A voice from the gulag

[ontheway1]

Solzhenitsyn, the writer who survided decades in the Soviet socialist labor camps had this to say about socialism:

The doctrines of socialism seethe with contradictions, its theories are at constant odds with its practice, yet due to a powerful instinct, [these contradictions] do not in the least hinder the unending propaganda of socialism. Indeed no precise, distinct socialism even exists; instead there is only a vague, rosy notion of something noble and good, of equality, of communal ownership, and justice . . .

[In its reality, socialism] seeks to reduce human personality to its most primitive levels and to extinguish the highest, most complex, and “God Like” aspects of human individuality. And even equality itself, that powerful appeal and great promise of socialists throughout the ages, turns out to signify not equality of rights, of opportunities, and of external conditions, but equality qua identity, equality seen as the movement of variety toward uniformity.

 

[Kaninchen]

the movement of variety toward uniformity.

Religious people can be like that, too.

 

[Adamek]

Anyone can be anything. What is your point?

 

[Regular_Atheist]

Never really understood why a rabid anti-Semite like Solzhenitsyn was made the ultimate authority on the horrors of the Soviet Union.

 

[Kaninchen]

Anyone can be anything.

. . . and often are - zecs are not just the product of socialism.

 

[vern_humphrey]

Never really understood why a rabid anti-Semite like Solzhenitsyn was made the ultimate authority on the horrors of the Soviet Union.

Because he experienced them, of course.

Central and Eastern Europe was a hotbed of anti-Semitism. I recommend reading Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland by Jan Gross to see how horrible and pervasive anti-Semitism was.

Solzhenitsyn was a product of his culture – and all cultures have their dark sides. But his anti-Semitism doesn’t invalidate his witnessing of the Soviet Gulag.

 

[po18guy]

The very human tendency, at least in our progressive age, is not to thoughtfully consider opposing viewpoints, but to vilify the memory of those postulating the viewpoints and to employ ad hominem and marginalizing verbiage against any who support those views.

Truth swims against the tide.

 

[Adamek]

Must have been a real nazi. A hitler maybe.
Calling people names says more about the person using these methods, then the object of their contempt.

 

[ontheway1]

The original post had to do with socialism, but it seeems that the discussion of this topic is alway hijacked by … who knows who and who knows why. Mostly, it is obfuscation.

Maybe a little context is in order here.

Winston S. Churchill, had observed in 1920:

"The part played in the creation of Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian Revolution by these international and for the most part atheistical Jews … is certainly a very great one: it probably out-weighs all others. With the notable exception of Lenin, the majority of the leading figures are Jews. Moreover, the principal inspiration and the driving power comes from Jewish leaders …

 

[vern_humphrey]

Capitalism is the private ownership of the means of production and distribution, operated for profit in a competitive environment. Jesus and Joseph were capitalists – they owned their tools, they made their living with them, and they weren’t the only carpenters in Judea.

Socialism is government ownership of the means of production and distribution, operated for political reasons in a monopoly environment. When the aims of the government diverge from the aims and needs of the people, the people suffer.

Because socialism ultimately depends on government being more powerful that the people, socialist governments tend toward dictatorships (cf the USSR and modern Venezuela.)