|
| 00 |
01 |
02 |
03 |
04 |
05 |
06 |
07 |
08 |
09 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
|
 08
|
Critics of ideas of Socialism and Communism |
|
08000001
|
What is the opinion of Balashov about the theory of communism?Below material, written basically already during the Soviet era. In it is included an absent answer to all supporters of the idea of socialism and communism, confirming that the theory is good, but the executors were bad. I am, contrarily, convinced that the executors, above all V.I. Lenin and his companions, were outstanding people. They had enough power and time (1/6 of the Earth dry surface and 73 years), in order to apply their theory to life. In addition to that it must not be forgotten that this social experiment was repeated in various alternatives in a whole dozen of countries on almost all continents. And everywhere one and the same result: bankruptcy of socialism and communism.
|
1. Bankruptcy of socialism and communism.
This social experiment was repeated in various alternatives in a whole dozen of countries on almost all continents. And everywhere one and the same result: bankruptcy of socialism and communism. (08000001) |
|
08000002
|
What kind of discrepancy between intentions and reality in building the socialism?Unfortunately the presented material did not lose its actuality. A highly ranked official said in a tv-program word for word as follows: ‘communist idea is the most promising, most human… it however will be brought to reality… maybe after 200, maybe 300 years… ‘ ‘They were mistaken, messed many things, did not build that socialism, of which the classics wrote, but a barrack socialism…’ How often one must hear such statements! Did not the life teach anything to these stubborn?!
|
|
08000003
|
What is the basic reason for the bankruptcy of socialism?To criticise the ideas of socialism and communism is not simple. The authors and supporters of these ideas use as starting points good intentions: help to humanity, getting rid of ulcers of life. It would seem that reprehensible, antihuman things would be in good intentions? Yes, of course, as such the good intentions are a good thing, and they can be condemned only a bad person. In real life, however, good intentions and aims always are combined by some means. And just here often arise situations of bear services: motives, intentions, aims of activity are good, but results, consequences bad, harmful. Not at all accidentally there is a proverb: ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. So it is, how many supporters of the socialist and communist ideas did not fall in love with humanity, how many did not work for the good of humanity, they unavoidably are getting directly opposite to what they were wishing. Of what is here the question? The question is that the ideas of socialism and communism, however widely they were interpreted, initially contain in themselves the concept of means, application of which leads to a result directly opposite to what was the goal. This concept of means is based on a certain concept of man and society.
|
2. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The ideas of socialism and communism initially contain in themselves the concept of means, application of which leads to a result directly opposite to what was the goal. (08000003) |
|
08000004
|
What kind of concept of man and society was adopted in socialism?In the idea of socialism the basic concept is the concept of society (‘socialism’ is derived from the latin word ‘socialis’, ‘socium’. In the idea of communism the basis is the concept of common (‘communism’ is derived from the latin word ‘communis’). So in the idea of socialism the stress falls on the society and all social (social interests, social property, social relationships, social structure) and, on the contrary, the start is on the other level, individual person, individual, personality. In the idea of communism the stress falls on common (common interests, common responsibility, common, combined, collective work etc.).
|
3. Emphasis on common.
common interests, common responsibility, common, combined, collective work etc. (08000004) |
|
08000005
|
What kind of change in society means the adoption of socialism and communism as the leading principle in the society?Completely obvious is the connection between the ideas of socialism and communism. These are sister-ideas or even twin-ideas. In one and the other case the stress falls on the overpersonal, overindividual, be-it society, collective, class, social group or common: common interests, common property, common work, common business. This transfer of stress (from personal, individual to overpersonal, overindividual) is not so inoffensive, as it may seem at first glance or an innocent intellect. In the case of consequent realization of ideas of socialism (not to speak of the ideas of communism) it lead to three undesirable consequences:
|
4. Three undesirable consequences.
(08000005) |
|
08000006
|
What is the 'division of labor' between individual and social interests in the socialism?1. To the absolutization of social whole, group, overindividual, and undervaluation of human personality, individuality. This absolutization is expressed particularly in the famous moral requirement of putting social interests above personal or worse still, submitting the individual interests to the social. It is also expressed in the valuation of collectivism as absolutely positive moral value, but individualism as absolutely negative value; also in the positive valuation of altruism, self-sacrifice, selflessness and condemnation of egoism. This absolutization leads finally to antihumanism (in the ‘Optimistic tragedy’ V. Vishinevky captain of a ship does a rhetoric question: ‘is a man worth attention, when mankind is in question?! This way he sarcastically evaluates the thinking and behavior of communists and Bolsheviks).
|
5. Is a man worth attention, when mankind is in question?
Moral requirement of putting social interests above personal or worse still, submitting the individual interests to the social. (08000006) |
|
08000007
|
To what second main consequence did the adoption of communism lead?2. To the absolutization of social in the man and underestimation of natural, living, biologicall beginning in him (particularly undervaluation of physical side of life: material commodities, physical development, physical love, physical culture). From this there is just a small step aside to semiascetic, Spartan existence, Puritanism, hypocrisy.
