war and the state & definition of bureaucracy?

Dddddd0814 at aol.com Dddddd0814 at aol.com
Tue Aug 27 17:28:19 PDT 2002


Joe wrote:

"I find it interesting that you say the results of the Russian Revolution don't count because Russia was "underdeveloped" and then divert the discussion to talking about Russia. You have yet to present any proof that socialism is impossible in "underdeveloped" countries."

David responds:

I see lots of proof that socialism is impossible in underdeveloped countries in and of themselves. Russia, China, Cuba, DPRK, Vietnam, etc. I don't see that socialism ever existed in these countries beyond in a very transitional sense.

Conversely, I see little proof that socialism at all possible in the underdeveloped countries. Proletarian revolutions, maybe-- but not socialist society.

As I wrote earlier, this seems to be one of the keys to the ideological overlap between many anarchists and Stalinists: i.e., the notion that socialism can exist in once country alone, removed from the global sphere. One group affirms the notion in the idealist sense, the other in the pragmatic.

And a question:

What is bureaucracy? How and why does it occur?

Best, David



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