>> Kelley is surely right that the soviet failure had (crucially)
>> among its causes an internal failure, not the result of external
>> pressures or an accident of megalomaniacal leadership.
>
> I take an issue with the word "failure" in this context. What did
> the soviet socialism fail to do? Conquer the free world, as the US
> propaganda claimed? Perhaps, but was it it the true goal of the
> system?
methinks you mistake the context. what happened in the FSU post 1989 is the "failure" at issue.
the increased death rate of the "reforms" represents - according to a Duma committee - more than twice the # of people dead before their time than in the great purges. the criminal responsiblility for this disaster cannot solely be laid to external pressure, or Sachs, Shlaifer, Hay etc, or a Georgian with a mustache. the primary criminal responsibility is of those (a minority, but crucially placed) in the Soviet elite who actively worked to bring this "reform" about, and who with their Mafia associates now rule Russia. Kelley says this treason to humanity has its roots in the pre-existing soviet system. and i agree.
john mage