VI
WHY RUSSIAN COMMUNISM HAS FAILED
The civilized world seems almost certain, sooner or later, to follow
the example of Russia in attempting a Communist organization of
society. I believe that the attempt is essential to the progress and
happiness of mankind during the next few centuries, but I believe also
that the transition has appalling dangers. I believe that, if the
Bolshevik theory as to the method of transition is adopted by
Communists in Western nations, the result will be a prolonged chaos,
leading neither to Communism nor to any other civilized system, but to
a relapse into the barbarism of the Dark Ages. In the interests of
Communism, no less than in the interests of civilization, I think it
imperative that the Russian failure should be admitted and analysed.
For this reason, if for no other, I cannot enter into the conspiracy
of concealment which many Western Socialists who have visited Russia
consider necessary.
I shall try first to recapitulate the facts which make me regard the
Russian experiment as a failure, and then to seek out the causes of
failure.
The most elementary failure in Russia is in regard to food. In a
country which formerly produced a vast exportable surplus of cereals
and other agricultural produce, and in which the non-agricultural
population is only 15 per cent. of the total, it ought to be possible,
without great difficulty, to provide enough food for the towns.
Pages:
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142