This is nonsense. Imperialism is a form of capitalism. Capitalism was abolished in the Soviet Union in 1917. It has been returning lately, but Russia suffers from imperialist penetration more than anything else.
>This may be explained by the US dominance of this list, just as
>it may also explain the absence of East Europeans.
Wojtek Sokolowski is from Poland and rejects anti-Sovietism of the kind you put forward.
> I'm one of those strange people who get on
>platforms in Hyde Park, London (and elsewhere), and I can tell you that
>the USSR created a lot more quietism among workers than a desire for
>reform.
The workers in the Soviet Union tried under difficult circumstances to build socialism. Standing on a soapbox or writing posts on the Internet doesn't take much effort at all. By the way, for comrade's information, Mr. "Lew" is a representative of the Socialist Party of Great Britain, a small "state capitalist" sect that has been around for most of the century. They resemble the Socialist Labor Party in the US in their dogmatic self-assuredness and remoteness from popular struggles. Their goal in life is to preach "true" socialism, like Jehovah's Witnesses of the left. Mr. "Lew," like assorted fans of Stalin or Trotsky, is obsessed with the "Russian" questions. My suggestion to Doug is to keep a close eye on this sort of thread since it can become as dull as listening to somebody describing their recent hemorrhoid surgery.
Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)