Yet another basic tenet of communism was seemingly toppled this week when the Soviet parliament voted almost unanimously to permit its citizens to control private land once again.
The new law, which goes into effect March 15, stops just short of allowing individuals to own land. But from now on, collective farms and local governments will be obliged to lease land to people who want to use it to establish their own farms or for such other private purposes as building a summer home or setting up a small factory.The change makes sense economically and politically. By giving farmers control of their land and therefore more incentive to work hard on it, the new law should help improve the Soviet Union's notoriously poor agricultural output. Moreover, it comes as a tacit admission of the tragic blunder Joseph Stalin made in ordering the imprisonment or execution of 10 million peasants who refused to be chained to the collective farming system that began in 1929.
Despite all this, the new change deserves only two cheers, not three.
Keep in mind that although the change is certainly revolutionary, it is being imposed from the top down rather from the bottom up. Consequently, the new policy can be reversed just as rapidly and thoroughly as it is being initiated.
Keep in mind, too, that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev is making sweeping changes like the new land law not because the Kremlin wants to but because it has to. Communism has flopped massively, producing shortages instead of the plenty it once promised. But in undertaking this and various other reforms, Gorbachev is merely trying to save communism, not scrap it.
Finally, keep in mind that the Soviet Union is still a serious potential threat. Despite its internal problems, Moscow is still modernizing its massive military machine. Likewise, the Soviets still deploy a vast network of spies and saboteurs throughout the world.
Though the new smile on its face is certainly welcome, a grinning bear is still a bear. Consequently, the rest of the world still should be wary until there is plenty of evidence that the Soviets have permanently abandoned their aggressive foreign policy.