Competition Time!

Zsuzsanna Clark (yes, the Mrs.) has a piece at The First Post this morning. (Found by Ollie Kamm)

My sympathies however, are elsewhere. When White Russians, such as the Belinskys, were in their palaces and country houses, the majority of Russians lived in abject poverty. The horror of the gulag should not make us forget that Tsarist Russia was a brutal police state, one which carried out regular pogroms of Jews, assassinated political opponents and exercised strict press censorship.

For many ordinary Russians, Communism meant an improvement. The Bolsheviks introduced education and healthcare for all, gave land to the peasants and granted women the legal and labour status of men.

The film industry's obsession with "Whites" means that we seldom get to hear the stories of those who benefited from the revolution. I was born and brought up in Hungary, a country which, like Russia, had been run by a reactionary, aristocratic elite. Before the Second World War, secondary education in Hungary was the preserve of the wealthy; under Communism, those who had missed out, like my parents, were given a second chance to resume their studies as adults.

No one will deny that crimes were committed under Communism. But ordinary people got rather more back from the "Reds", than they ever did when the film industry's beloved "Whites" ran the show.

So, a competition. What is the worst, most appalling or muddleheaded, apologia for communism out there? I think the Mrs. is a strong contender with "gave land to the peasants" what with collectivisation. But your view? Extra points for people mouthing such idiocies after the publication of either Gulag Archipelago or Conquest’s The Great Terror.

BTW, the Mr. cannot be used as an entry. Too easy.

Harry’s Place is also running an associated competition.

Some nice stuff on Zsuzsanna from Pesticide. And, of course, her immortal Guardian article.