The Politics of Ideas in the USSR [antikvár]

Editor's Preface One of the salient characteristics of the Soviet style of rule is the concern of the political leadership with the regulation of the public expression of ideas. Nor is this a matter only of politics proper, but extends into the humanities and sciences, and even, within limits which vary from time to time, into literary work. The Soviet position does not arise from Marxist principles as such. Marx himself spoke strongly against the censored Press. Indeed, he flatly countered the Soviet view-point when he wrote: 'The censored Press, a bad Press, remains bad, even when giving good products. A free Press remains good, even when giving bad products."* And Lenin, when he seized power in 1917, at first permitted not only the Menshevik and other opposition Socialist Press, but even the newspapers of the 'bourgeois' Kadet party. The total suppression of opposition thought was not complete until about 1920. Rosa Luxemburg, the Polish Communist theoretician and martyr who was killed in 1919, was critical of the Soviet régime even in those early days. Though herself in many ways on the left of the Communist movement, and a strong believer in the proletarian dictatorship', she continued to hold that freedom of speech and free elections were essentials for the healthy development of a socialist state. Nor did she define 'freedom' in some esoteric fashion to mean freedom simply to support the government. She said clearly enough, 'Freedom only for the supporters of the government, only for the members of one party—^however numerous they may be—is no freedom at all. Freedom is always and exclusively freedom for the one who thinks differently.' She did not maintain this out of attachment to abstract principle, but because she saw that 'without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free ' Marx, Collected Works, MEGA Edition, Vol. I.