> By only discussing the crimes of Stalinism and not discussing the much
> greater crimes of capitalism and the market you coverup that you are the
> enemy of the human race in this debate. Capitalism and the market are
> responsible for many more crimes against humanity than Stalinism.
Though I've had differences with him, I've never gotten the impression that Justin "red baits" (a flexible term, easily tossed about). And certainly in this forum one need not go on & on about the crimes of the market -- we all know them, yes? Criticism of Stalinism or any of its cousins seems to me a way to dig through the failures of socialism and progressive action in an effort to learn what went wrong and why (as well as what went right). At least that's my view.
I'm not a Marxist by any stretch, but even I know that capitalism's mass graves are far larger than state socialism's -- and they are still filling up. You should see the looks on my conservative relatives' faces when I counter the inevitable "100 mil. dead under communism" statements with the fact that under Brit capitalism, India alone suffered 100 mil. dead. They simply can't believe it. Of course, they think I worship at Lenin's tomb. After the USSR fell apart, my brother-in-law actually tried to console me, for he was sure I was depressed.
Red Staters, eh?
DP (wearing the Red Army tee he got for X-mas)