Thanks for the review, Chris, which sets out the differences between the tendencies quite clearly and concisely.
I believe what makes capitalism unique apart from widespread wage labour is a) the right of individuals to accumulate private wealth in the form of stocks, bonds, real estate, businesses, and other assets in addition to the flow of income they earn from these holdings, b) the right to pass these assets on to their heirs, and c) their control as a class of the commanding heights of the economy. Trotsky, Syzsmanski and others were correct in saying these features were absent in the USSR. They were re-introduced with the restoration of capitalism in 1991 - not in 1953 with Stalin’s death as ML-ists assert, or even earlier in 1929 with the introduction of the first Five Year Plan, as Cliff argued. Whether the former USSR, China, Cuba and other societies which overthrew capitalism by revolutionary means have been ruled by what has been variously described as a privileged and undemocratic “bureaucratic caste” or a new “state capitalist” class does not IMO significantly alter the social and economic features they have shared in common. But it has has shaped whether or not they should be defended against the advanced capitalist countries which have always sought the full restoration of private property relations and transfer of public to private ownership of the commanding heights of the economy in these societies - an issue which is with us still. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#29322): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/29322 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/104795089/21656 -=-=- 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. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
