Glasnost-Perestroika
Part I: A
Model Potemkin Village
June 29, 1999
by Steve
Montgomery
Cruising along the banks
of the Volga River in the late 1700's Queen Catherine of
Russia viewed what appeared to be a picturesque setting
of well built, tidy houses and shops with villagers
happily engaged in commerce and other pursuits.
Catherine, however, was oblivious to the poverty and
misery existing just beyond her sight. Unknown to the
Queen the setting was all a sham. Known as a Potemkin
Village, these false buildings were a moveable, fake
village, set up along Catherine's carriage or River route
to give her a satisfying but false experience of her
dominions. Just as Queen Catherine of Russia was
"taken for a ride" two centuries ago, the
United States and the rest of the free world has been
given a similar cleverly devised deception by Russia
today.
The construction of the
aged Potemkin Village�s modern counterpart began in
earnest in 1986 under the General Secretary of the
Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev. The Soviet Union
instituted dramatic and wide ranging reforms. Soviet
society was opened up to "criticism" and debate
through a policy known as "Glasnost" and a
process known as "perestroika" was started to
revitalize and restructure the Soviet economy. As part of
the economic reforms a more moderate stance was taken in
domestic and foreign policy. A charismatic leader,
Gorbachev was widely hailed as representing a "new
breed" of leader and became widely popular in Europe
and the United States. No one doubts that fundamental
changes appear to have taken place.
But a far different world
waits--beyond the facade. In instituting these reforms
Gorbachev, the Politburo and their "dictatorship of
the Proletariat" did not depart from basic tenets of
Marxist-Leninist ideology and abandon their long range
goal of world-wide domination. What many fail to realize
is that the policies of Glasnost-Perestroika are rooted
in and derive sustenance from Marxist-Leninist ideology.
Four things are necessary
to understand the facade taking place:
1. A basic understanding
of Marxist-Leninist ideology.
2. An understanding of the real nature of Glasnost.
3. the dialectical nature of advance.
4. The communist idea of morality.
Regarding the first, The
basic doctrine of Marxism-Leninism is that a state of war
exists and that the Communist Party was created to win
this war. Lenin modified Marxist theory of Class Warfare
to include the Communist Party as the spearhead or
"vanguard" of the proletariat which would
perform the task of consummating the universal class war
into world communist victory. As the vanguard, the
Communist Party which was composed of both overt and
covert members, would wage the war against the capitalist
society.
Once they had obtained
power, the Communist Party would establish a transitional
political rule known as the "dictatorship of the
proletariat". Under the Soviet Union this
dictatorship of the proletariat was the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union. How the dictatorship would function
and operate would be determined by whatever is needed to
build socialism. Its ultimate goal would be to strengthen
the socialist state to the point where Communism could
then be established. The Communist Party therefore is
essential to the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism.
Regarding the second
essential understanding, that of the real nature of
Glasnost, A Strong economic base is essential. To
strengthen the state would require "vigorous
development of the economy in order to provide the
electrical power, materials, resources, the science and
technology and the military power necessary for the
victory of the communist system"(1)
Under every Soviet leader
since Lenin, A form of Glasnost known as "Democratic
Centralism"(2) operated within the Communist Party
as a self-correcting and feedback system to strengthen
the Soviet social and economic system. One function of
"democratic centralism" or "Glasnost"
was to strengthen the Military through a strengthened
economy so that "revolution" can be carried on
and eventual worldwide domination assured. This principle
first had its origin in Imperial Russia under Tsar
Nicolas 1's reign (1825-1855). It was put in force in
Tsarist Russia to provide constructive criticism for much
needed social and economic reforms. It served as "an
effective tool for correcting failures of bureaucratic
institutions and thwarting corrupt practices among
officials."(3)
Known as
"Glasnost" under Tsar Nicolas 1, Lenin
reintroduced the concept into the Communist state as a
"leadership initiated and leadership regulated
criticism designed, to reverse undesirable socio-economic
trends."(4) Lenin, in fact stated:
"...everything
that takes place at a socialist enterprise should be
made public [In Russian: Predavit Glasnost]. The
shortcomings in the economic activity of each and
every commune should be disclosed to the public. We
need public criticism which will expose the evils of
our economy, strike a responsive chord with the
public and help us cure social problems(5) "
Another function of
Glasnost was to stimulate public participation in
political life, in order to strengthen the regime's
legitimacy. Lenin further said, "the state is strong
when the masses know everything, render their opinions on
every issue, and consciously respond to every
policy."(6) In other words, the Soviet people are
more apt to believe and support the Government in its
goals and designs if public participation were allowed.
