All views welcome at Socialism 2006


WE PRINT below a letter from a Russian living in Britain who isn’t
sure about what the Socialist Party says about the ex-Soviet Union but
who still wants to come to Socialism 2006 to participate in the
discussions there.
Everyone is welcome at Socialism 2006, whether you agree with what we
say or not. And everyone has the chance to participate in the debates
and discussions. Whatever you are interested in, there will be a session
for you!

I WOULD like to participate in discussions at the Socialism 2006
weekend. Particularly in the part: Why the Soviet Union wasn’t socialist
and how democracy would work under socialism. I am 44, hold British and
Russian passports. I moved to live in Britain in 2000 and I am old
enough to be able to compare life in the Soviet Union, the new Russia
and Britain today.

As a Russian living in Britain I am shocked how little people here
know about USSR and how years of cold war propaganda still affect the
public. For decades, the only Russians who talked here about socialism
in the USSR were political immigrants, how objective could they be?

The Soviet Union was indeed socialism in many aspects – no
unemployment, no drugs, no homeless people. No wonder millions in the
former USSR miss that time and there is no way Russians would ever agree
to compare communism with fascism, as the European parliament recently
proposed.

Telling the truth, only living in the UK made me think to join the
socialist movement or party. My stepdaughter, almost eight, has head
lice for the second year. Trying to start an awareness campaign in the
school I looked at available sources: educational brochures, lectures,
video, etc – there is nothing for free!

I found a charity that received a grant of £10 million (that would be
enough to buy the aid product for every infected child in the UK). They
spent the money producing a comb (that does not kill the thing and does
not prevent the spread either) and they now sell the comb and the
brochures to public!

For somebody like me, growing up in the USSR, that level of cynicism
toward kids’ suffering is impossible to comprehend. A local doctor would
come to check all the kids in school and free solution would be
supplied.

Socialism for me is the attitude, the values we all respect deep
inside but somehow accepted that they end outside our close circle and
that profit-making rules the world. These values were present in the
Soviet Union, they are what is missed – when you are not alone and
somebody else with power in their hands also thinks about you, your
family, your children, your elderly and their future.

It would be great to try to contribute to achieving a fair balance
here. I think a more objective view on the USSR experience would also
improve overall image of socialism among the British public.

Thank you for reading this. I will be booking a place at the event.

Ms Anna Morozova, South Buckinghamshire

socialism 2006 is a weekend of discussion and debate hosted by the
Socialist Party 25 and 26 November 2006 University of London Union,
Malet Street, London WC1.


www.socialism2006.net