AUT: Was exUSSR state capialism?

[neil <74742.1651@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

sure it was, the apologetic rubbish of much
of the mummified 'old communist/socialist movement'
to the contrary.

most leftists study Lenin -trotsky- Stalin -mao
etc and thisis one main reasons they have
a lot of confusions on political economy.
They don't study Marx's -Engels classics very much.
Not to be dogmatic, these must  be brought up to date.
Marxism has a good method of work to do that though.

The statist regimes set up by the co-called20th cent  Ml's in power
have a state cap economic base , not to pair down mind you-- but to
build up!

Lenin and Mao were more open anout this and admit it --
It is in Lenins writing from 1917-23 concerning his admiration for
the post office and other industries of the Kaisers Germany -
their centralization, management procedrues, work discipline,
who , given Russian economic backwardness, the majority bolsheviks
thought that the Party- state would build a 'benign' state cap economy
and this would lead to socialism -- pure nonsense as it leads to
a new ruling class and antagonistic class relations .

In the chinese Constitution of Sept '54. The maoists admit they
are carring out the bourgeois Rev. and call their own economic base
openly state capitalism (but they too issue smoke about a future
advance to  socialism-communism-- some day!).

But the main lesson is not what these("ML") outfits said --but the
monstrosities
they helped to build up,  more waged labor systems-- and Marx points out
where you ahve the wages system , you have some from of capitalism.
You had commodites production (OK, with price controls sometimes-- but they

have this in the West too in many countries on some goods-services) .
Its still capitalist social relations predominating.!.
As someone said Stalin even came up with  another of his  huge
distortions of Marxism "Socialist-commodity production" existing--
and when  a handful of Moscow University studenst had the nerve to call him
on it-
he shot back (no pun) that the 'tovarisches' are mistaken and they need to
study more and be quiet.

In all the state cap regime, there was money, buying and selling, and
when the APPOINTED factory/office managers calclated expenses it is
calculated in specific
costs of raw materials and labor power-- just as any capitalist frims in
the west do!
They even came up with another great oxymoron -- "socialist profits'!

Point is the workers own Rev. groups (which do include middle-class forces)
need to promote workers own politica l and economic -territorial Org.
against capital based on the class struggle. And that   socialism is a
society
(world) based on worker planning production fro human needs,
no money, no buying and selling, no borders, no profits, -- free access for
all in a clasless-stateless world. (But yes it will still need a transition
period after workers sieze the power- most probably!) and all key  tasks /
are by workers delegation vote  for a specific limited time so no forces
can create any 'new bureaucratic class" of state cap rulers.

Neil



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