Quote of the Day #6

"Socialism is planned to the end of best satisfying human needs; otherwise it does not deserve the name of socialism."

— Leon Trotsky, "The Revolution Betrayed", 1936

Trotsky wrote this while in exile after Stalin expelled him from the USSR. The Revolution Betrayed critiques what the Soviet Union became under Stalin's rule. His argument states that a planned economy that does not improve living standards cannot be called "socialism," no matter who is in charge of the state.

Trotsky is establishing a results-based standard for socialism, not a structural one. It's not about who owns what but whether people's needs are met. Does that standard work as a general test for any economic system, including capitalism? And does the fact that Trotsky wrote this specifically to criticize the USSR affect how members here interpret it? Is it seen as a critique of planning itself, or as an internal critique of how one country implemented it?