Back to the land was actually carried out after the successful revolutions in Cambodia in 1975 and to a much lesser extent in Vietnam. Starting on April 17, 75 the CPK(Khmer Rouge) evacuated 90% of the population of Phnem Penh to the countryside. I would argue that this was the only option the CPK had at the time. The population of Phnom Penh had increased by 2 million duting the war years out of a total population of 7-8 million. Phnom PEnh was and always had been an unproductive center that siphoned off the wealth produced in the countryside. The U.S. State Department claimed in early 1975 that at least 1 million would starve to death if present conditions remained the same. Phnom Penh at the time of its liberation by the CPK had 2 months supply of food. Everyone in the country had to be put to productive work immediately to prevent mass famine. MOst of the people who were evacuated (or depositees as the CPK called them) were returned to the villages where they came from. The new people or former permanent urban residents were singled out for punishment as a class by the CPK. It is important to remember that the CPK and DK were not homogenous and monolithic entities. Factions existed right up until the Vietnamese took Phnom Penh. Faction fights and purges cost the lives of tens if not hundreds of thousands of people. Conditions and governance in he country varied from region to region and village to village and changed over time....Was the CPK Marxist? They certainly has a class analysis; only the poorest and lower middle layers of the peasantry were considered revolutionary. They were granted considerable leeway, freedom and privilege relative to the rest of the population. The CPK forced everyone to live like poor peasants--barracks socialism. The CPK tried to eliminate the rural-urban divide by suppressing it...The term "intellectual" had a different meaning in the Cambodian of the time. Often people with only primary schooling considered themselves intellectuals. MOst of the CPK lower and middle level cadre were completely illiterate. The CPK collectivization effort, initially raised productivity in some areas, but ultimately failed when the Pol Pot faction gained control of most of the country and implemented extreme measures like communal cooking and dining and the abolishment of all personal property which alienated the people and thus lowered productivity. Poor nutrition and disease also contributed to the failure of the communes. I/m doing a lot of research on Cambodia right now and plan to post a longer article when I'm finished. Sam Pawlett Louis Proyect wrote: > Doug: > >The WB says 53% of the population was urban in 1980. Of course the urban > >population is swelled by dispossession (just like England a couple of > >centuries ago), and in the case of Central America, by war. But they're > >there in cities now. What would an appropriate policy be? Back to the land? > > Back to the land? Absolutely. That was what the FSLN and FMLN and the > Guerrilla Army of the Poor in Guatemala fought for. These were basically > peasant struggles for land reform, which was also at the heart of the > Chinese and Cuban revolutions. The name of this appropriate policy is > called socialist revolution. Its appeal should be obvious from Cuba's > ability to withstand imperialist blockade, chemical and biological warfare, > and nonstop propaganda barrages. > > >In China, the communes are gone, all broken up. Hundreds of millions of un- > >and semiemployed people are in China's cities now. Should Mexico City and > >Managua be depopulated? > > Depopulated? You have a way of phrasing questions that reflect your own > political bias. Socialists advocate the expropriation of agribusiness. > Period. When there are landless peasants in Central America, while land is > being used for exports such as flowers, tomatos, mangos, tobacco, coffee > for the imperialist markets, a revolutionary government should proclaim > "Food First." Land should be used to produce rice, beans, corn and > vegetables. If the country needs foreign exchange, it should reserve a > certain percentage of land for cash crops. I worked with the Nicaraguan > Central Bank to automate foreign exchange calculations for just this purpose. > > >There's no question that great crimes have been > >committed against peasants everywhere over the last few centuries; the > >question is what to do about the world around us. I think the reason Lou > >spends so much time in the 17th century is that he doesn't know what to do > >about the 21st. > > "I" don't matter. Unless there is a socialist movement to tackle these > problems, we are doomed. I am trying to pull together people > internationally to apply Marxism creatively. I regret that you no longer > find socialism attractive. > > Louis Proyect > > (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
