class in the USSR

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

[was: RE: [PEN-L] The Soviet "empire" was a drain on Moscow]
LP: >Well, we seem to have a different understanding of class. I consider ownership of the means of production to be crucial. Like a feudal lord owning land, or a Southern Bourbon owning slaves.<
There's more than one kind of class power. The examples are individualistic, but class power can be collective. (An analogy: the Jesuits officially take a vow of poverty as individuals - but some of their communities are rich, some are poor.)  There can be group class power, as with the Pharaoh and the others at the top of the ancient Egyptian slave-state. Even under capitalism, feudalism, and modern Southern slavery involve more than the individualist dimension: an isolated would-be capitalist wouldn't get very far under feudalism (because there would be few true proletarians to exploit), just as an individual would-be slave-owner wouldn't get very far under capitalism in the richer countries (where capitalism is purer). Modes of production are social structures, not just a collection of powerful individuals. 
> I didn't consider Jimmy Hoffa to be a member of the ruling class in the USA despite the outward trappings of wealth and power.<
Exactly. He was a favored pet of part of the ruling class, since he hadn't crossed the line into the ruling class (though I'm sure that he wanted to). His bureaucracy - the Teamsters' Union - wasn't part of capital. 
Jim Devine