60 65 65 65 Total number of families (millions)... 42.7 45.7 46.3 47.2 48.0 Owner-occupied dwelling units in the United States, 1890 to 1950 According to the roseate promises of Communist doctrinaires, the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of a Communist system of society meant the wiping out of exploitation of man by man. As Marx put it: The proletarians cannot become masters of the productive forces of society, except by abolishing their own previous mode of appropriation, and thereby every other previous mode of appropriation. They have nothing of their own to secure and fortify ***. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains.33 Throughout his writings Joseph Stalin has stressed as a particular feature of Soviet society the claim that under the beneficent rule of communism, the proletariat is free from exploitation. The following is the first of two glowing examples: ***the proletariat of the U.S.S.R. has been transformed into an entirely new class*** emancipated from exploitation, the like of which the history of mankind has never known before. 34 And at another time: The feature that distinguishes Soviet Society today from any capitalist society is that it no longer contains antagonistic, hostile classes; that the exploiting classes have been eliminated, while the workers, peasants and intellectuals, who make up Soviet society, live and work in friendly collaboration. While the capitalist society is torn by irreconcilable contradictions between workers and capitalists and between 33 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "Manifesto of the Communist Party" (International Publishers, New York, 1932), as reprinted in appendix, pt. I, Special Committee on Un-American Activities, pp. 8, 19. 34 J. Stalin, "On Draft Constitution of U.S.S.R." (Report of Eighth Congress of Soviets of U.S.S.R., Nov. 25, 1936), "Problems of Leninism" (Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1940) pp. 565–566. peasants and landlords-resulting in its internal instabilitySoviet society, freed from the yoke of exploitation, knows no contradictions, is free of class conflicts and presents a picture of friendly collaboration between workers, peasants and intellectuals. It is this community of interest which forms the basis for the development of such motive forces as the moral and political unity of Soviet society, mutual friendship of nations of U.S.S.R., and Soviet patriotism. It has also been the basis for the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. adopted in November 1936, and the complete democratization of elections to the supreme organs of the country.35 Let us compare the actualities of Soviet economics with these Marxist-Leninist promises with which the Communists are still seeking to seduce the people of the world. We are fortunate in having available from a forthcoming work, the calculation of Mr. Naum Jasny, the well-known authority on Soviet economics and author of a number of books and articles on the subject, notably: "Soviet Economy During the Plan Era"; "The Soviet 1956 Statistical Handbook: A Commentary," etc. This is a calculation made independently of Soviet calculations and demonstrates that, in the 27-year period under review, 1928-55, Soviet national income increased in real terms nearly four times. What is even more striking is the pace at which the several components of national income developed during this period. It is this pace which dramatically illustrates the grand design of Soviet exploitation. In this design, the population comes off worst. During the 27-year period in question, the income of the Soviet population has been held under firm check, allowing it to grow at a controlled rate of 70 percent, in order to allow the Government a free hand to expand in the State sector of the economy at a spectacular rate of nearly fifteenfold with funds for the armed forces increasing nearly 30 times. This, to us, illustrates graphically the process of building economic power for expansion and for military strength at the expense of the living standards of the population. Index of the growth of Soviet national income and its components, 1928-55 1 Exaggerated due to the nature of weights used in the calculation. (Naum Jasny from a forthcoming book on Soviet economy.) NOTE.-At real 1926-27 prices. Only the index for total national income is presumably strongly affected by the force of weights. At this point it is relevant to compare the extent of exploitation of the Soviet worker with that of the worker in the United States and the Belgian Congo, according to a table published by the AFL-CIO, Stalin, "Report on Work of Central Committee to 18th Congress of CPSU (b)" (Mar. 10, 1939), "Problems of Leninism" (Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1940), p. 645. Free Trade Union News of May 1958, showing the time it takes each of these workers to earn enough to buy certain commodities: The time a worker has to put in to buy these items Basic in the teachings of Marx and his modern disciples is the theory of the class struggle and the assurance that communism would inevitably bring about the abolition of classes. Marx's "Communist Manifesto" dwells heavily on this point: When the proletariat, in the course of its fight against the bourgeoisie, necessarily consolidates itself into a class, by means of a revolution makes itself the ruling class, and as such forcibly sweeps away the old system of production-it therewith sweeps away the system upon which class conflicts depend, makes an end of classes, and thus abolishes its own rule as a class.36 Lenin reiterated that "Socialism means the abolition of classes." 37 As late as November 1957, Khrushchev announced that "Soviet society is not split up into hostile classes." 