Die Neue Zeit
16th April 2008, 03:02
I am curious about the similarities between "New Democracy" and "Non-Capitalist Development":
http://www.answers.com/topic/leonid-brezhnev
In his report to the 24th Congress of the CPSU in 1971, Brezhnev formulated the theory of "non-capitalist development" in the ex-colonial countries which had gained formal independence in the last decades. Like a marble statue dedicated to Brezhnevism weathering wind and rain, this theory survived 15 years of turmoil and rebellion in Africa and Asia.
What follows now is the complete account of this theory as explained by the authors Tchirkine and Youdine .
"The formation of young nations has always been the result of a revolution of national liberation, no matter if this was a violent revolution not." (p.4).
"Those countries which succeeded in liberating themselves from the oppression of colonial rule can only reach real social progress through non-capitalist development and socialist orientation (...) Non-capitalistic development does not ensure an immediate transition to socialism. But it is the start of a social-economical development that creates the necessary base to form a socialist society (p.5)." "A state with a socialist orientation is a class organisation which acts in the interests of narrowly defined classes and social strata." The authors cite a few officials from Congo, South Yemen and Birma to conclude: "In this way, the state with a socialist orientation is the instrument of the Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the People (p.11)."
"The Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the People does not necessarily mean that total power would be in the hands of the most progressive revolutionary forces. On the contrary, one of the social foundations of power would be formed by petty bourgeois classes, supported by part of the non-working owners class, groups which will ultimately resist the reinforcement of revolutionary change. The special nature of the balance between classes obliges the workers to share power with owners and/or other non-working classes. But even in those conditions, the state with a socialist orientation remains in the first place the representative of the dictatorship of the people, of which the peasants make up a large part (p.12). The state stands very close indeed to the Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasants and closely reflect the specific conditions of recently liberated countries (p.16).
The authors then proudly continue to cite proofs for their statements: Tanzania declared itself "State of labourers and peasants", the Republic of Congo "expects to install the dictatorship of the proletariat", the Egyptian constitution describes its "democratic socialist regime", the Syrian version praises its "democratic, socialist state of the people" and Birma is called "an independent socialist workers' state" (p.16-17).
"In a state with socialist orientation the economy has not only an anti-feudal and an anti-imperialistic reflex, there is also an anti-capitalistic trend, be it only partly. The essential contents of this anti-capitalistic trend is the creation, by the state, of the conditions for the transition to socialism and new production relations. These conditions are created in first instance by the development of social ownership of the means of production in its two main appearances, state-ownership and cooperative ownership, secondly by the systematic restriction and elimination of foreign and local capital and further by the introduction of a state plan (p.22)."
The authors treat us with some examples of the "anti-capitalistic tendency" such as Egypt, where the state owns an estimated 85% of the means of production or Algeria, where the figure is 80%; In Syria the state is responsible for 90% of the national production and in Irak the state accounts for 70% of production (p.26).
http://www.answers.com/topic/leonid-brezhnev
In his report to the 24th Congress of the CPSU in 1971, Brezhnev formulated the theory of "non-capitalist development" in the ex-colonial countries which had gained formal independence in the last decades. Like a marble statue dedicated to Brezhnevism weathering wind and rain, this theory survived 15 years of turmoil and rebellion in Africa and Asia.
What follows now is the complete account of this theory as explained by the authors Tchirkine and Youdine .
"The formation of young nations has always been the result of a revolution of national liberation, no matter if this was a violent revolution not." (p.4).
"Those countries which succeeded in liberating themselves from the oppression of colonial rule can only reach real social progress through non-capitalist development and socialist orientation (...) Non-capitalistic development does not ensure an immediate transition to socialism. But it is the start of a social-economical development that creates the necessary base to form a socialist society (p.5)." "A state with a socialist orientation is a class organisation which acts in the interests of narrowly defined classes and social strata." The authors cite a few officials from Congo, South Yemen and Birma to conclude: "In this way, the state with a socialist orientation is the instrument of the Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the People (p.11)."
"The Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the People does not necessarily mean that total power would be in the hands of the most progressive revolutionary forces. On the contrary, one of the social foundations of power would be formed by petty bourgeois classes, supported by part of the non-working owners class, groups which will ultimately resist the reinforcement of revolutionary change. The special nature of the balance between classes obliges the workers to share power with owners and/or other non-working classes. But even in those conditions, the state with a socialist orientation remains in the first place the representative of the dictatorship of the people, of which the peasants make up a large part (p.12). The state stands very close indeed to the Revolutionary and Democratic Dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasants and closely reflect the specific conditions of recently liberated countries (p.16).
The authors then proudly continue to cite proofs for their statements: Tanzania declared itself "State of labourers and peasants", the Republic of Congo "expects to install the dictatorship of the proletariat", the Egyptian constitution describes its "democratic socialist regime", the Syrian version praises its "democratic, socialist state of the people" and Birma is called "an independent socialist workers' state" (p.16-17).
"In a state with socialist orientation the economy has not only an anti-feudal and an anti-imperialistic reflex, there is also an anti-capitalistic trend, be it only partly. The essential contents of this anti-capitalistic trend is the creation, by the state, of the conditions for the transition to socialism and new production relations. These conditions are created in first instance by the development of social ownership of the means of production in its two main appearances, state-ownership and cooperative ownership, secondly by the systematic restriction and elimination of foreign and local capital and further by the introduction of a state plan (p.22)."
The authors treat us with some examples of the "anti-capitalistic tendency" such as Egypt, where the state owns an estimated 85% of the means of production or Algeria, where the figure is 80%; In Syria the state is responsible for 90% of the national production and in Irak the state accounts for 70% of production (p.26).