Those of us in the US have been taught to fear Communism, Communists, and Socialism (a transition period from Capitalism to Communism).
We have been told so many lies. The propaganda that is used to make us fear these is very familiar in feeling to me as the way the Jehovah’s Witness cult (I’m a survivor of being raised in it, escaped 1996) portrays ex-JWs, especially those of us whom they regard as “apostates.”
In both scenarios, a minority of rulers are terrified of losing their power to control the majority, so much that they tell & repeat extravant lies about anyone or anything that they see as a threat, in order to get the masses to fear, hate, and become conditioned to react hostiley to anything that fits the description they’ve been given.
In the JW cult, the Governing Body is the minority. In the US, the Capitalist Ruling Class is that minority. In both cases, they are invested in maintaining a narrative of Us (entire JW membership or entire US population) Vs Them (“Worldly People & Apostates or Others in or outside the US) that distracts from what’s really being fought, and has been for generations – Class War.
The US has to make a villain of Stalin, because once you learn the truth about him (and many other Communist leaders) and start talking to others about it, saying how angry you are that we were all lied to by our own government, that information spreads. People start looking into it for themselves, and start thinking about how many other incorrect things with which we’ve all been indoctrinated.
Then people start reading Stalin and realizing that he’s very easy to understand and also has a sharp wit. More questions arise, and more investigating the matter brings one further understanding of just how deep all of the lies go. Now the Bourgeoisie Ruling Class has to open the Propaganda valves even more in an attempt to contain the truths & lies becoming general understanding.
The US is an Anti-Communist, counter-revolutionary nation, and the heart of the Capitalist world empire. So of course the Ruling Class is going to villainize Revolutionaries, particularly those who are well-known. You can tell the ones who they fear the most -even in death- by how hard they work to get us to fear and hate them.
Any of this sounding familiar?
If you want to read more on this matter, here are some book recommendations:
Stalin Waiting…For The Truth by Grover Furr
Khrushchev Lied by Grover Furr
Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend by Domenico Losurdo
Fraud, Famine and Fascism: The Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard by Douglas Tottle
Here is a Historicly podcast interview with Grover Furr. If you listen, please consider a small donation to them if you’re able.
An educational thread from Communist Economics Professor Asatar Bair
The true story of the Berlin Wall is explained in this Historicly article.
