Essay:The record of communism in the Soviet Union: comparisons across time and internationally

This article seeks to assess the impact of Communism in the USSR on the welfare of the people in that country. Social and economic data, including qualitative kinds of evidence as well as 'facts and figures' will be presented. Comparison of data from the pre-revolutionary, Communist, and post-Communist periods; and comparison of data from the USSR with data from other countries such as the United States will be made. I believe these kinds of comparisons are relevant, although not decisive, in assessing the desirability of communism as a system.

Until the late 1950s, Soviet industry expanded more rapidly than that of any other country. Even now [ca. 1975], Soviet industrial production has been rising more rapidly than in most industrialised countries – in terms of increased output, only Japan has performed consistently better than the Soviet Union. – T J Grayson, 'The Factory', in R W Davies The Soviet Union, 1978. P 130.

Democracy
The class composition of the governing bodies in the Soviet Union tended to be less elitist than in Western countries (eg., USSR had a greater proportion of ordinary workers in the government).

 From 1918 to 1921, even with one-person management, 58 percent of those in charge of the economy and production were workers. Some 51 percent of those in the Supreme Economic Council were workers. – Clark Everling, Dialectics of Class Struggle in the Global Economy, London, Routledge, 2010. P 118. He cites T H Rigby, Lenin's Government: Sovnarkom 1917-1922, Cambridge; Cambridge Univ. Prress; 1979.

Composition of Deputies of the Supreme Soviet, in 1970:  (percentages) Workers    31.7 Collective farmers    18.6 Directors of enterprises and specialists of all economic branches  4.8 Party, Soviet, Labour union, and Komsomol functionaries  31.5 Scientists, writers, artists, educators, public health workers  9.6 Military    3.8 Source: Boris Lewytzkyj, ed., The Soviet Union: Figures - Facts - Data Munchen, Germany; K G Saur; 1979. Table 4.2.5.