Lenin, in his last period of active life, became increasingly aware of the dangers posed by the power of the bureaucracy. At the eleventh party congress in 1922 (the last he attended) he sounded this warning:

“The [state] machine refused to obey the hand that guided it. It was like a car that was going not in the way the driver desired but in a... See more

“Undoubtedly, we have done, and will still do, a host of stupid things...Why do we do these foolish things? The reason is clear: firstly, because we are backward country; secondly, because education in our country is at a low level; and thirdly, because we are getting no outside assistance. Not a single civilized country is helping us. On the... See more