From: concrete-AT-netcom.com (Bradley Mayer)
Subject: Re: Rollback of working class privileges
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 20:55:00 -0800 (PST)


H. Rodwell: (partial excerpt)

>And now - in the period of the most splendid victory for the world
>bourgeoisie in its history, namely the humiliation and destruction of the
>Soviet Union, born of the socialist revolution - you'd think they'd be
>cock-a-hoop and leading the world in joyful celebrations! But no. In its
>finest hour, imperialism without the Stalinist counterweight to restrain it
>is once more revealing its true features of limitless greed, brutality and
>bloodlust. And chaotic instability - it's lurching about like a crazed
>elephant and god help anyone in its path.

Of course, I am in general agreement with the *political* analysis and 
perspective here. One small but significant point, though.  The 
Stalinist-dominated worker's states were not a "counterweight" to 
imperialism, but lay at the *foundation* of the postwar imperialist world 
order.  To put it more generally, the gains and victories of the world's 
workers and colonial peoples after the defeat of fascism in World War II 
made the postwar "boom" possible, were absolutely necessary for the 
"boom". Further, for the first time in modern history, the most rapidly 
growing and dynamic economic sectors lay beyond the reach of the 
capitalist mode of production in the worker's states. Capitalism and 
imperialism were confronted with an extraordinary situation never before 
seen, and its politicians were forced by this circumstance to pursue a 
(more or less) conscious policy which featured expanded state 
intervention, expansion of the total industrial base, and 
-consequentially- the extension of privileges to the proletariat of the 
imperialist countries which were lavish in historical comparision 
even to those previously known by this proletariat.

So the postwar expansion was driven forward.  It is more accurate to call 
this expansion a "capitalist dominated boom" than a purely "capitalist 
boom" - the proletariat was now, effectively, the sole historical agency for 
the advance of the productive forces.  In the absence of these partial 
victories of the working class, the bourgeosie would have pursued the policy 
they are implementing today, only worse, since then it would have at a 
minimum meant the destruction of the Soviet Union by the Nazis, and a 
permanent world-wide accomodation between Anglo-American imperialism and 
fascism, at least for awhile before the next interimperialist war.  
Today, the bourgeoisie are simply picking up where they left off in the 
1920's, and are working hard to return us to the horrors of the 1930's 
and early 1940's.

This is only a small and limited part of what I mean by the need for a 
fuller theoretical explanation of the developments which have brought us 
to where we are today.  But I must move on now, for unfortunately my time 
is limited by the necesssity to labor.

			Comradely,
			Brad Mayer


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