Lately I have been thinking about the reasons why we have different levels of development when it comes to countries and their societies across Europe. The hybrid war Putin and his crownies have been waging against ever progressive movement largely has its roots in the fact that historically Russia abandoned serfdom much later than west European countries and as a result Russia has always been lagging behind modern western countries in many respects. I’m fully aware that most Russians won’t agree with this notion which is good as long as it leads to a constructive discussion about this question. I would be more than happy to engage in a debate of the points made in the article below.
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In my opinion, where there is no freedom of occupation, economy cannot improve; nor can the country progress. When free thinking is fettered or prevented by forced labour, human resources do not themselves diverted to diversified activities. This situation is a stumbling block to overall growth, social progress ad economic development of any nation.
The observation “In an average province, industrial output increased by 60% and the industrial employment more than doubled as a result of the abolition of serfdom.” would lend support to the fact that the transition from agriculture to industry was a right step towards development, and the country would have had a flourishing economy if the abolition of serfdom had taken place earlier.
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