A Brief History
On December 27, 1929, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin signed an order to “eliminate the Kulaks as a class,” resulting in a sort of genocide. The Kulaks were not an ethnic group but rather a social class that in today’s United States would be the equivalent of the upper working class or the lower middle class. In the Soviet Union, Kulaks were the upper class of peasants who had accumulated more property, wealth and power than the lower-class peasants.
Digging Deeper
Stalin sought to separate the Kulaks into 3 main groups, the first of which were those to be executed. The second group were those to be exiled to Siberia or to other remote locations to work in labor camps, and the third group were those to merely be stripped of their belongings and forced to work in local labor camps. In all cases, the property of the Kulaks was to be seized by the State. Local secret police and communist party officials would decide which Kulaks would be placed in which category. As many Kulaks were rich farmers, their elimination contributed to the Soviet famine of 1932-1933 which resulted in the deaths of 6 million peasants!
The upper working class and a lower middle class in America could be considered the equivalents of the Kulaks. Both classes are rapidly disappearing today! Workers with union jobs and good pay, health care, paid vacation and holidays and retirement plans could be considered the modern American version of Kulaks as could lower rung white collar workers such as nurses, teachers, policemen, firefighters and those lower-level management types.
Today the United States is witnessing the end of its “Kulak class” or what is generally referred to as the “middle class.” The better working-class jobs are disappearing faster than Blockbuster video stores and telephone booths and are being replaced with part-time jobs with low pay and no retirement plans, health care or other benefits. Vast segments of the American work force are being bumped out of full-time jobs and replaced with “part timers” who work 30 to 38 hours per week and at a lower rate of pay on top of that. Even police, fire, and city service departments are not immune, and colleges are eliminating full-time professorships to have the teaching instead done by part-time professors known as adjuncts. This trend is sweeping the nation, causing the poorer working class to expand and leaving a small but richer upper class made up of professionals such as doctors, lawyers, executives, etc.
Personally, the thought of a “wannabe” part-time policeman deciding the course of the rest of my life instead of a well-trained professional scares the heck out of me. We might soon find out that if you treat people as second-class workers long enough, they might start acting as second-class citizens in other ways as well, which might eventually lead to the big decline of American supremacy. Question for students (and subscribers): Oh, you did notice that the Soviet Union fell apart, right? Feel free to share your thoughts on this subject in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Kleiner, Ellen, Dennis Marker, et al. Fifteen Steps to Corporate Feudalism: How the Rich Convinced America’s Middle Class Eliminate Themselves. One Standard Press, 2012.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="7455 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=7455">101 Comments
Cause and effect. Limited options under a dictator. Free market and free speach in USA, plus the internet level the playing field for everyone. Save your money, buy quality stocks, have no worries in USA. That China has a plus 50% savings rate and US minus 2% is a matter of culture, not a dictatorship.
I find it offensive comparing the mass murder that Stalin intentionally committed for the purposes of advancing the agenda of implementing totalitarian communism — to the blundering side effects of American social engineering that brought about the lingering 2008 great recession. In the U.S. the upper middle class have grown fewer in number due to a few getting richer, and many more declining in economic status — but no one is getting murdered or dying of famine as happened willfully in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Stalin’s crimes against the Russian and Ukrainian people were many times as bad as those of Hitler, and the U.S.S.R. has never been called to account for as the Nazis were at the end of WWII.
Well considering I havent seen Obama locking up any poor yet, this is truly a crock of horse shit. and I think Obama is one of the worst things that ever happened to that office, second only to Bill Clinton. Clinton thrived on a corrupt government, Obama is merely profiting on Clinton’s groundbreaking achievements.
I think the American economy could use major improvement but i really don’t think it should be compared to what such a horrible man did because it is completely different.
First, I deeply wish that the KKK is %100 disappear. Second, I think Obama has had done a great job in term of economy or the country’s sovereignty. He reduced the percentage of unemployment rate. He also create a strong reputation for the US.
I did not realize that the elimination of Kulaks contributed to the contributed to the Soviet famine. Very interesting.
I think the economy has severed a great loss
I wasn’t aware of this event in the Soviet Union. I wouldn’t compare this to the U.S economy.
I was a bit confused concerning the part where the upper working class is disappearing. I guess it depends on what the upper working class is. I think higher quality jobs are growing, which require college degrees, but I could see how perhaps factory work is declining as it is replaced with machines.
I was unaware that Stalin tried to wipe out the Kulaks. I wouldn’t quite compare this to America though.
I agree that the middle class is disappearing; many companies would rather have new employees because they could pay them less.
