Hitler was not a conservative, but Stalin was in many ways the opposite of conservative.
Tim, when Hitler first got elected to office, he ran on a conservative ticket in a very conservative Bavaria. I don't remember if he was with a party. I can assure you, the Bavarians did not have a lapse and vote a liberal into office when they elected Hitler.
The political theory he pushed (when he bothered to push anything besides his own power) is socialism/communism imposed by force. It's a more extreme version of socialism. He was only conservative in one way once he was in power he didn't want the power structure to change much but anyone in power is likely to want to remain there. And actually beyond the party being in control and himself in control of the party, he did make changes in the power structure purging huge sections of it.
Any similarities between Stalin's gov't and socialism and communism, was either accidental or intended for image reasons. Stalin was a ruthless, conservative dictator who put to death hundreds of thousands of people. He was intensely paranoid and ruled Russia with an iron fist. Much like Hitler, he built huge monuments/ buildings dedicated to Russian culture and power. In fact the two of them were very much alike......Stalin also didn't care for Russia's ethnic peoples........and for one brief point during the late 30's and early 40's, Germany and Russia were allied.
If you are going to call Stalin a conservative then we had best come up with a new term because we would really be using different languages if we both use that word.With Hitler at least you had the exuse that he is traditionally seen as right wing which is considered to be "extreme conservative". I would say that idea is wrong but it atleast was the standard conventional idea so its not a shock to hear it. With Stalin you seem to be making an entirely new classification system for your argument. Is a conservative anyone who supports strong central authority with no democratic or procedural checks and balances?
I am not making a whole new classification.......the kind of dictators that Franco [btw Franco and Hitler were close as well], Hitler and Stalin were sprang from the same well. There MO might be different but their motivations were similar.
If so I am not a conservative and Reagan, Gringrich, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Buckley, George Bush (both of them), and Dick Cheney are not conservatives. What does the politics and philosophy of these people have in common with Stalin?
Nothing.Tim
That's fine. |
