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From Socialist Fight, June 1961, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 4 & 2.
Transcribed by Iain Dalton.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
THE Krushchev regime has announced the re-introduction of the death penalty for person convicted of stealing state and public property on a very large scale. Punishable by the death penalty, too, is the crime of forgery, also for convicted criminals who terrorise fellow prisoners. At the same time deportation to “work settlements” in Siberia for from two to five years is to be the penalty for idlers, speculators and shirkers. Penalties for drunkenness are to be tightened up. For producing illicit liquor the penalty is to be sentences up to a year, plus a fine.
Forty-four years after the revolution this presents a grim picture of the “Socialism” which the Stalinists have claimed has been organised in Russia for many years. It is true, as the successes of the sputniks have shown, that due to the state ownership of the means of production, remarkable successes have been achieved in the field of technique, increase of production and education. In all these the base established by the revolution has been sufficient to bring Russia from a backward “under-developed” semi-colonial country to the ranks of the advanced industrial countries. This alone is sufficient justification for the revolution.
However the isolation of the revolution resulted in the usurpation of power by a corrupt bureaucracy. What this meant was shown by Krushchev’s exposure of the crime of Stalin at the 20th Congress of the Russian Communist Party. But the reforms introduced by Krushchev did not change the situation fundamentally. The bureaucracy, or millions of officials in control of the army, industry, the state and the Communist Party continued to maintain their control. Their basic privileges remained intact.
Krushchev introduced reforms because the bureaucracy was becoming more and more of a hindrance to the development of Russian society and threatened to bring it to a standstill. Hence his de-centralising of the control of industry and agriculture. This helped for a time by giving the opportunity for more initiative on the part of the lower ranks of the bureaucracy. But it could not solve the problem. It gave the opportunity for greater “initiative” for swindling and corruption too.
Wherever control is autocratically exercised such evils are inevitable. At the same time things are now getting so bad that they in turn threaten to devour the fruits of Russia’s advance.
Hence the search for scapegoats and the attempt to take draconic action in order to keep the swindling and corruption of the bureaucracy within bounds, while endeavouring to appease the criticism of the masses. At the meeting of the Central Committee in January the following instructive exchanges took place. After dismissals of Ministers in Kirghizia and other republics Krushchev remarked to the Prime Minister of this Republic, Mr. Rassakov: “You moved him (man guilty of falsifying figures of production) to the post of minister. It seems that the best punishment for a man who has committed a crime is to appoint him Minister.”
Mr. Rassakov, “That was our serious mistake. We appointed him minister of internal affairs” (In charge of the police!). Mr. Krushchev “Yes. It’s the same as putting the wolf in the sheepfold.”
What is interesting is that the ministers thought nothing of protecting one of their bureaucratic brothers. It was obviously thought “normal” to falsify figures, to swindle, to cheat. That is the atmosphere in the top layers of the bureaucracy.
In an endeavour to explain away the existence of these terrible contradictions in a “Socialist” society Kommunist, the theoretical organ of the Russian Communist Party. writes on the decrees, “It is not due to any supposed increase in the number of parasites. It is due to our successful advance towards Communism which sharpens the antagonisms between the new and progressive, to which the future belongs – that is the emerging Communist society – on the one hand and the survivals of capitalism on the other.” This is quoted with approval in the Daily Worker of May 5th.
They have forgotten the criticism by Krushchev of Stalin and the “theories” he advanced to justify his crimes. Stalin argued that as society advanced towards Socialism so the class struggle increased and the need for further and further repressive measures was necessary. Krushchev pointed out that this was nonsense. Successes of Socialism should ameliorate not increase antagonisms in society. Now they return to this discarded theme. Why?
In spite of the successes of Russia, inequalities remain. The masses have no control over industry or of the state. Arbitrariness and bureaucracy still continue to dominate Russian society.
There is still want and misery. In this atmosphere, where the needs of the masses, are the last consideration of the ruling clique, in the cracks of society all sorts of speculators and swindlers flourish. Many of them have grown rich by means of speculation on necessities. The masses are aware of the cynicism, privilege, luxury and swindling at the top. Life is still drab for the masses, especially in the agricultural areas. Hence the prevalence of drunkenness as a symptom of the attempt to escape for a while from the round of dreary existence.
The last time similar legislation was introduced in Russia was in 1932, after the excesses of Stalin’s “complete collectivisation” of agriculture had reduced the masses to penury and semi-starvation. Now on the basis of successes and an undoubted big rise in the standard of living, nevertheless these drastic measures are considered necessary.
The only real solution to the problem is one of course that the bureaucrats can never pose – their removal from the backs of the Russian workers – they are the most pernicious parasites and drag on the development of production and of Russian society. Socialism can only flourish, and society move towards Socialism, once capitalism has been abolished as in Russia, by the direct participation and control by the masses in all fields of social life, the state, industry, trade unions, science and culture. Till then, Russian society will zig-zag as it has done for 30 years from repression to adventurism and back again to repression. Only the overthrow of the bureaucracy and the organisation of workers democracy in Russia with full rights for all tendencies within the working class can solve the problems of Russian society.
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