I was unaware that this happened. I see this happening in the United States of America.
The size of middle class in the US might be declining, but I am not sure it is right to compare that to the Kulaks’ situation.
I couldn’t image getting rid of a group of people by killing them, sending them away, and taking them to labor camps
I did not know that this took place. I also do agree that the middle class is disappearing. The space between the rich and the poor is slowly diminishing.
Our middle class might be the same size as the Kulak class, but I don;t think we should be comparing the two, they are two very different situations.
I don’t think it is right that the middle class and the Kulak class is being compared. Yes I agree that the middle class is disappearing but the Kulak is a total different situation.
I don’t think it’s a fair comparison between the kulak and the american middle class. America is completely different than the Soviet Union.
American people are far different in comparison to the communist kulaks.
I don’t believe that this would be a fair comparison
I think this a very far stretch
This is all a bit frighting to me. I don’t want to live in a country where your either poor or rich with no in-between.
This is very scary that they are hiring part time jobs only. I see this more in factories where I live.
I do not think this was the proper comparison.
I do agree that the middle class is coming to an end. It is scary but I am thankful the reasoning for this issue is not because of a dictator like Stalin trying to eliminate it. -ACL
From what I have witnessed I think that this is the problem with todays world is that we do not help the middle class, but instead classify out society as one or the other, this is a far stretch to compare a dictator who conducted genocide to our classes of the US today.
It is scary to think that the middle class is coming to a end.
I find it interesting to see the similarities between a class in the past times and today.
I am have unfortunately had the opportunity to witness the impact of such changes. I work in a healthcare facility where positions are being cut and full-time associates are being reduced to part-time. The reduction of working hours and change in status disqualifies associates from certain benefits and/or increases the out of pocket cost for the affected individuals.
If the U.S. was to continue the status quo, we will end up exactly like the Soviet Union. We are already seeing a decline in American supremacy. But, I think the middle class sees this and is tired of being ignored in America and that was proven on election day.
I very much agree with the statement that it seems as if there will be eventually be no middle class.
what a terrible person Stalin was, and why would he think its a good idea to destroy his countries working class?
I just do not understand how Stalin got away with so much evil? This is a subject that should be continuously taught over and over throughout history to prevent it from ever happening again.
Many of us can relate to being part of the middle class like the Kulaks. These are the farmers that supply food for everyone. It is necessary to have a middle class because they still are an asset to society.
As scary as it may seem, the history of the Kulaks is easy to relate to. Companies will hire multitudes of part-time employees who do not receive benefits in an attempt to increase profits. People become desperate for work and resort to these positions and a downward spiral continues.
After reading this article it brought a lot to my attention about the decreasing population of the middle class. I never thought of what employers were doing. It is a scary thought to think that we could turn out like the Kulaks.
The hiring of part time employees to avoid the benefits situations is nothing compared to employees in the early 1900s
In the early 1900s the hiring process was nothing like it is today, in today’s day people fresh out of college are expected to apply for jobs with at least 2 years of experience. In the early 1900s people were very lucky to get a job with little to no experience
Natalie, this is so true! We see it a lot in the nursing world. Hospitals do not want to pay the money to train new grads which is just ridiculous. Some of the best nurses I have worked with over the years were new grads coming into ICU eager to learn everything, and having no bad habits or attitudes.
I have noticed before reading this article that the middle class is starting to disappear, which I never would have thought to notice because of the amount of the population that is considered “middle class”.
It is so true that our middle class is starting to disappear. I guess I never paid close attention to who Stalin actually targeted or just forgot about it. Part time hiring has become all too familiar, its all about saving money and not having to provide benefits seem to be the number one reason.
One thing that I thought was very interesting is that the Kulaks are very similar to union based payed middle class workers today. Although the article tends to state that these middle class worker’s pay and working hours are getting cut, my mom’s teaching job is very steady and helps pay the bills. As a result of the teachers union, we enjoy many things such as discounted health care, paid vacations, and a reasonable salary.
I agree with Taylor in that our middle class is truly starting to disappear. The majority of our population does seem to fall under the middle class. It is somewhat terrifying to think that the middle class as a whole could completely diminish, although they are not recognized much as it is. It is mainly only the upper and lower class that receive all of the attention and benefits, the middle class is almost forgotten about in a sense.
It is very interesting that what was going on during this time is similar to what is happening to middle-class Americans today. I would be interested to find out if there was anything else that he believed that would be similar today.
Middle class citizens should not be treated poorly when they are working hard and trying to make a life for themselves.
