 Editor in Chief Bill   | 27 Feb 2019 4:27 p.m. PST |
You were asked – TMP link Stalin – Crazy or Sane?56% said "Stalin was evil"
22% said "Stalin was sane"
12% said "Stalin was crazy" |
| Lee494 | 27 Feb 2019 4:45 p.m. PST |
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| StarCruiser | 27 Feb 2019 5:29 p.m. PST |
Yep – a little from column A, B and C… |
darthfozzywig  | 27 Feb 2019 5:31 p.m. PST |
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| Wackmole9 | 27 Feb 2019 6:36 p.m. PST |
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| Frederick | 27 Feb 2019 7:22 p.m. PST |
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| pzivh43 | 28 Feb 2019 4:14 a.m. PST |
22% said sane? --shakes head in wonder. |
| Virginia Tory | 28 Feb 2019 4:32 a.m. PST |
All three, depending on his mood. |
| olicana | 28 Feb 2019 4:35 a.m. PST |
He just wasn't a 'people person'. My favourite anecdote concerns one of his office secretaries. From memory: She was very upset one day. Stalin asked her why? She told him that the secret police had taken her husband away and shot him on anti-communist charges. Stalin told her not worry, they'd find her another husband. |
ScottWashburn  | 28 Feb 2019 5:40 a.m. PST |
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| SBminisguy | 28 Feb 2019 11:16 a.m. PST |
Sane -- but completely amoral and selfish. All of his actions were completely rational from that standpoint -- anything goes to survive and expand his power. My secret vice has been the discovery of the Epic Rap Battles of History channel on YouTube. Funny as heck, though maybe NSFW. Here's Rasputin rapping against Stalin, with Lenin, Gorby and Putin making appearances. YouTube link |
| Lion in the Stars | 28 Feb 2019 4:43 p.m. PST |
Yes, Epic Rap Battles is hilarious. |
| Old Contemptibles | 28 Feb 2019 8:26 p.m. PST |
When he had someone assassinated he would have an army of photo archivist go back to every photograph and remove his image. They look like he was never there. They rival many photoshopped images I have seen. They did this with Trotsky. Was Stalin the inspiration for "1984?" Who does Stalin remind you of today? |
| StarCruiser | 01 Mar 2019 7:35 a.m. PST |
Putin loves Stalin – he's his HERO!!! God… |
| Barin1 | 01 Mar 2019 9:06 a.m. PST |
Actually not. At least not in the open, and to my mind he spends too many time with heroization of Solzhenitsin. He even was taking part in opening the monument to him not too far from our office.
Coming back to Stalin – definitely he wasn't crazy. He had some mental disorders diagnosed in 1950s, didn't end well for the medics. To a lot of people he was evil, and to my mind he had a very flexible morale principkes from the time he was robbing banks for bolsheviks.
He had a sharp (and paranoid) mind. He read a lot of books, and his analogue of "dictatorship for dummies" was Macciavelli's "Prince"/ One of our historians saw Stalin's copy of the book with a lot of interesting handwriting on the pages. Stalin was able to certain extent being both feared and loved in the country, and he was controlling the life of the USSR for way too many years… |
| Murvihill | 02 Mar 2019 6:11 a.m. PST |
For most successful dictators it was/is power above everything else. They were willing to do anything to secure their power and all threats to them keeping their dictatorship were dealt with using a complete disregard for human life. I don't think that makes them crazy, but it's kind of like asking whether a sociopath is worse than a psychopath: to the lives they ruin the distinction doesn't matter. |
| olicana | 02 Mar 2019 7:38 a.m. PST |
Hi Barin, indeed. There is a common misconception that Stalin was nothing more than a thug – and he could be at times, he was a bank robber. He was actually quite a well educated as a young man. He did not pursue what most would consider 'further education' because he decided to become a professional revolutionary – which was a more common path than you might think for men with his background. His persona was as much a construct as natural. He decided from quite early on that he would be the 'loner', the 'strong man'. In prison (for early revolutionary activity under the Tsar) he was noted for not mixing with his fellow prisoners, but he was open to be approached for advice by them. His name was not Stalin. He took that name to distract from his Georgian (provincial) origins (because he didn't think ethnic Russians would follow a provincial) – he chose the name because Stalin means 'Steel' in Russian. His name was actually Jughashvili – Stalin has more punch, don't you think? I do not condone the acts of Stalin but, having read a great deal about him, he was not a sadist though he was uncaring, he was not mad but he was paranoid, he was was an active thug though he readily used thugs to achieve his goals. Stalin operated within a system he actively helped to create – though its ends were unforeseen when the system was divised – but like France following its revolution it was the USSR versus the world so paranoia would be prevalent within the new Russian establishment – remember that Stalin was already a very active member of the Russian Communist Party in 1917. |
| Aristonicus | 03 Mar 2019 12:10 a.m. PST |
You know when he did speeches he had a buzzer to let people know when to cease applauding. YouTube link |
| donlowry | 03 Mar 2019 10:04 a.m. PST |
he was not mad but he was paranoid huh? Isn't paranoia a psychosis? |
