Interestingly enough, out of all the turmoil in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in recent years a major positive development has emerged.  Anyone who doubted the superiority of socialism over capitalism has been provided an overabundance of evidence to the effect that there can no longer be any doubt as to which society serves humanity better.  From the Arctic to the sub-Caucasus, from the Iron Curtain to the Pacific, events have unfolded in a manner that can only be described as enlightening if not amazing.  The lessons being taught to objective Americans are almost as informative and important as those impacting on the Soviet citizenry.  Facts clearly demonstrate that when capitalism returns to the scene the results are little short of appalling.  Even western reporters are hard-pressed to write accounts that will pass the censorship of their editors without distorting or ignoring events that are all too obvious and unveiling.  One need only observe some of the key factors that make for a decent society to see that conditions have deteriorated horribly.  Unemployment and inflation, which were all but unknown under socialism, have grown exponentially.  The rapidly growing differentials in wealth have generated a crime wave not unlike that of the United States in the 1920's.  Mafia style gangs have mushroomed with reckless abandon and governmental corruption in the form of bribery, kick-backs, unearned pay increases, unmerited promotions, cushy jobs, and payoffs are growing apace.  All of the agencies associated with social security and welfare involving such topics as medicine, housing, pensions, retirement, hospitalization, transportation, public facilities, recreation areas, day-care, education etc. are rapidly receiving less governmental support, guidance and financing.  And despicable social activities such as prostitution, pornography, gambling, drug dealing, and juvenile delinquency are growing quickly as are tragic social consequences such as begging and impoverishment.  In effect, the entire chain of events has proven beyond any reasonable doubt that capitalism is exactly what you don't want.  All of the lying talk about restructuring, glasnost, and "perish"stroika under Gorbachov and his gang was nothing more than a series of code words for the reinstitution of capitalism, pure and simple.  They were a ruse, a narcotic, by which to cover a wide assortment of nefarious activities..
         One can't help but be amused at the obvious attempts by capitalist propaganda agencies to somehow attribute all of these terrible events to socialism and its legacy when anyone with even a modicum of objectivity can't help but see that socialism eliminated the very conditions that gave rise to this cesspool of degeneracy and is the very antithesis of that which has arisen.  Nationalistic battles which were unknown under socialism have appeared in abundance.  Georgians are fighting Abkhazians and Ossetians; Armenians are fighting Azerbaijanis; Tajiks are fighting one another and Moldovians are exchanging gunfire.  In Yugoslavia Serbs are fighting Croats and both are fighting Muslims.  And foreigners are financially backing those whom they prefer in every conflict.  The similarity to the situation that prevailed prior to World War I and prior to the appearance of socialism in the Soviet Union during that war is all too apparent.  Capitalist agents and their mouthpieces would have the world believe that conflict was suppressed under socialism while now it is allowed to express itself under the alleged new freedom.  Of course, conflicts have arisen not because the lid was taken off because the pressure was put on.  Living standards have rapidly deteriorated in every area and people were easily convinced that their new found hardships and deprivations could be attributable to another nationality or ethnic group.  Internal nationalist traitors along with external financing have led people into a senseless struggle with another nationality rather than their true enemy, another class.  As long as capitalism continues to grow, the outcome is a foregone conclusion--continued putrefaction and growing strife.
        Capitalist propagandists try to explain the continued deterioration of conditions in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe by alleging that former communist leaders are still in positions of influence and are sabotaging improvements, when, in reality, their presence has nothing to do with the rapid increase in wealth differentials, unemployment, inflation, and exploitation created by the changes themselves.  The more capitalist measures are instituted the more conditions will deteriorate which, in turn, will cause capitalist agents to become more desperate to concoct rationalizations and discover scapegoats.
        One of the favorite propagandistic deceptions of capitalist lackeys lies in their attempt to depict the whole financial disaster as nothing more than a necessary but painful phase in the transition to capitalism.  "This too will pass" is the subtle refrain.  It is unquestionably one of the greatest prevarications of all time because the phase in which the Russian people now reside is capitalism; it's not a transition to capitalism.  To the Soviet people I say, "You're already there my friend; you've arrived."  For the overwhelming majority of the population it is not going to get any better.  Indeed, the possibility of conditions becomimg far worse are much greater.  There is no light at the end of the tunnel as capitalist stooges would have Russians believe.  The latter are in the tunnel and there they will remain until phantasia leaves their thought processes.  As was said in reference to the Vietnam War, if you think you see a light at the end of the tunnel, it's only an oncoming train.  Capitalists have pulled every stop to give millions of misguided people the impression that "if they will only stick it out" a capitalist nirvana awaits their arrival at the end of this dark "transition."  Of course, there is no paradise awaiting their presence, that's mythology; there isn't even a living standard comparable to that in Western Europe.  But there is a nearly 100% possibility of becoming stuck.  Stuck in a gooey, filty, stinking, decaying bog of polluted muck and colonial exploitation.  Russians would do well to read that which came from the pens of a whole group of writers in American history known as the Muckrakers.  They will tell you what capitalism is like in no uncertain terms.
