Nikolai Leskov: New Collection

One of nineteenth century Russia's most interesting and idiosyncratic writers, Nikolai Leskov, is newly available in an English language translation of seventeen or so of his stories. A review of the book is in today's Sunday Book Review Section of the New York Times.

I was pleased to learn that the collection includes a translation of Leskov's most famous story, "Lady MacBeth of the Mtsensk District."

The story, a somewhat lurid love story that turns out badly, is best known from its adaptation to opera form by the composer Dmitri Shostakovitch and first performed in Leningrad in 1934. It played to rave critical reviews until Stalin attended in early 1936, whereupon the opera became loudly condemned by the Communist Party and denounced in the party's newspaper Pravda.

Not only was the opera withdrawn, not to be performed again for some three decades, Shostakovitch's Fourth Symphony, then in final rehearsals, was also withdrawn. This controversy nearly destroyed Shostakovitch's career.

I have a copy of Leskov's collected works in Russian, and once attempted a translation of Lady Macbeth.

I put it in the "too hard" file.

I look forward to reading it in someone else's translation.

Why Did The Soviet Union Fall Apart?

Over the past two decades, several inaccurate narratives have dominated public discourse about the former Soviet Union's demise.

The first narrative is that President Reagan ordered Mikhail Gorbachov to "tear down this wall" and the Berlin Wall came down. Kind of like Joshua's trumpet.

The second narrative is that the Soviet Union fell apart because of the failure of Central Planning, also known as the "Command Economy."

Both narratives appeal to widespread prejudices rather than objective evaluation of both the accomplishments and the failures of the Soviet system. Contributing to both successes and failures was the complexity of the "nationality question" during both the Soviet period and during the preexisting Russian Empire.

Following the Russian Civil War and the Polish invasion of Russia, Lenin introduced his "New Economic Policy" (NEP). NEP allowed a considerable amount of free enterprise, including farming. It apparently worked pretty well. But the leadership became rightfully concerned about increasing turmoil in Europe and began the collectivization campaign at least in part to support the Soviet Union's ability to mobilize its natural resources for war. Any examination of Soviet economic policy during that period has to address such questions as whether NEP could plausibly have prepared for war with Germany.

As for the larger issue of the Command Economy, economic historian Brad DeLong recently posted an essay of his from seventeen years ago, examining the corporation as a command economy. This is a good corrective to analyses that draw large distinctions between Western industry and Soviet Central Planning.

Many years ago, I attended a lecture by Alexander Kerensky, the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government of 1917, which was overthrown by the Bolshevik Revolution of October. Kerensky contended that the Soviet Union's economy was not a Socialist one, but an example of what he called "State Capitalism." He autographed a copy of his book, which is still in my library. It may be worth rereading.

It is time to take another look at the issues presented by seventy-five years of Soviet history.

Is Scientific Ignorance Catching?

So Congressman Boehner declares the idea that CO2 is a carcinogen is "almost ludicrous."

Almost?

Just who ever said it was a carcinogen?

To even utter such an idea as a straw man requires an inconceivable depth of ignorance.

Soak The Poor - Enrich The Rich

Who benefits - who pays?

North Carolina's Republican legislature thinks the poor aren't poor enough and the rich aren't rich enough.

If you aren't in the top 10%, Republicans don't know anyone like you and certainly don't care about anyone like you. And it isn't just taxes.

But their tax plan is bad enough.

Economist Jared Bernstein spent today in North Carolina trying to talk sense about taxes and expenditures.

Lowering taxes on the rich and raising taxes on the poor - which is what a shift from income taxes to sales taxes will do, is just a very bad idea. As bad an idea as the sequester.

But it helps the rich, to whom Republicans pander.

Here is a graph of the share of income spent on taxes by income group:



Remember the old song about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer?

Here's Bernstein's summary of the problem. Increasing sales taxes will take a proportionately bigger bite out of the lowest three quintiles than of the top 20%. Decreasing income tax will have almost no benefit for the bottom 20% but the top 1% will rake in the dough.

Speak Softly And Carry A Big Stick

We had a great weekend attending our grandson's graduation from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Forrest Cox went to Michigan to play Lacrosse as a long-stick defense man. Thus carrying a big stick. Injury interfered. He focused instead on studying public policy at the nation's oldest public policy educational institution, now the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

Forrest has an imposing physical presence. He also has a quiet demeanor and remarkable skill at getting people to work together. He does, indeed, speak softly. And persuasively.

The future is in good hands.

Hitting The Road Again, With A Jaunty Step Of Hope

We're about to hit the road again - back home to Oriental.

Graduation ceremonies, in my experience, are seldom inspirational. But here in Ann Arbor, we were inspired.

New thoughts. Eloquent young people. Not committed to their own enrichment, but to making the world a better place.

All is not lost, after all.

More Later.

It's A Busy Day Here In Ann Arbor

Not quiet at all. We've been on the run from morning to night attending various graduation celebrations of our grandson. Turns out, he has accomplished a lot during his four years on campus. Has left his mark.

We're very proud of him.

The stories will come later. Have to get some sleep so we can get up and attend the next event not long after oh dark hundred.

Other States

Lovely drive through Southwest Virginia. Great visit with old friends. Just one thing. I was struck by the signs that say "speed limit enforced by aircraft." I had visions of a World War I SPAD with machine gun on the cowling bringing speeders to justice.

Maybe that isn't what the sign means.

Beautiful drive yesterday through West Virginia and Ohio. Arrived in Michigan around sunset. Our first time in Michigan. Still have five more states to visit to cover all fifty states of the Union.