Opinions on the soviet union and stalinism?

Stalin was mentally deranged, to even apply his name to a political ideology is an insult to political thought. The Cult of Personality was inexcusable, and collectivization only serves to pad the pockets of the corrupt ruling class.

Stalisnism is not an actual thing? Like, it's not an ideology or economic system, it's just a term used to mean "things Stalin did that I don't like" or "things done under Stalin's government".

He was the only socialist leader after Lenin in the USSR. If it weren't for Khrushev, the Sino-Soviet Split and the albanese split would never happened, and if it weren't for Khrushev and his bunch of anti-Stalin bureaucrats the USSR would not be a Social Imperialist state. If it weren't for Stalin era's Five Year Plans, the consecuences of the famines would be worst.

Stalin is a hero, but Stalinism doesnt, exist. Its Marxism-Leninism. People scared of his authoritarianism are ignorant to the violence used to enforce the current system the world over.

In order to assess the situation, you have to look at it in context.

Lenin was the only Leader the Soviet Union actually wanted. So when he passed, Stalin ended up taking power because nobody wanted anyone else but Lenin, and the two were often together. 

That said, I think it's curious that Stalin is between Two World Wars, and a Civil War, and yet Americans think he's a bad man because the Soviet Union had a hard time during literally the worst time in all of history.

Allegedly, the man who came immediately after Stalin was so "based" that the Soviet Union was able to go toe-to-toe with America the entire time he was in office, despite the alleged horrible massacres and policies Stalin is said to have committed (by America).

Now with all that possibly in mind, we have to apply, what is that called, Dialectic Materialism? Basically, we are supposed to read Stalin, understand what parts are good and what parts are bad, and then actively decide to NOT do the bad parts.

That is arguably the primary difference between Left and Right ideologies: Left Wingers CHANGE THEIR MIND WHEN THEY ARE WRONG, so that they can continue forward while being correct.

Stalin was objectively a monster. The Soviet Union, in my opinion, was no better than the US, either. Both countries have (and even Russia in its current form) committed horrible crimes against humanity, covered up atrocities, funded proxy wars to further their own goals, are corrupt, etc. Neither are free from sin. That's just my humble opinion, however. 

Critical Support for Stalin and The USSR before Khrushchev, the secret speech and the revisionism that came after Stalin. Stalin is a complicated figure with many successes and mistakes. Plenty to be analyzed and plenty to be critical of; however, he understood Marxism-Leninism, understood the importance of a state to defend the soviet revolution, brought many reforms, assisted the PRC in their fight to liberate themselves from western and Japanese imperialism. Additionally, under his leadership the
soviet union went from a land of serfs to an industrialized power in
20-30 years. They survived Nazi invasion, freed Europe from the fascists
and raised the standard of living for so many soviet citizens/eastern
Europe allies, had full employment,homelessness was rare, so were
substance abuse issues,etc. There are no great people in history, only their choices and the material conditions that surround their choices.

For more read stalin history and critique of a black legend

videos:

There was never a "Hitler-Stalin" Pact

Why the Holodomor Narrative is Wrong

Playlist: Defending Stalin - Criticisms and Context

Ok, so after looking through these comments (some are fine, others are literally a huge wtf)

Some of these people call themselves leftist, hate Nazis, are antifa, against war, pro LGBTQ+ and what not. HOW FUCKING IRONIC THEN, that they adore Stalin and celebrate him as some kind of hero??? "The Holodomor didn't happen", "The Holodomor wasn't man-made","There was no elite in the soviet union","bRInG ThE sOVieT unIoN bAcK!!1!" 

I hardly believe any of those people have spoken to people, who are from Eastern Europe, or have lived through that time. And no, them being in the KGB, or "politicians" (puppets) does not count, obvi they'd want it back.

Personally I don't like the Soviet Union.

Yes, public transport was free, after school activities like sports and music as well, and there were basically no homeless people. That's not worth of an exchange for freedom of speech, freedom of travelling, and chosing your future yourself, what music you want to listen to, what books you like, and what type of politics you support though. 

Stop romanticizing this shit. 

You're literally falling for the propaganda. 

stalin was no way fit for the job, Lenin (the greatest soviet leader in my opinion) said on his death bed that Stalin should NOT rule after him.

Stalin's rule was overtly authoritarian, you could maybe take some positive things but as a anarcho-communist I can't really say anything else, he was bad just as any other leader, we as leftists need to criticize it and make democracy a main point in the communist model which was shown not to be in the soviet union under stalin's time.

Stalin's "worst" actions were for the purpose of preventing tens of millions more dying from complete german occupation. He was a horrible person, being a major narcissist and racist but his actions, having saved ~100 million lives, made him an exceptional leader. He is not someone to idolize as a person, but someone to look at when praxis demands you decide what's for the greater good and such.

