Re: Soviet balance sheet

[Rosser Jr, John Barkley]

     I am going to support the argument that one needs to 
judge the system, not particular individuals, however much 
they may have contributed to the nature and outcomes of 
that system.
     Thus, more careful studies by Getty and Manning 
conclude that Stalin PERSONALLY ordered the deaths of 
somewhat less than a million people, although still way in 
excess of 100,000, no trivial rate of butchery.  But the 
Stalinist system certainly killed millions and imprisoned 
millions more.
     Likewise, the glory of defeating Hitler is not 
especially to Stalin's personal credit, but to the people 
and to some extent the system of the USSR.  As has been 
pointed out, many of Stalin's personal acts and decisions 
may well have aided Hitler's cause, objectively, more than 
they hurt it.
Barkley Rosser
On Thu, 2 Apr 1998 11:45:34 -0400 Ricardo Duchesne 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> > Date sent:      Wed, 01 Apr 1998 15:44:43 -0500
> > Send reply to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > From:           Wojtek Sokolowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To:             [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject:        Re: Soviet balance sheet
> >
>  
>   WS:
> > Au contraire, I insist on using the same and comparable standards.  If we
> > were to judge leaders' crimes, say, per years in office and per population
> > size affected by the leader's power (including the client states) - most US
> > presidents would look quite unfavourably.  Stalin crimes are better
> > publicized than those of other leaders, but that has to do with the fact
> > that many of his victims were white middle class professionals instead of
> > nameless masses in India or Africa.
> 
> 
> You are just accepting stalinist propaganda that only a small class 
> of "kulaks" was killed. Truth is Stalin was personally involved in 
> the deaths of millions of ordinary people. He had no qualms murdering 
> even those who were closest to him, either party-
> friends or family. His oldest son was bullied by him throughout his 
> childhood and when captured by the Nazis Stalin would not move a 
> finger to free him, but said something to the effect "let him die".
> Just read Medvedev's Let History Judge. 
>   
> > In short, I am not denying Stalin was a pig, but so were other empire
> > builders.  So instead of singleing him out, that plays right into the hands
> > of anti-communist propaganda, let us just say "Every empire builder is
> > likely to commit atrocities in his/her gamble for power, regardless of the
> > ideology used to legitimate the empire or the leader's position in it."
> 
> 
> Churchill and the other western leaders at the time looked saintly 
> beside Stalin. ricardo
> 
> 
> 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Wojtek Sokolowski 
> > Institute for Policy Studies
> > Johns Hopkins University
> > Baltimore, MD 21218
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > voice: (410) 516-4056
> > fax:   (410) 516-8233
> > 
> > Opinions expressed above are those of this writer only.  They do not
> > represent the views or policies of the Institute for Policy Studies, the
> > Johns Hopkins University, or anyone else affiliated with these institutions.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 

-- 
Rosser Jr, John Barkley
[EMAIL PROTECTED]