In the early 1930s, Stalin became convinced that the new system could not be built with the old cadres. Bourgeois prejudices were still very much alive, especially among the intelligentsia, from whose circles the new cadres emerged. The so-called “Lenin Guard” also suffered from a consumer urge. Stalin decided that the path to cultivating the new consciousness necessary for the new system through education was too long. This was a problem that could not be solved in the foreseeable future. And there were no guarantees of success. So he decided to take up the social engineering of his society. He hoped that in this way he will be able to fend off the natural pursuit of well-being in the transition period, when the system was not yet able to meet the growing needs of consumers. The path of physical destruction of those who used power to satisfy their material needs at the expense of the majority of Soviet people deprived of such an opportunity had been chosen.

The first Stalinist trials were particularly indicative in this regard. A blow on the economic elite was delivered. Then the blow to the party-state economic and cultural elite followed. The results of the cleansing were extremely disappointing. Even the fear of repression could not stop the urge to benefit.