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Mike 03

(16,616 posts)

9. For some reason, some people like to compartmentalize Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot

Reply to napi21 (Original post)

Fri Dec 11, 2020, 12:33 PM

Dec 2020

away from other dictators, but someone (maybe Masha Gessen or maybe Timothy Snyder or the new biographer of Stalin?) said it is more constructive not to view them as left/right but rather as two sides of the same coin, so I study both Hitler and Stalin, and Pol Pot and Pinochet. There are similarities and I think it's crazy to make special excuses for far left dictators. One difference is they are already closed systems, so a democracy isn't being wrecked when a new dictator comes to power. They are assuming a power that in theory already belongs to them. (True also of N Korea).

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For all of us who know bits of history but very little detail, I founbd an article comparing [View all] napi21 Dec 2020 OP

Authoritarians throughout history have used a similar playbook... Wounded Bear Dec 2020 #1

Umhm. And they have to work from the same list of fascistic tactics to Hortensis Dec 2020 #12

Epoch Times is a far-right site that is full of conspiracy theories. WhiskeyGrinder Dec 2020 #2

And how! czarjak Dec 2020 #4

I didn't know that, but I did read the article. There does appear to be a strong similarity napi21 Dec 2020 #5

Yes, but your main point is correct. Mike 03 Dec 2020 #8

The Epoch Times is an extreme right wing newspaper. jalan48 Dec 2020 #3

Putting aside the Epoch Times, your observation is right on. Mike 03 Dec 2020 #6

+1. My thinking about weaponizing pandemic to keep power Hortensis Dec 2020 #13

The article falsely compares Mao to political correctness. marylandblue Dec 2020 #7

For some reason, some people like to compartmentalize Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot Mike 03 Dec 2020 #9

This. Thank you. /nt DeeNice Dec 2020 #10

When left or right move to the extremes, there is little to offer between them... Wounded Bear Dec 2020 #14

The US is NOT China, so comparisons are mute. The chinese people were bred to be compliant/serfs beachbumbob Dec 2020 #11