this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2025
89 points (61.2% liked)

Memes

51623 readers
2049 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (4 children)

Wasn't the great leap forward by Mao the biggest mass murder in world history, according to historians not governments?

Doesn't whitewashing that amount to Holocaust denial level cultural blindness?

I know nothing, quick Google search.

[–] john_brown@hexbear.net 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Do you understand the difference between causing a famine unintentionally and doing mass murder?

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com -3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

"Oops! I killed 15 million people, but it was an accident. My bad. Who knew forcibly moving all the farmers to the city and making them work in factories would cause a famine?"

-Mao, probably

PS: 15 million is the low end number. 15-55 million is the commonly accepted number, with some estimates as high as 70 million.

At some point you'd think he'd look around and notice.

[–] ShimmeringKoi@hexbear.net 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Lol what's your source on this, the black book? Also do you think Mao was like the king of China or?

[–] john_brown@hexbear.net 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

So you think Mao decided starving his own people benefited him? Why?

[–] ThirdConsul@lemmy.ml -5 points 3 weeks ago

I'm sorry, but why would that matter? We tend to judge people by their actions, not their intent, when it comes to mass deaths.

Right?

Right?

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

In short, no, that was cold war propaganda. These intro articles get into some of the details of the Mao era:

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com -5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I could find books that say the Nazis are great guys too. Doesn't make it right.

[–] FunkyStuff@hexbear.net 17 points 3 weeks ago

This kind of post-truth nihilism is completely fruitless. If you dismiss evidence that contradicts your preconceived notions on the basis that evidence against other unrelated facts might also exist, then the only valid beliefs are the ones you already have. You've arrived at an epistemological position that rejects all new knowledge and positions all knowledge you already have as infallible.

Why not evaluate the claims and their evidence, instead of starting from the position that any defense of Mao is comparable to defending the Nazi Holocaust? Not to mention, if you did come across a group of Holocaust deniers, is this really the weak response you'd give them? Not even going to produce any evidence in support of your own claims?

[–] dessalines@lemmy.ml 16 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Getting people to read even short articles is impossible.

Just be honest with yourself any say that you're not looking to challenge your orientalist biases, that you just want things to confirm them.

The communists were the ones who defeated fascism in ww2, Mao being one of the most important leaders in that fight against japanese fascism. To equate Mao with nazis or the axis powers, who they shed so much blood to defeat, is sickening.

[–] Thebigguy@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Yeah lots of people died but the cultural revolution and Great Leap Forward but it has been over for 50 years now, meanwhile how many millions of people have had their lives ruined by US sanctions or wars in the last 70 years? Imperial countries export their misery so that people like you and me can live nice comfortable lives. Meanwhile we point at other countries who were deliberately impoverished for our benefit. When leaders in those countries try to take back their wealth they’re assassinated, when trade unionists try to organise to give the workers better rights they’re tortured and then assassinated. At least the Great Leap Forward only negatively impacted Chinese people, meanwhile you get to sit smugly on your computer or phone and eat your chocolate bar that was built or farmed with the blood of poor labourers in Africa and when those poor people try to rise up to better their conditions our governments and their fascist lackeys will be there in minutes killing them for you so you can keep getting cheap treats.

Also do you really think there is no political repression in the west? I recently read the obituary of a guy who was in my local communist party who was denied work his whole life because he was an „unteachable communist“ being on the wrong side of the ruling classes ideology sucks no matter where you are.