MATERIALS FOR THE X CONGRESS OF THE RCP(b) 371
PLAN FOR A SPEECH ON REPLACING PRODRAVYORSTKA WITH A TAX IN KIND*
In print, smooth over the “relations between the proletariat and the peasantry.”

1. The broader political significance of this question: =
the question of peasant (petty-bourgeois) counterrevolution.
In print, smooth over
Such a counterrevolution is already arrayed against us.

2. A Theoretical Excursion
(a) A bourgeois revolution or a socialist revolution? The struggle will decide (?), as renegade Kautsky argued (p. 102, 1918 edition).

3. Who will overcome whom? Two distinct classes.
The lesson of Kronstadt—politically speaking: greater unity (and discipline) within the Party,
a more resolute struggle against the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries.
Economically speaking: satisfy, to the greatest extent possible, the middle peasantry.

4. Almost all peasants have now become middle peasants. “Committees of the Indigent.”

5. How can we economically satisfy the middle peasantry—the small-scale commodity producer?

* See this volume, pp. 57–73. Ed.
** See Collected Works, 5th ed., vol. 37, pp. 235–338. Ed.

|||(a) Freedom of circulation, freedom of trade (= freedom of capitalism)??
|||(?) To procure the goods necessary for this.

6. “Freedom of circulation” = freedom of trade = freedom of capitalism.
A return to capitalism?
Our overly hasty, straightforward, unprepared “communism” was met with war—and with the utter impossibility of either procuring goods or getting factories up and running. There remain numerous possible transitional paths. We can still make the “rope” looser without breaking it, “slacken” its tension, “ease the load.” ??:
Yes. A draft of a new resolution (allowing for more flexible maneuvering).

7. Cooperatives. Repeal of the Resolution of the IX Congress—Cooperatives are, politically and economically, the optimal form for free circulation.

8. Where shall we obtain the goods?
(a) Loans. (100 million in gold) (two proposals), (?) Trade agreements with England and America. (?) Concessions.

9. State capitalism, a bloc with it at the top,
— while granting freedom of circulation to the peasantry and others below. Crutches and bandages? They were beaten nearly to death.
0. Workers are exhausted, worn out, and depleted.
A “breather,” like Brest— an economic respite.
Improve the situation of workers (10 million in gold, item 123, plus a special resolution, item 124). Improve the situation of the peasantry and get circulation moving again.

1. Individualized commodity exchange?
Yes! Let us boost production, stimulate circulation, grant a respite, strengthen the petty bourgeoisie—but far more importantly, MATERIALS FOR THE X CONGRESS OF THE RCP(b)
let us further consolidate large-scale production and the proletariat. The two are inextricably linked.

12. We cannot strengthen large-scale production, factories and plants, nor the proletariat, without, to some degree, revitalizing the petty bourgeoisie and its circulation.

13. A tax in kind.
Legislative history (briefly): October 30, 1918. A new approach now. Its economic significance.
(1) A stimulus for small producers: boost production. This is of paramount importance.
(2) State monopoly is not mandatory at this time (not all surplus must be absorbed by the state).
(3) Precise obligations toward the state.
Lessening bureaucratic rigidity.
(4) Allow the entire “circulation” to flow more freely—and even liberate it from “detachments.”
Announce in advance? Adjust after the harvest has been determined.
NB
Poor harvest—G. Popov’s “?”
and —< and his > harvest. [_“certificates” J

14. Maintain the firmness of the “apparatus.”
But the apparatus exists for politics (= for revising and rectifying relations among classes), not politics for the apparatus! ! (Good) bureaucracy serves politics, rather than politics serving (good) bureaucracy.
Now, maximum flexibility is required—and for such flexible maneuvering, the apparatus must maintain the greatest possible firmness.
Written in the first half of March 1921.
First published on March 21, 1931, in Pravda, No. 79.

Printed from manuscript