Page:Karl Radek - Proletarian Dictatorship and Terrorism - tr. Patrick Lavin (1921).djvu/49

42 German-Austria. The cookery books say that the carp likes to be roasted in cream; and Kautsky and Co. apparently thought that the bourgeoisie like to be gradually expropriated. But they must have been convinced that the bourgeoisie preferred not to be expropriated at all. They (the bourgeoisie) caused Herr Kautsky and other professors in Berlin, and Herr Bauer in Vienna, to "study" the question, and meanwhile they set about building up again their power which had been shaken in November, and the question of Socialization was settled. If the Government, in its proposed plan fer Workers' Councils, would grant a place to a representative of the workers on the managing body, all would be well; otherwise industrial unrest will continue and the fitness of the Government's proposals will not be tested. The workers require, not an occasional glimpse into the work of management, but a daily participation in the direction of industrial undertakings, and only in this way can they really master the conditions and problems of the direction of industry. It can therefore be seen that the method of Kautsky is a Utopian one, and can be compared to the attempt to wash the skin without wetting it. The real development which took place in Russia, and the outlines of which will be repeated in other countries, makes it more difficult for the proletariat to learn how to direct production, and makes the process of transition from Capitalism to Socialism much more painful. What happened in Russia?

The workers demanded control of industry through workshop committees. They did this not on doctrinaire grounds, nor under the influence of Communist propaganda, but from the pressure of necessity. It frequently happened that capitalists wanted to close their factories, as the rising prices of raw materials, machinery, and labor power threatened their war profits. It was more to their interest to save their war profits and to temporarily paralyze industry. In other cases the capitalists dislocated industry for the time being, in order to compel the workers to minimize their demands; and in others again, because they were really unable to obtain raw