Date: 1981-04-09
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. the ongoing crisis In Poland presents the International community with a classic study of the contradictions between the theory and aqtual practice of communism. We are witnessing the socalled revolution of the proletariat coming full circle. On March 29. 1981. we were greeted with news stories that the Kremlin had charged the Solidarity Union. representing 10 million Polish Industrial workers. with being counterrevolutionary and an enemy of the state. The official Soviet news agency. Tass. in expressing the deepening concern within the Soviet leadership over events in Poland. raised the following alarm: Solidarity Itself is following the path of transformation Into a political party hostile to Polish Communists and the Government. Leaders of the Soviet Union and Its Eastern European allies. East Germany and Czechoslovakia In particular. have urged Polish authorities to crack down on the solidarity government. I find these events particularly illuminating sinQe the proletariat. or the industrial worker. Is supposedly the foundation upon which a truly Communist state is built. One only has to read the Communist Manifesto. written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. to appreciate the contradictions inherent in the Eastern blocs alarm over events In Poland. In the chapter on bourgeois and proletarians the following commentary can be found: From time to time thlh workers are victorious (In their struggle against the Bourgeois). but only for a time. The real fruit of their battles lies. not in the immediate result. but in the ever expanding union of the workers. This union is helped on by the improvid means of communication that are created by modern industry and that place the workers of different localities in contact with one another. It was just this contact that was needed to centralize the numerous local struggles. all of the same character. into one national struggle between classes. But every class struggle is a political struggle.... What an irony that this commentary should be a prophecy not only for Communist Poland. but the entire Eastern bloc as well. One only has to recall that Solidarity began as a small. almost obscure. union in the shipyards of Gdansk. Today. it has grown to encompass 10 million industrial workers from the coal miners of Silesia to the factory workers in nearly all the major cities of Poland. If one were to believe Soviet propaganda. I suppose the West should feel secure in the knowledge that somehow we have the capability to organize 10 million Polish workers in an attempt to. subvert the socialist systems of Eastern Europe. However. despite. all of this propaganda. it cannot conceal the fact that the proletariat of Poland represents a fundamental threat to the underpinnings of Communist ideology. This is the real threat to the Soviet Union and its alliesone which the Soviets understand only too well. The present situation in Poland does have an historical base. It has been 64 years since the first Communist state was established through the overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. According tosMarxistLeninist theologians of the time. this historic occasion was to have set in motion a chain of events leading to the dictatorship of the proletariat and eventually to. a completely classless society. Yet. during this span of 64 years. the proletariat has remained the exploited proletariat in the Eastern bloc. only now they labor under the Communist system. Far from evolving into the dictatorship of the proletariat or into classless socleties. we have seen the emergence and perpetuation of new elitesa Communist bourgeoisie. Comprised of political and military loyalists to the party line. the Communist bourgeoisie enjoy a standard of living far beyond the reach or the dreams of the. proletariat In their countries. They maintain dachas. feast on caviar. are driven around in limousines. and generally enjoy all thefamenities of life. Contrary to Eastern Europe under communism. the worker of the West has evolved into a major political and economic force in the capitalist system. Through the trade union movement. the laborer in the West has increased his purchasing power and with it. access to a wide variety of consumer goods. This is not to say that all inequities for the Western worker have been resolved. However. his counterpart in the Eastern bloc is faced with a declining quality of life. He. or members of his family. spend numerous hours in food lines waiting to purchase the barest necessities. Few consumer goods are within his financial reach. Yet. the leadership of the Eastern bloc does not endure the same hardships. This is the fundamental issue involved in Poland. and this is what is so threatening and so frightening for the Soviet leadership. Poland today is not Hungary of 1956 which the Soviets invaded to suppress a revolt of intellectuals and students. Poland today is not Czechoslovakia of 1968 where Soviet tanks were used to roll back the liberalization of the "Prague Spring." Poland today Is not Afghanistan. a neutral. Third World country for which the Soviets have always had imperialist designs. Poland today is 10 million industrial workers who want a greater voice in the running of their unions and a greater voice in controlling their own destinies. And this creates a dilemma for the Soviets. It is one thing to turn guns on students and intellectuals. It is quite another to turn guns on the proletariat. the socalled foundation of the Communist state. The Soviet bloc is nothing more than a collection of governments comprised of dictatorial elites. V. L Lenin. on page 441 of volume XXV of his collected works (second edition) defined dictatorship in the following manner: The scientific concept of dictatorship means nothing more than unlimited government. unrestrained by any laws or any absolute rules and supporting Itself directly by force. Nothing other than that la the meaning of the concept of dictatorship. It is apparent this has been the central dogma for the dictatorial elite of the Soviet Unionbeginning with the rule of Josef Stalin. The maintenance of this status Is the overriding concern of the Soviet leadership even if it means it has to be accomplished at the expense of the workers and peasants. The historical expansionist policies of the Russian leaders have always taken primacy over the welfare of the proletariat. Little has changed since the czars.