Brett Knowlton wrote:
> The Soviet Union was ruled by a priviledged elite.
This statement can be misleading. Every government is ruled by a privileged elite. The telling characteristic is whether the rulers became rulers because they are of the privileged elite, or they are from the masses and their privileged elitism is merely part of trimming of their positions. In China, for example, the Minister of Finance does not come from Wall Street and does not go back to Wall Street after he leaves the ministry. His job depends on his ability to serve the interest of the masses, albeit he lives better and have enviable privileges that goes with his job. The fact that a country like China is forced to join the global capitalist market economy is not just because of revisionist slippage, but because that has come to be the only game in town.
Socialists are obligated to devise and promote a socialist alternative in economic development and trade. Faith alone is not sufficient. A very important ideological struggle between orthodox socialist and revisionist has been going on in China for 4 decades, and the TINA (there is no alternative) syndrome is appearing more like common sense to more people everyday. If socialism does not provide an alternative, neo-liberalism, despite all its faults, will be the norm by default. It is not comforting that China and Cuba are only governments that openly declare themselves socialist. There is no socialist block left. If China goes, socialism will be dormant for at least 50 years.
Henry C.K. Liu