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.

  • davel [he/him]@lemmy.mlEnglish
    11·
    4 days ago

    That is cold war / anti-communist propaganda, which capitalists and the media that they own will never stop propagating, because capitalists are definitionally anti-communist.

    Declassified CIA report:

    Even in Stalin’s time there was collective leadership. The western idea of a dictator within the communist setup is exaggerated. Misunderstandings on that subject are caused by lack of comprehension of the real nature and organization of the Communist power structure. Stalin, although holding wide powers, was merely the captain of a team and it seems obvious that Khrushchev will be the new captain.

    Second Thought: We Need To Talk About “Authoritarianism”

    • Boomkop3@reddthat.com
      1·
      4 days ago

      (Sorry for the stupid question, I only know what I’ve been taught in school.)

      If it wasn’t authoritarian or a dictatorship, why’d they build those absolutely giant statues? Just a democratic flex?

          • davel [he/him]@lemmy.mlEnglish
            9·
            4 days ago

            under Stalin’s rule

            You are still speaking from the cold war framing of Stalin being a dictator and not an elected official who tried to step down multiple times.

            Joseph Stalin was elected as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU in April 1922 during the 11th Congress of the Party. Between then and until his death, he asked to be relieved of his duties as General Secretary a total of four times — all of which were rejected.