What Stalin did to sleep at night is his own problem. Absent invading hordes, the people inside your borders are always "your people", whether we're talking Armenians in Turkey, Slavs in Russia, or anything else. Othering scapegoats has a long and cherished world history, but that doesn't cut any ice in reality.
Communist purges are as much a bi-product of excess energy as capitalism was. With industrial machines replacing humans, for the first time since the Agricultural Revolution, surplus people were not necessary for victory ( in as far as the area with the most farmers and the most soldiers usually won over rivals )
"Who's up for going full-speed ahead to kill another 600,000 of your friends and neighbors?"
This is a false question as your numbers are not a certainty in any way shape or form. Sure, you pulled them from real world observation and then ran with it. The problem is that you are necessarily lacking in enough information for your numbers to form a solid enough conclusion to propose the question except as a hypothetical.
Really? Georgian Stalin considered Slavs to be his "own people?"
ReplyDeleteWhat Stalin did to sleep at night is his own problem.
ReplyDeleteAbsent invading hordes, the people inside your borders are always "your people", whether we're talking Armenians in Turkey, Slavs in Russia, or anything else. Othering scapegoats has a long and cherished world history, but that doesn't cut any ice in reality.
Communist purges are as much a bi-product of excess energy as capitalism was. With industrial machines replacing humans, for the first time since the Agricultural Revolution, surplus people were not necessary for victory ( in as far as the area with the most farmers and the most soldiers usually won over rivals )
ReplyDelete"Who's up for going full-speed ahead to kill another 600,000 of your friends and neighbors?"
ReplyDeleteThis is a false question as your numbers are not a certainty in any way shape or form. Sure, you pulled them from real world observation and then ran with it. The problem is that you are necessarily lacking in enough information for your numbers to form a solid enough conclusion to propose the question except as a hypothetical.