Posted on 06/06/2004 8:27:29 AM PDT by knighthawk
AMERICA'S economic boom from the early 1980s to the beginning of this century is in large part a legacy of the end of the Cold War, which confirmed the triumph of capitalism over socialism. Yet many historians and pundits have refused to credit Ronald Reagan's policies for helping to bring about the Cold War victory.
Rather, they insist that Soviet communism suffered from chronic economic problems and predictably lapsed, as Time magazine's Strobe Talbott put it, "not because of anything the outside world has done or not done . . . but because of defects and inadequacies at its core".
If so, it is reasonable to expect that the inevitable Soviet collapse would have been foreseen by these experts. Let's see what some of them had to say about the Soviet system during the '80s.
In 1982, the learned Sovietologist Seweryn Bialer, of Columbia University, wrote in Foreign Affairs: "The Soviet Union is not now, nor will it be during the next decade, in the throes of a true systemic crisis, for it boasts enormous unused reserves of political and social stability."
This view was seconded that same year by the historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr, who observed that "those in the United States who think the Soviet Union is on the verge of economic and social collapse" are "wishful thinkers who are only kidding themselves".
John Kenneth Galbraith, the distinguished Harvard economist, wrote in 1984: "That the Soviet system has made great material progress in recent years is evident both from the statistics and from the general urban scene. One sees it in the appearance of solid well-being of the people on the streets . . . and the general aspect of restaurants, theatres, and shops. Partly, the Russian system succeeds because, in contrast with the Western industrial economies, it makes full use of its manpower."
Equally imaginative was the assessment of Paul Samuelson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Nobel laureate in economics, writing in the 1985 edition of his widely used textbook: "What counts is results, and there can be no doubt that the Soviet planning system has been a powerful engine for economic growth. The Soviet model has surely demonstrated that a command economy is capable of mobilising resources for rapid growth."
Columnist James Reston, of The New York Times, revealed his capacity for sophisticated even-handedness in June 1985 when he dismissed the possibility of the collapse of communism on the grounds that Soviet problems were not different from those in the US. "It is clear that the ideologies of communism, socialism and capitalism are all in trouble," he wrote.
But the genius award undoubtedly goes to Lester Thurow, another MIT economist and well-known author who, as late as 1989, wrote: "Can economic command significantly . . . accelerate the growth process? The remarkable performance of the Soviet Union suggests that it can. Today the Soviet Union is a country whose economic achievements bear comparison with those of the United States."
Throughout the 1980s, most of these pundits derisively condemned Reagan's policies. Talbott faulted the Reagan administration for espousing "the early '50s goal of rolling back Soviet domination of Eastern Europe", an objective he considered misguided and unrealistic.
"Reagan is counting on American technological and economic predominance to prevail in the end," Talbott scoffed, adding that if the Soviet economy was in a crisis of any kind, "it is a permanent, institutionalised crisis with which the USSR has learned to live."
Perhaps one should not be too hard on the wise men. After all, explains Schlesinger in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse: "History has an abiding capacity to outwit our certitudes. No one foresaw these changes."
Wrong again, professor. Ronald Reagan foresaw them. In 1981, Reagan told the students and faculty at the University of Notre Dame: "The West won't contain communism. It will transcend communism. We will dismiss it as some bizarre chapter in human history whose last pages are even now being written."
In 1982, Reagan told the British Parliament in London: "In an ironic sense, Karl Marx was right. We are witnessing today a great revolutionary crisis. But the crisis is happening not in the free, non-Marxist West, but in the home of Marxism-Leninism, the Soviet Union."
Reagan added that "it is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of history by denying freedom and human dignity to its citizens" and he predicted that if the Western alliance remained strong it would produce a "march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history".
In 1987 Reagan spoke at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin. "In the communist world," he said, "we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards. Even today, the Soviet Union cannot feed itself." Thus the "inescapable conclusion" in his view was that "freedom is the victor".
Then Reagan said: "General-secretary Gorbachev ... Come here to this gate. Mr Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
Not long after this, the wall did come tumbling down and Reagan's prophecies all came true. These were not just results Reagan predicted. He intended the outcome. He implemented policies that were aimed at producing it. He was denounced for those policies. Still, in the end his objective was achieved.
Margaret Thatcher remarked a few years ago that Reagan would go down in history as the man who "won the Cold War without firing a shot". Perhaps it is too much to ask the wise to admit their errors. But it's only right that Reagan deserves due credit during his lifetime for his prescient statesmanship.
Dinesh D'Souza is author of Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader (The Free Press, 1997).
Ping
bttt
bump for a great article
The real reason the Left hates Reagan is because they know he defeated their beloved USSR.
Bumped and bookmarked! Great article and chock full o' good quotes from the usual gas bags and fellow travellers.
ping
Elites: Overblown egos who blow their own horns and are remarkably wrong on many of their predictions.
Glad #40 didn't listen to them.
Idiots.
I always loved the time when they asked Reagan to do a sound check and he said something like " on the count of three launch the missiles on the USSR". Apparently if you had a satelite dish you were able to see this. I loved the reactions from that. Made the Ruskies think twice thats for sure.
It is worse than that. WE defeated the Soviet Union. It was Reagan who had the vision and leadership to convince us that not only could we do it but that we would do it because it was the right thing to do.
I take one mild exception. This passage is misleading:
AMERICA'S economic boom from the early 1980s to the beginning of this century is in large part a legacy of the end of the Cold War...
The Reagan economic boom was primarily due to his tax cuts and reining-in of government regulations. This unleashed venture investment and entrepreneurship.
Reagan's winning of the Cold War certainly was a major help. But when Bush the Elder and Criminal Clinton both raised taxes they killed the boom, even though the Cold War was still over.
Government creates recession. People create prosperity. President Reagan was a wise man to understand this. He was a great man when he used it for the common good.
Are you thinking of the time he said on a mike check: "My fellow Americans. I'm pleased to announce that I've signed legislation outlawing the Soviet Union. We begin bombing in five minutes."
Hmmm..Lenin, could always count on these "useful idiots" in the West... ...these Liberal Historians, shall never give proper credit to RR for the actions that lead to the collapse of the USSR.
In fact, They despise him for it because..."their socialist Utopia came crashing down.".
Excellent Points All... :))
True....until President Reagan came on the scene the world was in awful shape...HE and he alone saved this world.
That was a great episode. The shrieks from the shocked press corps rang for weeks - 'How dare he make remarks like that...'
Those were good times.
Strobe Tabott: Clintonoid buttboy.
Yup...thats the one !!!
Your right, those were good times.
I never thought I would witness those events in my lifetime. But Reagan understood the Soviet Union and Eastern block countries were teetering on the verge of collapse. He was a truly remarkable man!
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