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> Any Soviet citizen had an intimate acquaintance with how bureaucracies function This makes me wonder whether there is any literature out of the Soviet Union
by EdwardCoffin 11y ago
> Any Soviet citizen had an intimate acquaintance with how bureaucracies function
This makes me wonder whether there is any literature out of the Soviet Union on topics like this, kind of like how the U.S. produced works like Dale Carnegie's How to make friends and influence people.
- mfisher87 11y agoI'm trying to decipher the implication. Is it that Americans have a unique understanding of friendship and influence?
- GauntletWizard 11y agoIt's that 'Winning Friends and Influencing People' was a gateway to success, and an activity the vast majority of the population was trying to be successful at. Whereas a soviet book on navigating bureaucracy would serve the same role.
- EdwardCoffin 11y agoThanks yes, that is pretty much what I meant.
- zombees 11y ago"How to make friends and influence people" was actually written more from a sales perspective. The topics usually boil down to efficiently establishing trust with lots of people. While I'm not sure this is really what's being asked, it does actually make a little sense in a capitalist vs communist sort of way.
- p1esk 11y agoRussian bureaucracy goes back centuries. I don't think that the way things were handled was fundamentally different in 1970 from what it was in 1870. For literature on the topic look for the classics: Gogol, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Ilf and Petrov are good ones. The rules are simple: you give bribes, in a form of money, goods, or favors. If you're on the receiving end of a bribe, make sure you share with relevant people. Other than that, the methods described in Dale Carnegie books work just as well in Russia as in America.
- pavel_lishin 11y agoIf you find out how to very successfully navigate and game the type of bureaucracy in the soviet system, it's probably not in your best interest to either shout the fact from the rooftops, or to share your secrets with too many people.
- Spooky23 11y agoThe Soviets weren't unique in terms of sprawling bureaucracy. Anyone attending a large public university is getting a similar experience, albeit with better food.
- tacos 11y agoAnyone attending or teaching in a large university, public or private, is getting a similar experience, albeit with worse poetry and a weaker space program.
- ptaipale 11y agoI think that Ilya Zemtsov's Encyclopedia of Soviet Life could be entertaining reading for you. Excerpts here: https://books.google.fi/books?id=XFje-RiHeisC&pg=PA302&dq=encyclopedia+of+soviet+life&hl=fi&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIi-_mrrOayAIVgSwsCh1sxAkK#v=onepage&q=encyclopedia%20of%20soviet%20life&f=false https://books.google.fi/books?id=XFje-RiHeisC&pg=PA302&dq=en...
- EdwardCoffin 11y agoThat does look interesting, thanks.