this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2025
258 points (77.8% liked)
Memes
46404 readers
2510 users here now
Rules:
- Be civil and nice.
- Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Blacklisting was a punishment for intentionally sabotaging your crop yields and contributing to the famine, the goal wasn't to starve but to prevent further starvation by preventing subsistence farming in a time where many people were starving to death. Had they not done something to prevent Kulaks from intentionally starving the rest of the USSR becayse their semi-bourgeois ownership was threatened, many more people likely would have died. I can't say if Blacklisting was the correct means to deal with this issue, but once collectivization started, it couldn't be stopped, as the Kulaks were destroying their farms to retain ownership.
It's not that the ends justify means, it's that by not doing anything, the ends would have been far worse and many more would have starved. How would you suggest collectivization occur, if you were in Stalin's shoes, or Kosior? I personally am glad that I never have to make such decisions.