----- Original Message ----- From: Charles Brown <CharlesB at cncl.ci.detroit.mi.us> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2000 12:26 PM Subject: Re: 1/2 of Moscow "poor"
> Aren't these statistics pretty hard evidence (data), in as controlled an
experiment as one gets in the real socialeconomic world, that socialism is
superior to capitalism ?
>
> CB
>
To answer this question, we must consider other variables.
1-USSR living standards were starting to fall before the transition to
capitalism. If this transition never happened, would the socialist regimen
be able to reverse this tendency?
2-How are doing other Ex-socialist countries in Europe?
3-Could the failure of URSS be due to a wrong transition strategy? A gradual
approach (see China) would be better?
One could formulate the opposite question. Would a gradual transition to
socialism be a better option for 30's USSR and 50's China. Lenin wrote a
text called on cooperation, favoring this approach. Where could I find it?
4-Didn't the former USSR wasted its economic gains with weapons? Should the
post 1985 disasters have been avoided if they kept the military budget in
lower levels?
Alexandre