Editorial:

Commemorating the Russian Revolution

November 7 marked the 87th anniversary of the Great October 
Socialist Revolution when Russian workers, under the leadership 
of Vladimir Lenin and his party, took power. If anyone doubts the 
part played by the Soviet Union for peace and social progress in 
the decades following the 1917, a look at the present dangerous 
world situation should quickly dispel such uncertainty. 
Imperialism is now running virtually out of control and the 
social and economic gains made by the people of the world are 
under unprecedented attack.

The government of the socialist Soviet Union (USSR) was for many 
years the main international voice for peace and disarmament. It 
was the Soviet Union that called for the immediate banning of 
nuclear weapons both before and after it also became a nuclear 
power. It was at the forefront in the United Nations in efforts 
to eliminate chemical and biological weapons. The call was for 
ALL NATIONS to eliminate such weapons. Without the Soviet Union's 
strong voice for disarmament in the United Nations, past gains 
are being reversed.

The Soviet Union exercised a strong restraining hand on the 
bellicose leadership of successive US Presidents. Bush is merely 
the latest and the most aggressive of all — but there is now no 
USSR to restrain his administration. The Soviet Union aided the 
liberation movements of the former colonies. One after another 
they achieved their political independence. They received 
generous material assistance from the USSR and other socialist 
countries to start building their economies. The Soviet Union 
gave tremendous assistance to Vietnam and helped protect Cuba 
from invasion.

The socialist system gave the people of the Soviet Union free, 
high-standard education to university level, universal access to 
free medical services and extremely cheap rents. They paid next 
to nothing for public transport, telephones, central heating, 
electricity and water.

The Soviet Union played by far the greatest role in the defeat of 
Hitlerism in WW 2. Despite the enormous destruction wrought by 
the Nazi invaders, the economy of the Soviet Union was quickly 
rebuilt after the war thanks to planning and the determination of 
the people. It became the second most powerful industrial power 
after the United States.

These and the many other achievements were made under the 
leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. They were 
building a new society without exploiters and with a new morality 
based on the collective good. That there were shortcomings and 
mistakes is beyond dispute but the advances made for the people 
arose from that leadership and from the socialist system they 
were building.

From day one of the Russian revolution the capitalist powers 
worked unceasingly to prevent the building of a socialist society 
and to overthrow governments committed to socialism. Socialism 
was and is a mortal danger in the eyes of those who profit from 
the exploitation of the labour of others.

They eventually succeeded in overthrowing socialism in the Soviet 
Union with the assistance of Gorbachev and other traitors who had 
infiltrated the leadership of the Communist Party. This was a 
tragedy not only for the people of the former Soviet Union but 
also for the whole world.

The capitalist states proclaimed communism dead, that socialism 
did not work and was a failure, that it was the end of history 
and so would remain forever.

Fifteen years since the breakup of the Soviet Union the world is 
more insecure than ever. With Bush in power, more wars are a 
certainty. The economic, political and military power of the 
Soviet Union would have helped the people of the world 
straitjacket such warmongering politicians as Bush, Blair and 
Howard. It would have remained a beacon of hope for the poverty 
stricken, the homeless and those without health care and 
education.

Time marches on but revolutionaries and progressives around the 
world will not forget the experience and achievements of the 
Soviet Union. Its example will continue to inspire millions. It 
showed that a better life is possible for the world's people. Not 
even Bush is capable of stopping this march of history.