SOCIALISM AS HOMOSEXUALITY

I am Russian, free-lanced writer from Moscow. First time in my life I left Russia and have a charming opportunity to be aquainted with Grand Rapids and others, less prominent parts of U.S. (Los Angeles, New York, etc.) I am currently an Acton Institute Bradley Visiting Scholar. On October 13� 1994 I visited 45th Anniversary Dinner, held by the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan. The honored guest was Dr. Serhei N. Khrushchev, the son of the late Russian dictator, now a citizen of United States.

It was a great surprise for me to meet Mr. Khrushchev, and especially to see him as a speaker to the business and cultural elite of Grand Rapids. It was like seeing the son of Himmler explaining how things are going in modern Germany.

Mr. Khrushchev stated that the Russian experience after the revolution has nothing to do with Communism or socialism. It is only matter of an ineffective economical experiment, only centralized planning that failed. The idea of planning is based on positivism and determinism, which came from classical science. Mr. Khrushchev cpecially mentioned the name of Newton: he was guilty for creating scientific mentality of XIXth century. So. Newton, Spencer and other great scientists and positivist are guilty in what happened to Russia. From such point of view Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev were guilty only of being too good students of Newtons' theory. As concerns Khrushchev Sen., he was a nice father, humorous and brave man.

But Hitler possessed sense of humor, and loved children. German Nazism can be depicted as a kind of economical experiment, Auschwitz -- as kind of a factory, the Second World War -- as an attempt to widen a market and improve profit. Mr. Khrushchev stated, that Russian socialism was not an ideology, but only an ineffective economic system. Or, in other terms, a homosexual can state that homosexuality is not only a perversion, it has nothing to do with sex, it is only "an ineffective kind of procreation."

Dr. Khrushchev's farther, the Prime Secretary of Communist Party of Soviet Union, participated in mass killings of thousands of Russians. Together with Stalin he signed lists of those to be shot. During the Caribean crises he nearly let the Third World war begin. Is all this also a part of "ineffective economic system"?

Dr. Khrushchev seems to forget that Communism and socialism are not only crime against private property, but against personality's privacy, dignity, and life itself. But it is impossible to forget this after " Gulag Archipelago." It is only possible to persuade himself to forget. I think, Dr. Khrushchev has not really forgotten. He is interested in depicting his father as a hero. All former Communists now are interested in revising history, in depicting themselves as main fighters with Communism.

American businessmen listened to Dr. Khrushchev and applauded him. Do they agree to measure economical and political systems only with their effectiveness? Which kind of "effectiveness" is important to them? Financial, material, or spiritual, human effect interest them more? If Americans are interested in material effects only, then this may be a reason why United States are deluded into thinking that it is high time for America to become a socialist country. But Russians can not forget what socialism really was: it was effective in many ways, it made all people equally poor (Khrushchevs were even more equal than others), it gave everybody free medical insurance and education. Because of the socialist system Russian people can appeal to physician any time, and this explains why they live ten years lesser than Western counterparts. Russian people now prefer "wild capitalism" to the system, which bought their freedom for thirty pieces of silver.

American capitalism is based not on economical effectiveness, but is alive due to the everyday attempts of each American not to let anybody subordinate, humiliate, "plan" such an immaterial but pulpable thing as human's dignity and independence.