Ex-Soviet citizen comments on Peking Review criticism of 
Brezhnev-era Soviet Union: Part I

"It shows that not only is it possible for a working-class 
party to fall under the control of a labor aristocracy, 
degenerate into a bourgeois party and become a flunkey of 
imperialism before it seizes power, but even after it seizes 
power it is possible for a working-class party to fall under 
the control of new bourgeois elements, degenerate into a 
bourgeois party and become a flunkey of imperialism. The 
League of Communists of Yugoslavia typifies such 
degeneration. "It shows us that the restoration of 
capitalism in a socialist country can be achieved not 
necessarily through a counter-revolutionary coup d'etat or 
armed imperialist invasion and that it can also be achieved 
through the degradation of the leading group in that 
country. The easiest way to capture a fortress is from 
within. Yugoslavia provides a typical case in point. "It 
shows us that revisionism is the product of imperialist 
policy. Old-line revisionism arose as a result of the 
imperialist buying over and fostering a labor aristocracy. 
Modern revisionism has arisen the same way. Sparing no cost, 
imperialism has now extended the scope of its operations and 
is buying over leading groups in socialist countries and 
pursues through them its desired policy of 'peaceful 
evolution.'" (Mao Zedong (anonymously) in: "Is Yugoslavia a 
Socialist Country?" September 26, 1963)

MIM interviewed an 
ex-Soviet citizen from the Caucusus who is now in contact 
with Maoism. We specifically interviewed the comrade about 
the Brezhnev era, as Gorbachev is now widely reviled within 
the Soviet Union and even social- democrats such as Gus Hall 
had hard words for Gorbachev. 

MIM: You recently read "Social 
Imperialism: The Soviet Union Today (1977)," the collection 
of reprints from Peking Review that was published under Mao. 
Did you have access to this book? Could you describe some of 
the books you could buy under Brezhnev? Did you see anything 
criticizing the regime from the point of view of Stalin or 
Mao? 

Hari: Under Brezhnev, you could buy anything and 
anyone, if you pay. The fact that certain books (as well as 
other goods and services) were not available in the official 
market doesn't mean that people could not get all these 
things otherwise. However, for some reason, all criticism of 
the Brezhnev regime came from the right rather that from the 
left. I never heard of people or read a book, (with the 
exception of older generations) which would disapprove of 
the government from Stalin's or Mao' point of view. Older 
people were nostalgic: many of them felt the government 
betrayed the ideas of communism, but this notion was 
generally considered so backward, so lacking in modern 
qualities. It was assumed that what old people believed in, 
is the past; the past could be revisited only in order to 
learn something, but not to be repeated. Younger 
generations, intellectuals, even working classes never 
considered communism as a correct option. And I think this 
is natural; people grew up in a country which made a shield 
of beautiful ideas to cover the selfish interests of the 
ruling class. As a result, ideas themselves were compromised 
in the eyes of the public. After Gorbachev, however, when 
people got a taste of what capitalism (actually, wild stage 
of primitive accumulation of the capital) is like, the old 
ideas were brought to the light again. It took Gorbachev to 
reconsider what was believed to be weird experiment never to 
be repeated again. 

MIM: Would you agree that there was a 
ruling class in the Soviet Union--a class apart from the 
wage-laborers in control of production? 

Hari: Yes, of 
course, it was a ruling class in the Soviet Union -- not 
even class, a caste. Most of these people were from working 
class background; some of them had family members or 
relatives who participated in the revolution. Almost all of 
them used class (and national in some cases) identity to get 
into the party. These people created a new ruling caste. 
Their rule wasn't sanctified by time itself; they used 
communist ideas to make it legitimate. 

MIM: How was the 
black market in your area? What percentage of people 
participated? 

Hari: I believe, all people, more or less, 
participated in the black market. Those who had more money 
participated more actively, of course. Those without such 
financial resources couldn't do it, but wished they could. 
Almost everything that wasn't available in official stores 
could be bought in the black market. Unfortunately, the 
Soviet economy failed to provide people even with very 
ordinary goods and services, and, as a result, black 
marketeers filled the gap. It's hard to determine what 
percentage of the population actually made profits on the 
black market; probably it would vary from region to region. 
In the region I lived, it was probably, something about 50 
percent. Generally, in that area, ideas of private property 
and enterprise were much more popular than in other parts of 
the Soviet Union. It was illegal; thus, entrepreneurial 
energy found outlet in the black market. 

MIM: What did the 
factories do to make money on the side and who organized it? 

Hari: It was a part of the black market. Since the planned 
economy obviously failed - couldn't provide people with 
goods and services - the black market entered the picture. 
Factories' directors, managers, and even workers involved in 
labor unions used factory materials and equipment to produce 
commodities in demand and sell them on the black market. 
They paid tribute to the supervisors, and appropriated the 
rest. 

MIM: How did educators admit students with sufficient 
money? 

Hari: Very simply: To enter certain schools, students 
were supposed to have either connections, or money, or both. 
If connections were lacking, money could save the situation. 
(Of course, to have both would be much better) Fortunately, 
not all schools were like that. The Soviet government was 
smart enough to understand that they do need competent 
people, especially in the technical sphere.

ITAL To be continued ... END