However, under Lenin, there were limits to how far
criticism and debate could go. There was no free flow of
information as we know it. Whatever was said had to
promote the best interests of socialism and there were
strict parameters within which divergent opinions could
be voiced. So under Lenin, certain publications were
banned and criticism of the regime was outlawed. To
Lenin, these tyrannical measures were necessary to ensure
the overall success of such public criticism.
The principle of
democratic-centralism (Glasnost) was continued under
Stalin. Stalin said in 1928: "In order to move
forward and improve relations between the people and the
leaders we should keep the valve of self-criticism open.
We should give the Soviet people an opportunity to
criticize their leaders for their mistakes so that the
leaders do not put on airs and the masses do not distance
themselves from their leaders."(7)
The Soviet Constitution
under Stalin stated that although free speech, free
press, freedom of assembly, etc. were provided to the
people, these "freedoms" are "guaranteed''
only if "in accordance with the interests of the
people and in order to strengthen and develop the
socialist system."(8) Furthermore the Constitution
stated that what is in the interests of the people and
what develops and strengthens the socialist system is
decided by the Communist Party and its leadership, the
Politburo.
The principle of
democratic-centralism has been an integral part of
Marxist-Leninist ideology and has been carried on by all
of Lenin's successors in one form or another. When Soviet
Premier Mikhail Gorbachev introduced his policies of
Glasnost they certainly were not anything new or
fundamentally different. Gorbachev stated that the
purpose of the reforms are to make sure that a transition
from "an overly centralized command system of
management" occurs to one based on a
"combination of centralism and self-management"
and further that "the party will tolerate no changes
from the adopted principles of the economic
reform."(9) In other words the reforms were meant to
assess the problems of the Soviet social and economic
systems in order to deal with the necessary changes.
However, the "freedom of discussion" allowed
under Glasnost remains clearly controlled by the Party
and Boris Yeltsin continues with this practice.
The third essential to
understand is the Communist idea of "morality."
Whatever advances the revolution is moral. Lenin taught
that the Communists should be ready to resort to
"any trick, ruse or illegal method."(10)
Afanasayev, a Communist
theoretician, taught that "from the point of view of
communist morality, that which promotes the movement of
society toward communism is moral."(11) In other
words, the end justifies the means. Any means or methods
therefore to advance the revolutionary cause, whether it
involved lies, deception, murder, etc. would be justified
by the end result-Communism. A fundamental part of
Marxist-Leninist ideology is trickery and deceit.
Regarding the forth
essential, Lenin and his followers have justified sudden
shifts in policy by the concept of the "dialectical
nature of advance" The Communist slogan is:
"nature acts dialectically."(12) Dr. Fred
Schwarz, a leading anti-Communist portrayed this concept
as follows:
"Wishing to
advance in a room full of people, I do not walk
through the aisle and straight toward my goal. Nor do
I move slowly through the crowd shaking hands with
friends and acquaintances, discussing points of
interest, gradually nearing the objective. The
dialectical pathway is different. It consists of a
resolute forward advance followed by an abrupt turn
and retreat. Having retreated a distance there is
another turn and advance. Through a series of
forward-backward steps the goal is approached. To
advance thus is to advance dialectically. The
Communist goal is fixed and changeless, but their
direction of advance reverses itself from time to
time. They approach their goal by going directly away
from it a considerable portion of the time. Lenin
wrote the textbook, One Step Forward, Two Steps Back.
