 |
by
the 1980s the soviet union had built a powerful economy of a
distinctive type, second only to that of the united states. it was a
world leader in many fields of science, including space exploration
and civilian and military uses of nuclear power; it possessed an
advanced educational establishment and a varied cultural scene; it
evolved sophisticated industrial, social, and transportation
infrastructures; and it had in place reasonably adequate housing and
food supply systems.
contrary to the ideological claims that it developed in the
direction of a socially homogeneous society, the social structure
that emerged by the early 1980s was increasingly diverse and varied
and was now dominated by distinctive groups of urban populations
with their own interests, way of life, and mentality.
|
even
more crucially, under the seemingly stagnating surface of an
ostensibly 搒ocialist?system, new trends and phenomena evolved,
including an 揳dministrative market?(bureaucratic accommodation of
interests between economic departments and state planning agencies),
a vast shadow economy, a certain diffusion of power, the emergence
of privileged social groups, the rise of intellectual elites, an
informal public opinion, cultural and intellectual pluralism, and
ecological, nationalist, and dissident movements. all of these were
impermissible from the point of view of the ossified ideology, but
each reflected real modernizing trends affecting soviet society.
by
then it was clear that the soviet union had come to the point at
which its legitimizing doctrines, institutions, and decision-making
procedures were hopelessly outdated and no longer capable of meeting
the growing demands and modern complexity of soviet society. the
bankruptcy of the neo-stalinist system of government was obvious to
any unprejudiced observer. the dominance of military leaders,
central planners, and ideologists in determining priorities was
called into question. the old leninist ideology seemed no longer
capable of incorporating the broad masses of the population into the
communist project.
thus, the soviet regime by its own policies had nurtured powerful
forces of modernity that in a matter of decades were destined to
become the regime抯 own 揼ravediggers.?it was exactly this rapidly
mounting complexity and diversification of all aspects of society,
including the economy, education, culture, communications, and
interethnic and international relations, that created the
ingredients of a systemic crisis that overwhelmed the soviet
leadership in the late 1980s.
