Matvei Bronstein: Theorical physicist. Pioneer of quantum gravity. Arrested, accused of fictional “terroristic” activity and shot in 1938
Lev Shubnikov: Experimental physicist. Accused on false charges. Executed
Adrian Piotrovsky: Russian dramaturge. Accused on false charges of treason. Executed.
Nikolai Bukharin: Leader of the Communist revolution. Member of the Politburo. Falsely accused of treason. Executed.
General Alexander Egorov: Marshal of the Soviet Union. Commander of the Red Army Southern Front. Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Arrested, accused on false charges, executed.
General Mikhail Tukhachevsky Supreme Marshal of the Soviet Union. Nicknamed the Red Napoleon. Arrested, accused on fake charges. Executed.
Grigory Zinoviev: Chairman of the Communist International Movement. Member of the Soviet Politburo. Accused of treason and executed.
Even the secret police themselves were not safe:
Genrikh Yagoda : Right-hand of Joseph Stalin. Head of the NKD Secret Police. He spied on everyone in Russia and jailed thousands of innocents. Yagoda was arrested and executed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genrikh_Yagoda
Nikolai Yezhov : Appointed head of the NKD Secret Police after the death of Yagoda. Arrested on fake charges, executed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Yezhov
Everybody was absolutely terrified during this period. At least 600 000 people were killed and over 100 000 people were deported to Gulags in Siberia.
Today, Russian schools no longer teach what Joseph Stalin did. Many young russians actually believe that Stalin was a great patriot.
This is part of an effort by Vladimir Putin to rehabilitate him:
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/05/21/stalin-is-making-a-comeback-in-russia-heres-why-a89155
anarchy is always used by the right wing to describe chaos and destruction but it is not.
Anarchy is not “disorganization” It is organization without hierarchy. No one is greater than anyone. No one is a leader.
How did you come to your understanding of anarchy if I may ask?
I’ve heard of specific cases of organization without leadership such as in the case of co-op companies but I’ve not heard it in the framework of anarchy really.
Personally, I feel there are some unique challenges with not having an organized government with representatives. I feel that a good system relies on having an educated populace to make decisions effectively; this is a current issue even in representative governments, like the US, since in many countries voters aren’t required to be educated to be making decisions.
Another issue is creating incentives to work and to strive for higher achievement. Big architectural projects may require people pooling resources even from those that would not personally benefit, as an example. Some people choose to what they do because they feel properly rewarded for the effort, I think having a minimum bar of care for everyone makes sense, but the people contributing more may want more in return if you’re going to try to sell them on your idea.