See, I'm not real cool with Stalin. He wore drab clothing, had a cheesy mustache, and the gulags/20 million killed thing doesn't sit real well with me, either. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2559010520070725?feedType=RSS&rpc=22&sp=true Russian youth: Stalin good, migrants must go: poll Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:16PM EDT MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's youths admire Soviet dictator Josef Stalin -- who presided over the deaths of millions of people -- and want to kick immigrants out of Russia, according to a poll released on Wednesday. The poll, carried out by the Yuri Levada Centre, was presented by two U.S. academics who called it "The Putin Generation: the political views of Russia's youth". When asked if Stalin was a wise leader, half of the 1,802 respondents, aged from 16 to 19, agreed he was. "Fifty-four percent agreed that Stalin did more good than bad," said Theodore Gerber, a sociologist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Forty-six percent disagreed with the statement that Stalin was a cruel tyrant." Stalin, who took over from Vladimir Lenin, built a system of terror and repression in which tens millions of people died or were killed. He died in 1953. "What we find troubling is that there is a substantial proportion of young people in Russia today who hold positive or ambivalent views on Stalin and his legacy," Gerber said. "We think it would probably be more appropriate if there was more condemnation of the Stalin era." The poll showed 17 percent of the young people disagreed that Stalin was responsible for the imprisonment, torture and execution of millions of innocent people, while 40 percent thought his role in the repression had been exaggerated. The majority of respondents thought the collapse of the Soviet Union was a tragedy and two thirds thought that America was a rival and enemy. Only a fifth viewed Iran as a potential rival or enemy. Most young people also wanted immigrants kicked out of Russia: 62 percent said they agreed with the statement that the Russian government should evict most immigrants. But 64 percent agreed with the idea that immigrants should be allowed to have Russian citizenship if they abided with Russian laws and customs. The poll showed the biggest concern for the youth was the problem of drugs, followed by unemployment, poverty, corruption, education, crime, HIV/AIDS and ecology.
Hey he liked red and stars so if old Joe was alive today I'm sure he would've been a Rockets and Stros fans.
That is terrible. More people in America have a worse opinion of Bush the Younger. People generally like to take up for their own I guess, but usually the really, really bad guys are reviled at home and abroad. I don't think Hitler is anywhere near as well looked upon by German youth, for instance. I wonder what a similar poll on Chairman Mao done in the PRC would say.
The results will be very mixed I believe. Mao has actually done some good things for China but he has also done terrible things for China.
no one is all good or all bad. hitler did some good things for germany...but saying that makes me cringe because of how overwhelmingly evil a lot of what he did was. stalin and hitler created two of the most dehumanizing regimes in world history. it is baffling to me that one could look on their records in entirety and have anything truly positive to say.
No different than people wanting John Gotti's Autograph people like powerful people Esp if those people are associated with the 'Glory days' The youth may see Stalin as a guy riding high when Russia was to be feared and respected. The see the Respect and not care too too much how it was gained. Rocket River
Max... there's some rookie using your name posting junk from Hoopsworld in the GARM. I thought it was you at first, but through my superior powers of deductive reasoning I figured you had not moved to Ireland.
So, what are you going to do about it? The new guy is definitely not a worthy sequel... where's the righteous indignation?
Today Mao will likely win the poll. As time went by, a lot of people forgive his wrongdoings and start to remember the good things he had done. Mao should get most support from low-income families and nationalists. In fact, even those who were severely punished by him still believed him as the leader. I have met quite a few former government and military officers. Given all the ordeal they suffered during the cultural revolution, it was hard to believe they still gave Mao the most respect.
I would relate Mao not to Stalin, but Lenin. Both Lenin and Mao had some view that they were working for the common people and the poor. The results were horrible, but the intentions deep down were based on ideals of justice. Stalin, before the Communist Revolution was a thug and a bank robber. He essentially joined the Communist Party for selfish power, and browbeat his way to the Chairmanship after Lennin denounced him in his will. He was the classic 'strongman dictator'. Pursuit of power for the sake of power. I can understand how someone might see some good qualities in Mao. With Stalin, I see nothing redeeming.
I would argue that it's not the person of Stalin they're hearkening back to, but the 'prestige' of the Soviet Union that he left behind. It's not unusual at all, you see it in other countries/nations as well. I mean, the Turks have a flourishing democracy and more freedoms than they ever had, but I would venture to say that the majority would welcome back the glory days of the Ottomans if they could.
Interesting to see that the Russian people, the youth, anyway, are still capable of collective thought... collective delusion. D&D. Impeach Bush and Cheney.
You know, the more I read these polls, the more I wonder how much stock you can put in them. How many people think 9/11 was an "inside" job? How many people think Al Qaeda was connected to Iraq pre- invasion? They are wrong, but you have to ask how much this affects the country's decisions. In the end, Russia is not going back to communism anytime soon, no matter what the polls say. It's more frustration with their current economic conditions, IMO.
They are, however, going "back" to an oligarchic kind of government. The Soviet government was, in many respects, more an oligarchic dictatorship than a true communist one. Putin has been pulling Russia back towards central control, where a relative few are rich, and the "masses" are bamboozled. The big difference is more local freedom, and government wearing a "capitalist dress" for both local and international consumption. D&D. Impeach Bush and Cheney.
not surprising here, it's called nationalism. they were a superpower back then. people want to have that feeling again. if you do a poll in china, majority of the people will agree that he did way more good things than bad things. no one is perfect.
