tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post7436233370338372584..comments2024-03-28T18:32:05.933-04:00Comments on bensozia: Simon Montefiore, "Young Stalin"Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01037215533094998996noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-90028180559346568262021-06-07T11:51:04.949-04:002021-06-07T11:51:04.949-04:00@John
On Purge fantasies, in general I think you&...@John<br /><br />On Purge fantasies, in general I think you're right that early 21st-century people are too ready to assume that a war of all against all is the default human state that reappears if social institutions weaken just a bit. But the Russian Revolution isn't necessarily the best place to look for arguments against that view. At least, Orlando Figes in A People's Tragedy depicts the revolution as an orgy of savage, anarchic violence. He's got lots of anecdotes about mobs setting on children, old folks, women; innovative, sadistic tortures of personal enemies; and atavistic peasant cruelty. A lot this was, of course, fueled by alcohol. But I wouldn't get too confident about the revolution as a brotherly drinking bout.<br /><br />(The famous Murray-Hill Riot is another, unrelated example.)Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14456987412710878404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8304928500646903522.post-75687367338576991332021-06-06T15:03:08.170-04:002021-06-06T15:03:08.170-04:00Disaffected young men, living in societies run by ...Disaffected young men, living in societies run by inept and complacent rich old men, has always been a potent recipe for disaster on an apocalyptic scale.G. Verlorennoreply@blogger.com