Putin said recently that "We should carry out the same powerful, all-embracing leap forward in modernization of the defense industry as the one carried out in the 1930s" (but of course I think he'll be inept in this regard). That being said, here's a collection of my posts on the situation the Russian left is facing: http://www.revleft.com/vb/springtime....html?t=140936 ("Stalinist" rehabs of Trotsky) http://www.revleft.com/vb/russian-le...794/index.html (re-affirming the most libertarian interpretation of democratic centralism by still supporting Trotsky's expulsion from the party) http://www.revleft.com/vb/united-rus...html?p=2315359 (denouncing Russkaya nationalism but embracing the civic Rossiskaya unity that informed Stalin's greater RSFSR proposal) http://www.revleft.com/vb/greatest-g...083/index.html (again, denouncing the mistake that was the formation of the USSR) Plus, neither Luxemburg nor Trotsky affirmed the merger formula explicitly in their works: But this does not exhaust the significance of Lenin's What is To Be Done? The historic significance of this celebrated book lies in the fact that in it Lenin 1) For the first time in the history of Marxist thought, laid bare the ideological roots of opportunism, showing that they principally consisted in worshipping the spontaneous working-class movement and belittling the role of Socialist consciousness in the working-class movement; 2) Brought out the great importance of theory, of consciousness, and of the Party as a revolutionizing and guiding force of the spontaneous working-class movement; 3) Brilliantly substantiated the fundamental Marxist thesis that a Marxist party is a union of the working-class movement with Socialism; 4) Gave a brilliant exposition of the ideological foundations of a Marxist party. Thoughts?
Well, the first thought i get from clicking the reuters article is that, were it not for the bit of blue on the Russian flag behind Putin to remind me otherwise, his gestures and rhetoric could make me think that there is still progress in Russia. Of course, "He promised to open up the sector to private businesses". Putin is a funny character, he seems to want to give the impression of socialist collectivity while being right wing. I assume though that the longer the privatisation goes on, and the more times Putin and his cronies play the chair game, Russian workers will loose any sympathy if they haven't already. The blatant fact that the elections were rigged, and that by independent polls the communist party should have won, though makes the picture quite different i think.
