Re: Why did the USSR fall

["Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>]

Chris D writes:
>Societal change in Russia has always almost always come from the top down. It has been Revolution from Above since the days of Peter the Great on through Catherine the Great, Stalin, Khrushchev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin, and thus it shall probably be until the end of time.<

I disagree. In 1917, there was a huge "from below" component, as there had been in 1905. The importance of "from above" initiatives rose after that, as the Soviet state minimized, atomized, and controlled the role of independent organizations of workers, peasants, etc. But even Gorby, Yeltsin, and Putin must have had some support from below for their from-above initiatives to have an effect.
Jim D.