To break his actions down further:

1: Purging of the Bolshevik party - the Bolshevik party was a disorganized mess of those who fit into two camps, being ones supporting violence, revolutionaries, and those who did not, reformists. Due to the impending threat of German invasion Stalin took it upon himself to annihilate reformist/trotskyist leaders who would not listen to him as in the short term rapid industrialization and reduced political freedoms would result in diminishing quality of life. These leaders neglected the fact that if they didn't comply all of their people would die and there wasnt really a way around it. If you let fascism or inaction take hold within your population, nothing's protecting you.

2: Gulags - gulags were forced labor camps, not death camps. These were typical for the time period, the US hasn't even gotten rid of them while most countries, including the USSR, rid themselves of it since the 50's. During any year a gulag would release ~30% of its prisoner population, and post-WWII gulags had a death rate of ~1/300, also happening to be a better figure than the modern-day United States. Also, only an average of 20% of gulag inmates were even political prisoners, with the rest being fully legitimate criminals.

3: State executions - archives report a figure of 799,455 persons executed under Stalin and the final three years of Lenin. This figure includes general capital crimes, such as murder, white army members and those who aided them who wanted to reestablish a monarchy which would've been indisputably worse for the people than literally any governing group, and nazi party members and collaborators. There was no breakdown of these figures ever released but its safe to say that the majority of executions were not for political crimes.

4: The Holodomor - this was a soviet wide famine, not a targeted attack on Ukraine. It was caused by a combination of local leaders not being well, competent, and how farmers would often reduce the amount of food they produced so that they wouldn't have to share some for the state and "save themselves some work". This resulted in massive food shortages, and famines typically effect rural communities, like Ukraine, as they mainly only trade with large cities. In contrast, large cities often have trade networks built with eachother as well as trade with foreign states, providing them with more food, as well as a longer "safety net" before their populations begin to be affected. "Stalin's famine" wasn't even Stalin's fault, in fact his purging of the Bolshevik party was likely taken to prevent such a disaster from ever occuring again.

i used my memory from these two sources, both having extensive citations to back them up, for my arguments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kaaYvauNho

https://welshundergroundnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/blackshirts-and-reds-by-michael-parenti.pdf

sorry if this is poorly argued and/or organized its 2:30 AM i just want to go to fucking bed but i made the mistake of joining this group, nini

I can't say anything about Stalinism, but I will list, in my opinion, the greatest successes and achievements of the Soviet Union:

For the first time in the history of mankind, the first phase of a communist society (socialism) was implemented;

The people of labor got the opportunity to send representatives from their labor collectives to the government, thereby the people of labor got the opportunity to participate directly in the management of the state. Nowadays, you are unlikely to find people of labor in the government;

Labor people got the right to work no more than eight hours a day;

Women got the right to participate in political processes, before that, in many republics, women had very limited rights;

The illiteracy of the population was eliminated in a short time;

Absolutely free medical care for all citizens;

Absolutely free education, including higher education for everyone;

After completing his studies, a person was guaranteed a job in his specialty;

There were no homeless people, all people were provided with housing;

Very stable prices for everything;

Low prices for utilities and food (by the way, all the food was natural);

Very advanced science and cosmonautics. The Soviet Union was the first to send a man into space.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the arrival of capitalism, we lost almost all of the above, but in return we got the opportunity to travel the world. Great exchange, right?

USSR was in my opinion a semi-successful communist state. Having progressed far from its previous devastating state during the rule of Tsar, the five year plan by Joseph Stalin was great, and I will not stop thanking the USSR for its handling and defeat of Nazi-Germany during World War II, while it wasn't the only county it was the one that both gave the hardest blow but received the hardest blow loosing over 27 million people. After the collapse of the USSR its GDP would proceed to immediately halve and have the politicians taken over by some of the most corrupt. Many have stated they would want the USSR back

Although it is very important to criticize and learn from the terrible actions taken by the USSR

especially under Joseph Stalin's rule

I believe we can all agree when we say Stalin was paranoid. Mostly due to the on going cold war conflict and coup attempts by western powers to any politician that even dares to represent a policy that cares for the working class. However it is not a excuse to Stalin's terrible actions under his rule. Like The Great Purge from 1936-1938 where declassified NKVD documents showed that many innocent people who would judge or dare to even give feedback on the USSR's mistakes would be arrested, sent to gulags, or executed. This was due to the raising paranoia. We also should not forget the Doctors Plot. However Stalin did do some good things like his five year plan and helping of defeating Nazi-Germany. we cannot ignore the bad things he has done and as a Socialist we should learn from his mistakes for a better future for the working class. 

Thank you for reading. I am open to any comments or criticisms from my stance. Please let me know if I missed anything