38 Lenin once said that "Facts are stubborn things.' What are the facts regarding the existence of classes in the social structure of the Soviet Union which has been ruled by the Communist Party for the past 41 years? Let us first cite the testimony of Thomas P. Whitney, foreign news correspondent of the Associated Press, who spent 9 years in the U.S.S.R. after World War II. The observations of this trained observer are: Some Russians are excellently clothed and fed and are driven to work by chauffeurs in sleek limousines. They possess ample apartments in the city and country homes outside of town. They have plenty of money to spend on luxuries. They are able to see that their children get advantages in life. Others wear cotton-padded jackets and well-worn garments, live largely on bread and potatoes, walk to work or ride in public conveyances which are crowded, inhabit hovels or miniscule rooms at the rate of one per family and labor in conditions which, to put it mildly, leave much to be desired." 36 "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, originally published in 1848 (International Publishers, New York, 1930), p. 53. 37 V. I. Lenin, "Economics and Politics" (Oct. 30, 1919), "Selected Works" (New York, International Publishers, 1943), vol. VII, p. 10. 38 Nikita S. Khrushchev, Nov. 6, 1957, before the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. (New World Review, December 1957. p. 33). 39 New York Times, magazine section, Apr. 27, 1958, p. 12. The earnings of Soviet employees certainly show a wide differential between the various classes. We cite in this connection from a study made in 1952 by the British delegation to the Moscow Economic Conference, showing a gap between the woman icebreaker in the streets of Moscow, receiving 300 rubles a month, to the factory manager, receiving from 7,000 to 8,000 rubles per month. Icebreaker (in street, women). Typist in a ministry. Railroad track repair worker.. Taxi driver (forbidden to take tips). Engineer working in a ministry.. Head of a ministry department.. Factory manager (basic salary and average monthly bonuses)... Monthly wages in in 1952 1 300 410 600 700-800 500-800 500-700 1, 100-1, 500 2,500 7,000-8, 000 1 Bulletin of the Oxford University Institute of Statistics, vol. 14, Nos. 9 and 10, p. 318, September-October 1952, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, based upon a report of the British delegation to the Moscow Economic Conference of April 1952. Soviet statistics reflect this phenomenon, showing at least 10 "categories" of wages in the Soviet mechanical engineering industry: Basic wages in mechanical-engineering industry 1 1L. E. Gurin, "Problems of the Organization of Wages on the Mechanical-Engineering Enterprises" (the state scientific-technical publication of the Mechanical Engineering Literature, Moscow, 1950), pp. 34, 86, 143. In 1917, however, Lenin advocated for all officials pay that "must not exceed that of a competent workman." 40 EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL With the establishment of a Socialist commonwealth, Marx predicted a glowing future. "Then," he prophesied, "will society inscribe upon its banner: 'From every one according to his capacities, to every one according to his needs.' While this ringing promise still echoes around the world, the Union. of Soviet Socialist Republics has put into practice a principle which is in direct contradiction with Marx's enthusiastic prediction. As early as 1931, Stalin made this very clear: even under socialism, wages must be paid according to work performed and not according to needs.2 He said again: By equality Marxism means, not equalization of individual requirements and individual life, but the abolition of classes, V. I. Lenin, "Political Parties and Tasks of the Proletariat" (1917), Selected Works (International Publishers, New York, 1943), vol. VI, p. 81. Karl Marx, "The Socialist Program (Gotha Program)," from the translation by Eden and Cedar Paul, published at Glasgow by the Socialist Labor Party in 1919, p. 9. J. Stalin, "New Conditions, New Tasks" (June 23, 1931), Leninism (Cooperative Publishing Society of Foreign Workers, Moscow, 1933), vol. II, p. 375. i.e.*** (c) the equal duty of all to work according to He stated further: ** It is time it was understood that Marxism is an enemy of PIECE WORK AND SPEED UP The Red International of Labor Unions, meeting in Moscow in 1928, and its affiliate the Trade Union Unity League, headed by William Z. Foster, had long inveighed against the practice of bonus and piece-rate systems. The following passages are typical of Communist condemnation of these so-called "speedup" practices: The Red International of Labor Unions, at its Fourth Congress in 1928, worked out the general basis of struggle against capitalist rationalization. Its main proposals follow: "The fight against *** bonus and piece-rate system; an increased struggle against piece rates on the conveyor. Where piece rates are in force it is necessary to ask for guaranteed minimum wages; the restriction of the rates of output in the terms of the wage agreements; a struggle against the arbitrary regulation of the pace of conveyors; equal wages for equal work for men, women and youth." 45 What happened after Stalin's fiat of "from each according to his ability, to each according to his work" 46 came into force? We cite foremost Soviet economic and legal authorities on the installation of the piecework and bonus systems of speedup: Piecework wages represent the fundamental system of compensation for manual workers. This system embraces the majority of workers: 71 percent of enterprises of the Ministry of Machine and Instrument Making Industries, 83 percent of those employed by the cotton industry, 92 percent of the workers in the lumber industry, etc.47 This was the law: When a worker fails to fulfill by his own fault the established norm, his wages are paid according to the quantity and quality of his actual output without a guarantee to him of 43 J. Stalin, "Selected Writings," p. 344. 520-521. Joseph Stalin, "Problems of Leninism," Foreign Languages Publishing House (Moscow), 1940, pp. 45 "The Trade Union Unity League (American Section of the Red International of Labor Unions)-Its Program, Structure, Methods and History," p. 23 (Published by the Trade Union Unity League, 2 West 15th Street, New York City). 46 J. Stalin, "Report to the 8th Congress of Soviets on Draft Constitution of the U.S.S.R." (Nov. 25, 1936), Problem of Leninism (Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, 1940), p. 569. 47 N. G. Alexandrov and G. K. Moskalenko (Soviet Labor Law) Moscow: All-Union Institute of Juristic Sciences of the Ministry of Justice of the U.S.S.R., 1947, p. 203. |