[lbo-talk] Bad Times and the Left

[Wojtek S]

Ken: "Thus the surplus was
appropriated by the state for needs as defined by the ruling Communist Party not
the workers."

[WS:]  The CP would say that they invested the surplus to provide for
the long term interest of the working class, instead of consuming it.
Do you think that the democratic control that you advocate would
accomplish that?  Lenin would disagree (cf. his position on limits of
trade unionism in What is to be done?).

In any case, ownership does not equal control of the workplace.
Modern corporations are nominally owned by shareholders, who rarely
exercise any meaningful level of control - the management does.

Wojtek