sales PAUL Lawson's article (SA 6 May) on 'nuclear free defence' skips over a crucial question: why the Kremlin don't plan to invade Western Europe.
To understand this we nature of the East Euro. pean states.
Although the Soviet ed, it is controlled exclusively by the bureaucracy. To back up this control the method of distributing goods is essentially capitalist — system. The USSR is therefore a transitional society, between capitalism and socialism, with elements of each.
Marxists have to constantly hammer home the point that the USSR is ruled by a bureaucracy. Just like Healey, Duffy and Foot, the Kremlin are first and foremost concerned with detending their own positions and privileges.
In the final analysis this means defending the status quo on which their positions depend.
Andropoy and Len
Murray are both motivated by their need to keep the working class demobilised, for on their exclusive control of workers' states and unions does their power and position rest.
The reason why Thatcher and Reagan can permit 'tree' workers' partes and trade unions (within strict limits), whilst Andropov and Jaruselski cannot, is that the capitalist ruling class through their ownership of the productive resources, derive the wealth and power with which it can still control society production, finances thereby the state.
However, the bureaucracy do not have this independent power base, they only hold political power, and this position depends solely on excluding the ranks of the working class from Write to us!
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Socialist Action 27 May 1983