[lbo-talk] Communists lost in West Bengal

[Somebody Somebody]

My question is this: why did the communists in West Bengal never achieve anything approaching the level of improvements in health and education seen in Kerala? Is it simply because it's a much bigger, more diverse state?

Actually, this gets to a larger issue: how different socialist and communist governments have widely varying impacts upon human welfare. We talk about the effects of capitalism and socialist revolution, but really it depends upon the particular time and place. Of course, what we're dealing with in India are reformist, not revolutionary parties, but the same question applies.