A Hard Life in Rural Karabakh

[Aidoneus]

A Hard Life in Rural Karabakh
The tribulations of post-war life in a Nagorny Karabakh Armenian village
By Ashot Beglarian in Gishi (CRS No. 186, 10-Jul-03)

"To survive, a farmer has to dig in the ground from early morning till dark, hoping the weather will be merciful and his labours won't be in vain," said Vladimir Antonian.

Antonian spent 30 years of his life as headmaster of the local school in Gishi, a village in Nagorny Karabakh. Now retired, he survives like most people in the village - by working on the land.

Gishi, one of the oldest and largest Armenian villages in Nagorny Karabakh, used to be one of its most prosperous communities. Nowadays, while a few inhabitants savour the fruits of a market economy, most live in poverty, struggling to make ends meet.

Nine out of ten farm workers lack the equipment to till their land properly, and do not have enough money to rent machinery. Instead, when they borrow combine-harvesters, tractors and trucks, they offer in return a share in their future harvest.

In Nagorny Karabakh's agriculture ministry, they blame "a failure to think through land privatisation and excessive zeal in carrying it out" for the problems facing villages like Gishi.

The Karabakh government has said that raising the standard of living in the villages to the same level as in the towns is a priority, to stop people leaving the land.

They are still dealing with the legacy of a decision made in 1994, immediately after the war with Azerbaijan ended, to divide up the collective farms and distribute the land to individuals. This resulted in more losers than winners.

The oldest residents are openly nostalgic for Soviet times. "People used to slaughter cattle on holidays and treat the whole village," lamented Raya Davitian, who worked for 40 years in the collective farm. "Now that's all in the past and everyone is isolated."

--snip--

http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/cau_200307_186_4_eng.txt

[bemildred]

1. Probably just as stupid as when they "collectivized" them

in the first place. Always some outsider with a wild hair up
his ass about some theory willing to come in and fuck with
long standing arrangements he doesn't know Jack Shit about.

Although I gotta say this privatization stuff is dumber than most.
People are social and communal animals, and all this dog-eat-dog
competition-is-good-for-you shit goes way beyond normal religious
stupidity. Let's throw the babies out in the street and see how they
they do, it will be good for them, everything will be cheaper. You
don't see any of these assholes down on skid row trying to make
themselves more "fit".