I think they were wrong to not side more closely with China. They allowed the poison to grow right after Stalin. They were doomed. I think its wrong to blame the United States for the collapse. Cuba and the DPRK are still here despite everything they had to overcome, not excluding the collapse of the USSR. AS much as I love the USSR and recognize their accomplishments, I have to also recognize that it was their contradictions between the working people and the intelligentsia that lead to their collapse.
The biggest thing is that the revolution is not over at the founding of the socialist republic. The revolution has to continue generations afterwards. A Mass-Line has to be deeply established and re-established between the party and the people. The intelligentsia must be forced to take a proletarian mold. A heavy hand against bourgeois institutions and mafia tendencies must be maintained for generations.
The USSR failed in all of these things. On top of that they didn’t respect other socialist and third world nations as much as they should have. They were too afraid to offer support where they should have. They were too submissive to the US.
I love the USSR. I think that over all they were one of the greatest civilizations to ever exist. They shook history and accomplished amazing things. But there were growing contradictions in it that only got worse over time. Even their dissolution was done against the will of the people. How could that be? That is the central failure.
I think they were wrong to not side more closely with China. They allowed the poison to grow right after Stalin. They were doomed. I think its wrong to blame the United States for the collapse. Cuba and the DPRK are still here despite everything they had to overcome, not excluding the collapse of the USSR. AS much as I love the USSR and recognize their accomplishments, I have to also recognize that it was their contradictions between the working people and the intelligentsia that lead to their collapse.
The biggest thing is that the revolution is not over at the founding of the socialist republic. The revolution has to continue generations afterwards. A Mass-Line has to be deeply established and re-established between the party and the people. The intelligentsia must be forced to take a proletarian mold. A heavy hand against bourgeois institutions and mafia tendencies must be maintained for generations.
The USSR failed in all of these things. On top of that they didn’t respect other socialist and third world nations as much as they should have. They were too afraid to offer support where they should have. They were too submissive to the US.
I love the USSR. I think that over all they were one of the greatest civilizations to ever exist. They shook history and accomplished amazing things. But there were growing contradictions in it that only got worse over time. Even their dissolution was done against the will of the people. How could that be? That is the central failure.