American Stalinist

Stalin poster.

Matthew, a history prof writes:

As a student of the origins of Stalinist culture and propaganda, I have become more and more aware of the Stalinist tactics and mentality of much of the American Right since the virulent Clinton-hating publicity campaigns of the 1990s. Relentless insistence on unity, on the existence of an unprecedented and overwhelming external threat, and on the total moral depravity of political opposition were all integral to Stalinist propaganda, and they are a growing part of conservative rhetoric in the United States today. Hate campaigns against “wealthy” peasants, “bourgeois” engineers and professors, and “enemies of the people” became central to Stalinism.


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5 responses to “American Stalinist”

  1. myke Avatar

    that’s a really interesting analogy that i have not heard before. you should email it to bill o’reilly and see what he thinks!

  2. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    I should have included in the quote that the author articulates how the GOP/Bush point of view is vastly different in terms of economic policy – it’s the ‘conduits’ that are being used that are similar.

  3. homer Avatar

    I’ve noticed the Republicans have picked up a lot of “red Communist” tactics- jailing people secretly, suppressing certain voters, suppressing free speech, pre-emptive invasion. The U.S. is getting to be a scary place.

  4. Jabawoky Avatar
    Jabawoky

    America is becoming a very sacry, a mere shadow of its former glory remains and now a new light shines. Cultural imperialism and world wide domination now reign supreme at the expense of many, for the short term materilist benift of few.

  5. LibertyLover Avatar
    LibertyLover

    Now that secret files from the soviet republics are making their way into the public domain, there are starting to be several fascinating books.

    many of us know the inside story and the players for Hitlers Nazi party. these new books provide comparable information for Stalin.

    Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. Simon Sebag Montefiore. New York: Knopf, 2004, 816 pp. $30.00

    “Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953”. Yoram Gorlizki and Oleg Khlevniuk. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, 272 pp. $35.00.

    Stalin and his Hangmen: The Tyrant and Those who Killed for Him by Donald Rayfield

    This should alarm any republican or conservative who hated the Soviet Union’s practices.

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