The collapse of the Bolshevik economy

Submitted by meerov21 on August 17, 2017

It is not mistakes of chavistas bureaucracy. It is the collapse of the Bolshevik economy.

There is fact that the regime of chavistas destroyed the country's economy due to the Bolshevik policy. The economy was nationalised, the industry has become property of the state bureaucracy. The state began to control prices. These measures always lead to huge economic inefficiencies.

Bolshevik economy (USSR, Eastern Europe, China, Vietnam, North Korea) eventually collapsed and these countries began liberal economic reform. These reforms lead to an increase in social inequality and heavy for the population, but Bolshevism in the economy is not viable at all.

Bolshevism is a system based on state control of the economy, production and distribution. The government of Maduro and Chavez has nationalized key sectors of the economy (oil production, as well as a number of other big companies). In addition, the government established price controls on goods and their distribution. In agriculture was established hundreds of state's companies. All this has led to the collapse of the economy.

In the early 20th century russian anarcho-communist Mendel Dynov showed that nationalization leads to the destruction of the economy. Enterprises of the state sector is almost always unprofitable. Unlike cooperatives or private enterprises, they receive wide support from the state, at taxpayers ' expense. So they have no motivation to efficient production and the quality of their work is typically worse. This is a classic case for Venezuela. So the production of key products, crude oil, decreased by 30% after nationalization according to data published by Russian economist Milov. And according to the opposition, 300 of the agricultural state farms of Venezuela produce about 0 products. All this stuff is typical of the Bolshevik economy, based on a total or near total, control of the state.

In the political field Bolshevism means repressive dictatorship of one party of socialists-statists, mass repression against critics of the regime. This is exactly what is happening in Venezuela. United socialist party of Maduro took power. It is trying to remove from power the Parliament, which is leading by the opposition. United socialist party organizes mass murder of demonstrators and arrests of they leaders. Within United socialist party there are different factions( a) military b) Marxist-Leninists in) Pro-Cuban group), but Maduro is close to the Pro-Cuban faction, and Chavez referred to the Marxism-Leninism ideology.

Chavistas led to the fall of GDP, inflation of 800%, the lack of food and toilet paper. Venezuelans stand in mile-long queues for food. Maduro has created a nightmare. The economic catastrophe of Bolshevism is even more evident that Venezuela is the richest country in South America. Here is located the largest oil reserves in the world (!), huge reserves of natural gas, iron and gold. The subtropical climate wich is ideal for agriculture could provide an abundance of products. Chavistas held their Bolshevik reforms in almost 20 years, when there was no civil war or embargo (the US sanctions were minor and affected only a few leaders of the regime). Venezuelans need to destroy the Bolsheviks and Venezuelans know it: 2\3 vote for the opposition. However, the problem is that the liberal opposition is unlikely to improve their lives.

It is necessary to add that neo-liberal reforms proposed by opposition, is extremely heavy and can only worsen the situation of a huge part of employees. So in Russia during the liberal reform in 1990-2000 50% of industry has been destroyed; tens of millions people lost their jobs. Therefore, the protesters people, Venezuelans will make a big mistake, if support liberal leaders: it is extremely dangerous to support the leaders of the liberal opposition.

I know the only way : libertarian communalism. This output is beyond both Bolshevism and Liberalism. Residents of cities and towns can and should establish direct democracy and to take in self-management all local infrastructure and industry. The country should become a Confederation of Autonomous municipalities, where the working people themselves manage the entire life. This is the only way not to depend on parties (Liberals and Bolsheviks).

Spikymike

7 years 3 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Spikymike on August 18, 2017

Agree with some of this but 'nationalisation' of industries has been at least a temporary policy and practice of many different capitalist political regimes at different periods of history and served well the economic and political interests of the capitalist class so cannot be simply pigeon holed as 'Bolshevism'. Some but not all of those state policies could be understood within the framework of a broader 'Social Democracy' that involved an element of 'trade-off' between the needs of capitalism and those of the class struggle and despite the different historical period we might see at least a trace of that in the early Chavista period described in some of the other critical pieces on this site. The current situation in Venezuela must be understood as the result of the interplay between the current global economic crisis and the machinations of the corrupt Madura bureaucratic/military state apparatus.
Not a fan of the 'Autonomous municipalities' programme which bares similarities to Bookchinite ideas I've criticised elsewhere and is no practical solution in itself to the crisis of capitalism.