RFH Ep. 54-The Nature Of Russian Economy

Radio Free Humanity: The Marxist-Humanist Podcast

Brendan and Andrew discuss Raya Dunayevskaya’s 1946-47 article, “The Nature of the Russian Economy,” and why the issues remain relevant to the fight for socialism today. Questions addressed in the discussion include: How can a society with a planned economy, and without private ownership of means of production, be capitalist? In what sense was the Russian economy “planned”? Did Russia really escape the capitalistic imperative to invest in and privilege the growth of high-profit industries? Was there a class division between the “classless intelligentsia” and the working class? Why was the Stalinist wage norm––“payment according to labor”––a capitalistic norm? Current-events segment: Rolling Stone’s bombshell revelation that several Trumpite congresspeople helped plan the Capitol Insurrection.