Nomenclature was a big word in the country of soviets. It sounded like God’s payroll, on which the names of only the strongest and the fittest of the soviet land were destined to figure. Once you got on it you would own some dream sinecure for the rest of your life unless you fell out of priceless favor of soviet powers that be.
That’s why the accepted standard of classic nomenclature-like behavior was the biggest stock in trade for anybody on the roll. What counted most was the correct behavioral model. Content and quality of work did not matter much. Just behave yourself and that’s all! Has the notion of nomenclature disappeared along with the downfall of the soviet socialist rule, its communist party central committee and its politbureau? Never! The phenomenon is still in place – safe, sound and intact as it has always been. After so many changes of alternating powers in the last quarter of a century, after so many alterations of ideological structure of our society, after so many falls and revivals, its majesty the Nomenclature is still reigning, tailoring our lives totally at its own discretion, without even consulting the ever-expectant-of-good-life people of Georgia or the best brains of the country. Their own Nomenclature is an indispensable attachment to any newly incoming political power in Georgia, and I have heard anywhere on the territory of the former USSR too. I wish we were an exclusion from the vicious rule, but we are not. Remember the wisdom – misery loves company? This truly is an outstanding piece of misery! Still lingering in the same modus of handling the cadres is simply ludicrous. The impression is that every political force, coming to power, will stay in power only in case it has a faithful team to rely on. The name of that team is the Party Nomenclature. So the prerequisite for having a job is the membership in the Nomenclature, not talent, qualification and experience. This is what I call misery. Imagine, the entire staff of the Department of State leaving together with retiring Hillary Clinton and a completely refreshed staff coming in together with John Kerry! That would be a perfect paradigm of giving preference to one Nomenclature against the other within only one segment of our life. Just imagine what will happen when the presidency changes hands, especially if a democrat is filling in instead of a republican or vice versa! In this case, the cadres in the entire country would be shuffled and moved around based on the principle of Nomenclature-safe-and-friendly personnel assignments. The long-run and well-recognized habitual members of the Nomenclature felt very good about itself in the Soviet country – they were guaranteed to happily keep their jobs for long and have tons of fringe benefits of various kinds, like chauffeured cars, prodigious bonuses, comfortable offices, state-owned country houses, special stores, life-supporting connections, privileged position in society, adulation of men and women around, free tickets and invitations to anything happening around, highest vacationing chances, best educational opportunities for kids, even the best places in the best maintained cemeteries. Who would not dream to be comfortably nestled on that heavenly pay-roll of the chosen? Has anything much changed Nomenclature-wise? The answer is yours!