Submitted 4 months ago by telokic@lemmy.world to youshouldknow@lemmy.world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge
There’s a pretty good Behind the Bastards episode on Stahlin. Basically he was an ultra-paranoid drunk that forced his cabinet members to get drunk with him on a regular basis, which pretty much ruined any potential for effective government in the USSR.
Russia has a strong-man fetish which even the Bolsheviks couldn’t overcome. For all the post-revolution ideology and communist rhetoric, they still just want a Tsar.
For all the post-revolution ideology and communist rhetoric, they still just want a Tsar.
So true: this is scientifically measurable on the Slavic barbarian skull /s
You cannot possibly go over governing bodies, their policies and approval ratings. It is as impossible to do.
Just like measuring freedoms in other countries.
This sarcasm would work better if it wasn’t a direct riff on Hexbear jokes about Anglo Saxons. Which are probably ironic, but in the sense that everyone is about to die from poisoning.
dot ml 'bout to crest the horizon like the riders of rohan.
I can’t decide if it’s their job or their religion.
It’s predominantly children who just learned about leftist politics and have decided it’s their entire identity.
If someone is a tankie as an adult I just assume arrested development/cluster B personality disorder.
I wonder why the .ml stans seem so interested in defending current Russian interests, it’s very perplexing, like they’re watching Russian media or something
Too bad Stalin was explicitly taking inspiration from the Terror of the French revolution.
And why not? It worked out so well for Robespierre!
Unironically did work out for Stalin though lmao
And this, folks, is why I prefer to live in a democracy.
i’d like to point out that communism is an economic system whereas democracy is a social one, they are not incompatible concepts….
just because Stalin wasn’t a very communist regime but was brutally authoritarian and is widely criticized as “what communism is like”.
I would personally prefer a Mutualist system.
communism is an economic system whereas democracy is a social one
Communism is a political and economic ideology whose goal is the creation of a communist society, the pseudoscientifically postulated utopia of a stateless, classless, moneyless, post-scarcity society. Communist ideology is like the Christianity of politics & economics that keeps promising the 2nd coming of Christ: they insist it’ll happen someday inevitably. No possible way Marx was wrong.
Colloquially, communism refers to a communist state (also known as a Marxist–Leninist state): a political system/government consisting of a socialist state following Marxist–Leninist political philosophy with a dictatorial ruling class that promises to achieve a communist society.
Democracy is a political system/government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Colloquially, democracy refers to liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy: democracy following ideas of liberal political philosophy.
So, colloquially, communism refers to a political & economic system whereas democracy refers to a political system.
As a political system, the communist state is totalitarian, the most extreme authoritarianism:
Totalitarianism is a label used by various political scientists to characterize the most tyrannical strain of authoritarian systems; in which the ruling elite, often subservient to a dictator, exert near-total control of the social, political, economic, cultural and religious aspects of society in the territories under its governance.
Whereas an authoritarian regime is primarily concerned with political power rather than changing the world & human nature (they will grant society a certain degree of liberty as long as that power is uncontested), totalitarianism aims for more. A totalitarian government is more concerned with changing the world & human nature to fulfill an ideology: it seeks to completely control the thoughts & actions of its citizens through such tactics as
All of this is entirely compatible with Marxist-Leninism.
Liberalism, however, is fundamentally incompatible with authoritarianism. It holds that governments exist for the people & authority is legitimate only when it protects inalienable/fundamental/inherent rights & liberties of individuals. The people have an inherent right to obtain a government with legitimate authority, and when their government lacks or loses legitimacy, the people have a right & duty replace or change that government until it obtains legitimacy.
Communism is very much a social system. Implying economics don’t have a huge impact on society would be the opposite of Marxism.
But he wasn’t criticizing communism, or advocating for capitalism. He was criticizing a dictator and saying he prefers democracy.
Unless you think communism can’t exist outside of a brutal dictatorship.
Communism under a dictatorship is a paradox. The people own and control nothing. The leader and their chosen circle own and control everything. That is neither communism nor socialism and it is not possible for either to exist in any authoritarian context.
Yep.
Communism and socialism in itself isn't that problematic an economic system. Unless of course you belong to the few select brands of freeloaders who've successfully managed to sell to the general population that without you, everything would collapse (looking at you, landlords and billionaires and stock market speculators).
The problem is that the economic part can't work without an evenly matched societal system - and for people to bypass their immediate greed reaction of the usual "why should the result of my work go to others who didn't do that work" BS, as seeing far ahead to realise that pooling resources in such manner will benefit everyone, and when the community thrives, so does the individual. For that, one needs proper education, which is usually the antithesis of a capitalist system (a capitalist system will inherently only allow one to learn a limited set of facts, and will systematically ridicule those who dare step outside those limits).
And herein lies the second problem. Socialism and communism could be great for the average people, but the average people have been misled and lied to and been brainwashed for so long, they need to be forcibly broken out of that bubble. And the only way to force that is through a revolution, and authoritarian enforcement of the socioeconomic system.
Now the problem with that is... it's incredibly easy for a malicious actor to then infiltrate the authoritarian system, and push its leaders to do counterproductive things. Add on top of that the constant CIA meddling, and you get your run of the mill authoritarian "communist" (in name only) paranoid leader who rules with an iron fist. The intention might've been good, but the execution was starkly against the very people the revolution was supposed to help. Repeat it a few times and now the whole world is afraid of the economic system, not authoritarianism.
Then continue by throwing in some brainwashed tankies who literally suck up to the authoritarian regimes, spreading BS about how those are "true communism", just so average people don't even consider learning about it because the term becomes synonymous with authoritarians and their bootlickers.
Communism inherently couples both the economy and the government.
In theory, capitalism can be decoupled since it mostly depends on laissez-faire governance. Communism inherently requires a planned economy and centralized control of such.
There is theoretically nothing stopping said leaders of a communist regime from being elected through a democratic process. But much like democracies tend to favor capitalism and (lower case) libertarian ideals, communism tends to lend itself to dictatorships because… you have a centralized control of all aspects of society.
is the democracy in the room with you now?
Looks around.
Is that what you gotta tell yourself?
Looks around.Is that what you gotta tell yourself?
Why do lemmy.ml users get hysterical when Joseph Stalin is described accurately?
bubblybubbles@lemmy.ml 4 months ago
This is literally a CIA redscare OP, it wasn’t random they were Nazi’s he was targetting
OH I am on the CIA liberal instance 😂
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 months ago
First guy on the list:
Yeeeeeaaaaah I can see the “nazi” part but it’s the NKVD not the Jewish theoretical physicist.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 months ago
Aww, is Tommy feeling defensive?
Image
Fleur_@lemmynsfw.com 4 months ago
Famous Nazi Leon Trotsky
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Сука Блять
maus@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
snap
BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Are you a bot, cause it’s unhinged if you spend your time doing this shit all over social media for free, like take a step back, take an edible and look at yourself objectively, so you like what you see
egrets@lemmy.world 4 months ago
Just to clarify, since Yezhov (listed above in the post you’re replying to) was the main architect of the Yezhovshchina, and was himself later a victim of the same Great Purge, did he do some hard self-reflecting and turn himself in?
rainbowbunny@slrpnk.net 4 months ago
Where did you read about this being CIA propaganda from?
bubblybubbles@lemmy.ml 4 months ago
en.prolewiki.org or like literally any legit communist works
T00l_shed@lemmy.world 4 months ago
If it’s not from Russia or china’s talking points it’s CIA propaganda according to .ml
Maeve@kbin.earth 4 months ago
Nailed it.