THE RIGHT BOOKS

Scarcely a day passes without the appearance of a newspaper article or two concerning Mikhail Gorbachev, reform in the Soviet Union, and glasnost. However, an increasing number of Western scholars and observers of Soviet history are concluding that, in this instance, where there’s smoke there’s only more smoke. Take, for example, Gorbachev’s recent speech to officials of the state-controlled unions for journalists, writers, and artists, in which the General Secretary, while refusing to promise anything specific in the way of increased freedom of expression, did remark that a greater tolerance would be accorded those who overstep the limits. In this case, even the Associated Press sounded skeptical; but the story would not have carried its fine taste of irony for me had I not just read a fascinating account, by Miklos K. Radvanyi, of the problems that modern communications and information technology pose for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

According to Radvanyi, Party officials believe computerization could lead to a Great Leap Forward toward the solution of many of the country’s serious economic problems, without undermining the political power of the Kremlin’s Party elite. They regard computerization, robotization, and the introduction of other high technology as a means of rendering themselves less dependent on the willingness of the proletariat to work; and yet the computer revolution poses a distinct and worrisome threat to another, older revolution, consolidated since 1917 on the principle of complete intellectual unfreedom. In the USSR, computer training has been introduced at a slow and carefully controlled rate, and a new centralized bureaucracy has been established to prevent the dangers of dynamism, rationalism, and individuality from getting out of hand.

CW

About the Author

Chilton Williamson Jr.

Featured Tags

Scarcely a day passes without the appearance of a newspaper article or two concerning Mikhail Gorbachev, reform in the Soviet Union, and glasnost. However, an increasing number of Western scholars and observers of Soviet history are concluding that, in this instance, where there’s smoke there’s only more smoke. Take, for example, Gorbachev’s recent speech to officials of the state-controlled unions for journalists, writers, and artists, in which the General Secretary, while refusing to promise anything specific in the way of increased freedom of expression, did remark that a greater tolerance would be accorded those who overstep the limits. In this case, even the Associated Press sounded skeptical; but the story would not have carried its fine taste of irony for me had I not just read a fascinating account, by Miklos K. Radvanyi, of the problems that modern communications and information technology pose for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

According to Radvanyi, Party officials believe computerization could lead to a Great Leap Forward toward the solution of many of the country’s serious economic problems, without undermining the political power of the Kremlin’s Party elite. They regard computerization, robotization, and the introduction of other high technology as a means of rendering themselves less dependent on the willingness of the proletariat to work; and yet the computer revolution poses a distinct and worrisome threat to another, older revolution, consolidated since 1917 on the principle of complete intellectual unfreedom. In the USSR, computer training has been introduced at a slow and carefully controlled rate, and a new centralized bureaucracy has been established to prevent the dangers of dynamism, rationalism, and individuality from getting out of hand.