What if the USSR and other Socialist powers adopted market Socialism? What would the relationship of these countries be with capitalist powers, considering the two would have a more similar economic system than between capitalism and more orthodox Socialism? Would the system be more tenable than it was IOTL?
Market Socialism as the dominant Socialist tendency
- Thread starter Runaway256
- Start date
I suppose, to start the conversation, and also to act as a bump:
There's no doubt that the political relationship between socialist and capitalist powers would still be a highly negative one. Market Socialism still detests the bourgeoisie just as any another Socialist strain, and the rhetoric is the same. In the economic relationship, we may see greater variation between countries. If, say, the USSR were market Socialist, they probably would seek to limit economic activity with capitalists. However, how the workers would react that would be negative. If they were working in co-ops, then the government would be cutting off a large market. That ties back to how market Socialism would affect governments, if it would be less authoritarian than OTL Marxist-Leninism. Lesser market Socialist countries I can see developing a positive economic relationship with capitalists, like OTL China except it follows a different Socialist strain.
There's no doubt that the political relationship between socialist and capitalist powers would still be a highly negative one. Market Socialism still detests the bourgeoisie just as any another Socialist strain, and the rhetoric is the same. In the economic relationship, we may see greater variation between countries. If, say, the USSR were market Socialist, they probably would seek to limit economic activity with capitalists. However, how the workers would react that would be negative. If they were working in co-ops, then the government would be cutting off a large market. That ties back to how market Socialism would affect governments, if it would be less authoritarian than OTL Marxist-Leninism. Lesser market Socialist countries I can see developing a positive economic relationship with capitalists, like OTL China except it follows a different Socialist strain.
I mean, considering the People's Republic of China is still around and the USSR isn't, market socialism becoming the dominant form of Communism is kind of OTL. Out of the 5 Marxist-Leninist states, 60% of them follow some sort of market socialism (China, Vietnam, Laos). Cuba is inching in that direction. North Korea is uh, well, strange in many ways.
As much as I’d hate to be “that guy”, there are great differences between orthodox market socialist ideals and the sort of trend we see in communist nations today. While there are many trends of market socialism, the main one is essentially capitalism without capitalists, where workers control themselves and buy and sell on markets used by other workers. It would be wrong to say, in places like China, that workers are greatly empowered or that CEOs and their companies don’t play a large role. At the same time, if you’re using the term to describe self-proclaimed socialist states that are really just capitalist with socialist cloth, then you are right.
To achieve the dominance of THIS, you need a PoD before 1900. You must prevent the hegemoniality of Marxism in the labour movement. Have someone as prodigious and bright as Marx take up the heritage of Proudhon, for example, and develop it into the whole set of philosophical and practical tools which IOTL were provided mostly by Marxism.
BigBlueBox
Banned
I kind of feel obligated to bring up Lenin's NEP, even though it wasn't supposed to be permanent. It's not truly market socialism, but it is possible with the right PoD for the NEP to become permanent or be re-introduced.
