- revolution wrote:
- I can't go to canada. Know any online sources or books I could get at the bookstore?
Unbiased sources on USSR and alike systems... well, any marxist will analyse them without bias so you should try wandering around marxist forums and such, they may have some useful bibliography around there.
Anyway, it's not rocket science how these systems work/ed.
They were/are Social State Capitalisms.
Social because the economy was mainly oriented into providing the population with welfare and social infrastructure at no cost (but at the expense of the economy).
State because the whole economy was run by the state.
Capitalism because it was a capitalist economy based on capital and wages.
In essence the state owned means of production and had workers working for it. Goods and services would be produced. Some would be for free like housing, education and healthcare and others would have to be bought and paid for like food, clothing, cars, etc. Economy ran on a national capital which was used to pay the workers and given the necesity import goods.
Workers would be paid by the state, then they'd buy stuff. This money would go back to the state and the state would reinvest it in the following activities.
1. Reinvestment into income-producing industries.
2. Welfare production, that is production of goods to be distributed and services to be provided for free. Note that they'd cost the state but tehy would bring no income.
3. Non profitable enterprises like industrial, urban and technological development.
4. Military expenditures. Development, production, manteinance and operation. All implying massive permanent costs and even material losses in operation.
5. Statesmen payroll.
What acn you conclude from the above? That most of the economy was focused on non-profitable activities. Thus, expenditures overweighted by far incomes leading to unstability and eventual economic collapse.
USSR's economy was flawed in that, while being capitalistic, it wasn't profit but welfare-development-defense oriented.
That was USSR's economic flaw to be capitalistic.
It could have been a social popular scientific dictatorship which established a scientific instead of capitalistic economy. It could have had councils of workers determining what the state should enforce and what should be produced and how. It could have been a need-satisfaction-oriented-scientifaclly directed economy. Becoming the closest any authoritarian system could get to communism. It could have had a more steady development and probably even evolved into communism. Basically the geniunely socialistic vanguardist's wetdream.
Instead it was a social capitalism, ie, a contradictiory economic and political system. If you're gonna rely on capitalism you better be profit oriented. If you're going to make your economy be focused on society's development you better put it in hands of the people and make it logical dropping the capitalism bulshit along the way. You can't both have your society develop while you exploit them.
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Subject: I have a question 
Mon Mar 23, 2009 4:29 am
