- Capitalism and Alternatives -

The N.E.P.

In Reply to: 'Anarcho-capitalism' posted by Fred on January 30, 19100 at 20:32:02:

: Now, didn't Lenin make some allowances for small-time businesses? I mean, doesn't it all begin with seizing political power, nationalizing the major industries then going from there? (This is more of a question than a challenge.)

The Bolsheviks---at Lenin's urging---did reinstate small-scale capitalism after the Civil War. However, he explicitly called it a retreat; Kransy had a great quote from Lenin: 'The economic Brest Peace Treaty.' It was necessitated by the overwhemingly large portion of peasants (and peasant holdings) in Russia v. the underdevelopment of industry. In my opinion, this economic contradiction was the primary reason socialism failed in the U.S.S.R.

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