The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-08-16

AAOAO VIC nave OH 6uIlISAy new Gull
ception. But l think we can safely
say that only this perspective is a cor
rect one; it is the only one which can
be theoretically proved. And it is
just this perspective which is the
strongest weapon against every form
of pessimism on this subject. The
attitude: Alas! the small producer is
being permitted; alas! they are per-
hitting even the capitalists. And all
the other aliases, are the result of a
failure to understand the phenomena.
In the early stages the superiority of
large industry was not so apparent,
since during the process of general
economic disruption it is not immedi-
ately possible to carry on large indus
try. The same is true of commerce,
where there are machines but no de-
mand for them, where there is no cir
culating capital to set the apparatus
going. But as soon as competition
between large industry and small in
dustry begins, we Immediately begin
to perceive the extent of the super
iority Of large industry. The compe-
titive capacity of large industry will
therefore steadily increase. What
grounds are there for pessimism? We
shall certainly have crises, but these
crises will disappear when we have
complete economic planning. We
shall in all probability have crises for
many years to come, but the general
line Of the sqeezing out of other eco
nomic forms, which do not possess a
social character, is the only right one
and represents the victorious pros
pect of our social development. The
contraction between capitalist forms
and social forms is a great problem,
a very sinister problem. But if we
grasp what 1 have here stated, the
matter becomes quite clear. We in
deed have capitalist forms, wage re-
lations; we have money circulation in
stead of distribution of goods; we
have banks and stock exchanges, ay,
even stock exchanges, the holy of the
capitalist class. We have competition
and even profitmaking in our state in
dustries. But here we can find
parallel in the military sphere. Our
army is to large extent similar to
any ordinary bourgeois army. We or
iginally believed that the structure of
our army would be something quite
different, there would be no compul-
sorry discipline, but only voluntary dis
cipline. But experience has proved
that there can be no question of vol
untary discipline in the literal sense
of the word, although, of course we
have more voluntary discipline in our
army than in any other army.
The Army or the Red Army.
But various corrective measures are
adopted in the army, and we cannot
do without them; we even shoot de-
.serters. This is the highest means of
coercion in hands of the State.
The outward structure is similar to
that of the bourgeois army. But that
is not the most important point. What
is really the most important, is the
different class character of the army.
The same applies to this economic
fight. The new economic policy,
which is already fairly old, has also
many inherent, contradictions, not
only Of form and substance but also
contradictions of a more serious ma
ture, especially during the initial
stage Of proletarian economic policy.
Our socialized enterprises and institu-
tons are growing, but the same
must also be said of petty bourgeois
enterprises. The contradiction be-
tween the nationality of our economic
life represented by small capitalists
and private traders is growing. Thus.
we have already not only contradic-
ton between form and substance, but
contradiction between various social
forms and social forces. Naturally
the class struggle on the economic
field will definitely solve this question.