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Kitchen Table Kibitzing Friday: Lenin & Stalin, what would Mike Godwin do? [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-07-28
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.
I’m scheduled to do a podcast interview of a new book author who did a translation of an Italian author’s scholarly text on Stalin which in itself causes controversy since even mentioning “Uncle Joe” makes some people “reach for their pistols”.
The primary issues arise on this book because there remains a normative anti-Stalin(ist) position in political discourse, especially after the Khrushchev Secret Speech of 1956 denouncing Stalin. For various leftists there are so many triggering responses, especially for those who may subscribe to cults of personality that reflect the ideological positions of Leon Trotsky among others. Sadly, there are left and right versions of anti-communism that make the ideological discourse more troubled.
In the example below an opinion writer for The Seattle Times got fired because he made a comparison of Lenin to Hitler, despite the private land on which the statue sat. I promise to do a thorough book review for the AntiCapitalist Chat/MeetUp group, but thought I’d mention it in the US context of artistic censorship and the hard-learned experience of Twitter/X argumentation.
x x YouTube Video The speech, replete with lengthy quotations from correspondence and memoranda, gave details about the unwarranted arrest and execution of high-ranking loyal party members during the Terror of the late 1930s; the unpreparedness of the country at the time of the Nazi invasion in June 1941; numerous wartime blunders; the deportation of various nationalities in 1943 and 1944 and the banishing of Tito’s Yugoslavia from the Soviet bloc after the war. Absolving the party itself of these grave actions, Khrushchev attributed them to the “cult of personality” that Stalin allegedly encouraged and his “violations of socialist legality,” code words for dictatorship and terror. Noticeably absent from this indictment were the collectivization drive that was accompanied by massive state violence and famine, the repression of intellectuals, and any implication that other party leaders — himself included — shared responsibility for the crimes that Khrushchev mentioned. x x YouTube Video The speech sent shock waves throughout the Communist world and caused many western Communists to abandon the movement. In Tbilisi, students demonstrated against the removal of a monument to Stalin, Georgia’s native son. In Poland, demonstrations by workers in Poznan over declining wages and deep divisions between recalcitrant Stalinists and anti-Stalinists within the Polish Workers’ Party threatened to engulf the country in crisis, and in Hungary mass demonstrations led to a popular uprising in October 1956. The prime minister, Imre Nagy, sought to regain control through concessions that included abolishing the one-party system and freeing from prison the virulently anticommunist Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, but as the insurgency expanded, the Soviet Presidium decided to send in troops. The Hungarian uprising, which occurred simultaneously with the Anglo-French intervention against Egypt over its claims to the Suez Canal, was the most serious crisis in the Soviet bloc until the Prague Spring of 1968. It temporarily weakened Khrushchev in his struggle against the Stalinist stalwarts in the Presidium who conspired, but failed, to oust him in June 1957. soviethistory.msu.edu/...
David J. Volodsko got fired from the newspaper because he didn’t truly understand the history of that statue or how to use Twitter/X, but also chose to make a problematic comparison on Twitter, no less. Who’s less evil, Lenin or Hitler? What would Mike Godwin do?
The Seattle Times has fired recently-hired columnist David Volodzko after he wrote one piece for the paper. Volodzko was a member of the Times' editorial board -- briefly -- and was let go on Thursday, a day after he tried to "well, actually" Adolf Hitler's track record of evil. The man wrote one column for the paper after being hired, then in record time defended Hitler's track record on Twitter. The speed at which it happened is simply incredible. The paper's newest scribe wrote a column about the famous statue of Vladimir Lenin in Seattle and why it should be removed (it's on private property, FYI). After the column was published, he took to Twitter and claimed Hitler was less-evil than Lenin because, according to Volodzko, Hitler only targeted people he believed were harmful to society, while Lenin even targeted people he believed were not. What's funny is that the column itself is banal; it's basically: "a statue of Lenin just doesn't feel right" — which you could say about a lot of historical figures. That Volodzko feels compelled to tweet himself into a "Hitler >>> Lenin" debate is a major red flag Some advice for all of our readers who plan to engage polite society, Rule No. 1: Never defend Hitler or attempt to minimize his level of evil. www.thebiglead.com/...
