“Andor” actress Denise Gough joins the show to speak out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza and share the personal journey that led her to take a public stand...
Or maybe they were both shitty? Recognizing the atrocities that occurred under Stalin’s rule doesn’t make somebody an apologist for Western leaders, and that certainly wasn’t what I was implying.
Stalin’s government massively improved the living conditions of working-class people, stopped the Holocaust and the Lebensraum (and was the most consistent and early enemy of nazi Germany), and helped anti-colonial movements.
Yeah, nah, I can’t call Stalin’s government ‘shitty’.
Recognizing the atrocities that occurred under Stalin’s rule
‘Atrocities’ such as guaranteed housing, guaranteed access to healthcare, liquidation of illiteracy (all consequences of planned economy, by the way), a massive increase of life expectancy, cessation of famines.
executions were inside the party though, or did ‘les purges’ now intertwined with collectivization and ww2 ethnic deportations in your brain? cause directly deaths cause by stalin are not in millions range, they are around 1.5-2.5 (700k in purges, 800~2000 in deportations in totality (again debatable what is the attribution of ww2 to hard conditions, but sure). famine is very debatable to be caused by one man, deaths in prison never have been attributed to country leaders, or i would like obama death count to be amended by 30k dead prisoners.
leaving aside that, vietnam war killed two millions, people don’t clutch their pearls over lbj or jfk fans, how come?
Buddy, you could make a compelling case not to deify Stalin if you stuck to the facts. Deportations happened. Executions of millions of peasants is hilariously made up.
That was a pretty cool move. Much cooler than the deportation, relocation, and execution of millions of peasants and ethnic minorities.
You’re right, Stalin is a lot cooler than Churchill
Or maybe they were both shitty? Recognizing the atrocities that occurred under Stalin’s rule doesn’t make somebody an apologist for Western leaders, and that certainly wasn’t what I was implying.
Don’t mistake your opinion for everyone’s here?
Do you believe in double genocide theory?
I’m psychically sending you images of the Weenis right now.
Note: The Weenis is a dance.
Note 2: Everybody is a genius who knows it in advance.
spoiler
Wagadugu
Thats my favorite town in burkina faso
Uncritically swallowing every bit of western propaganda demonizing the opponents of those western leaders does, though.
Stalin’s government massively improved the living conditions of working-class people, stopped the Holocaust and the Lebensraum (and was the most consistent and early enemy of nazi Germany), and helped anti-colonial movements.
Yeah, nah, I can’t call Stalin’s government ‘shitty’.
‘Atrocities’ such as guaranteed housing, guaranteed access to healthcare, liquidation of illiteracy (all consequences of planned economy, by the way), a massive increase of life expectancy, cessation of famines.
That’s nazi propaganda, how do you feel about that?
Citations needed
executions were inside the party though, or did ‘les purges’ now intertwined with collectivization and ww2 ethnic deportations in your brain? cause directly deaths cause by stalin are not in millions range, they are around 1.5-2.5 (700k in purges, 800~2000 in deportations in totality (again debatable what is the attribution of ww2 to hard conditions, but sure). famine is very debatable to be caused by one man, deaths in prison never have been attributed to country leaders, or i would like obama death count to be amended by 30k dead prisoners.
leaving aside that, vietnam war killed two millions, people don’t clutch their pearls over lbj or jfk fans, how come?
Even total executions included stuff like murder, banditry, SA etc
Not just explicitly “political” crimes like treason etc
A claim like “There’s cultural genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang” is simply unreal to most Westerners, close to pure gibberish. The words really refer to existing entities and geographies, but Westerners aren’t familiar with them. The actual content of the utterance as it spills out is no more complex or nuanced than “China Bad,” and the elementary mistakes people make when they write out statements of “solidarity” make that much clear. This is not a complaint that these people have not studied China enough — there’s no reason to expect them to study China, and retrospectively I think to some extent it was a mistake to personally have spent so much time trying to teach them. It’s instead an acknowledgment that they are eagerly wielding the accusation like a club, that they are in reality unconcerned with its truth-content, because it serves a social purpose.
What is this social purpose? Westerners want to believe that other places are worse off, exactly how Americans and Canadians perennially flatter themselves by attacking each others’ decaying health-care systems, or how a divorcee might fantasize that their ex-lover’s blooming love-life is secretly miserable. This kind of “crab mentality” is actually a sophisticated coping mechanism suitable for an environment in which no other course of action seems viable. Cognitive dissonance, the kind that eventually spurs one into becoming intolerant of the status quo and into action, is initially unpleasant and scary for everybody. In this way, we can begin to understand the benefit that “victims” of propaganda derive from carelessly “spreading awareness.” Their efforts feed an ambient propaganda haze of controversy and scandal and wariness that suffocates any painful optimism (or jealousy) and ensuing sense of duty one might otherwise feel from a casual glance at the amazing things happening elsewhere. People aren’t “falling” for atrocity propaganda; they’re eagerly seeking it out, like a soothing balm.
Buddy, you could make a compelling case not to deify Stalin if you stuck to the facts. Deportations happened. Executions of millions of peasants is hilariously made up.
Yo can you just tell me what page of the Black Book? Just want to check your sources real quick
Correct, it is much cooler than the deportation, relocation, and execution of millions that your empire has been committing.