I recently read “The Soviet Experiment” by Matthew Raphael Johnson – it has my recommendation.
(let’s not get caught up with labels – ‘communism’ and ‘socialism’ depend on whose hands they are in for their ‘characteristics’ – as with ‘fascism’ (I don’t like Madeleine Albright’s concept))
This is also of topical interest …
• This Book Will Give You Nightmares: Stalin - The Court of the Red Tsar (2004) – Simon Sebag Montefiore
JS, I much prefer Grover Furr's work to Montefiore. I think he is much more truthful about the Stalin Era. I can't say for Johnson.
He just wrote the China Writers' Group with this info,
Dear Friends:
At the beginning of 2023 Alex Skopic, an anticommunist and self-described "socialist," published an article titled “Stalin Will Never Be Redeemable” (Current Affairs, Jan.-Feb. 2023)
In May of this year I published an article in which I examine every single allegation against Stalin of crime, misdeed, etc., in Skopic's article.
"Anti-Stalin Falsehoods from a “Socialist” Writer"
On Saturday, July 22, I was interviewed by some young activists on "Activist News Network" about the Skopic article, and about anti-Stalin bias and propaganda in general.
Thanks Jeff. I found Grover Furr’s presentation on Katyn entirely unconvincing. I think tying it to a question of ideology is not helpful, despite citing Sherlock Holmes.
• Grover Furr on the mystery of the Katyn massacre
… and at a cursory glance, I don’t think much of Skopic either so I’ll let them argue it out.
As tedious as Solzhenitsyn can be, he is at times even quite an apologist for those that criticise him. Despite his own experiences, Solzhenitsyn understandably still believed much of the propaganda of his environment.
Start of Chapter 3 – The Interrogation. (The Gulag Archipelago)
“If the intellectuals in the plays of Chekhov who spent all their time guessing what would happen in twenty, thirty, or forty years had been told that in forty years interrogation by torture would be practiced in Russia; that prisoners would have their skulls squeezed within iron rings; that a human being would be lowered into an acid bath; that they would be trussed up naked to be bitten by ants and bedbugs; that a ramrod heated over a primus stove would be thrust up their anal canal (the "secret brand") ; that a man's genitals would be slowly crushed beneath the toe of a jackboot; and that, in the luckiest possible circumstances, prisoners would be tortured by being kept from sleeping for a week, by thirst, and by being beaten to a bloody pulp, not one of Chekhov's plays would have gotten to its end because all the heroes would have gone off to insane asylums.”
He goes on to describe the most unimaginable cruelty – more than barbaric – outright demonic – including specific cases and names.
Crikey it is superb! A complete wrap up of the COVID Hoax. I had never heard of most of the participants - they are (almost) all incredibly well informed, professional and sincere.
The series is being rolled out in blocks of several hours her day (around 100 hours in total apparently). Free viewing as they roll out the episodes before going behind a paywall from August 1. But the subscription for permanent access seems quite reasonable - I am considering.
Our goal is to always provide the transcript. Some like to read, others listen or watch and they usually don't mix. Thus, it is important to cover all three venues.
I recently read “The Soviet Experiment” by Matthew Raphael Johnson – it has my recommendation.
(let’s not get caught up with labels – ‘communism’ and ‘socialism’ depend on whose hands they are in for their ‘characteristics’ – as with ‘fascism’ (I don’t like Madeleine Albright’s concept))
This is also of topical interest …
• This Book Will Give You Nightmares: Stalin - The Court of the Red Tsar (2004) – Simon Sebag Montefiore
Parts 1 and 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q10RbIzFfTw
Much quantitative information here but a few subjective obfuscations.
Crap!! yewtube is systematically removing ‘sensitive’ truths – here is part 1 on Archive
https://archive.org/details/simon-sebag-montefiore-stalin-the-court-of-the-red-tsar/2004-05-02+-+Simon+Sebag+Montefiore+-+Booknotes+(Part+1).mp4
JS, I much prefer Grover Furr's work to Montefiore. I think he is much more truthful about the Stalin Era. I can't say for Johnson.
