"On the other hand," Georgi muttered uncomfortably, "we're not
interested in giving you Americans an opportunity that would enable
you to collapse the whole fabric of this country and its allies."
"Look here," Hank said. "In the States we seem to know surprisingly
little about your movement. Just what _do_ you expect to accomplish?"
"To make it brief, we wish to enjoy the product of the sacrifices of
the past fifty years. If you recall your Marx"--he twisted his face
here in wry amusement--"the idea was that the State was to wither away
once Socialism was established. Instead of withering away, it has
become increasingly strong. This was explained by the early Bolsheviks
in a fairly reasonable manner. Socialism presupposes a highly
industrialized economy. It's not possible in a primitive nor even a
feudalistic society. So our Communist bureaucracy remained in the
saddle through a period of transition. The task was to industrialize
the Soviet countries in a matter of decades where it had taken the
Capitalist nations a century or two."
Georgi shrugged. "I've never heard of a governing class giving up its
once acquired power of its own accord, no matter how incompetent they
might be."