Since 1995, the statue has been held in trust waiting for a buyer, standing on temporary display for the last 28 years on a prominent street corner in Fremont. It has become a local landmark, frequently being either decorated or vandalized. The statue has sparked political controversy, including criticism for being communist chic and not taking the historic meaning of Leninism and communism seriously (or taking it too seriously), or by comparing the purported acceptance of such a charged political symbol to the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials. Much of the debate ignores the statue's private ownership and installation on private property, with the public and government having virtually no say in the matter. en.wikipedia.org/...
“Unfortunately, the critics seem unable to apply their own leadership genius to producing a successful revolutionary movement in their own country.” -Michael Parenti
“As he argues throughout the book, Parenti is not a fan of Stalin since he would've preferred a more egalitarian, less oppressive leader but at the same time, he sees that Stalin had a significant importance in the history and development of the USSR, and he is not willing to succumb to the abundant anti-communist propaganda.” In the 90s an article written by political scientist Michael Parenti was circulated. This article was an attempt to show that that the non-Stalinist left (Anarchists, Trotskyists, and pretty much any leftist critical of the Soviet Union) were essentially for a left wing version of anti-communism. This anti-communism was like right wing anti-communism in that it supposedly opposed the communist project and sought to prevent it from being realized. Unlike right wing anti-communism so called “Left Anti-Communism” cloaked its opposition to communism in a leftist ideological veil. An example of this Michael Parenti gives is professor Noam Chomsky who despite giving very open and cutting critiques of US empire and propaganda, none the less says that the fall of the Soviet Union was actually “the best thing that ever could have happened for socialism”. In his essay “The Soviet Union vs Socialism” Chomsky argues that the Soviet Union was an authoritarian regime that used the word “socialism” and the imagery associated with it to garner support from socialists and revolutionaries and thus to hide the fact that in actuality (according to Chomsky) it was really a repressive capitalist state that exploited workers through wage labor in place of private capitalists. Anarchists, since the Bolsheviks consolidated their rule after the Russian Revolution, have argued that the state socialist regime in Russia lacked the direct control of society by freely associated self-managing producers required for genuine socialism. Parenti attacks this view as left anti-communist as well. [...] Michael Parenti argues that opponents of state socialism are really just opponents of communism. I counter argue that proponents of state socialism are proponents of an anti-communist ideology which dolls itself up in red flags and socialist realist art. State socialism was not communism, or socialism put into action. It was counter-revolution that used words like socialism, Marxism, Leninism, communism, and anti-imperialism to ideologically mask societies that differed from the west only in their political form. “Marxism-Leninism”, the ideology of state socialism, is the ideology of developing state capitalist societies. Like all other capitalist societies their rulers have a fundamental interest in masking their rule and repressing efforts at creating a free society which meets human needs. G.P. Maximoff called this “power communism”. Today’s state socialists, when they complain about “left anti-communism” are really just pushing an anti-communist agenda, attacking the actual communist project in the favor of a red liberalism. Will the real communists please stand up!? libcom.org/...
