The Leninist Quandary

The best way to understand what is happening (or possibly, not happening) in the Soviet Union is to look at what has been happening (or not) in China. And vice versa.

Usefully, for the observer, the two Communist giants are out of phase. In China, the “liberalizing” phase is now on its downward curve; in the USSR, the direction is still upward. Since that surprising veteran of the Long March, Deng Xiaoping, started his special economic zones and his experiment in a free market for farm produce some years ago, the self-deluders and myth- prone optimists have had a protracted field day. The apparent truth of Mao Tse-tung’s label for Deng as a “capitalist roader” seemed (to them) patent.

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Brian Crozier

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The best way to understand what is happening (or possibly, not happening) in the Soviet Union is to look at what has been happening (or not) in China. And vice versa.

Usefully, for the observer, the two Communist giants are out of phase. In China, the “liberalizing” phase is now on its downward curve; in the USSR, the direction is still upward. Since that surprising veteran of the Long March, Deng Xiaoping, started his special economic zones and his experiment in a free market for farm produce some years ago, the self-deluders and myth- prone optimists have had a protracted field day. The apparent truth of Mao Tse-tung’s label for Deng as a “capitalist roader” seemed (to them) patent.