Brilliant article. We knew he was bad but....just wow. A statue in Seattle? I am gobsmacked. Thank heavens for you KK, Jordan Peterson and others reminding us just how evil the Russian state at its worst was. Children today are so badly under-educated it makes me want to weep.
Very helpful essay. Thank you for posting, Konstantin.
It’s interesting to note that while there is still a significant Lenin-adoring population of “useful idiots” in Germany, they seem to be a dwindling breed. The gargantuan GDR monument to the monster was demolished and buried in 1992. In 2016, by act of parliament, the head was exhumed and today sits in Spandau Citadel, disrespectfully placed ear to the floor. Lest we forget...
An excellent reminder of the evil that one person can inflict on a society. The belief that we all have our pwn personal truth which should be respected, denies delusionary thinking and psychopathies. People like Lenin should never be granted power or reverence.
"Thankfully, pushing back is simple: we need only tell the truth." I wish it was so, however there is an incentive to both stop and distort or mislead over such a truth. KK & Co are a bright light in dark times, but the confused are many, have been encouraged to walk a path they think is righteous (by social coercion) and our politicians seek short-term gains over long-term stability and growth - be that financial or educational. Much as Marko points to - I wish this was on the syllabus, but it and many tools that would prepare a child for life, have been missing for a long time now. Once, youth rebelled, went wild and then settled, now the trend is conformity and they don't ask the important questions until they're ensconced, at which point rebellion is even harder. There're ways out of this mess, but the incentives aren't there at a nation level...yet.
In Book 3 of the Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn writes about the extremely lenient treatment of Lenin by the Tsar, even as Lenin continued to agitate against the Tsar's rule.
Yes, high intelligence without empathy is a scary thing. Killing some to save others, but never reaching the utopian “end” is the essence of the tragic in history.
"A People's Tragedy" by Orlando Figes describes in detail the Russian Revolution, its leaders and causes as well as the resulting Civil War.
It leaves in no doubt that the Red Terror, which shocked Europe with its ferocity and scale, was the brainchild of Lenin and that Stalin's crimes were merely the continuation of what Lenin put in place.
While repression obviously existed in Russia before the Revolution, it never reached the extremes of Lenin's Red Terror. An instructive example: when Lenin was sentenced to exile in Siberia, he was given several months to prepare, including marrying his girlfriend and packing trunks with books (and his hunting rifle). Quite different from the Cheka knock in the door at night followed by getting dumped on a train to a labor camp.
That said, nothing remotely compares to the sheer brutality and sadism of the Nazi regime. Not even the Soviet one, where people, rightly or more likely wrongly, were persecuted because they were seen as political opponents. There are no pictures of Soviet troops shooting dozens of small children in a village, as there are of German troops (pictures taken as souvenirs by other soldiers and recovered from their homes in Germany).
The horrors perpetrated by the Cossacks during the Civil War (described in "A People's Tragedy") and earlier pogroms since Boghdan Khmelnitsky make one wonder if the phrase "genocide of the Cossacks" is an attempt to give genocide a good name. Khmelmitsky's massacres of Jews in the 17th century were the largest ever seen in Europe until the Holocaust. The highest military honor in Ukraine today is the Order of Boghdan Khmelnitsky.
Even the most gullible and ignorant member of the Canadian Parliament is now aware of the pitfalls of trusting a Ukrainian surname explaining how fighting the Soviets was the preeminent humanist task of the 20th Century after they gave a standing ovation last fall to a Ukrainian SS volunteer, Yaroslav Hunka. Fighting the Soviets was only the second most important humanist task of the 20th Century and the Soviets did contribute mightily to the most important humanist task of all: defeating Nazi Germany.
Brilliant article. We knew he was bad but....just wow. A statue in Seattle? I am gobsmacked. Thank heavens for you KK, Jordan Peterson and others reminding us just how evil the Russian state at its worst was. Children today are so badly under-educated it makes me want to weep.
A very impactful article...
Thank you, this should be thought in schools.
M
Very helpful essay. Thank you for posting, Konstantin.
It’s interesting to note that while there is still a significant Lenin-adoring population of “useful idiots” in Germany, they seem to be a dwindling breed. The gargantuan GDR monument to the monster was demolished and buried in 1992. In 2016, by act of parliament, the head was exhumed and today sits in Spandau Citadel, disrespectfully placed ear to the floor. Lest we forget...
An excellent reminder of the evil that one person can inflict on a society. The belief that we all have our pwn personal truth which should be respected, denies delusionary thinking and psychopathies. People like Lenin should never be granted power or reverence.
It would be interesting to follow the Interns' progression in life. She appears to suffer Antisocial disorder...
"Thankfully, pushing back is simple: we need only tell the truth." I wish it was so, however there is an incentive to both stop and distort or mislead over such a truth. KK & Co are a bright light in dark times, but the confused are many, have been encouraged to walk a path they think is righteous (by social coercion) and our politicians seek short-term gains over long-term stability and growth - be that financial or educational. Much as Marko points to - I wish this was on the syllabus, but it and many tools that would prepare a child for life, have been missing for a long time now. Once, youth rebelled, went wild and then settled, now the trend is conformity and they don't ask the important questions until they're ensconced, at which point rebellion is even harder. There're ways out of this mess, but the incentives aren't there at a nation level...yet.
In Book 3 of the Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn writes about the extremely lenient treatment of Lenin by the Tsar, even as Lenin continued to agitate against the Tsar's rule.
Yes, high intelligence without empathy is a scary thing. Killing some to save others, but never reaching the utopian “end” is the essence of the tragic in history.
Eric Hoffer, The True Believer. Hoffer explains the intern. Many broken eggs. Ne omlett.
Fascinating, albeit appalling, history lesson!
"A People's Tragedy" by Orlando Figes describes in detail the Russian Revolution, its leaders and causes as well as the resulting Civil War.
It leaves in no doubt that the Red Terror, which shocked Europe with its ferocity and scale, was the brainchild of Lenin and that Stalin's crimes were merely the continuation of what Lenin put in place.
While repression obviously existed in Russia before the Revolution, it never reached the extremes of Lenin's Red Terror. An instructive example: when Lenin was sentenced to exile in Siberia, he was given several months to prepare, including marrying his girlfriend and packing trunks with books (and his hunting rifle). Quite different from the Cheka knock in the door at night followed by getting dumped on a train to a labor camp.
That said, nothing remotely compares to the sheer brutality and sadism of the Nazi regime. Not even the Soviet one, where people, rightly or more likely wrongly, were persecuted because they were seen as political opponents. There are no pictures of Soviet troops shooting dozens of small children in a village, as there are of German troops (pictures taken as souvenirs by other soldiers and recovered from their homes in Germany).
The horrors perpetrated by the Cossacks during the Civil War (described in "A People's Tragedy") and earlier pogroms since Boghdan Khmelnitsky make one wonder if the phrase "genocide of the Cossacks" is an attempt to give genocide a good name. Khmelmitsky's massacres of Jews in the 17th century were the largest ever seen in Europe until the Holocaust. The highest military honor in Ukraine today is the Order of Boghdan Khmelnitsky.
Even the most gullible and ignorant member of the Canadian Parliament is now aware of the pitfalls of trusting a Ukrainian surname explaining how fighting the Soviets was the preeminent humanist task of the 20th Century after they gave a standing ovation last fall to a Ukrainian SS volunteer, Yaroslav Hunka. Fighting the Soviets was only the second most important humanist task of the 20th Century and the Soviets did contribute mightily to the most important humanist task of all: defeating Nazi Germany.
good point...I don't know....