- 22 Apr 2003 20:07
#8420
Was Russia ever socialist?
Well... looking at both the forms of Socialism listed in the forum heading, both the traditional Marxist term, and the more modern form of democratic socialism, I should say Russia never met the criteria for the either.
As skullers rightly said, "Private property is abolished under Socialism and dictatorship of the proletariat is established."
Ok. For sure private property was abolished but I do not remember learning about a dictatorship of the proletariat . Dictatorships for sure, a whole string off them, but did the Working class as a whole at any stage genuinely dictate where their nation was going. Did they actually own the means of production or distribution, or was it throughout its entire history a clique at the the top, perhaps one man or a small group who dictated the course of USSR. If it was first one of these then we have met one criteria for socialism at the very least, if it doesnt even meet this, then we have missed out on one of THE most important tenets of traditional Marxist socialism.
Well... looking at both the forms of Socialism listed in the forum heading, both the traditional Marxist term, and the more modern form of democratic socialism, I should say Russia never met the criteria for the either.
As skullers rightly said, "Private property is abolished under Socialism and dictatorship of the proletariat is established."
Ok. For sure private property was abolished but I do not remember learning about a dictatorship of the proletariat . Dictatorships for sure, a whole string off them, but did the Working class as a whole at any stage genuinely dictate where their nation was going. Did they actually own the means of production or distribution, or was it throughout its entire history a clique at the the top, perhaps one man or a small group who dictated the course of USSR. If it was first one of these then we have met one criteria for socialism at the very least, if it doesnt even meet this, then we have missed out on one of THE most important tenets of traditional Marxist socialism.