He just wrote the China Writers' Group with this info,
Dear Friends:
At the beginning of 2023 Alex Skopic, an anticommunist and self-described "socialist," published an article titled “Stalin Will Never Be Redeemable” (Current Affairs, Jan.-Feb. 2023)
In May of this year I published an article in which I examine every single allegation against Stalin of crime, misdeed, etc., in Skopic's article.
"Anti-Stalin Falsehoods from a “Socialist” Writer"
It has been printed in /The Greanville Post /(https://www.greanvillepost.com/2023/05/16/anti-stalin-falsehoods-from-a-socialist-writer/
) and /In Defense of Communism/
(http://www.idcommunism.com/2023/05/anti-stalin-falsehoods-from-socialist-writer.html
)
You can also download my article in PDF format here, if you prefer (https://msuweb.montclair.edu/~furrg/research/gfantiskopic0523.pdf )
* * * * *
On Saturday, July 22, I was interviewed by some young activists on "Activist News Network" about the Skopic article, and about anti-Stalin bias and propaganda in general.
You can watch this Youtube video here:
https://youtu.be/l6OfcvAk-mc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6OfcvAk-mc
I welcome comments and criticisms!
Warm regards and solidarity!
Grover Furr
P.S. I apologize for the sometimes shaky quality of the audio on my computer!
Thanks Jeff. I found Grover Furr’s presentation on Katyn entirely unconvincing. I think tying it to a question of ideology is not helpful, despite citing Sherlock Holmes.
• Grover Furr on the mystery of the Katyn massacre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhfSYMeMAlo
Even Wikipedophilia has not adopted his revisionist narrative.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katyn_massacre
• The Katyn Massacre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW20VO8xkr4
… and at a cursory glance, I don’t think much of Skopic either so I’ll let them argue it out.
As tedious as Solzhenitsyn can be, he is at times even quite an apologist for those that criticise him. Despite his own experiences, Solzhenitsyn understandably still believed much of the propaganda of his environment.
Start of Chapter 3 – The Interrogation. (The Gulag Archipelago)
“If the intellectuals in the plays of Chekhov who spent all their time guessing what would happen in twenty, thirty, or forty years had been told that in forty years interrogation by torture would be practiced in Russia; that prisoners would have their skulls squeezed within iron rings; that a human being would be lowered into an acid bath; that they would be trussed up naked to be bitten by ants and bedbugs; that a ramrod heated over a primus stove would be thrust up their anal canal (the "secret brand") ; that a man's genitals would be slowly crushed beneath the toe of a jackboot; and that, in the luckiest possible circumstances, prisoners would be tortured by being kept from sleeping for a week, by thirst, and by being beaten to a bloody pulp, not one of Chekhov's plays would have gotten to its end because all the heroes would have gone off to insane asylums.”
He goes on to describe the most unimaginable cruelty – more than barbaric – outright demonic – including specific cases and names.
James opens with reference to the COVID Hoax.
After initial doubts, I am currently invested in the following podcast/documentary series
• The End of COVID
https://theendofcovid.com/learning-center/
Crikey it is superb! A complete wrap up of the COVID Hoax. I had never heard of most of the participants - they are (almost) all incredibly well informed, professional and sincere.
The series is being rolled out in blocks of several hours her day (around 100 hours in total apparently). Free viewing as they roll out the episodes before going behind a paywall from August 1. But the subscription for permanent access seems quite reasonable - I am considering.
FYI only.
Thanks, JS. Looks like a very complete site. Mine has not been updated in a while, but I have a library,
https://chinarising.puntopress.com/2020/03/07/its-all-here-the-china-rising-radio-sinoland-covid-19-chemical-and-bioweapon-file-film-and-tape-library/
I haven't even read it yet, but thanks for providing a transcript. The podcast would be useless to me without it.
Sadly, most of Substack and all of Alternative Media, Rumble etc all, won't be bothered.
John,
Our goal is to always provide the transcript. Some like to read, others listen or watch and they usually don't mix. Thus, it is important to cover all three venues.
Jeff,
I do think that is wise. But for a large segment, Boomers, many of us cannot access an audio podcast , or an uncaptioned video.
I myself am Profoundly Binaurally Deaf, in layman's terms, Deaf as a Rock.
So I am especially appreciative because so much information is closed to me, including every video sharing site except YouTube.
Anyway, Thanks!