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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 39, Number 16, July 12, 1976.

The Mirage of Soviet Imperialism

The Mirage of Soviet Imperialism

Terry Auld's article "Who's the Best Marxman" (Part 1) pulled the "crucial question in this debate" out of the hat: "What is the real nature of Soviet society today?"

This debate is in fact continuing world-wide among those who have up till now followed Peking's view that the Soviet Union had "restored capitalism".

This is because the rhetoric of the Chinese government has taken a new turn, in that it now regards the Soviet Union as the "main danger" in the world today. This view, which happens to coincide with the statements of the United States imperialists (Terry Auld even quotes Henry Kissinger and Helmut Sonnenfelt as two of his authorities!) has repelled many of those who in the past uncritically supported China's foreign policy.

For example, Irwin Silber, the editor of The Guardian, the leading Maoist weekly in American, said in a speech recently that Peking's view of the Soviet Union as the main danger is a "profound historical error..... the struggle against U.S. imperialism is the main objective." He described the United States as the "chief prop of Western imperialism" and the "most powerful oppressive and exploiting force in the world".

Terry Auld, on the other hand, is still sucking on his Peking life saver.