Comrade Pobedonosikov (characteristics of the Soviet bureaucracy)

The article examines the Soviet bureaucrat of the NEP period through the example of the hero of V. V. Mayakovsky's comedy "Bathhouse" comrade Pobedonosikov, who held the position of chief commander. The author gave this character specific features that allow us to reconstruct his past in general terms, which was done in the article. The main purpose of the article is to show why Pobedonosikov turned from a fighter against tsarism and a person not spoiled by everyday life into a dyed-in-the-wool bureaucrat. The author notes that the main reason for this is the influence of the management system of which Pobedonosikov became a part. After the October Revolution of 1917, a new bureaucratic system was formed within the framework of the statist ideology, which, like any similar system, was aimed at solving its own problems, which depersonalized and integrated employees into its mechanism. Pobedonosikov could become the chief of staff only by submitting to the logic of the existing system of state administration and joining a new social class called "bureaucracy" with all the features inherent in this class.