninism you fucking revisionist
Owen King
what are the other commie parties in Russia like, such as the RCWP-CPSU and Left Front?
Jeremiah Allen
There is a rumour that he accidentally won elections in 1996, despite all his attempts to lose - which is why elections had to be corrected so as to keep Yeltsin as a president. AFAIK his reputation is somewhere below zero even among the Russian pseudo-Communists.
Not discarded. Changed. New candidate got elected with full approval - including Zyuganov. I.e. with approval from Kremlin.
You are a fucking retard.
Josiah Nguyen
REVOLUTIONARY DEFEATISM WAS COINED AND INVENTED BY LENIN YOU UTTER DULLARD
Fuck me what happened to leftypol? Back when people actually read theory…
one of the lenin sovkhoz's main crops are strawberries.
he's dreamy.
communist strawberry man.
William Bailey
...
Tyler Hall
what the fuck mate
Jack Edwards
why are ☭TANKIE☭s always so unread and don't even know what they're heroes espoused?
Ryan Ramirez
just end your suffering and go hug a toaster in your bath tub
Zachary Diaz
To me it just seems like they're following the worldwide trend of memeing likable, left-of-center people to the presidency, rather than overtly-ideologized hardliners (say what you want about the late CPSU and it's current counterpart, but Zyuganov at least opposed the glanost and perestroika back then). Just the KPRF getting with the times.
>One of Moscow regions biggest producers of fruit and vegetables, as well as being Russia’s biggest strawberry farm, the Lenin Sovkhoz also takes pride in being a model enterprise with almost communist internal rules. Grundinin’s enterprise provides its workers with free housing, healthcare and school dinners, as well as subsidising many regular payments, such as communal fees.
So basically it's slavic Robert Owen to the presidency.
That actually sounds pretty cool. Why don't more Russians do this
Camden Hernandez
wooooot
Adrian Nguyen
Yo that's fucking Stalin
Leo Smith
You're not woke enough to understand that annexation of Crimea was necessary to stop NATO expansion Eastwards.
Daniel Lopez
perhaps at one point but not now
Daniel Rivera
Gennady Zyuganov isn't a Marxist either.
Lincoln Howard
There are no sovkhozs left - there is no Soviet state. Sovkhoz is part of the name of the enterprise, not a description of it's structure. I.e. it is not Soviet Enterprise - as in "directly owned by Soviet state", but a joint-stock company called "Lenin's Sovkhoz".
He is a proper Capitalist - he owns ~40% of the enterprise.
They try to. But there can be only so many Capitalists.
Stop pretending. Absolute majority of "tanks" are false-flagging Liberals.
Landon Richardson
Honestly just leave, go to reddit or leftpol. Stay away from bunkerchan and getchan they're nice peeps.
Carson Diaz
Common mods, people have been banned for less!
Hudson Ross
You are a goddamn idiot.
Blake Perry
Funny thing is that in this contex, nato is lesser evil that pootin.
T.Russian
Noah Thomas
Кек.
As a Russian, could you clear something up for me: Is Lenin State farm owned equally by its workers or is there a greater ownership by Mr Grudinn? I find conflicting sources in English.
Bentley James
Seems like a gimmick. But why not, it's not like the CPRF has been doing anything but decline in size under Zyuganov and be a handmaiden for Putin's right populism. If nothing else, his style of doing business will appeal to the nostalgics.
Camden Moore
Tbh Qırım Halq Cumhuriyeti nowe.
Oliver Parker
does grudinin pull any dividends from his share of the ownership or is this just a legal arrangement to keep corporate raiders away?
Benjamin Kelly
i.e. if the Lenin Sovkhoz's profits are still being distributed democratically, then it seems socialist?
Ethan Morales
It would be socialist in a non-marxist sense, yes. The comparison I and others have made to Robert Owen is very apt in the case of Mr Grudinin.
Tyler Ramirez
I have no idea, but the choices you are presenting are clearly made with an assumption that there is only one way to get money out of commercial enterprise. That is hardly the case.
