File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1997/marxism-international.9709, message 357


Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 13:18:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Siddharth Chatterjee <siddhart-AT-mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject: Re: M-I: Money capital  & the exSoviet Union




On Thu, 18 Sep 1997, neil wrote:

> 
> Marxists see socialist/communist society  as a society
> without money, wages , commoditity production,  profits etc
> in any form and which produces use-values for  peoples
> real needs . This the exUSSR/Russia has never done.
> 

Neil, here. is equating socialism (a form of class society with
the dictatorship of the working class over the capitalists) with
communism (classless society, hence no state) by his use of the
phrase "socialist/communist" society. Between bourgeois society and
communism, there may/will be entire historical eras which will consist
of socialist societies at higher and higher levels. The class struggle
does not cease with the initial establishment of the workers government.

So in contrary to Neil, in socialist society, there will be wages and
money. The principle that operates here is "from each according
to his ability, to each according to his/her work". This principle will
be gradually replaced by "from each according to his ability, to each
according to his/her need" as the society advances on the road towards
the classless society. Thus the possibilty of a capitalist restoration
will always be there in a socialist society since class struggle is
not only present but may intensify.

The point at which a socialist society transforms into its opposite, i.e.,
capitalist society; i.e., at what point does a qualitative backward
leap occurs, is a topic of careful analysis. Since human beings will
make this analysis about human society, some subjectivism will be involved
in the final conclusion. Nevertheless, the point wis to minimize this
subjectivity as far as possible. 

  



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