Gorbachev and Soviet Reforms

Marx, when he wrote his manifesto, overlooked one thing. Institutions are born, they live, then they die. What suffices in the past becomes stagnant in the present. And what we have today may not fit the future. Egypt, Russia, China--all have suffered from status-quo-itis.

Technical progress demands innovation; one cannot remain competitive with a labor force that uses antiquated methods and equipment. A society must be liberal enough to keep its creative spark, for a make-work society is not enough. If there is no demand for one’s products, one’s industrial machine will come to a halt. This would be true also for any future labor forces. They would be left behind to flounder when new industrial design and machines took over. Ill-trained workers would be unable to handle the latest in high-tech and advanced medicine.

Perhaps Gorbachev is on the right path. He needs something to galvanize his masses. The whole industrial plant needs to be written off and be supplanted by a modern plant that fits the times. He needs the dynamic that we call democracy if he wants to catch up to the modern world.

MAX L. SIRICK

Westminster