The gulags were not fascist torture camps. Many of them were barely even prisons, like they were towns where people could move around freely and even go to the theater. They were definitely work camps, where people repaid their debts to society, and the ones for political prisoners had heavy reeducation programs. They were successful, too. Many of the people who were imprisoned for anti-communist/fascist activity became committed socialists by the time of their release (not surprising given the logical nature of Marxism).
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about gulags, but when I say Musk belongs in one, it’s because he needs to work to repay all the damage he has done and if possible he needs to be re-educated. I don’t believe in prisons as punishment. I also don’t believe in capital punishment for people like Musk.
Soviet archival evidence shows that the purges were democratically initiated by the party at large and were initially very popular due to the real problem of capitalist sabotage They got worse when the NKVD became overzealous and stepped beyond the bounds that were given them. The evidence shows that Stalin actually spent more time trying to reign in the excesses, but was often unsuccessful largely due to the weakness of the Soviet state that was recovering from a brutal civil war.
Of course, the purges were very excessive and rightly considered one of the big mistakes of the Stalin era, but the idea that they were his is ahistorical.
People have a fond outlook of what the USSR was like. They neglect to see that they were an authoritarian society with a single party in charge which was willing to do anything to remain in power.
Gulags were horrible places on all accounts.
That wasn’t real communism. Just an ideal hijacked by meglomaniacs.
Yeah that’s true, but we have to hold these people accountable without resorting to fascism and violence somehow.
The gulags were not fascist torture camps. Many of them were barely even prisons, like they were towns where people could move around freely and even go to the theater. They were definitely work camps, where people repaid their debts to society, and the ones for political prisoners had heavy reeducation programs. They were successful, too. Many of the people who were imprisoned for anti-communist/fascist activity became committed socialists by the time of their release (not surprising given the logical nature of Marxism).
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about gulags, but when I say Musk belongs in one, it’s because he needs to work to repay all the damage he has done and if possible he needs to be re-educated. I don’t believe in prisons as punishment. I also don’t believe in capital punishment for people like Musk.
Stalin’s purges must have been an educational tool as well then.
Soviet archival evidence shows that the purges were democratically initiated by the party at large and were initially very popular due to the real problem of capitalist sabotage They got worse when the NKVD became overzealous and stepped beyond the bounds that were given them. The evidence shows that Stalin actually spent more time trying to reign in the excesses, but was often unsuccessful largely due to the weakness of the Soviet state that was recovering from a brutal civil war.
Of course, the purges were very excessive and rightly considered one of the big mistakes of the Stalin era, but the idea that they were his is ahistorical.
You’re focused on the “infrastructure” part of "forced infrastructure " and not the more important forced part.
I dislike your eagerness to accept all that bullshit you just said.
Well, I dislike the propaganda that capitalists force down most of our throats. I like looking at the actual historical record instead.
People have a fond outlook of what the USSR was like. They neglect to see that they were an authoritarian society with a single party in charge which was willing to do anything to remain in power.
Gulags were horrible places on all accounts.
That wasn’t real communism. Just an ideal hijacked by meglomaniacs.