I am always shocked when I read about how people are to be executed or shipped off to another country because leaders view them as less. The working class especially shocks me. I have never heard of trying to get rid of a middle class before.
I do agree that the middle class seems to be disappearing. I also agree that by but Stalin had done it was a major factor as to why the Soviet Union eventually falls.
Middle-class are treated unfair even today in the US, they work hard and pay lots of tax, but they treated poorer than the lower-class people in medical insurance, or opportunities of jobs and education. The protection of lower-class is over the balance.
Both Russia or the United States face the problem of economic inequality. In my opinion, the policies Stalin made was in order to reduce the economic inequality. But, the method did not right.
I’ve never heard of the term “Kulaks” before. I think my life in the hands of a “wannabe” policeman would scare me too!
Before reading this article I had never heard of the Kulaks. It was interesting to read about it.
I’ve never heard of Kulaks and this seems to be another tragic incident in our world’s history.
I never knew about Kulaks or that Stalin split them up into three groups. I am glad I know something about Kulaks now.
It’s a shame that Stalin didn’t foresee the effects of eliminating the Kulaks. Hopefully America can prevent the same outcome.
Stalin was a horrible human being who did many terrible things.
I do not understand how Stalin was okay with being such a horrible person. I hope everyone learns from Stalin’s mistakes.
I’ve never heard about Kulaks before reading this article. Stalin was also a horrible person.
I believe that it is wrong to be punished for working hard to become successful.
It is amazing to think that a back bone to our economy would be completely removed by genocide.
I had no idea what Kulaks were before reading this article. It was an interesting read, but also disheartening.
So, he believed because people reached a certain level of wealth due to their own work or family members work, they deserved to be eliminated along with everyone else in the upper class.
Stalin was an idiot. I bet he was living in the upper class too, but i am sure he wasn’t on the list to be executed or sent away.
I don’t understand the benefit of taking hard working people out of their jobs so that they could be forced into labor in a camp. Who would run the businesses and farms when the owners were sent to the camps?
Stalin was a malignant narcissist, maybe even a sociopath. One thing is certain he and Hitler shared the same mental illness,
In my opinion the middle working class is what runs an entire country financially and labor forced
I feel the same way so lets stop attacking the middle class people.
I don’t know why everyone wants to hit the middle class. They leave the poor and the rich alone. Let the middle class survive and the world will survive.
It is a scary thought to be sure, but the capitalist system is fundamentally built to resist such collapse. That’s not to say that we are immune.
There is always going to be a class system and I am not sure what just getting rid of one will do.
I would not want any part-time professional taking care of me whether they were a doctor, dentist, or police officer. Those jobs are too important to be part-time.
I agree with this article that lot of professional jobs are going to part-time employers to avoid paying for benefits. You must be blind if you don’t see that coming because all you have to do is look around and companies are doing same amount of work with less employees. Even the military is doing this, we have soldiers(E-6) doing higher position jobs that once was filled by E-7 or E-8 and this just a way to safe money by paying someone else to do the same job for less money.
I completely agree with you. Employees are expected to do more than they should for what they are getting paid and their benefits.
Good full time jobs with benefits are becoming harder and harder to come by this day in age. I don’t see thepoint in Stalin trying to eliminate a specific type of working class, this guy reminds me of Hitler.
I to believe that employers are not making jobs full time so that they don’t have to offer benefits to people. This is only making our economy harder on people and taxpayers.
I have to disagree with the title of this article.Even though working middle class jobs are disappearing its not the same thing as what Stalin did. Jobs weren’t disappearing because of the economy, he was systematically making the people who worked those jobs disappear. In the end I know we get the same result of the lack of jobs to help support the economy, but I don’t Stalin killing all those people was due to his foresight.
It is a struggle for many people from day to day because not very many places in our area offer full-time positions that come with medical benefits and retirement.
America was built on the backs on the working class, because many of them believed, if you work hard, you can become better, and then a new generation of working class will take your place. No one minds working a part-time job at 16, but most expect to do a little better by 30. Remove the middle class, and removed is the passion to work hard, it becomes pointless. Surely, when that occurs, America will surely fall.
I think we are finally going to see a change with this administration and America will be back on track to the types of jobs we once coveted.
The only company I have ever worked for where I saw the part-time type of policy was Starbucks. Don’t get me wrong, I feel they are great company and I only needed to work part time at the time, but the only person in Starbucks stores that is full time is the store manager. I feel that that could limit people greatly if they needed more hours on a consistent basis. Although they do provide the option for health benefits at part-time status. I can’t imagine being ripped from my home and belongings and enslave, or even killed. I am a nurse, so I would have been considered a Kulak if in that situation.
