Hitler was worse than Stalin...(Or why Jacques Parizeau isn't racist...)

[Some Moran]

Many Canadians, including even a few among us who are naive/stupid enough to support Quebec separatism, believe that former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau's statement about Jews, Italians, and other minorities costing French Quebeckers their independence was a racist one.

I, however, have come to a different conclusion:

When Hitler killed Jews/gays/gypsies/the mentally disabled, he did so because of what they were, rather than because of their opinion of his agenda. In other words, Hitler engaged in pure, unadulterarated hate, and pure, unadulterated evil. Stalin, though he likely killed more people than Hitler, was less evil. Stalin did not kill Ukrainians because they were Ukrainian: He killed them solely because the people who opposed his agenda happened to be Ukrainian. That shows a completely different mindset on Stalin's part.

Similarly, when Jacques Parizeau made his drunken statement, he was not hating them for being Jewish/Italian/Arab/whatever: He said what he said because they were (almost collectively) opposed to his agenda of removing Quebec from Canada.

[adriennel]

1. ummm, no.

I think you give Stalin more credit than he deserves. In no way was he "less evil" than Hitler. Stalin killed millions of his own people for both political and ethnic reasons. The USSR was very anti-semetic, and many Russian and Ukranian Jews were killed simply because of their faith. Discrimination and prejudice towards the smaller (non-Russian) countries of the USSR was and is rampant. People could be sent to gulag for any (or no) reason at all. We don't know the extent of Stalin's mass murder. In general I think we know less about his reign that Hitler's, due to the secrecy of the USSR at the time (and Stalin's tendency to get rid of any evidence or people)which may account for the perception that Stalin wasn't as bad as Hitler. Then I think they're both horribly evil, and shades of grey are irrelevant.
In terms of Canada and the Quebec secession, I can't comment because I don't pay close attention to the current Canadian political climate. However, I do live in Michigan and have heard about the situation over the years. We don't really understand it...but then again the United States already experienced secession, which led to Civil War, and well, everything's OK now, but I wouldn't recommend secession.

[Cocoa]

2. leftists as Stalin apologists

I'm hearing that ridiculous idea a lot, in the mainstream media. They say it about the protestors both in the U.S. and England.

[Zuni]

4. It was a very common phenomeon

but since 1956 (Khruschev's secret speech) it has been on the wane with more and more of Stalin's atrocities coming to light.
But before 1956, and after it for a long time, stalinism was a common demon in the hard left.
Lenin and Trotsky, as well as Mao are still admired in some loony circles, even though their body counts are nothing less than genocidal in their own right.

[BlackFrancis]

7. Trotsky?

What do you think Trotsky did?

[forgethell]

3. I bet tha's a lot

of comfort to all the people that Stalin killed. Hate is hate. There is no more right to murder millions because they resist your utopian ideals than there is to kill them because you don't like their looks, religion, ethnic gorup, or whatever. Murder is murder, and there is no excuse for it.

[Zuni]

5. Good call

I do not see the difference between killing someone over their politics and killing someone for their ethnic origin. It is still a death.

[MUAD_DIB]

6. Well...........................................no.

Murder, rape, torture are not any better or worse depending on who commots then in the name of political agenda or sheer hatred.

So hitler was 100% badass whereas Stalin was only 96%?

:eyes:

[Some Moran]

8. I hate Mao-Stalinists...

Dubcek's one of my heroes.
A-bian and Lee are the only true Chinese progressives since Sun.