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It just happens that that was claimed to happen always, so you know, ban was only liften in 1989 as the article mentions lol. Funny how that happens.
Looks like it was true! Millions of people died when the USSR was illegally dissolved afterwards, and the majority of living former-soviets say they prefered the Soviet System.
Not even mentioning the lack of press freedom but Stalin famously purged a shitload of people on the basis of their political opinions. And voting in a strictly controlled single-party state, it does have the sound of a empty formality as the article had it.
Liberalism and fascism were banned. Additionally, it is not at all an empty formality, unless you think every human being in a political party shares the exact same opinions, which is laughably false.
It's always the case that authoritarian countries use a foreign threat as the reasoning for being so authoritarian. Tale as old as time.
Liberalism and fascism were banned.
So you think capitalist countries banning communist parties is all fine and dandy? Because that's not terribly democratic if you ask me.
Additionally, it is not at all an empty formality, unless you think every human being in a political party shares the exact same opinions, which is laughably false.
It's an empty formality when it's a single party, loyalty to is is demanded and any real criticism can lead you to be fucking killed. Stalin did not take this shit lightly and lots of people died as a result.
It's always the case that authoritarian countries use a foreign threat as the reasoning for being so authoritarian. Tale as old as time.
Indeed, Socialism has been deemed "authoritarian" by foreign countries.
So you think capitalist countries banning communist parties is all fine and dandy? Because that's not terribly democratic if you ask me.
Of course not. The difference is that Capitalism and fascism are antidemocratic and get lots of innocents killed. You don't have to defend fascism. It's the paradox of tolerance.
It's an empty formality when it's a single party, loyalty to is is demanded and any real criticism can lead you to be fucking killed. Stalin did not take this shit lightly and lots of people died as a result.
This is ahisorical and silly. Even 2 people with the same views are different in numerous other ways, and there is an entire history of change and diverse viewpoints in the USSR.
Indeed, Socialism has been deemed “authoritarian” by foreign countries.
I wonder why something like the Soviet Union under Stalin would be called authoritarian. It's preposterous!
Of course not. The difference is that Capitalism and fascism are antidemocratic and get lots of innocents killed. You don’t have to defend fascism. It’s the paradox of tolerance.
It's just that they banned every other party.
This is ahisorical and silly. Even 2 people with the same views are different in numerous other ways, and there is an entire history of change and diverse viewpoints in the USSR.
Not so much tolerance for those viewpoints under Stalin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge
Weirdly even this site puts it very bluntly: https://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/events/terror/index.htm
Based on the link I would've expected something else, but they are pretty upfront about it. Interesting website.
I urge you to pick up a history book on the Soviet Union if you think Stalin made up the entire political apparatus. Even the CIA disagrees with you there, because it was obvious.
Initially governing as part of a collective leadership, Stalin consolidated power to become dictator by the 1930s; he formalized his Leninist interpretation of Marxism as Marxism-Leninism, while the totalitarian political system he established became known as Stalinism.
Stalin's Soviet Union has been characterised as a totalitarian state,[673] with Stalin its authoritarian leader.[674] Various biographers have described him as a dictator,[675] an autocrat,[676] or accused him of practising Caesarism.[677] Montefiore argued that while Stalin initially ruled as part of a Communist Party oligarchy, the Soviet government transformed from this oligarchy into a personal dictatorship in 1934,[678] with Stalin only becoming "absolute dictator" between March and June 1937, when senior military and NKVD figures were eliminated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin
I mean we talked if it was a totalitarian dictatorship or not. Sure does seem like it was.
Can you explain mechanically how he was a totalitarian dictator, yet did not have totalitarian control nor was he the sole director?
But he does seem to have had a total control of the state through his position, control of tools such as NKVD, fear, intimidation, cult of personality, purging of opponents and so on. Unless you think it doesn't count unless you have an official position of dictator and has been named as such by the Roman senate, of course.
He did not have total control. If you don't agree with Soviet records, then let the CIA themselves explain in an internal, never meant to be revealed document. Stalin was often contested, and did not have the ability to make anything happen. He had power as the head of state, but it was neither absolute nor all-encompasing.
It seems most historians disagree with your thought here, as shown in the earlier quotes. You claim he was often contested, did not have the ability to make anything happen and so on, but that doesn't seem to have been the reality. Even this document you shared just says it was "exaggerated", not that he didn't have those powers. But most considering his rule seem to have labeled him as a dictator and it's very easy to see why.
If you don’t agree with Soviet records
Soviet records on if their leader was a dictator or not? Buddy.
I never said he was powerless, I said he did not have sole control nor all-encompassing power. He was the head of state, of course he had power. The CIA is directly contesting your mythology here. The majority of evidence points towards Stalin not being an absolute and all-powerful demigod dictator, but a head of state in a large system with lots of moving parts that frequently went against what he personally wanted.
Soviet records on if their leader was a dictator or not? Buddy.
Soviet Records on democratic processes and political structuring.
Looks like it was true! Millions of people died when the USSR was illegally dissolved afterwards, and the majority of living former-soviets say they prefered the Soviet System.
What a bunch of fucking nonsense, holy shit...
Which part, specifically? Around 7 million people died during the years following the dissolution of the USSR, and it's well-documented that most former soviets prefered that system.
Ah yes, that's why so many former soviet countries wanted and now have independence and prosperity.
You fucking moron, soviets literally killed people by deporting to Siberia, quelling any sparks of independency, and starvation.
USSR was a shithole, and what's left of it is still a shithole.
Kindly, a person who was born in the absolute ass-hair dingleberry that was the USSR.
Ah yes, that’s why so many former soviet countries wanted and now have independence and prosperity.
Child sex slave stocks are through the roof!
prosperity
Nearly all of the post-Soviet states suffered deep and prolonged recessions after shock therapy, with poverty increasing more than tenfold. Catastrophic drops in caloric intake followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union#Consequences
Kindly, a person who was born in the absolute ass-hair dingleberry that was the USSR.
How old are you, if I may ask?
https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/
I'm glad you brought up life expectancy. (For the lazy: terrorist russia is 111, while nearly all post-soviet europe countries are above)
How old are you, if I may ask?
You may not, commie.
Edit: commies: angry downvote
Yeah, many of the post-socialist states are in rough shape thanks to the imperial core’s shock therapy plundering of them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalgia_for_the_Soviet_Union#Polling_history
In 2017, another poll conducted by Pew Research Center found that 69% of Russians, 54% of Belarusians, 70% of Moldovans and 79% of Armenians claimed that the breakup of the Soviet Union was a bad thing for their country. With the exception of Estonia, the percentage of people who agreed with the statement was higher amongst people aged 35 or over. 57% of Georgians and 58% of Russians also said that Joseph Stalin played a very/mostly positive role in history.
Meanwhile in still-socialist states:
- Newsweek: Americans Can Now Expect to Live Three Years Less than Cubans
- Reuters, 2018: China overtakes U.S. for healthy lifespan: WHO data
- United Nations, 2019: Helping 800 Million People Escape Poverty Was Greatest Such Effort in History, Says Secretary-General, on Seventieth Anniversary of China’s Founding
- The Economist, 2021: At 54, China’s average retirement age is too low For most men in China the age is 60, much lower than the average of 64.2 in the OECD, a club mostly of rich countries. For female civil servants the age is 55; for blue-collar women it is 50.