Re: General/chaos

[Scott Marshall <Scott@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Ron Press wrote:
>I submit that the birth of the USSR took place in the midst of the
>chaos of the first world war. This gave rise to the system of
>Soviets. This was also unique for it's time. The abandonment of
>the Soviet system and it's transformation into the dictatorship of
>the party (it was supposed to be the proletariat) lead to the
>ultimate disaster of recent years.

Abandonment and transformation into.... Was it really that simple? Is it
really all we can learn? It strikes me that we are not anywhere near a full
understanding of either the strengths (that many here don't want to
acknowledege under any circumstances) nor the weaknesses of the Soviet
experience. That such a complex and multifaceted struggle to try and build
socialism can be so glibly summerized and dismissed is to me one of the main
obstacles to learning anything from that experience.

Scott



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