Amid the political tornado now spinning ever faster in the Soviet Union of Mikhail Gorbachev, three truths remain unambiguous: The people hate the Russians, and don't much care for each other; and the system intended to give to each according to his wants has more and more trouble meeting the barest needs of anyone.
Within such confines, it has been difficult indeed for anyone to construct a plan (call it a vision) for the future USSR. Indeed, when it comes to “the vision thing,” the political leaders of Soviet Union make George Bush look like Nostradamus. In a stable, prosperous, and confident nation like the United States, the absence of a specific political program makes for less drama in public life, but is otherwise not crucial. Amid a volatile, impoverished, and angry populace, however, only a strong and appealing vision can stave off social chaos and civil strife. Even then, there are no guarantees.
Gorbachev, of course, claims a vision. As he closed out his party's 29th Congress earlier this summer, he thundered; “The Communist Party lives and will live…. [It] will fulfill its historic contribution to the progress of our country and of world civilization.” With rhetoric like that, is it any wonder that hundreds of thousands of Muscovites mounted antiparty demonstrations outside the Kremlin? Is it any wonder that striking miners hoisted signs that declared: “Leninism is the Utopia of the Demons of Darkness?” Is it any wonder that Boris Yeltsin walked out?
To be fair, there are other elements to the Gorbachev plan: a broadening of political participation, a readjustment in the relationship between the many nations of the union, and the construction of a “regulated” or “socialist” market. It's the perfect political program: high-minded, sensible, and vague. In fact, it has been this very vagueness, coupled with an unsurpassed tactical acuity, that has brought Gorbachev and his country so far in five short years. Those who were pressing reform found much to like in his slogans; those who were resisting never suspected how far he might go.
Even today Gorbachev remains a master impresario. In spite of the tongue-lashing he and his allies endured throughout the 11-day congress, he seems to have won what he wanted: a diluted Politburo and a party Secretariat of his own design. The defections were dramatic, but hardly crippling. The spin-doctors of perestroika, having successfully raised expectations that the party would explode at this national gathering, could be proud of the “another-victory-for-Gorbachev” headlines they helped generate.
Yet if the Soviet leader is a formidable fighter, a masterful tactician, and, perhaps, the most humanizing influence on Soviet life in 73 years, it is difficult to believe that he lays his plans more than week to week. At times it even seems he is making it up as he goes along. Such improvisation has done wonders to destroy the old system, the old habits, and what he calls “old thinking,” yet it has never been clear precisely what he hopes to build in its place.
RUDDERLESS, MARGINALIZED, AND DISARMED
Moreover, victories like the ones Gorbachev secured at the congress have grown increasingly irrelevant in an increasingly frustrated and polarize society. The vagueness that once gave hope
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