Chinese Communist schoolchildren are taught to do the
dialectical march taking three steps forward and two
steps back. If we judge where the Communists are
going by the direction in which they are moving we
will obviously be deceived"(13)
Soviet leaders from Lenin
to Yeltsin were masters of dialectical theory. While the
Main Goal and strategy of the Communists remain the same
(overall world domination) their tactics shift and vary
from time to time.
In his widely published
but too often ignored book, "Perestroika,"
Gorbachev unveiled what was really going on with his
"reforms." "Lenin never believed that the
road to socialism, would be straight, he knew how to
change slogans when life required it."(14)
Former ambassador and
special advisor to President Reagan, Paul H. Nitze, has
written concerning the various tactical shifts the
communists have undergone that:
"The
Communists have a flexible view with respect to
strategy. They think that strategy should, from time
to time, be altered to reflect changes in the
'correlation of forces'. In the correlation of forces
they include not only military forces, but economic,
political and psychological factors as well. When the
correlation of forces is favorable to their ends,
their doctrine calls on them to exploit the favorable
correlation by moving forward. When the correlation
is negative, the doctrine calls upon them to hold or
to retreat while they attempt to reverse the adverse
trends. With respect to tactics, the Communists
believe there should be great flexibility. The
guiding thoughts should be deception and
surprise."(15)
Such is the scam, the
Potemkin Village, of Glasnost-Perestroika, and all that
has followed on its heels. Many Soviet Defectors have
attempted to warn us, both prior to the
"collapse" of the Soviet Empire and afterwards.
Anitoliy Golitsyn, a former propaganda minister turned
defector, who was intimately involved in the planning of
Glasnost and Perestroika(16), and Colonel Stanislav
Lunev(17), the highest ranking military intelligence
officer ever to defect to the United States, both have
issued warnings that all is not as it seems in Russia and
that the Russian Military is doing everything they can to
prepare for a war that they consider inevitable. Those
with "eyes to see" would do well to wake up to
the warnings, make haste to take down the facade in the
eyes of America�s leaders and her citizens, lest our
foolish foreign aid, our foolish disarmament, and our
over zealous cooperation with Russia become the
instruments of our own undoing.
End Notes
1. "Great Soviet
Encyclopedia" 27 vols. Moscow: Sovetakaia
Entsiklopedia Publishing House, 1970. vol 3. p. 156.
2. Bouscaren, Anthony. Is the Cold War Over?. Falls
Church, Va.: the Capitol Hill Press, 1953. p. 8,9.
3. Ibid.
4. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. op cit, vol. 17. p. 201.
5. Gross, Problems of Communism. 1988. p. 69.Ibid. p. 70.
6. Ibid. p. 70.
7. Ibid. p. 70.
8. Schifter, Richard. Address of Richard Schifter before
the American Bar Association in San Francisco August 10,
1987.
9. Gorbachev, Mikhail. "Document: The Revolution and
Perestroika." Foreign Affairs. Winter (87-88), p.
420.
10. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Op Cit, under Communist
Morality.
11. Ibid.
12. Schwartz, Fred. "You Can Trust The Communists:
To Be Communists", Long Beach, Ca. Chantico
Publishing Co., 1969. p. 30.
13. Ibid. p. 153.
14. Gorbachev, Mikhail. Perestroika: New Thinking for our
Country and the World. New York: Harper and Row, 1987. p.
8.
15. Sleeper, Raymond S. Mesmerized by the Bear: The
Soviet Strategy of deception. New York: Dodd, Mead and
Co. 1987. p.140.
16. See for example his works entitled: "New Lies
For Old: The Communist Strategy of Deception and
Disinformation" or "The Perestroika Deception:
The World's Slide Towards The 'Second October
Revolution'".
17. See his work entitled: "In The Eyes of The
Enemy".
