Fra:Simon Laub (simonl@daimi.aau.dk) Emne:What a wonderful revolution. Nyhedsgruppe:soc.culture.europe, soc.culture.soviet, talk.politics.soviet Dato:1991-08-23 21:07:54 PST What a wonderful revolution - a interpretation. --------------------------------------------------- Mikhail Gorbachev - the last socialist : Going back to 1987 one finds the publication : Perestroijka - New thinking for our country and the world' by Mikhail Gorbachev. I take it as a fairly accurate representation of Gorbachevs platform . It says : 'Lenin - ideological father of perestroijka : The essense of perestroijka is uniting socialism and democracy' over the next 280 or so pages it des- cribes it great detail UTOPIA . Its a call for on the one hand a fight against stagnation,bureaucracy and stalinism . On the other hand is a call for starting the creative dynamics of the people - that will eventually lead to true socialism. Throughout the book the right behaviour of people and peoples are described in words , that makes the text almost religious in nature - or in other words : reading the bible will make you draw the same conclusions. - As a person/human being you should work hard for the benefit of society . You should consider yourself part of humanity , not one specific nation . Every member of society has rights that must be respected - and on the other hand duties to perform. etc. Its turning society into a socialist kibbutz. Problems with the people : As history unfolds it turns out that the obvious truths of Gorbachev is not shared by his people. The creative dynamics turns out to be nationalism,capitalism,freedom to hate the communist party and Lenin. It is amazing that people will not work hard for paradize on earth = utopian socialism. Unsofisticated people like Yeltsin ( perfectly willing to trade in solidarity and internationalism for one breadloaf - perhaps with the result of damaging socialism for ever and destroying the construction of the soviet union itself ) is partly helpers , partly enemies . Enemies when they turn away from the road towards utopian socialism. Finding help against the enemies of utopian socialism proved difficult . Actually the only ones available was the old communist guard - leftovers from the stalin era. Not surprisingly It turns out that they were also against utopian socialism ! 20 minutes late - a world of difference : Losing priviledges under the new system they dont want to lose even more under either utopian socialism under Gorbachev or market economics under Yeltsin. They stage a coup , but lacks the ruthlessness of the Stalin generation. Ok , had KGB officers in Tula obeyed orders and arrested Boris Yeltsin the coup might have turned out more successful . But instead the officers warned Yeltsin and other KGB forces came twenty minutes to late - finding the Yeltsin residense empty. But alltogether the coup was amateurish . Astonishly so considering the participants : Kgb-head Krjutsjkov, head of defense Yasov, minister of the interior Pugo etc. Lacking ruthlessness,exactness etc. The russian card : Gorbachev could press forward his utopian socialism with aid from the army and the KGB . Them gone in the coup, Yeltsin and other reformers can easily block the socialist part of Gorbachevs platform and press on their own agenda. Yeltsin plays the russian card ( as stalin ,without comparison , did in 1941 when the soviet union was invaded by nazi germany - here Stalin called for a defense of ' mother russia ' , not the achievements of marxism/leninism . ) as one of his positive cards - otherwise his platform gathers momentum from the obvious mistakes and failures of the communist system. The next 20 years : In a city of 8 million less than 50000 defended democracy and the new ways in front of the 'white house' in Moscow on the crucial tuesday night . Now , friday aug 23 th 91 , everybody participates in the purge against all communist symbols and all communist sympathizers. After that comes freedom to the republics , introduction of a free market - etc. Enough to keep the soviet people busy for the next 20 years . Gone with the wind are the principles of utopian socialism as laid down in ' Perestroijka - new thinking . ' by m.Gorbachev. Lack of new idears : Nevertheless for intellectually inclined people nothing new has been established . Yeltsin agenda is plans for bread and butter - which is fine -but its not a system for 'believers' . Society as such has no utopian goals - search for truth,intellectual achievement , religious harmony or scientific breakthroughs is all left to the few isolated scientists and artists on the fringe of society. Society as such is pleased with market economics and needs no intellectual plans. No voice is heard putting forward goals like John F. Kennedy , when he announced , that america would put a man on the moon , before the end of the decade ( but he was murdered ofcourse ) or likewise. And surely the man from Stavropol will find little or no buyers to his utopian socialism platform. In a slightly provocative way one could say : Apparently the human spirit can not reach higher than market economics , reintroducing tsars flag and destroying old statues replacing them with Mcdonnalds burgerbars. Simon.