Russians began to return to the village: why the state should support them

Let’s start with the fact that we all (I mean Russia) come from rural areas in one way or another. This is a reality that, in fact, should not be forgotten. A modern citizen of Russia, as a rule, either himself or his ancestors in the first, second or previous generations were born in the village. The social memory of the recent peasant past in both Soviet and Russian people is still extremely strong, and social memories of the village (usually positive) are still very fresh.

What are rural settlements or rural areas now? Until recently, these social systems were in one way or another connected with agriculture (it is no coincidence that these concepts are based on cognate words). However, the world has changed, and agriculture and rural areas are now close, but far from synonymous phenomena and concepts.

In fact, now agriculture, or more precisely, the agro-industrial complex (AIC), is a part or element of industry as an economic complex, the basis of which is now large agro-industrial (including vertically integrated) holdings and associations. At the same time, in these organizations, people, as a rule, work for hire, and sometimes agro-industrial associations use the labor of rotation workers and migrants. That is, there are virtually no peasants left in the usual sense of the word in these associations. The basis of labor activity in the agro-industrial complex consists of workers, specialists and employees.

Statistics show that today only a quarter of the population of rural areas works in agriculture. The rest are employed in trade, services, construction, etc.

Peasants in the classical sense in rural areas become a social minority. What characterizes the work and life of a peasant? Several criteria can be identified here. The first is definitely work in the agricultural sector, in any sub-sector of agriculture. The second is working on the land through the use of the production capabilities of a given natural resource. The third is living in a rural area in a rural house and having, albeit small, your own personal subsidiary plot (which is called rural social existence).

A modern developed village has not only television and electricity, but also stable communications (including the Internet), a normal public utility system and transport infrastructure. People who recently lived in modern cities pay attention to the opportunity to live in the countryside for at least three reasons.

The first reason: the actual attractiveness and prospects of a modern village lies not so much in the presence of a developed social infrastructure, but rather in the fact that in real conditions in rural areas, have your own home, live in ecologically clean picturesque places, develop your own economy, build your own life and shape your destiny. The second reason: in essence, modern peasantry for many is a form of self-realization in the sphere of creative labor, entrepreneurial activity and all kinds of social relations. The third reason: this is a real opportunity, at a new stage of civilizational and technological development, to return to our spiritual roots and folk origins.

All this together forms that very attractive modern rural lifestyle. Of course, the modern Russian village is still, to put it mildly, far from ideal. But the desire to move, as a rule, is accompanied by the intention to build one’s life as one considers necessary and correct. And this is already a prerequisite for the emergence of a modern village in Russia as an economic and social phenomenon.

The basic element of such a social system is, of course, the human owner-agricultural entrepreneur. If you want, a “fist of the 21st century” who knows what he wants, organizes his own production, uses modern market and production technologies. You will say that this is a beautiful futuristic picture. But no! This is the reality of today, and we can give examples of the emergence of “new villagers” in dozens of regions of our country. Now it is extremely important to support these trends at the state level. And there are also at least three reasons for the relevance of this approach.

The first is ensuring food security. This task cannot be systematically solved exclusively by large agro-industrial complexes, although their role is fundamental. At the same time, the system of implementation of the principles of food security can be given stability by creating conditions for large-scale agro-industrial production in each of the regions of our country. For example, livestock farming (in one or another sub-sector) can effectively develop in almost any (with rare exceptions) regions of Russia. Moreover, even in the Far East and Siberia there are regions where livestock is grazed year-round, which allows both saving on feed and improving the quality of products due to the uninterrupted supply of vitamins to the animal’s body. It is possible to significantly increase the production of livestock products in these regions only through the development of small-scale production by farmers, cooperatives, and also by farmers on private plots. It is for this reason that it is extremely important to attract new village owners to the territory.

The second reason is to ensure the sustainability of rural areas of our country. The agrarian owner is the key not only to the development of production, but also the basis of order and social modernization in the countryside. The production and social “connection” to their land, their economy, their business and their essence makes the “new villagers” the basis for the social and economic development of rural areas. The modern village needs not so much new jobs (which are also being created in a number of regions), but rather opportunities for the emergence in the territories of the class of those very “new kulaks” who acquire land not for speculation, rental or transfer to other categories, but in order to develop your own economy on it.

Now the Russian Ministry of Agriculture is forming the backbone of support settlements in rural areas, in which a modern social infrastructure of rural areas should be developed. This approach must be unambiguously complemented by the all-Russian “framework” of farms in rural areas, organized by new owners who independently develop both production and social relations in rural settlements.

Finally, the third reason is that a successful agrarian owner, working and creating on his land, is the bearer of the peasant civilizational essence, folk culture and traditional spiritual and moral values. Understanding the importance and priority of the family, creative work, respect for elders, involving children in production, joint activities and discipline does not appear out of nowhere, namely, when three important components are observed: 1) the need for constant work; 2) protection of the rights, property and interests of workers; 3) respect for the dignity of a working person.

In conclusion, I would like to note that the state is one way or another making significant efforts to attract citizens to the countryside to organize life and production. For example, since 2016, the Far Eastern Hectare program has been in effect, with more than 120 thousand people participating. Several tens of thousands of them have already become owners of their land. The Arctic Hectare project has been added to this program. In total, these programs will cover 19 regions of Russia this year. I would like to note that this positive experience could be extended to many regions of Siberia, the Urals, the North-Western and even the Volga federal districts. This is important because in many regions, despite the presence of significant agricultural land resources, there is a catastrophic lack of population and points of economic growth.

Surprisingly, the above trend of returning to the countryside is supported by those who want to move to Russia from foreign countries. There are already several tens of thousands of those who actively express such a desire. Moreover, their number includes not only our compatriots, who for one reason or another found themselves in a foreign land, but also ethnic Germans, Canadians, Dutch, etc. The main reasons for the desire to move are the wide opportunities for work in Russia, as well as traditional spiritual values. A number of NGOs are involved in facilitating the relocation of our compatriots and foreigners to Russia (for example, “The Way Home”), there are programs for their integration in a number of regions of Russia (Kuzbass, Nizhny Novgorod, Omsk regions, etc.), at the federal level there is a working group under the deputy chairman State Duma Alexander Mikhailovich Babakov.

Returning to the beginning of this article, I would like to note that progress in a bizarre way opens up completely unexpected opportunities in our lives. One of these (who would have thought!) is the formation of a new Russian village, based not only on technology and culture, but also on the emerging social stratum of successful rural workers, owners and entrepreneurs. Does this trend hinder urban development? Of course not. There simply is no city without a village, especially in the longest country in the world.