> Date sent: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 16:46:19 -0500
> Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> From: Wojtek Sokolowski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Soviet balance sheet
> At 05:09 PM 3/31/98 -0400, Richardo Duchesne wrote:
> >Collateral damage?! Stalin's crimes, and of the Communist Party
> >under him, were not "collateral" (citation marks or not). Neither
> >were they mere economic costs. They were part of a *political*
> >process of amassing absolute power, the likes of which history
> >had never seen before. Collectivization, the policy of mass starvation
> >against the Ukraine, and the great Terror were not necessary "costs"
> >of economic development. The were pure crimes agaisnt
> >humanity committed by a self-styled communist state. And there is no
> >"balace sheet" agaisnt such crimes. ricardo
> Well, such moral judgments can be made of virtually any leadership , and I
> do not think they further our understanding of the dynamics of power in
> Russia.
This is either absurd or plain ignorance about Stalin's crimes. You
are writing about the deaths of millions of people as if it were a
matter of collateral damage; I am trying to show that such deaths
were not a necessary "economic cost" but were part of Stalin's drive
for absolute power. How, then, can you separate these crimes from an
"understanding of the dynamics of power in Russia"??
I do not think the Russia's history took the course it did
> solelely because Stalin was a swine. That is a 'great men history" in
> reverse. I'm not trying to defend Stalin, just put things into perspective
> and get off high moral grounds.
Don't give me the "great man" jibe; that's a non-issue here. What
high moral grounds? I don't think the choice is between zero
understanding of ethics and "getting off high moral grounds". And,
believe me, you are defending Stalin.
ricardo
> Sorry but I have to teach in about 15 minutes and I cannot write a more
> thorough reply.
>
> regards,
> Wojtek
>
>
