When the New Normal (ie. severe shortages) came to reside in the Soviet Union it took Lenin's politburo by surprise, after all: Comrad Marx never even implied such a thing could happen.
"While we all were busy with trade unions, the existence of the Soviet state was found to be menaced. We were without fuel. Food became horribly scarce. The stocks and reserves accumulated in the preceding years gave out. After having destroyed for such a long period, our government was brutally confronted with the necessity to build, and build quickly. The civil war was over and could not be used any longer to explain bankruptcy."
-from Amazon:
