I bring up blacklisting because it is the clearest demonstration of intentionally starving people that comes to mind. Sure, Stalin wanted collectivization to go off without a hitch. Problem was, there was a hitch. So he decided it would happen anyway, starving people be damned. Imo good governments don’t intentionally starve people in order to achieve their goals.
To me your argument boils down to “the ends justify the means.”
How do you defend the “blacklisted” villages? I don’t detect any remorse in the material you have cited, just concern over making sure his policies are being properly enacted. It seems pretty clear to me that Stalin considered the loss of life in Ukraine to be worth it in order to drive his agenda forward - why else would he have allowed policies that forbid farmers themselves from eating the food from the fields they tended? Why else would he have allowed policies keeping farmers from traveling for any reason? To ensure that they produced food for the rest of the union, which would focus on industrial output. You can argue that he was right - without such rapid industrialization, they almost certainly would have lost to the Nazis imo.
Also, don’t conflate socialism with collectivism. I never said that the gains made in terms of education, life expectancy, etc. were possible without socialist policies. You can have socialism without collectivism/without stalinism. I think it’s much better that way.
*there wasn’t a country better for the working class that survived
Imo you can’t just ignore all the people who died as a result of the rapid industrialization and collectivization. And how great is your life if you have to change everything about what you say and how you act just to appease party officials?
I don’t want to ignore all the great things that happened during the Soviet era. I think you’re right about better access to education and many of these other things, but there are so many asterisks.
I argue that the same things could have been achieved without collectivization and without so much political violence. Social support programs are great, but they should be available to everyone, regardless of how much you support the prevailing political party.
And just how sure are you that Stalin would have gone back in time to prevent the Holodomor? I’m unconvinced - it quelled an inconvenient uprising.
If you look at the holodomor I think it’s hard to continue painting the Soviet Union as having uplifted the proletariat. Soviets starved their people to achieve rapid industrialization - a tradeoff that most of those who died would probably not have agreed with. IIRC most historians say that collectivization was a horrible failure and was not good for the working class.
First hand accounts of life during stalinism make it clear that people had to develop weird mannerisms to avoid making it seem like they were disloyal/anti-party; basically everyone walking on eggshells all the time.
The conversation around “tankies” reminds me heavily of “neolibs” - loosely defined in the minds of the folks discussing them. Basically a catch-all term for your own idea of what a liberal outgroup should be.
It isn’t just money that can solve your problem though, it takes effort too. No matter how much money you have at the very least you still have to use your mouth to speak to get what you want.
The app I use (“Boost”) made it extremely easy, it’s pretty much just as easy to use as reddit or instagram I would say - maybe even easier.
I think folks are reacting to allegations of sexual assault/rape (a few different women, including a minor).
Then there is the fact that his comeback tour is with Five Finger Death Punch, a band that glorifies police and demonizes mask wearers in their lyrics.
Thank you for your recommendations, I have been enjoying them very much.
I recommend the album “Cosmic Frog” by S2cool. Funky indie album, I love it. I think maybe he is focusing on a band he is in, “Fictionist,” although he also does writing for lots of other companies so not sure really…
Also “07” by The Chicken Chokers. Bluegrass/string band album, it’s how I came to love bluegrass. These guys were active for a while in the New England area but I believe they have split and now some of them are playing in another band “Twang.”
Finally, “Seara de Jazz cu Aura” by Aura Urziceanu. Romanian scatt jazz. I think she was pretty famous in Romania, but I have to take Wikipedia’s word for it. She eventually had a career in the USA; she certainly toured with some big names but it’s hard to tell if she was a success.