I was always under the impression that Gorbachev was a naïve optimist who tried to reform the USSR too rapidly, but failed. So how exactly did he screw up and how could the USSR have been saved?

    • star_wraith [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The more I learn about AES states, the more I think the key to success in early stages of socialism is for central planning the "big stuff" and letting regulated markets (like taxi drivers in Cuba) just do their own thing.

      • Thomas_Dankara [any,comrade/them]
        ·
        2 years ago

        yeah i think it's a mistake to target the big bourgeoisie and the petit bourgeoisie with equal vigor early on. seems like misplaced priorities at best.

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Shifting the petty bougs in to workers coops or other democratic workers enterprises seems like a good move. Workers seem pretty capable of handling their own enterprises given proper support.

        • soft [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Some people treat Stalin's writings in a doctrinaire manner, with the result that they cannot analyse and see what is correct and what is not correct -- and even what is correct they treat as a panacea and apply indiscriminately; inevitably they make mistakes. For instance, Stalin put forward a formula that in different revolutionary periods, the main blow should be so directed as to isolate the middle-of-the-road social and political forces of the time. This formula of Stalin's should be treated according to circumstances and from a critical, Marxist point of view. In certain circumstances it may be correct to isolate the middle forces, but it is not correct to isolate them under all circumstances. Our experience teaches us that the main blow of the revolution should be directed at the chief enemy to isolate him, while as for the middle forces, a policy of both uniting with them and struggling against them should be adopted, so that they are at least neutralized; and, as circumstances permit, efforts should be made to shift them from their position of neutrality to one of alliance with us, for the purpose of facilitating the development of the revolution. But there was a time -- the ten years of civil war from 1927 to 1936 -- when some of our comrades crudely applied this formula of Stalin's to China's revolution by turning their main attack on the middle forces, singling them out as the most dangerous enemy; the result was that, instead of isolating the real enemy, we isolated ourselves, and suffered losses to the advantage of the real enemy. In the light of this doctrinaire error, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, during the period of the anti-Japanese war, formulated a policy of "developing the progressive-forces, winning over the middle-of the-roaders, and isolating the die-hards" for the purpose of defeating the Japanese aggressors. The progressive forces in question consisted of the workers, peasants and revolutionary intellectuals led by, or open to the influence of, the Communist Party. The middle forces in question consisted of the national bourgeoisie, the democratic parties and groups, and democrats without party affiliation. The die-hards referred to were the comprador-feudal forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek, who were passive in resisting the Japanese and active in fighting the Communists. Experience, gained through practice, proved that this policy of the Communist Party suited the circumstances of China's revolution and was correct.

          https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/sino-soviet-split/cpc/hedp.htm

      • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        The same is true with cities by the way. Plan the subway systems, bikeways, streets, freight delivery, utilities, etc, but if you try to centrally plan every building in the whole city you're gonna have a bad time.

      • KobaCumTribute [she/her]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        AC can literally be a lifesaver and is a must for large shared spaces, but an electric fan and shade is good enough in most conditions. I've relied on just electric fans for most of life in the southern US, and still only rely on one when I'm sleeping and it stays comfortable even when the temperature inside climbs up to around 90F (32C).

    • Thomas_Dankara [any,comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The take home message is that the state does not need to plan how the production for clothings, refrigerators, fans, washing machines, furnitures, or food services should be organized. This should be left to the people’s owned industries, while generously supported by state lending programs. On the other hand, key sectors that require massive investment and resource allocation do benefit greatly from state planning.

      This sounds halfway between keynsianism and total state monopoly or do i misunderstand?

        • Thomas_Dankara [any,comrade/them]
          ·
          edit-2
          2 years ago

          thanks for the thoughtful response

          As for the artels (small local businesses), there are also multiple layers of councils and unions that regulate their activities. For example, you cannot have more than 20% of employees that do not possess the artel membership. The artel members also elect the head of their artels - effectively turning those businesses into cooperatives. They are allowed (mostly) unrestricted access to procure raw materials from the state for their needs, set prices based on contracts with their customers, manage their own finances etc. The point is to stimulate domestic industries that produce and diversify soft consumer goods to provide for the Soviet people (and also for exports).

          I found this part particularly interesting because it shows that the soviet economic policy had a lot more nuance to it than it is generally given credit for.

      • Mardoniush [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        There's some relation to dirigisme economies but as granit points out the state has much more involvement and the small businesses need to be structured according to solo sole trader or co-op models.