Interesting character, Lenin
I find that he elicits my respect and my disparagement in equal measure. You, mmoffitt, would probably find little to admire in the same personality type deployed in the service of the Spanish Inquisition. And yet, the desired end, the salvation of immortal souls, certainly trumped any transient suffering undergone by those ephemeral envelopes of flesh, provided the theological premise is accepted. Just so, if a global society of equality, prosperity and happiness from which economic exploitation has been banished is in prospect, a couple of transitional generations may perhaps need to be sacrificed, because their sufferings will be redeemed by the lives of their grandchildren and further progeny down the generations.
Lenin the Jesuit, unfortunately, would have tortured and burned in the service of the consensual hallucination called "God." I'm far from certain that Lenin the Bolshevik proceeded from much firmer theoretical ground. In any event, he was a man whose compassion for humanity in the abstract was so profound that it quite trumped, during his brief years in power, any sentimental considerations regarding humanity in particular. I know that among his admirers it's an article of faith that had Ilich remained in good health the USSR would have been spared the rigors of Stalinism and emerged within a few years as a beacon of justice and prosperity toward which the world's proletarians would have swarmed, overthrowing their oppressors. I'm more persuaded by Bertram Wolfe's thesis, in Three Who Made a Revolution, that Lenin's own style of leadership was a major factor in making possible the rise of a character like Stalin (however much this development alarmed Lenin at the end of his life), and that the original Bolshevik cannot be exonerated, much as his remaining champions would like him to be, from the bloody reign of his remarkable protégé.
A powerful character. He deserve to be remembered. Not certain he deserves to be celebrated—else his near contemporary, that Austrian guy, whose influence on XX century history was approximately as profound, ought to be depicted on plinths all over Europe.
Really, mmoffitt, contrarianism is one thing, but you seem on your side as uncritical of the "evidence" you advance on Putin's behalf as the most rabid neocons frothing for a new Cold War.
cordially,
Lenin the Jesuit, unfortunately, would have tortured and burned in the service of the consensual hallucination called "God." I'm far from certain that Lenin the Bolshevik proceeded from much firmer theoretical ground. In any event, he was a man whose compassion for humanity in the abstract was so profound that it quite trumped, during his brief years in power, any sentimental considerations regarding humanity in particular. I know that among his admirers it's an article of faith that had Ilich remained in good health the USSR would have been spared the rigors of Stalinism and emerged within a few years as a beacon of justice and prosperity toward which the world's proletarians would have swarmed, overthrowing their oppressors. I'm more persuaded by Bertram Wolfe's thesis, in Three Who Made a Revolution, that Lenin's own style of leadership was a major factor in making possible the rise of a character like Stalin (however much this development alarmed Lenin at the end of his life), and that the original Bolshevik cannot be exonerated, much as his remaining champions would like him to be, from the bloody reign of his remarkable protégé.
A powerful character. He deserve to be remembered. Not certain he deserves to be celebrated—else his near contemporary, that Austrian guy, whose influence on XX century history was approximately as profound, ought to be depicted on plinths all over Europe.
Really, mmoffitt, contrarianism is one thing, but you seem on your side as uncritical of the "evidence" you advance on Putin's behalf as the most rabid neocons frothing for a new Cold War.
cordially,