Comments by "Katoshi Takagumi" (@Katoshi_Takagumi) on "Vlad Vexler: Russia's Evil in Politics | Jake Broe Podcast (E013) @VladVexler" video.
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To be honest, though, I don't think it's entirely fair to put the Russian empire and the Soviet Union in the same category, despite the massive inequality, oppressive policies and corrupt governance the country had prior to 1917. In WW1, foreign volunteers, also from the US, were coming to Russia to fight in the war. Russian immigrants returned to fight for their country, and that also includes Russian jews. I can't imagine anyone wanting to do that for the Soviet Union in WW2, much less now for Putin's Russia. It's about shades of gray, and about shades of pitch black that it's a question of.
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@Markle2k To clarify, what I meant with the shades of gray was that this is the 'normative situation', not just for Russia pre-1917, but for every other 'normal' country, whereas I referred to the post-1917 situation in Russia, be it soviet or putinist, as pitch black meaning it lacked those shades of gray, by definition.
(Yes, I'm giving the same answer to two comments, as I think both are referring to what I said earlier).
Human nature is very adaptive. History tells us how it can happen. The German soldiers who were ordered to take part in genocidal operations went through different states, starting with the initial reluctance and horror and ending with numb compliance with the orders given. In effect, they transitioned from that normal 'shades of gray' area into the pitch black void. In other words, it's a threshold event, and once you go beyond it, it's very hard to pull back to the side of humanity.
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@ashroskell To clarify, what I meant with the shades of gray was that this is the 'normative situation', not just for Russia pre-1917, but for every other 'normal' country, whereas I referred to the post-1917 situation in Russia, be it soviet or putinist, as pitch black meaning it lacked those shades of gray, by definition.
Human nature is very adaptive. History tells us how it can happen. The German soldiers who were ordered to take part in genocidal operations went through different states, starting with the initial reluctance and horror and ending with numb compliance with the orders given. In effect, they transitioned from that normal 'shades of gray' area into the pitch black void. In other words, it's a threshold event, and once you go beyond it, it's very hard to pull back to the side of humanity.
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