Guest MikeSC Report post Posted March 30, 2005 I'd argue that in order for Stalin to be completely unchallengable, the USSR would have HAD to have been the best nation on earth (at least in terms of arms), unless you're talking about challenges from within the USSR. And in order for them to reach that goal, they had a hell of a long way to go, so I think it would be necessary to make the country a better place (at least in some respects) in order for Stalin to achieve his goals. And yeah, in the eyes of much of the world, killing people because of their race is worse then killing people because they're people. I don't think that's right (because killing is killing, and killing is wrong) but that IS why much of the world think Hitler was more evil. No, Stalin's concerns were solely internal challenges to his rule. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2005 The thing about Hitler is that although Stalin was just about as evil, Hitler did things in style with his occult beliefs, death camps, and right down to his snappy uniforms and hand gestures. He was systematically evil, kind of like the Empire in Star Wars. Stalin was just a generic bad guy. He wasn't as interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuperJerk 0 Report post Posted March 30, 2005 One of my professors once told me that the main difference between Hitler and Stalin was that Hitler took his show on the road. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted March 31, 2005 The thing about Hitler is that although Stalin was just about as evil, Hitler did things in style with his occult beliefs, death camps, and right down to his snappy uniforms and hand gestures. He was systematically evil, kind of like the Empire in Star Wars. Stalin was just a generic bad guy. He wasn't as interesting. That's only because historians (not the most non-liberal lot out there) have chosen to ignore what a total whackjob Stalin was. And we had major, well-known reporters here -- including one Pulitzer Prize winner --- who were Communists and on the payroll of Moscow. Hell, some people still wish to deny that Alger Hiss was a Communist. The only difference between Nazis and Communists is that Communists were, quite honestly, better at that whole mass slaughter thing. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Why is Hitler the standard for evil and not Stalin or Pol Pot? Names. Hitler is easy; German as a language is threatening and martial and all that. Stalin is Russian for "man of steel." Pol Pot sounds like a clown. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 History doesn't hold Stalin in any better light than Hitler. It is the general public that sees Hitler as being that much worse, not historians. They know better. And it is primarily for three reasons. 1) What I said above? The Nazis were just cooler than Stalin was. Compare the colourful SS outfits with those rags that the Soviets wore. They both killed millions of people, but Hitler did it in style. The Nazis were better on camera. 2) Hitler started the greatest war in the history of mankind. Stalin not only didn't, but he was on our side. 3) Much of what Stalin did we never found out or at least could verify until after the breakup of the Soviet Union. And by that point we had 40 years of people knowing exactly what the Nazis had done. There is a fourth reason which I don't think is that important, but it is worth talking about. Germans are the closest ethnicity in Europe to that of the English, so what they did may have hit closer to home than what the Russians did. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah. Cannot reiterate enough how the Nazis just did it in style. Who here has seen Triumph Of The Will? Michael Moore wishes he could sway the feelings of the population like Leni Riefenstahl could. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah. Cannot reiterate enough how the Nazis just did it in style. Who here has seen Triumph Of The Will? Michael Moore wishes he could sway the feelings of the population like Leni Riefenstahl could. Exactly. And it extends post-war as well and into fiction. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have worked as well if the Soviets were the villains? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BDC Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Though, to the Russian's credit, "red commie bastard" is quite a catchy phrase. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah. Cannot reiterate enough how the Nazis just did it in style. Who here has seen Triumph Of The Will? Michael Moore wishes he could sway the feelings of the population like Leni Riefenstahl could. Exactly. And it extends post-war as well and into fiction. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have worked as well if the Soviets were the villains? Indy would have been dead. The Russians didn't mess around. Bullet to the head, next person. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Czech Republic 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Though, to the Russian's credit, "red commie bastard" is quite a catchy phrase. I have a feeeling more Democrats in the US have been called red commie bastards than actual red commie bastards have Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kahran Ramsus 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah. Cannot reiterate enough how the Nazis just did it in style. Who here has seen Triumph Of The Will? Michael Moore wishes he could sway the feelings of the population like Leni Riefenstahl could. Exactly. And it extends post-war as well and into fiction. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have worked as well if the Soviets were the villains? Indy would have been dead. The Russians didn't mess around. Bullet to the head, next person. They were pretty bad with James Bond. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BDC Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Though, to the Russian's credit, "red commie bastard" is quite a catchy phrase. I have a feeeling more Democrats in the US have been called red commie bastards than actual red commie bastards have Doesn't change how catchy the phrase is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vyce 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah. Cannot reiterate enough how the Nazis just did it in style. Who here has seen Triumph Of The Will? Michael Moore wishes he could sway the feelings of the population like Leni Riefenstahl could. Exactly. And it extends post-war as well and into fiction. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have worked as well if the Soviets were the villains? Indy would have been dead. The Russians didn't mess around. Bullet to the head, next person. They were pretty bad with James Bond. Well, James Bond > Indiana Jones. Yeah, I said it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2GOLD 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah. Cannot reiterate enough how the Nazis just did it in style. Who here has seen Triumph Of The Will? Michael Moore wishes he could sway the feelings of the population like Leni Riefenstahl could. Exactly. And it extends post-war as well and into fiction. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have worked as well if the Soviets were the villains? Indy would have been dead. The Russians didn't mess around. Bullet to the head, next person. They were pretty bad with James Bond. Those weren't real Russians. Those were crazy Russians. The real Russians would have shot Bond and left his body out in the cold for wolves to eat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Well, they did have problems killing Rasputin. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuperJerk 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah. Cannot reiterate enough how the Nazis just did it in style. Who here has seen Triumph Of The Will? Michael Moore wishes he could sway the feelings of the population like Leni Riefenstahl could. Exactly. And it extends post-war as well and into fiction. Would Raiders of the Lost Ark have worked as well if the Soviets were the villains? Indy would have been dead. The Russians didn't mess around. Bullet to the head, next person. They were pretty bad with James Bond. Well, James Bond > Indiana Jones. Yeah, I said it. At least Indiana Jones never slept with Grace Jones, or used a Duran Duran song as his theme music. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted March 31, 2005 One of my professors once told me that the main difference between Hitler and Stalin was that Hitler took his show on the road. That's pretty funny, actually. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 At least Indiana Jones never slept with Grace Jones, or used a Duran Duran song as his theme music. That song was the only good thing to come out of A View to a Kill. And as big an Indy Jones fanboy as I am, I have to say Bond > Jones simply because Bond has been around for DECADES, while Indy was only around for three movies (No, I'm not counting any hippie side-stories)... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Slayer 0 Report post Posted March 31, 2005 Yeah, and what if Rocky had to fight Nazism instead...?! ...just sayin' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
