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Title: Revenge to Range Rover Author: Mikola Dziadok Date: April 6th, 2018 Language: en Topics: vengeance, car culture, eastern europe Source: Retrieved on 30th November 2020 from https://mikola.noblogs.org/?p=1970
Few time ago I spotted a video footage and a press-release of a group
“Revenge of Marusia Nikiforova) (Ukraininan FAI fraction), where
comrades burn an expensive car – Range Rover Evoque. Motivation
proclaimed is class revenge and a fact, that, while may residents of
Kiyv do not have ho water, someone shows off their luxury.
I also think that showing off the luxury is immoral. Buying cars, which
cost as a life wage of engineer or a cleaner means demonstrating, that
for you grandstanding is more important then social problems of your
society and world. Needless to say that most of the owners of such a
cars are bourgeois or high officials, of high managers. Needless to say
that such a vehicles are highly harmful for environment. So I do not see
a great problem if some of these cars will be burned.
But here another dilemma rising up. Where does the “plain good car” ends
and bourgeois luxury starts? And, what is even more important, provided
that many of us have cars by ourselves – how much the car an anarchist
is allowed to use, should cost? The question is not speculative at all,
because it’s gonna be a bit annoying if your car will be occasionally
burned by your comrades )))
To be precise, i have googled the cost of this type of car. Range Rover
Evoque which was in use, costs 23–39 thousand $. (average – 31
thousand). The new one – 49 thousand $.
Derived from what is written on a vacancies cites, average wage of,
let’s say, IT specialist (who is also a proletarian) in Ukraine is
averagely 700–1700 dollars. Average is, let’s say 1200.
Hence, if you save 1\2 of your wage (it is not very hard in Ukraine
provided the costs are super law), average Ukrainian IT-specialist can
save for such a car for a 4 years. Or take a credit for it without any
problem.
So can such a car be considered a luxury? Apparently, this is a
rhetorical question.
Of cause, majority of Ukrainians earn not 1200 but 231 $ (an average
wage for January, 2017). But such a gap between the salaries of a
workers (WORKERS – I make special emphasis on it) is not a guilt of a
certain IT-specialist (or highly-qualified construction worker, or motor
mechanic – they also may earn more then 1000 $ a month), but labor
market, which is eager to pay for one job more then for another.
Therefore I assume that the question of what is luxury and who’s
property may be burned, should be reviewed more attentively – of cause,
if we do not want to make highly-qualified workers and people with high
wages (but non-explotators) our enemies.
Also in Ukraine, as everywhere, there is a bunch of Maibach’s and
limousines, which cost is exorbitant even for super-IT-specislists: from
500 000 $ and higher. Servants of the regime and employers, who fraud
their employees, also have cars (not necessarily expensive). But burning
random offroaders just because they look better than Ford Focus or
Volkswagen Golf is no great thing.
Regarding on what car anarchist should and should not have: I think that
for answering this question each of us should invoke from salaries in
his region. If you live in Leltchitsy (a small town in a Belarusian
province) and bought an offroader, which costs as 3 houses of your
neighbors – it is a one thing. If you bought it, while living in Minsk –
it’s another thing. And let’s be honest: laptops which we use everyday,
are unreal dream for most of inhabitants of southeast Asia or Central
Africa. And I do not think that anyone of you are ready to burn them in
solidarity with workers of Ethiopia who are not going to get it even if
worki all their life. I offer to consider to any anarchist (and every
honest person) to make a border of a luxury a maximum cost, which in
your region could be spend by a working person.
Capitalism makes inequality between workers as well. But if this
inequality will contribute to conflict between us – it will not be fine.
We should remember, that for exploiters and for the capitalist system we
all: those who earn 100 $ and who earn 1000 $ are no more then hired
slaves who differ, at best, with a length of a chain.