A lesson from the USSR
Our destiny may well depend on the restoration of the ancient republican ideal of civic virtue, the tribute democratic citizens pay for participation in the public life of our
nation. — Gary Hart
America was an uneasy ally of Uncle Joe Stalin and the USSR in World War II. After the war, there were communist parties throughout Europe with considerable support, on a continent that had suffered catastrophic damage, populated by people in desperate straits. Stalin believed all he had to do was wait for the West to implode, and had it not been for the Marshall Plan, that could well have happened.
Later, as the horrors of Stalin’s political purges and famines induced by collectivization became known, the mass defections of former communists to the conservative ranks began. But the USSR after Stalin was little better, and when Mikhail Gorbachev tried to reform the system, the USSR imploded.
Communism had many flaws, but perhaps the fatal flaw was that it provided no incentive for workers to do more than was necessary to get by. American capitalism did.
The fruits of the manufacturing economy were shared during the Cold War, and government spending on the military, infrastructure and the space program provided more living-wage jobs. The GI Bill provided low-cost mortgages, low-interest business loans, unemployment compensation and money to acquire an education. One could view all the benefits and jobs created by government spending after WWII as a de facto American social safety net.
In the post-war years, companies reinvested their earnings. They shared profits to reward employees that made their success possible. Companies had one-year plans, two-year plans, etc. This approach to business fostered slow, steady, sustained growth, which in turn helped foster a stable society.
But we should remember that not everyone benefited. To get the GI Bill passed, FDR made deals with the Dixiecrats. Their price was to exclude many Black servicemen from receiving benefits, and racial discrimination was the rule, not the exception.
American capitalism won the Cold War but, before it ended, flaws were emerging. In September 1970, an article by Milton Friedman, “The Social
Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits,” ran in the New York Times. In the late 1970s, shareholder primacy came into vogue, emphasizing that the first priority of a business was to its shareholders.
With increased emphasis on profits, labor was merely another commodity to be obtained at the lowest cost possible. Jobs and salaries were obvious targets for the corporate knife. Stability was gone; the only thing that mattered was the stock price at the end of the quarter, and much of the positive incentive to work evaporated.
On the 50th anniversary of Friedman’s article, some columnists questioned if he was right that corporations have no responsibility to society other than earnings for their investors. It should not have taken 50 years for anyone to ask that question. Of course, they do! We all have a duty to help society function.
In the USSR, Communist Party members were treated much better than nonmembers, and the higher they rose, the more benefits accrued. Conversely, anyone that dared criticize the state was not likely to be around long enough to make that mistake twice. By the time Gorbachev tried to stem the corruption and reform the system, it was too late. In the chaos that followed the dissolution of the USSR, a former KGB officer, Vladimir Putin, rose to power.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010 gave those that already had an advantage in American politics an overwhelming voice. It is inconceivable that the enormous amount of money injected into campaigns since then by billionaires and corporations has not corrupted our government and bought favor for the contributors.
If our leaders are allowed to use the power of the state against their political enemies, if a ruling party is allowed to disregard the will of the people by rejecting the results of a free and fair election, if political parties are allowed to fix elections via gerrymandering, if money is allowed to corrupt our government — what then will rise from the ashes of American democracy? That is a question I dread to ponder.