FOR MANY on the left the 'Gorbymania' of three or four years ago has been transformed into utter disillusion. Gorbachev seems like the person who brought the Soviet Union down.
Edward Pearce, the Guardian's wet Tory columnist, heaped scorn on Gorbachev for surrendering everything to the Americans internationally and giving too much democracy away at home. But many well to Pearce's left share the same theme: Gorbachev was a disaster.
Obviously Gorbachev's perestroika totally failed. To see beyond the twistings and tum- why it is necessary to look policies over the last couple of ings of particular Gorbachev years: failure was built into the whole project right from the start.
Radical
Perestroika, a radical renewal and restructuring was intended at the beginning. to revive the -command system, not kill it off. It did not start out as a plan to bring capitalism to the Soviet Union.
Perestroika was aimed at a partial democratisation systemteithin the frameworkof the political monopoly of the Communist Party (CPS), and at a marketisation of the economy within the framework of continued national planning.
Nearly seven years later it is difficult to remember these first objectives of perestroika. Why was failure written into the whole plan?
democratic opening provided by the first initial glasnost measures brought the de facto recognition of the legality of parties other than the CISt and a tremendous release of nationalist sentiment in the republics.
Millions of people who had never been able to speak out both hands. Once that had hap pened an irreversible momen tum towards elections with alternative parties and platforms developed.
But the ability of the CPSU to put the brake. on democratisation movement was constrained by the visible failure of its economic policy.
Attempts at marketisation of command economy Produced hybrid. Most unworkable industries remained nationalised, but central planning began to break down as local factory managers, and bosses in the republics, used the greater freedom to try to bolster their own position More economic freedom with greater freedom for a command economy means hoarders, speculators and the black market. The whole economy was 'mafia-ised". No alternative democratic national planning was proposed; the result was grow. ing chaos.
At first the bureaucrac regional and local level attempted to obstruct perestroika which they often saw as a threat to their positions; but when it was rammed through they sought the profitable opening that their control of goods and a rowing black marker Save These factors combined to drastically increase the weight of pro-capitalist, pro-mari liberal forces the bureaucracy and the CPSU. The trajectory of Yeltsin is eloquent here.
Reputation
Yeltsin, former CPSU boss in Moscow, made his reputation a I emands on of ant Cornetic against corruption and privilege.
But by the time he became de facto leader of the inter-Regional Proppes Deputies and the in the Congress Supreme Soviet he was in effect the leader of the right.
Become a Socialist Outlook Gorbachev had no answer to the national question. He oscillated between repression of national movements and concessions. But the possibility of any kind of future federation on a non capitanst basis was under mined by his refusal to concede the basic national right of self-determination from the very beginning.
By 1990 the pro-capitalist of consensus the bureaucracy and the Communist Party was overwhelm"The splits, the - bureaucracy revealed at the I time of the August 1991 coup were essentially over the But they are faced with huge restraints. They cannot rapidly marketise an economy which is still 98 per cent in public hands; that will take many years and if it is ever accomplished at all.
What can he done is to viciously attack the social gains of the preparation' for marketisation Class This is exactly what is happen ing now. The cheap rents, fuel, food, transport and other necessities, historic gains for the Soviet workers, are being swept away.
Phenomenon
The Gorbachev phenomenon occurred because a section of anyway. If Gorbachev and the perestroika process had not intervened, then economic col. lapse and mass rotest move nents like Poland's Solidarnos would have emerged.
Dilemmas
Perestroika just precipitated a world-historic crisis which was waiting happen hatever the way in whÃch the crisis emerged, the same basic dilemmas would have been there.
Coache fact tine lights the fact bureaucratic command system is one chich cannot be reformed. It can only be overthrown and replaced. ine queston 15 - 0