What should this mean? Other "members" are not actually members, if they are not shareholders. They are just hired workers and the shareholders have no need to listen to them.
The rationale behind the "circling of the wagons" seems iffy.
Profits are most certainly are not distributed "democratically" - in the Soviet sense. Most of workers legally do not have any say in how the farm is run. Consequently, any distribution of income (wages, for example) or management of the farm can happen without their input.
Not necessarily so. You are taking everything at face value. The fact that he owns 40% of the shares is a sure sign of things not being as they seem. This is too skewed for a co-op.
Angel Miller
huh. i'd still vote for him.
つ ◕_◕ ༽つ GRUDININ TAKE MY ENERGY ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Noah Moore
small brain: Crimea is Ukrainian large brain: Crimea is Russian electric brain: Crimea is Turkish galaxy brain: Chersonesus is Greek
Regardless, as currently organized, it's just a generous employer; what the workers get, they get at the grace of the employer, not because they have assigned it to themselves democratically.
Blake Ortiz
As if Comrade Zyuganov was gonna win eitherways, the last time he won they rigged it and violently surpressed the party, imperialist putin and his party have a monopoly on power.
Kevin Lopez
You know, considering that socialism has absolutely nothing going on for itself these days, I am absolutely fine to endorse the communist strawberry man. Bring it on. Definitely better than that weirdo Zyuganov.
Noah Price
Finally semi thinking ☭TANKIE☭.
Brandon Wood
Not Communist. Even less of a "Communist" than a Venezuela is. Yes, I know it is SocDem. Which is the whole point.
He seems to be literally all over the place, being part of Kremlin's party "United Russia" at some point.
Samuel Barnes
Lol I'm not a ☭TANKIE☭…
Gabriel Clark
It's always been this bad.
Caleb Campbell
Nah there was a time when people actually knew shit like the fundamental tenets of Leninism…
Jeremiah Watson
Good luck, Strawberry Man. btw he was approved as a candidate by the Left Front, far-left organization in Russia, whose front man is Sergei Udaltsov, the guy who was literally jailed for 4-5 years for his political views. Not even people from liberal "opposition" get this harsh treatment. At least it says something about Grudinin's legitimacy as a left candidate.
Lucas Kelly
does not compute
Blake Parker
To be honest, it's only "socialist" in that he puts a big share of the profits back into production and to the workers, instead of using it to buy yachts to land his private jets with hookers on. Whis is still a good thing in the current situation we are in.
"Literal bourgeous" would be a correct term. But if you look at it from a more pragmatical perspective, it's much better to have a guy who has an experience of running an economy on a semi-large scale in a semi-socialist style and who has leftist views, than to have some radical nobody with no experience, or another faceless KPRF party member.
Blake Martin
any russian anons here? can you tell me about this whole Left Front thing? from my conversations with russian commies they in general don't have delusions about socdem reformism seems strange that radical leftists would support the same candidate with KPRF
Jaxson Murphy
So far there is no evidence of "semi-socialism" of any kind, nor of "leftist views". The fact that there are no dividends might mean that the majority shareholders are trying to squeeze out minority.
The only known quality is that he is a successful businessman in an environment which is notorious for being borderline AnCap (government is for sale).
It's far "Left".
Just look them up yourself: it's united "Left" with no consistency. Antifa equivalent. They effectively disbanded by 2016 (when this Udaltsov guy was in prison).
Ethan Russell
COOP legal structure doesn't exist in Russia? Jesus christ.
Julian Peterson
Co-op is a kolkhoz (collective enterprise). This is a sovkhoz (soviet enterprise) - i.e. owned by the state.
Ryder Bailey
Then why the fuck isn't "Lenin sovkhoz" an kolkhoz?
Mason Perry
No idea. The interview quoted ( ) says something about protection from raiders. Personally, I can't help but see "primitive accumulation of capital".
Sebastian Cruz
Pavel "curb stomp a cappie" Grudinin is good for the left.