Jaakko wrote:Have you come to this conclusion by yourself, or have you atleast verified it through your own study of works by Marx and Engels? Or have you just accepted the pacifist interpretations of some bourgeois 'Marxologists'?
Lenin was familiar with
Capital and of course the
Manifesto, but was unfamilar with
The German Ideology and
Economic and Philisophical Manuscrips from 1844. Lenin and Stalin both had very selective views as to what Marx "really meant". Compare it to Christianity. One guy with a pretty good message, but a conglomeration of followers always offering their "spin" on what Jesus said.
To answer your question, yes I have come to this conclusion by myself, from studying both Marx and Engel's works, as well as Lenin and Stalin's philosophies.
That's something under debate here. If it was beyond debate, you wouldn't have to point to its supposed factuality (It's a Fact, dammit!).)
Fair enough, disagreement on figures, but either way, we can agree that he killed more people than Hitler, who is widely viewed as one of the most evil men in history. Unlike Hitler, however, was that in this case nobody was safe.
Of course. But to what extent and for what reasons and by whom, that's not agreed.
"Those who forsake Liberty for (the illusion) of security, deserve neither." - Ben Franklin
Regardless of the reasons, and by whom, this was not a free society. If it was, Secret Police would not be necesary.
Yes, the 'Ultimate Evil Mastermind' theory.
I can't tell if that was sarcasm, so I'll just elaborate my position. This really is the heart of why I view him as an evil evil man.
When he first took power, Stalin enacted the "Great Purge", where he killed disidents by the millions (read that again, MILLIONS), once again because he didn't agree with the way that he thought, but hey, that's just the first order of business. When workers didn't meet their quotas, it was off the Gulag, and we both know what that meant.
During the War, he enacted a plan that some call brilliant, the Scorched Earth policy. Spreading a distance between the Russians and the Germans that Hitler could not contend with and destroying what was in between. When he regrouped in the east, the factories went to work to create an army that Hitler's weakened war machine could not compare to, and they captured Berlin in 1945. In between, 20 Million Russians died. This was called a success. The remaining war heroes, every admiral, three of the five top commanders, and half of all military officers, were killed because Stalin was afraid that they were disident of his regime.
For the most part he did. And as much as he criticized Stalin, he criticized others even more and fiercely. As you might know, Lenin was an ultra-critical person (good for a statesman)
Lenin wanted Trotsky, Stalin conspired for Trotsky to take that little vacation to Mexico, only to be killed years later by (suprise) Stalin's secret police. I at least admire Lenin for recognizing that some private property is necesary, and for being somewhat moderate, Stalin took what little moderation was left in Leninism and blew it all out the window. Criticism is fine, it's always important to question the administration. I find it ironic that you are saying this in the same breath that you are defending a man who killed all the people that questioned him though.
AFTER? This is partly true what comes to Russian people. The generations who came after Stalin, like him the least. The generations that lived during Stalin, are the most supportive of him. Not vice versa.
You know, Saddam was elected unanimously as well. Funny how much support one can get when you threaten to kill anybody that doesn't like you. Regardless of WHY the post-Stalinist regime rejected him, they still did. Funny that Kruschev himself was part of many of Stalin's purgings, but failed to recognize that in his rejection of Stalin. Doesn't sound like this guy was part of the "Cult of the Individual" that you claimed.
Damn, this became an essay. Anyway hope that we can continue this little exchange. I just don't think that you want to read any more of this.
"Never put passions ahead of principles. Even if you win, you lose."