[lbo-talk] Soviet empire?

[Wojtek S]

[WS:]  I wrote something about Communism creating the intelligentsia
where none existed before but not the rest of the stuff, especially
the "client states."  It was a mixed bag anyway.  Some, like Poland
benefited at the end of the day, others like E. Germany paid the price
for being a "friend of the USSR."   Czechoslovakia probably paid the
price too, but then they were most pro-Soviet of the bunch at the
beginning.

As to corruption, it was endemic and the Communist regime tried to
curb it by the organization of the industry, but they were not very
successful.  Again, a mixed bag if we look at details.

What I did repeatedly write here and elsewhere is that Eastern Europe
is a complex reality that mixes Communist ideology with vestiges of
feudalism, peasant collectivism, and elements of modern organization
and social democracy.  Therefore, we need to analytically separate the
effects of each, which is a very difficult intellectual task.
Unfortunately, not many are up to this task - most prefer simple
demonization or simple glorification instead.

Wojtek

On Sun, Oct 16, 2011 at 8:34 PM,  <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
> If memory serves somebody (Woj? Shane?) wrote in sometime ago to argue against the idea of a Soviet empire, basically saying that the USSR did not rip off its client states, did not exact tribute,...but helped by minimizing corruption, educating its cadre, subsidizing their needs for natural resources, etc.
>
> I've got horrible research skills. I looked for the post in the archive by searching on "Soviet empire" and came up with nothing.
>
> Does anyone remember writing such a thing?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Joanna
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>