A Viennese Marxist magazine has just publisned extracts trom tne testament o Eugen Varga, a major Soviet economist WRO died Varga was Hungarian who participated the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, and was head of the Moscow Institue World Economics and Politics from 1927 to 1941. he was sackca for prcarcun: that the capitalist economies of the West could avoid immediate future (Stalin was predicting the opposite)
Although leading ideologist of Stalinism Varga's testament contains a bitter critique present Soviet It is not a revolutionary document, since it denies the role but it is a lot more serious than IllassCs.
of Russia moment: these either ranting attacks Social by intellectuals who are infatuated with the west-General Motors, and Heidegger— or else apologetic speeches by members of the Soviet bureaucracy.
Varga states that despite the changes made by Krushchev the and political system of the USSR has not changed since death any extent. "The major reason for this leaders of the bureaucracy of IT ODIL lies in the tact the state, that the which Stalin formed, are unwilling at any price to give up their unlimited and uncontrolled personal power or to abandon the secrecy with which they surround their political and economic decisions. Consequently Krushchev's attempt to limit, prerogatives of are party had operatie autocratic results. He was not allowed to finish what he was trying to do.
Varga ends up by arguing that what is needed is "a radical change at the top. •His reason for this profoundly awaiting a change from below. in reality pessimistic: "There working used obeying that they are unable to force the to realise the tasks that Lenin set for Soviet Society at the end of his life. Union preeting intellectuals, e crisis -is a continuing illust crisis that Varga political oppositio bureaucracy, to reform itself