radeprut9

The Soviet Union was ruled by a gang of ruthless communist thugs, but they didn’t do all of that totalitarian stuff on their own. There were too many square miles of country and too many millions of people to be contained and controlled by a gang of crooks and thugs based in Moscow. No matter how cruel ruthless and all-powerful. So how was it done? How did a relatively small group of thugs manage to keep the population subdued?

They did it by means of their minions, a selected class of true believers who operated throughout the Soviet Union and were the ears and eyes of the Moscow government. They were called the Nomenklatura. Literally translated, this means first on the list, and they were first on the list of course, in payment for their loyalty to the cause. First for good jobs. First for any position of influence that might arise. First in line for favours from Moscow. And all they had to do to remain first on the list was maintain the Communist status quo.