• Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      6 days ago

      The reason the red scare existed was because the western capitalists were terrified of the revolution spreading to western Europe and the United States, which was extremely likely in the early 20th century. As such, all manner of censorship of Russian-language news, theoretical texts, reporting, etc. became the norm, and what was deemed acceptable to the capitalists was extremely filtered media, either from opposition in the USSR itself, or from western reporting, complete with what we now recognize as propaganda.

      The truth is that the USSR was extremely functional. It delivered consistent results for the working classes, and in so doing doubled life expectancies, brought mass literacy and industrialization, dignified the soviet people, and much more. The west had to rely on a combination of fabrication, exaggeration of real issues, minimization of real successes, and other tried and true methods to invent an alternate reality version of the soviet union. Journalists like Anna Louise Strong, that supported socialism and reported on it honestly, were censored.

      The red scare existed because porkie was terrified of a system that stood to steal from under their feet the very foundation they set up for their total reign.

    • balsoft@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      20
      ·
      6 days ago

      USSR had a lot of issues, but was a lot better (for the working class) than what was before and what came after. The reason for red scare was to prevent the western working class from overthrowing the oligarchy.

      Right now, China is surpassing western neoliberal nations by carefully mixing socialist and capitalist modes of production, guided by Marxism-Leninism with further theoretical developments.

      You gotta go out and read some books dude.

    • kittenzrulz123@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      ·
      6 days ago

      The reason why the red scare existed was because the capitalists were scared of the workers and still are, the soviets had no equivalent and didn’t need to.

      • Tinidril@midwest.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        22
        ·
        6 days ago

        the soviets had no equivalent

        Soviet reeducation camps and the million plus people that died in them disagree.

        I think both capitalist and communist propaganda is full of shit, but damn.

        • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          22
          ·
          6 days ago

          Are you referring to the soviet prisons in general as “re-education camps?” An enormous number of prison deaths occured during World War II, when famine was widespread due to the Nazis storming Ukraine, the USSR’s breadbasket. On the whole, soviet prisons and the justice system itself were more progressive than their peers, Mary Stevenson Callcott documented it quite well in Russian Justice.

          The soviet union, despite having a progressive legal system, was in a state of constant turmoil caused by pressures both external and internal. They couldn’t simply delete all previously existing ruling-class people and ideology, class struggle continues under socialism. Further, pressure from the imperialist west, invasion both in threat and in action, and intentional sabateurs meant that the prisons certainly weren’t empty. The soviet union never had a single year of normal, stable growth, free from intense opposition on the outside and counter-revolutionary forces on the inside.

          I’ll state it again, as I said in my other comment: the red scare existed because porkie was terrified of a system that stood to steal from under their feet the very foundation they set up for their total reign.

        • orc_princess@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          6 days ago

          I encourage you to learn more about the topic, we’re all taught to hate communism and be doomers, by our families, schools, media and so on, but when you look at the facts communism is better for the vast majority of people, those who do all the work but receive less compensation for it. The surplus of our work is stolen by those who own stuff.

          • Tinidril@midwest.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            7
            ·
            5 days ago

            You presume too much about my background. You are also missing the fact that every attempt at communism has somehow also resulted in a small group of elites stealing the surplus labor.

            • orc_princess@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              5 days ago

              No judgement intended, but you’re literally echoing anticommunist propaganda, I encourage you to keep learning.

              • Tinidril@midwest.social
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                5
                ·
                5 days ago

                Propaganda is not necessarily false. All you are saying is that I’m not aligned with your political project. You are correct.

                • orc_princess@lemmy.ml
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  5
                  ·
                  4 days ago

                  While you’re correct in that propaganda isn’t necessarily false, I said you’re repeating anticommunist propaganda, which is notorious for being a mix of exaggeration, bad faith interpretation and outright fabrication. We all learn that bs, unfortunately not all of us do the work to go over the claims and realize just how much it all rests on misrepresenting and misunderstanding history.

                  • Tinidril@midwest.social
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    arrow-down
                    5
                    ·
                    4 days ago

                    All history is misrepresented. That’s one thing that definitely isn’t exclusive to capitalism. It’s funny how every argument I get from communism cheerleaders always comes down to some variation of “you are dumb”. It’s kinda pathetic.

            • Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              5
              ·
              5 days ago

              No? Socialism and capitalism have delivered demonstrably different results precisely because the social surplus within socialism was and is directed towards fulfilling the needs of the people, via large projects and social programs, which under capitalism are limited due to the capitalist class entitling itself to the vast majority of the surplus.