There is a necessity for certain jobs to be entry level. Small businesses would not survive due to the high cost of benefits. However, other jobs that require a skill level should be willing to payout. As in the case of the Joseph Stalin, the U.S. will suffer the same result if there is no middle class. No society will not be able to survive without a middle class.
I agree with the statement about treating people as part time employees they will begin to act like that. I would much rather have someone who is trained and educated in the field than someone who is just looking for a way to make some money. They won’t take their job seriously and this could put other lives in danger.
Employers are not making jobs full time because they do not want to pay for benefits or offer them. Most full time jobs are businesses that are ran 24/7, 365 day of the year. Jobs like this are becoming difficult to find.
After reading this article two phrases come to my mind that I always would say to my children. “The way you practice is the way you will perform” this if for sports, dance, a speech, a competition or any topic that would require you to work at to get better. The other one is “Treat people the way you would like to be treated”. If you treat people as second class citizens, make them feel that they are not important to your company then that is what they will believe. On the other hand if you tell your employees they are appreciated and valued they will perform their job to the best of their ability.
I fully believe that how employers treat their employees greatly affects how well those employees preform. If a person feels appreciated they will work harder and have more respect for those in charge.
There’s a belief that if you completely destroy the middle class, there won’t be anything worth saving in the country. Those at the top would control everything and those at the bottom would suffer the consequences of the actions of those at the top.
This article couldn’t be more spot on! It is happening. It will continue to happen. My Sociology professor believed strongly about history repeating itself and believed that one can only be on top for so long before it is no longer able to be the strongest.
These WWII ideologies are so mind boggling. I can’t fathom how anyone can think it is ok to murder or exile entire masses of people. This leaders were psychopaths.
I do not understand what has to go through someones head to think about taking the lives of so many people, just because? I am scared that this will happen again.
As far as the availability of positions, and how employers are hiring goes: I see this happening in many aspects of life. For example; most positions that were typically taken by teenagers wanting part-time work, are now being filled by adults, some with college educations. Now we have grown adults, some the main income of the household if not only, trying to support their entire family on a part time income.
I drove by a Family Video today on the way home. I thought about the local economy and how it was still in business.
This article made me angry. I am a nurse that works full time so it hits close to home. I believe in America. We are nothing like the soviet union and I don’t believe we will fall apart.
Our country has a real problem today with the “middle class” disappearing. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Something is bound to happen in order to course correct where we are headed.
I agree with the author that the “thought of a ‘wannabe’ part-time policeman deciding the course of the rest of my life instead of a well-trained professional scares the heck out of me.” Look at what is happening today in the field of criminal justice. Law enforcement today is better trained and more educated than it has ever been, yet there is a real problem recruiting people to become police officers. You just might get a “wannabe” part-time police officer when you call for help who is being paid a lower wage with no health insurance so someone else can get rich. It really makes me sick!
I was not aware on how the middle class is disappearing today. I work as a RN and there is plenty of opportunity for full-time jobs. Furthermore, I understand a lot of people are receiving government assistance but there are a lot of us who aren’t and by no means are rich.
I had no idea the middle class was disappearing. I also agree with many comments below such as employers do not want to pay full time employers due to the employer needing to pay for the benefits. I also believe we work for what we get- meaning the more i work the more i get, the less i work the less i get.
I have heard a lot of people saying this lately that the middle class is slowly disappearing, When i first started working in healthcare 15 years ago my benefits were excellent. After I had two children, and decided to go back after a few short years they wanted to offer me less than 30 hours a week. In which they didn’t need to offer me health insurance.
These days, you need a degree to get and keep a secure job. Even with a degree and other post-secondary training, we are on hard times. Employers are trying to cut hours to avoid having to provide insurance and paying workers less for their part time hours.
I have heard that the middle class was “disappearing” but did not really know what all that entailed. This article was very interesting.
It is seeming more and more like degrees have to be earned to have a good job, but sometimes it seems like a degree doesn’t do any good.
it is sad by knowing the hunger made the deaths of 6 million peasants. People were not in the same level of their wage in the past. Maybe the government should have aware of that they should have gave some help to the people who need help.
it was a sadness new about 6 million peasants dead. Labor wages are rising in the United States today. perhaps this sadness new won’t appear in the future.
I am working middle class. I am a lucky one that is in management with an Associates degree. I have hit my ceiling though and need my BA to promote and to leave. I can only hope it will pay off in the end. If I were to choose to stay where I am at I would not need any additional education.