> Ricardo: > >peasant in the rise of capitalism. His early book, The Development of > >Capitalism in Russia, written while in exile in > >Siberia, still surpasses much of what has been said since. Here I > >want to refer to another excellent work the 23 year Lenin wrote, > >On The So-Called Market, where he directly poses the question: "Can > >capitalism develop in Russia and reach full development when the > >masses of the people are poor and are becoming still poorer?" - to > >which he answered "yes". > I am not sure how this fits into the series of articles on ReOrient, whether the dynamic is coming from foreign or home markets. the difficult question, in light of recent scholarship, is comparing the Russian peasantry to the English yeomen. but I > would disagree with Lenin's prediction that capitalism would develop in > Russia, if by this he means capitalism of the sort characteristic of > Western Europe. What was blocking full-scale capitalist development in > Russia was imperialist domination. If Lenin was referring to capitalism in > the countryside, there is evidence to support this view. However, > industrial production was primarily at the mercy of foreign investors. Lenin's work on the peansantry and the home market came early before he himself wrote about imperialism. Behind these historical, well-document works there is the political strategist trying to convince Russian socialists that capitalism is/ will continue to develop, creating the conditions for a socialist revolution. Of course, the later Lenin would agree with Trotsky.