x Losurdo’s Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend is finally here! This book provides essential & insightful looks into Stalin’s legacy, challenging the simplistic and often one-sided view of history
Gain a deeper understanding of the modern world and preorder today! 👇
https://t.co/Ids2bXy8BP pic.twitter.com/YWw7QKDh73 — Henry Hakamäki (@Huck1995) July 25, 2023
Vladimir Lenin was politically savvy, but a complete amateur in the kitchen. In her memoirs, his wife and comrade-in-arms Nadezhda Krupskaya almost never described family meals as "lunch" or "dinner," but usually used the Russian pitaniye that is more commonly associated with hospital food and diets, or even kormezhka, which is usually used when speaking about pets. The original brand was named Viennese Beer, but, according to legend, in 1934 it was renamed "Zhigulevskoye Beer" to get rid of its "bourgeois" name "Lenin not only didn't notice what he ate, but even when he was asked directly whether he liked something, he just couldn't give an intelligible answer," writes Russian culinary historian Vilyam Pokhlebkin in his article "What Did Lenin Eat?" Lenin's contemporaries noted that his only culinary passion was a mug of good beer. The great Bolshevik was born and raised on the Volga where they still brew Zhigulyovskoe beer, which is famous throughout Russia, and he spent many years in exile in Germany, as well as spells in Britain and Switzerland, so he knew a good beer. www.rbth.com/...
en.wikipedia.org/... Part-propagandist tome, part-cooking manual, the Soviet Book of Tasty and Healthy Food has sold more than eight million copies since it was first published in 1939. But how do the recipes fare today? Maryam Omidi finds out Although most of the rest of the country were starvies rather than foodies, Stalin pressed his good taste on his citizens via a cookbook boasting dishes like mince cakes (beef cutlets) and a spicy Georgian lamb stew. He also was very particular about the quality of his bananas, and would go ape if presented with one that was too ripe. www.thrillist.com/…
Later, when he was exiled to Siberia, he sampled Russian cuisine too, especially fish-based dishes. The Siberian waterways produce highly sought-after varieties of fish in abundance, so even those in exile could afford soup made from the prized Russian nelma (freshwater whitefish). Many years later, members of the Communist elite permitted to eat with Stalin recalled how they initially turned up their noses at stroganina (a kind of Siberian carpaccio) made from nelma, but then tried it. Needless to say, during the years of Stalin's rule, nelma was delivered fresh to the Kremlin on a special flight.’’ Source of the quoted paragraphs: The Kremlin diet: From Lenin to Gorbachev
‘’ Stalin had two requirements. First, the waiters didn't wait on the guests, but brought the first and second courses, appetisers, and desserts to the table, then left. Affairs of state were discussed at the table and eavesdroppers were not welcome in the dining room. Each of the high ranking guests even had to step up and serve himself the first course – either shchi (soup made from fresh cabbage or sauerkraut) or kharcho (Caucasian spicy stew made from lamb, rice and tomatoes).’’ Source of the quoted paragraphs: The Kremlin diet: From Lenin to Gorbachev It’s a Saturday morning in autumn when I sit down with the Soviet Book of Tasty and Healthy Food to decide what dishes to make for a feast that evening. Based on the day and the season, the iconic cookbook makes several suggestions for a three-course dinner. I do as it advises and choose a menu composed of both meat and vegetable dishes. It’s also crucial, I note, for the menu to have variety: “Oftentimes, this is overlooked. Not all housewives take the time and effort to make a plan for food preparation in advance. Mostly they only have around ten or 12 dishes that they alternate throughout the years, and the family receives monotonous meals.” Keen to excel in my role as a good Soviet housewife, I take on board both pieces of counsel. I settle on a herring salad and mushrooms in sour cream to start with, followed by pumpkin soup and kharcho, a Georgian broth flavoured with beef and sour plums. For our main course I opt for the fried duck with apples and a Ukranian dish, holubtsi, vegetable-stuffed cabbage leaves. We’ll end on a sweet note: apple kissel (think puree), sour cream mousse and syrniki, or curd fritters. Each dish will chased by shots of vodka and washed down with Soviet champagne, a somewhat embroidered term for sparkling wine from the Black Sea region. As a vegetarian, I enlist the help of two comrades for the meat-based dishes. We travel to five different supermarkets, including a specialist Russian one, in search of ingredients. It takes us a few hours to gather the necessary constituents, a fairly easy task given we’re in London. As I nose through the aisles packed with food, I consider how this would not have been the case when the book was first published in 1939 or even in the decades that followed. www.new-east-archive.org/...
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