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How did so many "undesirables" get into top political posts in the USSR? (lemmygrad.ml)

submitted 10 months ago by borschtisgarbo@lemmygrad.ml to c/asklemmygrad@lemmygrad.ml

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Khrushchev, Beria, Yezhov, etc. It really feels like they didn't do much quality control, if at all. I know Stalin was, contrary to popular belief, quite trusting. Especially in regards to Bukharin and the likes. But it's not like he had the power to really kill anyone he wanted, again contrary to popular belief, even if he wanted to (at least any politburo members), so his personal views of his colleagues don't matter.

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[–] Sodium_nitride@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

USSR never had a proper cultural revolution like China did. They never really had the time to do anything like that. Plus, a large part of the quality control issue of the USSR came from having a leadership that was too old (a problem set off due to WW2).

Many intelligent people produced by the USSR were also quite disillusioned by socialism towards the end. This was due to the strain on the economy caused by high military spending and sanctions.

[–] MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 10 months ago

This was due to the strain on the economy caused by high military spending and sanctions.

I would add the "grass is always greener" effect and the strength of Western propaganda. Easy to become disillusioned when your point of comparison is the story the West tells about itself, not the real thing. I'm reminded of all those posts on RedNote today where Chinese citizens are shocked when they hear "yes it's actually that bad" from Americans.