All, literally all, education and media in the US (for example) portrays Stalin as an paranoid, genocidal dictator akin to Hitler. It’s taken as a fact, and positive opinion of Stalin is treated the same way a positive portrayal of Hitler would be. Even most leftists (all anarchists, socdems, demsocs, Trots, leftcoms, etc.) echo the same beliefs. To find pro-Stalin anything, you have to dig past the all of that.
To have a positive view of Stalin here, you have to hold a belief that alienates you from 99% of the people you know, and from 99% of the leftists you might encounter. And you can’t just read Stalin because it’s treated like reading Hitler, and because “he’s just writing propaganda and lying”.
In life, in the actual social reality surrounding us in the West, it feels exactly like being insane. Thanks to the internet and old books, I now have beliefs that, if I shared it with literally anyone I know, they would think of me as morally equivalent to a Neo-Nazi.
So what’s the point of hating average people in the west? Social conditions created this situation, not inferior moral fiber. The Overton window is kinda wack, but MLism really is so far outside it that it’s basically inconceivable to the average person.
You are 100% right and i agree with you. When i read the tweet, i mostly felt positive about a lib getting properly disillusioned and admitting it simce that’s a beautiful fitst step to getting to the other side of western propoganda.
At the same time, i feel what comrade bazingabrain is saying in my bones lol. Its frustrating living in the west and being ML, as you acknowledge. I think its pretty fair to blow off some of thst steam here. But you’re right, we can’t just hate all the average people, who hage no power, around us, just for our own sanity if no other reason
All, literally all, education and media in the US (for example) portrays Stalin as an paranoid, genocidal dictator akin to Hitler. It’s taken as a fact, and positive opinion of Stalin is treated the same way a positive portrayal of Hitler would be. Even most leftists (all anarchists, socdems, demsocs, Trots, leftcoms, etc.) echo the same beliefs. To find pro-Stalin anything, you have to dig past the all of that. To have a positive view of Stalin here, you have to hold a belief that alienates you from 99% of the people you know, and from 99% of the leftists you might encounter. And you can’t just read Stalin because it’s treated like reading Hitler, and because “he’s just writing propaganda and lying”.
In life, in the actual social reality surrounding us in the West, it feels exactly like being insane. Thanks to the internet and old books, I now have beliefs that, if I shared it with literally anyone I know, they would think of me as morally equivalent to a Neo-Nazi.
So what’s the point of hating average people in the west? Social conditions created this situation, not inferior moral fiber. The Overton window is kinda wack, but MLism really is so far outside it that it’s basically inconceivable to the average person.
You are 100% right and i agree with you. When i read the tweet, i mostly felt positive about a lib getting properly disillusioned and admitting it simce that’s a beautiful fitst step to getting to the other side of western propoganda.
At the same time, i feel what comrade bazingabrain is saying in my bones lol. Its frustrating living in the west and being ML, as you acknowledge. I think its pretty fair to blow off some of thst steam here. But you’re right, we can’t just hate all the average people, who hage no power, around us, just for our own sanity if no other reason
Yeah, also a good comment, I was just incredibly tired and frustrated
Totally understandable
This is all correct, i just wanted to vent.