        Conditions really become embarrasing for capitalist proselytizers when, despite massive infusions of money and CIA manipulations, elections result in the restoration of leaders with a Marxist orientation, as recently occurred in Poland and Lithuania.  That's really a hard one to rationalize.  In fact, one can't help but note that on the day of the recent electoral victory by Marxist forces in Poland, the event was never mentioned on the evening news by Brokaw, Jennings, or Rather.  The reason is obvious.  It was more than their bosses and network ownership could stomach.
        Any electoral victories by Yeltsin only demonstrate that infusions of foreign and domestic money working in conjunction with governmental electoral controls, political pacts, and domination of the media can elect anyone to any office.  Millions of dollars can offset millions of voters with diminished difficulty.  Capitalists work on the belief that everything and everybody has its price and it's only a matter of making an irresistible offer in true God-Father style.  Putting the right amount of money in the right hands at the right place and time can do wonders.  By using necessary amounts of money at key times, keeping polling booths scarce in opposing regions, providing transportation to the polls for those who are known to favor Yeltsin's program, hindering the registration and voting of known opponents, using government funds to pay for media advertisements and a whole host of other techniques kept from the public eye, the Yeltsin gang has managed to appear to be far stronger than they actually are.  The seeming electoral victory last April, for example, was played up in the Western media even though knowledgeable Western sources know it was a deception.  Don't let them kid you.  Yeltsin isn't nearly as well liked by the Soviet citizenry as the Western media would have the world believe.  The rich suffered recent electoral defeats in Poland and Lithuania because they simply weren't willing to ante up the amount of money required.  Given the unstable conditions in which these countries reside and the amount at stake, more money would have been needed than they were willing to risk.
        Capitalist propagandists are also pained to justify the recent establishment of a blatant dictatorship by Yeltsin and his cronies.  In direct violation of the Russian Constitution he committed acts that are so patently illegal that even his allies don't dispute the undeniable.  He abolished a parliament legally elected in accordance with the Constitution, banned the parliament's newspaper, cut off the phone service of the legally constituted Supreme Court and issued orders that all opposition voices were to be systematically excluded from the media.  The argument by capitalist agents that these acts were necessary in order to preserve democracy generates nausea even in many of their own henchmen and reminds one of the Vietnam War justification that the village of Ben Suc had to be destroyed in order to be saved.  How you save even bourgeoise democracy by establishing a fascist dictatorship is a question that has been repeatedly posed to the United States because of events in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. One can't help but suppress laughter when he is told that American officials are only keeping a close watch on the situation when they know full well that their agents are all over the place giving advice to the top officials of the Yeltsin clique on how to do everything from censor the press to channel funds into the right pockets.  Although capitalists no doubt look upon  Yeltsin as Russia's Fujimori, he more closely resembles Russia's Thieu and could very will meet a comparable fate.  In fact, when all is said and done a lot of people are going to pay a tremendous price for what has transpired in recent years.  Although great attention is now focused upon recent events in the Soviet Bloc, these developments pale in comparison with what is coming up over the horizon in the capitalist world.
        Another major positive development has also emerged on the scene which could very well work to the benefit of socialism the world over.  A growing group of intelligent and influential Russian people is steadily becoming more militant, if not radicalized, as a consequence of the fascist tactics adopted by a cabal that is increasingly isolated as a result of the constantly deteriorating standard of living in Russia.  As conditions become steadily worse and increasing numbers of people turn against the dictatorship, the latter will be forced by the turn of events to institute ever more repressive measures.  That, in turn, will definitely lead to a growth in opposition forces and their continued evolution toward a revolutionary frame of mind.  The only activity that could head off this chain of events is a reversal of the economic situation, and that isn't even in the cards.  Even now, some capitalists are beginning to have second thoughts about investing in what increasingly appears to be a financial Vietnam.  Good money is being thrown after bad in what is taking on the appearance of being little more than an economic sink-hole, if not a bottomless pit.
        Be that as it may, when all is said and done nothing encapsulates the entire situation in the Soviet Union better than the comment recently made by an NPR (National Propaganda Radio) observer who said in regard to Russia that people just don't smile anymore and just don't care about one another.  What could be more revealing!  Who on earth would work to build a society of that kind?  Only the sick!