this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
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Well, if I lived in a country where people were kidnapping children, cutting them up, cooking them, and selling them for food; I'd feel really bad living comfy and cozy in my nice house. The government went to people like that and they said, "everything is fucked up, share your house and go produce food so we can improve everyone's lives. If you don't like it, you're getting shot." You're looking at things from a Western lense. I'm sorry, but if you own a bunch of land and enough money for yearly vacations, you have things to give. "From each according to their abilities to each according to their needs." You give what you can and you get what you need. A core tenant of Communism. No one should have luxuries while others starve and die.
I'm not saying the Soviets couldn't have achieved this less violently and I'm certainly not saying we should follow their footsteps. But, it was a different time in a different place. Life was brutal under Tsar Nicholas and it took a lot of work and time to undo that damage. The Church was in on it, too. Hence the brutality committed to the religious groups. Sometimes the great atrocities are outweighed by the greater good.
People talking about such things never consider the possibility of being killed for the sake of greater good. This approach gives somebody the privilege to decide who will live and who will die. And nobody knows what such people would decide, having such unlimited power. Logically, they would kill to "improve society", but nobody knows who they would choose.
Human life and property must be respected. This rule protects every member of the society from the worst traits of humanity.
If I lived in Russia at that time I would gladly have given my life to end the suffering happening under Tsar Nicholas. I would give my life now if it means lifting millions out of poverty.
Ok, you don't value your life enough.
No, I value my life a whole lot. If I was offered immortality I'd take it. But they were literally eating children to survive in 1916. It's worth fighting to end that.
I don't find any mentions of the famine in 1916. The only famine that year was a local famine in Uzbekistan. It was inflicted by the Russians as a bloody response to the fight for independence.
It wasn't a famine yet. In 1914, food was being shipped to the front line for the war. This created food insecurities for the people. Regular riots occured at markets due to scarcity and high prices. It wasn't considered a famine because it was being forced on the people by Tsar Nicholas. It did eventually lead up to the famine in the 20s though. Turns out, if you send every farmer to war and all the food with them, you'll start a famine.
Here's a decent breakdown: https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/food_and_nutrition_russian_empire