Page - 114 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

114 chapter 3 ment, theexpansionof industrialbureaucracy,andoccupationaldiseasesres- ultingfrommoreintensive labour.Hedrewthefollowingconclusion: The social order canonlybe rationalised in the struggle of theworking classagainst thecapitalists. If,when,andinwhatwaystheworkingclass willbeabletoaccomplishtherationalisationofthesocialorder,however, willdependonthesuccessfulconstructionofsocialismintheussronthe onehand,anddemocracyassertingitself inEuropeontheother.80 ourtranslation ItisnowonderthatBauerwasimpressedbythecentralised,state-ownedSoviet economyof the 1930s,which allowed the country tomaster crises causedby the external tensions of capitalist economies. His positive judgement of the Soviet economywas undoubtedly a result of his personal beliefs, but citing Russia as an example also served as a foundation for a broader thesis: in a socialist economy, crises disappear, and this process will go hand in hand with full rationalisation. This is the key to a question thatwill conclude the issue. 4 SocialismandtheTheoryof ‘OrganisedCapitalism’ LikeMarx,Bauerassumedthatobjectiveconditions forbuilding the socialist order areachievedwhen theconcentrationandcentralisationof capital is at itshighest levels.Atthetimewhenheestablishedhistheory,theSocialDemo- crats were guided by the notion that imperialismwould naturally develop towardsplannedcapitalism.BernsteinandHilferdinginparticularhighlighted thisthesis,althoughtheyarrivedatfundamentallydifferentconclusions.Bern- steindemonstratedthatcapitalismhadalreadylaidthesocial foundations for socialism(i.e.theconcentrationofproductionaccelerateditssocialisation,the processofcapitalism’s‘growinginto’socialismwaspermanentanduninterrup- ted, and the class strugglewaswaning).Hence, calls for revolutionary action were no longer substantiated or justified.While Bauer agreedwith the eco- 80 ‘DieRationalisierungderGesellschaftsordnungkannnur errungenwerden imKlassen- kampfderArbeiterklassegegendieKapitalisten.Aberobundwann,aufwelchenWegen undmitwelchenMitteln die Arbeiterklasse die Rationalisierung der Gesellschaftsord- nung durchzuführen vermögenwird, wird abhängen einerseits von demGelingen des sozialistischenAufbauesinderSowjetunion,andererseitsvonderBehauptungderDemo- kratie inEuropa’–seeBauer1931.