communist leaders???

[ralyks45]

I'm new here and I have a question. I was wondering if someone could make a list of all of the good and bad communist leaders. (i.e. Joe smoe- he was a good leader because he did.../ John brown- he was bad because he...) basically what i want to know who were good leaders and who were the leaders the called themselves communists when they really weren't and killed a lot of innocent people.

[RED DAVE]

They tell us that Stalin was "evil" and he killed millions of people. But that's not how history works. There were many reasons why those people were killed, but it doesn't make Stalin a "bad" leader.Yeah, what's a few million deaths, including all the "Old bolsheviks" between comrades.

Jeez, LL, do you read what you write or are you just so determined to justify Stalin that you're dead as a human being?


'Koba, why do you need me to die?' Bukharin wrote in a note to Stalin just before his execution. ("Koba" was Stalin's revolutionary pseudonym, and Bukharin's use of it was a sign of how close the two had once been. The note was found still in Stalin's desk after his death in 1953.).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Bukharin

RED DAVE

[The Vegan Marxist]

Abimial Guzman: A damn good leader during when the PCP were in full force in Peru, but he became somewhat of a messiah-like figure to the rebels, & once he got captured, the PCP started dying out & started splitting into factions. The real true PCP are right now calling for a peaceful truce between them & the Peruvian government, but the government isn't listening.

[Spencer]

Why does the difference between a 'good' and a 'bad' leader matter? Surely, having a leader is out of line with the principles of anyone whos aim is to establish a classless society, because quite simply we'd have no need for them. As socialists surely the idea is to encourage everyone to think for themselves and to contribute their abilities etc. How could we square this with the idea that we need a leader to tell us what to do?

In fact, I don't think it would be too controversial to say that trusting one's leaders and allowing them to make decisions for us is one of the reasons we're in the position we are.

Eugene Debs put it best though:

I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you into the promised land if I could, because if I led you in, some one else would lead you out. You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists use your heads and your hands.