|
6. Spartan existence, Puritanism, hypocrisy.
(08000007) |
|
08000008
|
What was the third important consequence of the adaptation of communism?3. To the revaluation of the meaning of social relationships, social order, social structure in life and destiny of separate people; belief in decisive meaning of social reformism for improvement of life of people; belief in almighty of social ideas, that is, ideas that are directed to reorganization, reconstruction of society.
|
7. Belief in almighty of social ideas.
(08000008) |
|
08000009
|
* * * |
|
08000010
|
What was the role of circumstances in socialism?Socialism in one or another way is connected to overvaluation of the meaning of circumstances in the life of people and, correspondingly, undervaluation of the influence of people on circumstances. It is shown in this statement of K. Marx: ‘If the character of a person is formed by circumstances, then the circumstances must be made human’.
|
8. Undervaluation of the influence of people on circumstances.
(08000010) |
|
08000011
|
What is the significance of circumstances according to Pestalozzi?(Relative to the first part of the statement may be remarked that K. Marx, unfortunately, was not alone, in this kind of evaluation of man. In his time this was almost predominant conviction. It is enough to refer to
9. ‘Man is made by circumstances’.
(08000011) |
|
08000012
|
What did Pushkin say about the greatness of man?Socialism belittles or even ignores the well-known principle of life ‘man, help yourself’. This principle was earlier considered as the antithesis of waiting help from god (“бог-помощь”, “спаси бог”[God help, God save]). Socialists in stead of god put the society. The mentioned principle of life starts from the obvious premise that man is personality, subject, that he is an active being, that just he in the end is responsible of his life, activity and nobody else: not mother, not father, not educator, not boss, not collective, or society. Of course, completely the responsibility is not taken of others. But all the basic part of responsibility lies on individual person. He, personality, subject, of whom the activity begins. Maturity, adultness of man is determined by to what extent he independent and responsible. ‘Independence of man is the password of his greatness’, declared A.S. Pushkin.
|
10. God help, God save.
(08000012) |
|
08000013
|
What was the role of the organized society according to socialists?For socialists the belief in reasonably organized society is characteristic, in other words, belief in organization, in almighty of organizations. They in fact turned out to be in situation of the heroes of ‘Quartett’, a tale of Krylov. They thought that it is enough to reconstruct, reorganize the society, change the social structure, and everything will be in order, all people become good and will live well. In reality with the changes of social structure people do not automatically become better and their life neither. With what wonderful selfdeceit were convinced the Bolsheviks, expressed in the well-known statement of V.I. Lenin: ‘give us the organization of the revolutioners, and we turn Russia upside down!’ (F199) Yes, Russia they turned upside down. But as Topsy-Turvy it turned back on legs! And this is understandable. With a mere reorganization nothing is obtained.
|
11. We turn Russia upside down.
(08000013) |
|
08000014
|
Was man more subject than object for the socialists?In order to improve his life, man must influence in all directions: both on the level of developing interhuman relationships, and on the level of harmonization of his relationships with nature, and on the level of work on him, self-education. The latter, by the way, communists and socialists of all colors always underestimated or even ignored. For them man was not so much subject of action than object of influence, manipulation.
|
12. Man as object of influence.
(08000014) |
|
08000015
|
How is explained the negative valuation of private property?From the absolutization of social relatioships emanates the predominantly negative valuation of private property. Encyclopedic in this respect is the statement of R. Owen: ‘Private property alienates human minds one from others, serves as constant reason for the emergence of hostility in the society, a continuous source of treason and fraud among people… It served as the cause of wars in all previous epochs know to us history of mankind and prompted to murders’ (F200) As a matter of fact, all mortal sins of mankind socialists and communists are ready to ascribe to private property, that is, again the known social relationship. And here is sharply visible the overvaluation of the meaning of social relationship in the lives of people. As if the incompleteness and faults of people, their hostility and rivalry disappeared on its own, if one of the social relationships is destroyed, the private property. K. Marx and F. Engels, by the way, so also said: ‘communists can express their theory with one sentence: destruction of private property’ (see Manifest of the Communist party). Still in our time the member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Union Y.K. Ligatshev in the speech on the last session of the Communist Party of Soviet Union (1990) repeated old arguments of socialists: ‘social property unites, and private property separates interests of people and undoubtedly socially divides into layers the society.’
