Oh, I think a lot of Soviet policy was simply a utilitarian, "how do we build up the country as quickly as possible to overtake our enemoies?" thing. Russia engages in these grandiose "catching up with the West" adventures every couple of centuries or so. It has succeeded twice, under Peter the Great and Joseph the Steel, two historical figures I think have a lot in common, except that the Stalin had tanks instead of musketry. There's no way he could beat Peter's Drunken Synods, though. :)
-- > > I'm without notes but roughly, as comrade Stalin > correctly stated in 1931, > we have 10 years in which to catch up or we will be > defeated again.In > support of Chris' point, I don't recall this > statement as having anything > to do with building socialism as such. > michael > Michael A. Lebowitz > Professor Emeritus > Economics Department > Simon Fraser University > Burnaby, B.C., Canada V5A 1S6 > > Currently based in Venezuela. Can be reached at > Residencias Anauco Suites > Departamento 601 > Parque Central, Zona Postal 1010, Oficina 1 > Caracas, Venezuela > (58-212) 573-4111 > fax: (58-212) 573-7724 > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
