Quote (sylvannos @ Dec 14 2015 10:46pm)
I'm with Cam here...you have to do some serious mental gymnastics to try and justify what the USSR went through under Stalin. Maybe if we were talking about what would the country would have looked like if it were Trotsky in charge instead, but that's not the case.
Stalin was a ruthless, genocidal maniac who would inspire Saddam Hussein. The gulags were fucking terrible. Stalin was in it for power and personal gain (as evidenced by the execution of his generals). Hardly a benevolent dictator.
I think socialism can work, but not Stalinism. That shit was awful and the former soviet states are still trying to recover, even today.
I was working toward the Stalin is Russia's FDR statement for a long time. I expected Cam to bite hard because he hates FDR so much. He didn't bite, I'm surprised...the timing was perfect.