Vladimir Lenin

[Montez]

Discuss this Russian Marxist revolutionary. I'm just interested in hearing people's thoughts on him. Try to stay on topic, since it's easy to stray into discussions just about Stalin, Communism, etc.

[Darth Revan of the Sith]

One of the most revolutionary men in human history I dare say. He helped to establish one of the biggest forces of the 20th Century.

Be that as it may I still find some of his ideals a bit at a disagreement with me.

Honestly the Cheka just felt like another COINTELPRO where they would just combat free speech instead of combat sabotage. It felt like just another Espionage Act in Russia.

His views on Anti-Semitism were admirable and I firmly agree with his theory on Anti-Semitism within the Tsarist Police Force.

His reaction to the assassinations against him were far from genius. Not only did he stoop into Stalin's influence, he killed any people having any connection with the Tsar's and then to top off his influenced paranoia had them all executed. As if the guy couldn't think that barely any of these people had anything to do with the assassinations, but Stalin was just a damn good persuader and he had Lenin under his freaking finger like a puppet and when Lenin died, guess who was there to destroy the competition and gain power in 1928.

All in all the one thing I admire the most about Lenin was his hard work, he would always work up to sixteen hours daily in the affairs of his country and is one of the few rulers that cared for his country. I have mixed views on the man up to this point.

His death still remains a matter of debate with me whether he died of Syphilis or of a stroke and I do believe he should be buried (goodbyelenin.ru)

Of course with or without lenins great intellect his death was not without idiots spouting capitalist bigotry in the wake of his passing. Like that undeniable fatass Winston Churchill, who said "Their worst misfortune was his birth... their next worst his death." As if Winston Churchill hasn't already waved his small c*ck around the world like he knows his sh*t enough.

[Mehmani]

The death of the Romanovs was unfortunate, but it had to be done or else he couldn't establish his government. Cromwell isn't criticized for killing Charles I, and let's not forget that the Romanovs were horrible anyway (although the decision to kill the children was a moral atrocity). Lenin was charismatic and an excellent politician, but his decision to push towards authoritarianism killed the Soviet Union slowly from the start. His early death only sped up the process. He should have listened to Luxemburg, to put it simply.

[Raine]

Lenin was an idealist revolutionary like so many others. Comparable with individuals such as Benjamin Franklin, Maximilian Robespierre, or Simon Bolivar, the usurping power of people against a poorly operating, repressive, and non-representative government. Contemporary view of Soviet history and founding is slightly bias by western culture and propaganda, which is not to say that the reign of Stalin and such was not as inhospitable as they say but still. Lenin took footing in a forgotten land, the dark and forgotten corner of Europe, backwards and poor. Read on the Utopian ideals of Karl Marx, it appealed to him as well as the suffering workers and serfs in an age of lavish Czars. He was a man of change for the better, that is a fact that should not be forgotten.

Like the American Revolution's list of Grievances sent to our British monarch, the movement for reform also began peacefully protesting for rights and other modern political means we take for granted today. Karl Marx was able to organize these efforts, to change and shape Russia into a modern nation, more fair and prosperous. Bloody Sunday and hell breaking loose comes with the territory, I mean, the American Revolution was rebels and 18th century terrorists ambushing the English presence in what they considered American lands. Sound similar?

What's remarkable is how closely, nearly every leader for change in history matches up to every other, whether it's Lenin or George Washington or Osama bin Ladin... and hell, I liked Oliver Cromwell. They were all after similar goals.

Lenin was a remarkable man who idealistically lead a changing nation and dysfunctional monarchy into socialist turn for to become a better place and nation in the world.

[Darth Revan of the Sith]

[quote name='Botvinnik' timestamp='1338849582' post='5952083']
He should have listened to Luxemburg, to put it simply.
[/quote]
Too bad Stalin had him like a rat in a trap.

[Mehmani]

[quote name='James Bond - 007' timestamp='1338857762' post='5952153']
Too bad Stalin had him like a rat in a trap.
[/quote]

After he became ill Lenin did write a piece criticizing a lot of his comrades, particularly Stalin; he suggested that "comrades consider his removal".

EDIT: After the first stroke, Lenin dictated government papers to Nadezhda; among them was Lenin's Testament (changing the structure of the soviets), partly inspired by the 1922 Georgian Affair (Russian cultural assimilation of constituent USSR republics), and it criticised high-rank Communists, including Joseph Stalin, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Nikolai Bukharin, and Leon Trotsky. About the Communist Party's General Secretary (since 1922), Joseph Stalin, Lenin reported that the "unlimited authority" concentrated in him was unacceptable, and suggested that "comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post." His phrasing, "Сталин слишком груб", implies "personal rudeness, unnecessary roughness, lack of finesse", flaws "intolerable in a Secretary-General".

-From Wiki

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

He was better than his predecessor and the world is better for his having taken power. Had Russia left its fate in the hands of the Tsar, the world would be far uglier. Russia probably wouldn't have had the means to resist the Nazi invasion and from there it would get extremely grim extremely quickly.

[.Starrk]

Brilliant man. I first learned about him reading animal farm. He's the main reason why I got so interested in learning about the Russian revolution and the people that followed him like Stalin and Trotsky.