California professor says Joseph Stalin was a 'very successful revolutionary'
Asatar Bair took to Twitter to explain his admiration for the Soviet dictator's qualities, which included being a 'great listener.'
Millions starved, faced persecution, or died under Stalin's leadership, as Zilvinas Silenas tells 'Campus Reform.'
On Twitter, a California professor tweeted in defense of Joseph Stalin and said he was one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, citing the dictator’s contributions to Marxism.
Asatar Bair, a professor at Riverside City College, recently voiced his support for the Soviet dictator responsible for killing millions of people, on Twitter. On June 26th the professor tweeted “I would certainly conclude that he is one of the great leaders of the 20th c(entury) though.”
People say I ‘idolize’ Stalin. Not true, I hold a fair and balanced view. The man was neither savior nor saint, but he was, at once, a very successful revolutionary, a great contributor to Marxist theory, and said to be a great listener and collaborator during discussions
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) June 27, 2021
In another tweet, Bair also expressed his gratitude for Stalin as a Marxist leader who helped pave the way for Marxist revolution. The professor tweeted about how Stalin was “a very successful revolutionary, a great contributor to Marxist theory, and said to be a great listener and collaborator during discussions.”
and then there are his successes as a leader. First, the foresight to fear a belligerent German fascism, then the tactical ability to successfully defeat the world’s greatest invading army, combined with the strength to make tough decisions that have no easy answers
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) June 27, 2021
To further back up his claim about Stalin being a great leader Bair tweets:
“And then there are his successes as a leader. First, the foresight to fear a belligerent German fascism, then the tactical ability to successfully defeat the world’s greatest invading army, combined with the strength to make tough decisions that have no easy answers.”
The goal of Bair’s tweets was to defend his views on Stalin because the professor was getting barraged on social media by users criticizing his affinity for the Soviet Marxist leader. The professor said he did not idolize Stalin, but he held a “fair and balanced view” of the dictator. After this statement, he proceeded to defend Stalin in a series of back and forth tweets.
When confronted by a Twitter user about the negative effects of Stalin’s leadership and the atrocities he committed to Ukrainians, Bair replied by saying:
“That is a sad story, and I’m genuinely sad to hear it. However, for each story like this, there are a hundred stories of people who were able to live far longer, better lives directly because of soviet socialism.”
That is a sad story, and I’m genuinely sad to hear it. However, for each story like this, there are a hundred stories of people who were able to live far longer, better lives directly because of Soviet socialism. Such are the contradictions of all politics
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) June 27, 2021
Zilvinas Silenas, president of the Foundation for Economic Education, and native Lithuanian, told Campus Reform about his experience living under Soviet Union control.
“My home country of Lithuania nearly a tenth of the population — men, women, children, elderly people — were rounded up onto cattle carts and dumped onto the frozen North of [the] Soviet Union. Thousands died on the journey alone, many more died from starvation and forced labor. Road of Bones, Cannibal Island — these are not fiction titles, these are real things the Soviet leadership and Stalin intentionally unleashed on the countries they occupied and even the Russians.”
Silenas also points to the evidence and historical facts countering Bair’s view points on Stalin.
“There is countless evidence, thousands of books and even some people alive who still remember the suffering that Stalin’s Soviet Union imposed on its own people and countries it occupied,” said Silenas. “Stalin deliberately starved 3 million Ukrainian peasants for their reluctance to support Communism and collectivization. Stalin ordered the execution of 20,000 Polish officers and leaders in order to deprive Polish people of their leadership.”
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Lastly, Silenas expresses his disdain for the professor.
“Someone who calls Stalin a great person is either completely ignorant of history or thinks that these atrocities are great. In Western democracies people are free to speak, regardless of what disgusting and insulting nonsense they spew. If simple empathy for the undue suffering of millions is too difficult, I would encourage the admirers of Stalin to try and imagine what would happen to them and their families if they spoke this level of nonsense in Stalin’s Soviet Union.”
Campus Reform reached out to Bair for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
