- -But rabid nationalism isn?t compatible with socialism, if Soviet peoples - -have choosen nationalism over socialism, then I would wonder if - -socialism had as much support as you claim before 1991.
Alexandre Fenelon ---------------
It may not be compatible in reality, but it certainly is compatible in people's minds. There are lote of self-described socialists and communists in the FSU who are also racists. In Russia, for instance, the Komsomol (which was kicked out of the KPRF for being "too radical") wants egalitarianism -- for the Slavs --.
The word "socialism" as used in the FSU usually means "Stalinism." When asked "Are you a socialist?" many people will answer "no." When asked, however, "Do you think the state has an obligation to take care of the people, do you think that economic egalitarianism is good, do you think that services and resources should be publicly opened, do you think the state should direct the economy?" those same people will answer "yes."
Look, people in the late USSR did not have a clue what capitalism was or how it worked. They simply saw that people in the West had a lot more consumer goods that they did, and they wanted them (and they had no idea about poverty in the West -- that was dismissed as Communist propaganda). They imagined the West as another USSR, only with more freedom and more cool stuff. Lots of people thought that in the West the state just gives you houses and TVs and whatnot.
Chris Doss The Russia Journal