It's not a double standard though. Killing one person who was objectively profiting off of the lives and suffering of millions of people is very different than killing/imprisoning anyone who disagrees with you.
- Declassified CIA report: Even in Stalin's time there was collective leadership. The western idea of a dictator within the communist setup is exaggerated. Misunderstandings on that subject are caused by lack of comprehension of the real nature and organization of the Communist power structure. Stalin, although holding wide powers, was merely the captain of a team and it seems obvious that Khrushchev will be the new captain.
- Debunking: “Communism killed more people than naziism!”
- Second Thought: We Need To Talk About "Authoritarianism"
Hold up a minute, you are putting words in my mouth. I'm not even making any claims in my comment about how many Stalin killed or that he acted alone. Only the historically accurate fact that he is responsible for a significant amount of death and suffering, and that statistically it is impossible that everyone persecuted by the (Stalin lead) soviet government was innocent. You can argue numbers and western perception all you want but it is a historical fact that Stalin had the blood of innocent people on his hands, as many world leaders throughout history have had (including most if not all us presidents). Even if your claims are true it still doesn't invalidate my point.
One difference is that we are 100% certain Luigi did not even accidentally kill one single innocent person.
- It's a big difference whether you live in an unjust system and individual terrorism is the only recourse you feel you have left, or whether you are the leader of a massive bureaucratic state that has other options.
- There are numerous reasons to be mad at Stalin, and offing capitalists is not one of the top ones.
- Betraying everything Lenin and Marx stood for by bolstering the bureaucracy instead of abolishing it (admittedly partly also the fault of the German social democrats).
- Abandoning the idea of world revolution in favor of his brain dead socialism in one (technologically and culturally backward) state that didn't have the material conditions for socialism in any way, shape, or form.
- Collaborating with the Nazis at the beginning of WW2.
- Smothering nascent revolutions like the Chinese one, sending many of them on a one-way track back to capitalism, and constructing undemocratic bureaucracies like itself.
- Killing soviet democracy.
- Rolling back on the social accomplishments of the October Revolution (e.g. abortion).
This is by no means an exhaustive list.
