[Fresh Ink] It's time for a second American revolution in the spirit of perestroika

[Richard Menec]

<http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/its-time-for-a-second-american-revolution-in-the-spirit-of-perestroika-20090609-c25z.html?page=-1>

It's time for a second American revolution in the spirit of perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev

June 10, 2009

Years ago, as the Cold War was coming to an end, I said to my fellow leaders 
around the globe: the world is on the cusp of great events, and in the face 
of new challenges all of us will have to change, you as well as we. For the 
most part, the reaction was polite but sceptical silence.

In recent years, I have often told listeners that I feel Americans need 
their own change - a perestroika, not like the one in my country, but an 
American perestroika - and the reaction has been markedly different. Halls 
filled with thousands of people have responded with applause.

Some have reacted with understanding. Others have objected, sometimes 
sarcastically, suggesting that I want the United States to experience 
upheaval, just like the former Soviet Union. In my country, particularly 
caustic reactions have come from the opponents of perestroika, people with 
short memories and a deficit of conscience.

Our perestroika signalled the need for change in the Soviet Union, but it 
was not meant to suggest a capitulation to the US model. Today, the need for 
a more far-reaching perestroika - one for America and the world - has become 
clearer than ever.

The need for change in the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s was urgent. The 
country was stifled by a lack of freedom, and the people - particularly the 
educated class - wanted to break the stranglehold of a system that had been 
built under Stalin.

We opted for free elections, political pluralism, freedom of religion and an 
economy with competition and private property. We sought to effect these 
changes in an evolutionary way and without bloodshed. We made mistakes. 
Important decisions were made too late, and we were unable to complete our 
perestroika. Nevertheless, perestroika won, because it brought the country 
to a point from which there could be no return to the past.

In the West, the break-up of the Soviet Union was viewed as a total victory 
that proved that the West did not need to change. Western leaders were 
convinced that they were at the helm of the right system and of a 
well-functioning, almost perfect economic model. Scholars opined that 
history had ended. The dogma of free markets, deregulation and balanced 
budgets at any cost was force-fed to the rest of the world.

But then came the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, and it became clear that 
the new Western model was an illusion that benefited chiefly the very rich. 
Statistics show that the poor and the middle class saw little or no benefit 
from the economic growth of the past decades.

The global crisis demonstrates that the leaders of major powers had missed 
the signals that called for a perestroika. The result is a crisis that is 
not just financial and economic. It is political, too.

The model that emerged during the late 20th century has turned out to be 
unsustainable. It was based on a drive for super-profits and 
hyper-consumption for a few, on unrestrained exploitation of resources and 
on social and environmental irresponsibility.

But if all the proposed solutions and action now come down to a mere 
rebranding of the old system, we are bound to see another, perhaps even 
greater upheaval down the road. The current model does not need adjusting; 
it needs replacing. I have no ready-made prescriptions. But I am convinced 
that a new model will emerge, one that will emphasise public needs and 
public good, such as a cleaner environment, well-functioning infrastructure 
and public transport, sound education and health systems and affordable 
housing.

Elements of such a model already exist in some nations. Countries such as 
Malaysia and Brazil have achieved impressive rates of growth. China and 
India have pulled hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. By 
mobilising state resources, France has built a system of high-speed 
railways, while Canada provides free health care. Among the new democracies, 
Slovenia and Slovakia have been able to mitigate the social consequences of 
market reforms.

The time has come to strike the right balance between the government and the 
market, for integrating social and environmental factors and demilitarising 
the economy.

Washington will have to play a special role in this new perestroika, not 
just because the United States wields great economic, political and military 
power, but because America was the main architect, and America's elite the 
main beneficiary, of the current world economic model. That model is now 
cracking and will, sooner or later, be replaced. That will be a complex and 
painful process for everyone, including the United States.

However different the problems that the Soviet Union confronted during our 
perestroika and the challenges now facing the United States, the need for 
new thinking makes these two eras similar. In our time, we faced up to the 
main tasks of putting an end to the division of the world, winding down the 
nuclear arms race and defusing conflicts. We will cope with the new global 
challenges as well, but only if everyone understands the need for real, 
cardinal change - for a global perestroika.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last general secretary of the Communist Party of the 
Soviet Union, heads the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and 
Political Studies, a Moscow-based think tank.