From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Mon Jul 05 2004 - 03:03:15 BST
Hi all,
I thought this question and answer might be of interest to those
participating in the "metaphysics of free enterprise" thread.
Best,
msh
QUESTION FOR CHOMSKY
Collectively, are the people of Russia better off in a
'Capitalist' system? I don't see the obsession with
writing off Communism because of corrupt oligarchies. Do
you see Russian abandomnet of Communism as a setback for
true Democracy?
Reply from NC,
Depends which Russians you are thinking of. Here's a
paragraph lifted from my "Hegemony or Survival" (footnotes
which add more information omitted):
The “realities of modern capitalism” are illustrated in the
regions long subject to Western control, and have also been
brought to much of Eastern Europe as it is “Latin
Americanized,” reversing the forced industrialization and
socio-economic developments of the years of brutal
tyranny. The reasons are debated, but the essential facts
of the social and economic collapse are not. The
demographic consequences, while uncertain in scale, provide
one index. The UN Development Program estimates 10 million
male deaths during the 1990s beyond the expected,
approximately the estimated toll of Stalin’s purge 60 years
earlier, if these figures are near accurate. “Russia
appears to be the first country in history to experience
such a sharp decrease in births versus deaths for reasons
other than war, famine, or disease,” David Powell writes:
“The demographic crisis is a consequence of the numerous
and deep-seated problems that plague Russia’s health care
system,” which collapsed during the “transition period” of
market reforms. The general collapse has been so severe
that even the monstrous Stalin is remembered with some
appreciation: more than half of Russians “believe Stalin’s
role in Russian history was positive, while only a third
disagreed.” The plans of the US overseers of Iraq, insofar
as they have been described, seem rather similar to those
that were applied in Russia, and that have led to dismal
outcomes elsewhere with fair consistency.
My own judgment after the fall of the Berlin wall was that
the impending collapse of the USSR should be applauded for
many reasons, including the fact that it was a small
victory for socialism, rather like the collapse of fascism
in Europe, overcoming one of the most extreme barriers to
any form of socialism. By my personal judgment, Russia is
better off since -- but again, a lot of Russians might
disagree. And I think there were far better alternatives
than either the tyranny of the past or the Latin
Americanization of the present.
Noam Chomsky
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