My economic history professor in the 1960s asked the rhetorical question: "If you are a Soviet citizen today, is the standard of living you have today (and the victory in World War II) worth the life of your grandfather who died during the collectivization of agriculture?" Were there better "roads not taken" in 1928?
When I was a young ignorant "Stalinist" I did not know the extent of the death (and murder) under Stalin and just ASSUMED that the deaths associated with collectivization were a necessary price to pay for the "glorious successes" of the "wonderful" planned economy of the USSR --- I learned better as I got older and less ignorant --- but the nagging question does remain about the road not taken. (and not to put too fine a point on it --- The USSR defeated Hitler --- the rest of the action --- Italy, North Africa, Normandy was almost window dressing. Would a non-industrial USSR with an economy that resembled 1928 been able to do that?) --- these are not snarky rhetorical questions just to raise a fuss --- they are probably the most crucial questions from the point of view of world history between 1928 and the end of WW II that probably cannot be answered definitively .... but maybe somewhat?? On Sun, Dec 27, 2020 at 9:36 AM Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > On 12/27/20 9:17 AM, workerpoet wrote: > > > Russia, as a nation, had its first capital in Kiev. Ukraine was hardly > > an oppressed region in the USSR. > > > Except for those millions of farmers who died during the forced > collectivization. > > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#4884): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/4884 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/79245612/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
