can understand getting fooled and believing all the bad stuff about Mao and Stalin
I think part of the reason libs and fascist can push just about any kind of propaganda on the masses is because the left has historically been on the back step when acknowledging valid self criticisms.
Implying that people are fooled into believing “all the bad stuff” about Mao or Stalin implies there aren’t valid criticisms to be had. Mao’s cultural revolution in large parts were total failures, there is no reason to shy away from this fact. The CCP and Mao himself had no qualms about recognizing faults in that revolution and readjusting accordingly.
The same can be said for Stalin’s idea of revolution in one nation. The expansion of communism exclusively through the lens of Russian nationalism led to undue levels of violent reactionary nationalist rising to oppositional power.
Every revolution is going to get some things wrong, the whole point of self criticism is to acknowledge where it went wrong, and how to fix it or avoid it in the future. By disregarding valid criticism in the same manner as one would invalid criticism, it opens space for the right to levy any criticism no matter how fantastic.
I think part of the reason libs and fascist can push just about any kind of propaganda on the masses is because the left has historically been on the back step when acknowledging valid self criticisms.
Implying that people are fooled into believing “all the bad stuff” about Mao or Stalin implies there aren’t valid criticisms to be had. Mao’s cultural revolution in large parts were total failures, there is no reason to shy away from this fact. The CCP and Mao himself had no qualms about recognizing faults in that revolution and readjusting accordingly.
The same can be said for Stalin’s idea of revolution in one nation. The expansion of communism exclusively through the lens of Russian nationalism led to undue levels of violent reactionary nationalist rising to oppositional power.
Every revolution is going to get some things wrong, the whole point of self criticism is to acknowledge where it went wrong, and how to fix it or avoid it in the future. By disregarding valid criticism in the same manner as one would invalid criticism, it opens space for the right to levy any criticism no matter how fantastic.