> Stalin
> industrialized Russia and Mao industrialized China, at a terrible cost,
> but the boom periods in both countries came during periods of comparative
> democratization (Deng and Putin), not tyranny.
Is it possible that socialism is just much better at primitive accumulation than capitalist regimes are? And isn't Chavez on a similar path, though obviously with not nearly as much violence? The busting of unions (commons), the state's control of primary industries, fake collectivization, etc.