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What is your opinion of Joseph Stalin? (lemm.ee)

submitted 2 weeks ago by AnonomousWolf@lemm.ee to c/socialism@lemmy.ml

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I believe in socialism, but I feel Stalin shouldn't be idolised due to things like the Gulag.

I would like more people to become socialist, but I feel not condemning Stalin doesn't help the cause.

I've tried to have a constructieve conversation about this, but I basically get angry comments calling me stupid for believing he did atrocious things.

That's not how you win someone over.

I struggle to believe the Gulag etc. Never happened, and if it happened I firmly believe Stalin should be condemned.

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[–] imogen_underscore@hexbear.net 33 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

highly recommend reading Losurdo's Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend. it's a very good historiography of stalin which dispels a lot of the western-propagated myths about his rule and the guy himself. near the end there's a very enlightening section about why "condemning" communist leaders and figures as somehow aberrations of communism is a dangerous road to go down. Stalin was not an aberration of communism, he was trying his best to further the cause and by all accounts he did quite a good job. we can critique without performing such a binary disavowal, ultimately that is liberalism