There is little on this website properly debunking all lies about Pol Pot. I try and pull bits and pieces from different corners of the internet to hit a lot...
I think an important part of material analysis is examining the chronology of ideas and events. Not just as they happened, but as they were talked about afterwards. During Stalin’s time he wasn’t referred to as a “dictator” by the west, because “dictator” didn’t have the same negative connotations at the time, and various fascist dictators were praised for “cutting through red tape” by the western press, it wasn’t until the mythology around ww2 coalesced (the west defeated the nazis and saved the world etc.) that we start to see “dictator” used in the sense we see it today, and Stalin was reframed from a complex, flawed but ultimately very successful leader into a cartoon villain.
This is an excellent point, and even though the U.S. had been gunning for Stalin and the USSR for decades, it’s almost alien trying to imagine the time period where that wasn’t publicly the case. Kind of like how even most of the ardent anti-communists thought that blaming Stalin and the USSR and communism for the alleged Holodomor was massively backwards, disgusting, wrong and victim-blaming, up until around the 80’s-ish.
I find it is incredibly useful as an educational tool. Liberalism kind of positions itself as “eternal” and the ideas liberalism presents about socialism are treated as divine truths known since time immemorial, so by showing how anti-communism has been constantly reframed over time, and how communist leaders have been increasingly vilified over time, it helps break that programming.
I think an important part of material analysis is examining the chronology of ideas and events. Not just as they happened, but as they were talked about afterwards. During Stalin’s time he wasn’t referred to as a “dictator” by the west, because “dictator” didn’t have the same negative connotations at the time, and various fascist dictators were praised for “cutting through red tape” by the western press, it wasn’t until the mythology around ww2 coalesced (the west defeated the nazis and saved the world etc.) that we start to see “dictator” used in the sense we see it today, and Stalin was reframed from a complex, flawed but ultimately very successful leader into a cartoon villain.
This is an excellent point, and even though the U.S. had been gunning for Stalin and the USSR for decades, it’s almost alien trying to imagine the time period where that wasn’t publicly the case. Kind of like how even most of the ardent anti-communists thought that blaming Stalin and the USSR and communism for the alleged Holodomor was massively backwards, disgusting, wrong and victim-blaming, up until around the 80’s-ish.
I find it is incredibly useful as an educational tool. Liberalism kind of positions itself as “eternal” and the ideas liberalism presents about socialism are treated as divine truths known since time immemorial, so by showing how anti-communism has been constantly reframed over time, and how communist leaders have been increasingly vilified over time, it helps break that programming.
Removed by mod
I don’t have anything on hand, sorry. I’m sure Damarcus does though.