7 ms·

What is your rationale for this? Was Stalin doing something right because so many people were against him?

shub 9y ago
I dunno how much Stalin did right, but he sure did a lot of stuff well. You don't obtain and maintain control over all of Russia by being an idiot.
- idlewords 9y ago
  Did you wake up this morning thinking you'd be defending Stalin in a nerd fight? Or was it a happy surprise ending to your day?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- zdkl 9y ago
  You can make the same point about germany's return to stability in the 30's (goodwin point yay), but I'm not sure you'd want to. Careful what you wish for, in terms of government efficiency
  - shub 9y ago
    I wouldn't say that, actually. Germany's recovery was primarily fueled by massive deficit spending on rearmament and social programs. Keep the people pacified, bootstrap from the tiny military allowed by Versailles up to something world-class, then take over Europe and Asia. Not sustainable at all, and I think it's really debatable whether Hitler deserves any of the credit anyway. His role was more or less to turn on the money tap and tell the Prussians to tool up, which they did very happily and effectively because they were Prussians.
    - zdkl 9y ago
      > His role was more or less to turn on the money tap... Which in a country with absolutely savage inflation isn't as easy as you make it sound. I suggest you educate yourself before being dismissive like this.
      - shub 9y ago
        Except that Germany 1933-1939 didn't have significant inflation.
        zdkl 9y ago
        remind me what year he came to power?
        shub 9y ago
        1933. NSDAP was in the Reichstag for a while before that but not really involved in governing.
- rtpg 9y ago
  He was doing the right things to hold power, not the right things for society.
  - AsyncAwait 9y ago
    That is way too simplistic, he did a lot of terrible stuff, but also some good, it is no question that he pulled Russia from 'backwardness' in terms of literacy for example.
    - tptacek 9y ago
      You mean for those Soviets who survived him?
      - AsyncAwait 9y ago
        That's why I said that he did a lot of terrible stuff. I absolutely do not excuse the awful stuff he ordered. That does not mean we should now shut all sense of nuance.
  - shub 9y ago
    Well, yeah. Stalin was a monster. He was just good at being a monster.
lallysingh 9y ago
Don't feed the trolls.
- sctb 9y ago
  Yes, please don't. And especially please don't feed them Stalin—this is a counter troll and makes things quickly worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
louithethrid 9y ago
Its a natural reaction to all those PC Blockwardens, patrolling every inch of society, telling one how to walk, how to speak and what behaviours are okay. Yelling at people who try new things, throwing hissy fits when they are ignored- because what they care about most is not protecting some class of citizens from the normal insult that is life, but that everybody better listen to them. If you have the choice between one far away Stalin who might even improve your life against another loud entrenched special interest group (taxi drivers) , and a thousand little Stalins just around the corner - who want to Tugendterror everyone for - basically fun - i know what i would want.

shub 9y ago

I dunno how much Stalin did right, but he sure did a lot of stuff well. You don't obtain and maintain control over all of Russia by being an idiot.

idlewords 9y ago
Did you wake up this morning thinking you'd be defending Stalin in a nerd fight? Or was it a happy surprise ending to your day?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
zdkl 9y ago
You can make the same point about germany's return to stability in the 30's (goodwin point yay), but I'm not sure you'd want to. Careful what you wish for, in terms of government efficiency
- shub 9y ago
  I wouldn't say that, actually. Germany's recovery was primarily fueled by massive deficit spending on rearmament and social programs. Keep the people pacified, bootstrap from the tiny military allowed by Versailles up to something world-class, then take over Europe and Asia. Not sustainable at all, and I think it's really debatable whether Hitler deserves any of the credit anyway. His role was more or less to turn on the money tap and tell the Prussians to tool up, which they did very happily and effectively because they were Prussians.
  - zdkl 9y ago
    > His role was more or less to turn on the money tap... Which in a country with absolutely savage inflation isn't as easy as you make it sound. I suggest you educate yourself before being dismissive like this.
    - shub 9y ago
      Except that Germany 1933-1939 didn't have significant inflation.
      - zdkl 9y ago
        remind me what year he came to power?
        shub 9y ago
        1933. NSDAP was in the Reichstag for a while before that but not really involved in governing.
rtpg 9y ago
He was doing the right things to hold power, not the right things for society.
- AsyncAwait 9y ago
  That is way too simplistic, he did a lot of terrible stuff, but also some good, it is no question that he pulled Russia from 'backwardness' in terms of literacy for example.
  - tptacek 9y ago
    You mean for those Soviets who survived him?
    - AsyncAwait 9y ago
      That's why I said that he did a lot of terrible stuff. I absolutely do not excuse the awful stuff he ordered. That does not mean we should now shut all sense of nuance.
- shub 9y ago
  Well, yeah. Stalin was a monster. He was just good at being a monster.

lallysingh 9y ago

Don't feed the trolls.

sctb 9y ago
Yes, please don't. And especially please don't feed them Stalin—this is a counter troll and makes things quickly worse. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

louithethrid 9y ago

Its a natural reaction to all those PC Blockwardens, patrolling every inch of society, telling one how to walk, how to speak and what behaviours are okay. Yelling at people who try new things, throwing hissy fits when they are ignored- because what they care about most is not protecting some class of citizens from the normal insult that is life, but that everybody better listen to them. If you have the choice between one far away Stalin who might even improve your life against another loud entrenched special interest group (taxi drivers) , and a thousand little Stalins just around the corner - who want to Tugendterror everyone for - basically fun - i know what i would want.