Stockpiling Problems and Inevitability

While reading our primary source “Gorbachev Challenges the Party,” I found it interesting that Gorbachev implies that his reconstruction was ignited from a stockpile of problems that the Party failed to realize throughout the years. Gorbachev explains that there are a multitude of problems from the past that are coming to light, similar to how Krushchev acknowledged wrongdoings by Stalin in the “Secret Speech.” Gorbachev makes two important points in the progression of a need for reform: (1) The hard-work and strong mentality of the Soviet people restrained the progression problems and served as a mask to the inevitable and (2) Failure of Party leadership to acknowledge what was actually going on. When talking about Party leaders, Gorbachev explains that they had the “desire to brush aside everything that didn’t fit into habitual patterns and an unwillingness to tackle urgent social and economic questions” (Gorbachev). Knowing that there were issues going on internally on both the local and large scale, do you agree that this need for change was inevitable? Was the stockpiling of problems just eventually bound to cause political change? If action was taken sooner, or if action by Gorbachev was ignored, what would the outcome of this era be?

One Reply to “Stockpiling Problems and Inevitability”

  1. I think in regards to your first question, the need for change was definitely inevitable. As long as governments ignore their problems and push them down the road, change will have to occur sooner or later. It’s what caused the revolution in the first place. If they had remembered their past and acted on the problems that were occurring, they would have been able to avoid this entirely.

Leave a Reply to Sarah Dugan Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

css.php