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Does anyone else find this terrifying?

 
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Shad

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 11:58 am    Post subject: Does anyone else find this terrifying? Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

[url:37xbwcgp]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7802485 .stm[/url:37xbwcgp]
This is about the most disturbing piece of news I've read in my lifetime. I'm very curious what others' reactions are to it, especially considering we have at least two resident Russians.
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

I actually got to conduct an interview of two officials at the Russian Embassy two weeks ago as part of my Comparative Government course-- the perks of taking such a course when you live in D.C. That was a topic I asked them about, and the woman who I asked quite assured me that Stalin is not a respected or popular figure in Russia. She said there are certainly groups of people who regard him highly, however they are not the majority.

Then again, I took everything she said with a grain of salt, but it was interesting to hear things from a Russian perspective, rather than through our media sources. But perhaps she was wrong, and this poll was correct. I'm not sure if I'd trust a call-in phone poll to represent the actual population. Everything I've learned about statistics has told me to be wary of that. >_>
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Shad

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 3:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Oh I think it's quite possible that, in tribute to his own favorite method of doing business, the results were entirely fabricated, but the fact that the government wants people to start believing he is popular and highly regarded is in and of itself quite disturbing. Imagine the outrage if the German government were to announce that, all in all, Hitler was a pretty cool guy and should be forgiven his few minor flaws considering the overwhelming good that he contributed to society. The German people themselves, to say nothing for the rest of the world, would protest such a charge to the point of probably forcing a few resignations.
Yet in Russia this is perfectly acceptable.

Just as post-war western Europe was left so disenchanted and destitute that any repetition of events is inconceivable today, the former Soviet states, it would be nice to assume, view communism as the tragedy that it was. Since this is not the case, what's to keep history from repeating?
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Sailor Sexy

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

*shrug* If they wanna think Stalin was great, so be it. If it's really just some made up stats from a flawed poll like 100% of all polls, then no problem there. I don't see what the big deal is. He was arguably worse than Hitler, but he's dead, so it doesn't much matter to me how he's viewed.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

I was actually confused by this:

Quote:
there is a much broader campaign to rehabilitate Stalin


Rehabilitate? How do you go about rehabilitating someone who is dead?
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Sailor Sexy

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Zombie Stalin! Now that IS terrifying!
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

The article is pretty confusing in general, because the TV anchor apparently tried to get voters not to vote for him. And if it was a main TV channel, it was state owned, anyways. So the article is sending some mixed messages. Of course it does say that this so-called "rehabilitation" campaign is coming from the "highest levels of government" but also doesn't really provide any specifics or evidence-- so I'm skeptical.

There is still a large minority communist party in Russia, though, so I don't doubt there is a group of people who do highly regard him.

Another thing I got out of my interview at the embassy was that the Russian people respect political stability in a leader (hence their love for Mr. Putin), so in that sense I suppose I could see some people thinking "maybe he wasn't such a bad guy". Huh.
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Shad

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 7:30 pm    Post subject: Re: Does anyone else find this terrifying? Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Well, don't forget that Khrushchev was the first to denounce Stalin. A leftover communist party is, if a bit naive, relatively safe and certainly expected. It by no means implies any great love for mass murderers.
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Gil-galad

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2008 8:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

Which is why the statements made in the article confuse me quite a bit. Especially after I heard it directly from a Russian government official that Stalin is not well liked or respected at all. That interview was a pretty interesting look at things from a different perspective, I have to say.
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:45 am    Post subject: Re: Does anyone else find this terrifying? Reply with quote Add User to Ignore List

World leaders or politics have been a set of contradictions, stalin was a brutal dictator but don't forget to many russians he was the one fought off the nazis. I mean there are some germans who say churchill should be tried as a war crinimal, and to an extent they have a point, churchill did oversee the bmbing campaigns by the RAF in europe during 1944 and 45 and they were no better then the germans in bombing the cities. It's worth pointing out that churchill during WWI actually believed the U boat targeting merchant ships was in fact a good idea in that it would eventually draw in U.S support. Chruchill was also ready to make a deal with Stalin to share europe stating that he had agebts and aware of russia's intents which mean he was also aware on the concentration camps.

Persoanlly the idea that WWII was the 'just' war shows it to be one of the most succseful propganda messages delivered to the british people. I mean everyone forgets the verstiles treaty, the wall street crash and accept the idea that germany was aggressive from day one and set about creaating an empire by force. The concept of the just war conviently disguised the idea that the british empire was no better and that it helped further to hide our own crimes at the time. The 'just war' concept gave the aericans the excuse to use an atomic bomb and see it as a neccsary action. It was and still is debatable if the invasion of japan would have cost more lives on both sides then it would to simply drop the bomb. However were starting to derail the topic slightly but the point is there is various ways to see someone's actions, we view richard the lionheart as just that, a brave warrior when in fact he ruined the angevian empire by a spoilt brat or of oliver cromwell. Viewed a great leader but also slaughtered a third of the irish population at the time.

Overall there has not been a leader who has built a nation or idea without getting his hands dirty, its just if you agree theend result or not.
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