The people before us weren't perfect. Their mistakes are blueprints to learn from and build a better world
this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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On Authority is a pointed response to the thought-terminating pejorative of “authoritarian.” If you haven’t read it, you should! It’s short and important =)
You want a change in society? You don’t care that fascists don’t want that change? Then you’re an authoritarian. Everything after that is a matter of degree.
I care about the fact that leaders have a huge say in everything in our lives. I do not wish for a system where I must cater to the whims of whomever is in charge.
If you’re willing to do something about that wish, then you’re an authoritarian too.
And FWIW, casting it in personal terms makes that wish tautological. No one wishes for a system where they have to cater to the whims of someone else. I’m sure you meant to say “no one has to cater to anyone else’s whims,” and that’s all well and good. Still authoritarian if you’re willing to see anything at all done to overcome the desires of the powerful to maintain the status quo (and in case it’s not obvious, that’s a good thing to be authoritarian about).
The CIA, in an internal memo never meant to be released, made it clear that Stalin was not a dictator and that leadership was collective.
The USSR brought dramatic democratization to society. First-hand accounts from Statesian journalist Anna Louise Strong in her book This Soviet World describe soviet elections and factory councils in action. Statesian Pat Sloan even wrote Soviet Democracy to describe in detail the system the soviets had built for curious Statesians to read about.
From the CIA memo, what does "the MVD" stand for?
Ministry of Internal Affairs, successor to the NKVD (Peoples Commissariat)
Thank you!
Beat me to it!