|
13. Social property unites, and private property separates interests of people.
(08000015) |
|
08000016
|
What is the experience from the abolition of private property in socialism?It is clear, however, that the variety of interests of people, their vices and hostility are caused not only and not as much by the system of private property. Evidence of this is the practice of every day life in the conditions of socialism, which destroyed this system. Absence of private property by far does not save mankind of international disorder and hostility, does not save individual persons of various vices. Causes of human disagreements and hostilities are much deeper, they are rooted in the biological nature of man, in manifold conditions of his life. If taken just one biological characteristic of man, we know that people originally, genetically are rather different and even contrary to each other. Their different individualities lead to different interests. But difference of interests causes collisions between people, their struggling among others.
|
14. Absence of private property.
Absence of private property by far does not save mankind of international disorder and hostility, does not save individual persons of various vices. (08000016) |
|
08000017
|
What is the most that can be obtained by humanly oriented politics?Efforts to eradicate collision, conflicts, confrontation, struggle between people are in advance doomed to failure. They are utopistic in their essence. The most that can be obtained by humanly oriented politics, is that collisions and struggle between people would gain civilized forms, that is, such forms, by which the human dignity would not be humiliated, man would not be destroyed.
|
15. Civilized forms in collisions.
(08000017) |
|
08000018
|
What are the civilized forms of collision in society?Fortunately, people already long ago have found such forms. This is the struggle on elections, in parliaments, this is economic concurrence etc. Important is that the forms mentioned completely exclude from the human relations uncivilized, antihuman forms of confrontation.
|
16. Antihuman forms of collision excluded.
(08000018) |
|
08000019
|
Very well said in his time A.I. Herzen: |
|
08000020
|
Of what consists the drama of history according to A.I. Herzen?’Wilfulness and law, person and society and their unended struggle with innumerous complications and variations consists all the epopee and all the drama of history. Person who only can reasonably become free from the society, revolts against it. Society not existing without people, pacifies the revolting personality.
|
17. Revolt against society.
(08000020) |
|
08000021
|
Person sets a goal for himself. - Society for itself.
This kind of antinomies (for us it was necessary often to speak of them) constist the poles of all living; they are inallowable because, just their solution is the indifference of death, balance of peace, but life is only movement. With a full victory of person or society history would finish with predatory people or a peacefully grazing herd’ (F201) |
|
0801 |
Mechanical totalitarianism |
|
08010001
|
Mechanical totalitarianism is a conception of society as some kind of engine, mechanism. Man in such a society is in the system of tightly determined unambiguous relationships and is considered, essentially, as a small screw of social mechanism. |
|
08010002
|
V.I. Lenin and his followers, the communist leaders imagined the social structures in the manner of engine-mechanism, completely in the spirit of mechanical totalitarianism. |
|
08010003
|
With what did Lenin compare the national economy?So also with the program of production the ‘Immediate tasks of Soviet regime’ (191803) V.I. Lenin straight forward compared the national economy to the mechanism of a clock. He wrote: ‘Not railways, nor transport, nor big machines, and enterprises in general can work correct, if there is no unity of will, combining the whole present number of workers in one economic organism, which is working with the exactness of the mechanism of a clock. Socialism was given birth by a huge machine industry. And if the working masses, introducing the socialism, do not understand to construct their institutions in the way in which works a huge industrial machine, then there can be no word of the introduction of socialism.’ (p. 105).
|
18. National economy as a clockwork.
(08010003) |
|
08010004
|
During ten years this writing of Lenin was studied by the students of colleges and technical institutes, millions and millions of people, practically all representatives of intellectual workers, of leading, scientific, engineering, artistic intelligence. |
|
08010005
|
Correspondingly many leaders, scientists and cultural activists were loaded with the ideology of mechanical totalitarianism. |
19. Ideology of mechanical totalitarianism.
(08010005) |
|
08010006
|
In the leadersip of the country there was the dominance of engineering personnel, which still is the case. |
20. Dominance of engineering personnel.
(08010006) |
|
08010007
|
What was the role of mechanics in the propaganda of socialism?Fraseology of leaders on all levels was satiated with mechanisms, words and expressions of the language of mechanics. Trade unions and komosomol, their youth organizations were completely officially considered as the driving belts of the party. This phraseology intruded also to songs. In the aviation march ‘We are born in order to make a fairy take out of the past’ were such words as: ‘instead of a heart, there is a fiery engine!’ Stalin in his famous speech at a reception in Kremlin in honour of the Victory Parade did not be ashamed to mention simple people as ‘screws’, ‘which keep in activity our great government mechanism on all branches of science, economy and war machine’. The name itself of ‘Stalin’ is rather symbolic. In it there is a steel idea. It is not accidental that the man with this name became the successor of Lenin and managed the country 30 years.
|
21. Economy and war machine.
(08010007) |
|
08010008
|
The whole social structure, particularly in Lenin and Stalin era, had a semimilitary character. But we know that war organization is to a significant extent machine-like. |
|
|
|
Message to authors
|
|
|
|
| 00 |
01 |
02 |
03 |
04 |
05 |
06 |
07 |
08 |
09 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
|
|