• LemmyExpert
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      4 months ago

      So as others have said, the basic joke is “only a spoonful” & Stalin pulls out a ridiculously large spoon & takes everything.

      I guess there is a “large spoon” meme along these lines.

      I ripped this comment off r*ddit:

      it’s a joke about the narrative that Stalin deliberately and single-handedly caused the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine (aka the Holodomor). in reality there were many factors that led to it, such as drought, sabotage by the land-owning kulak class, limitations on the Soviet economy, and just general mismanagement. The fact of the matter is that, while a terrible tragedy, most modern historians agree that there is no evidence that the famine was intentional, especially considering that it affected the wider Soviet Union and that aid was sent to affected areas (though unfortunately not enough).

      The guys have talked about this phenomenon before, but when a famine happens under capitalism it was just an accident (even in cases like Bengal and Ireland, where it could definitely be argued to be intentional/the cause of capitalism). When a famine happens under socialism, it becomes yet another anti-communist talking point, hence the exaggerated “Stalin ate all the grain and told the clouds to stop raining.”

      • UraniumBlazer@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        “While scholars are in consensus that the cause of the famine was man-made, whether the Holodomor constitutes a genocide remains in dispute.” (Wikipedia)

        While you did say the above, I just wanted to put emphasis on the “man-made” part. Unfortunately, tankies say stupid shit regarding this (not saying that u’r a tankie) which is what made me emphasize this even further.

        Also, the USSR rejected any foreign aid (see the Wiki source I have cited). So yeah… The USSR was solely responsible for the millions that perished in the famine.

        Also, just a disclaimer- I am an anarchist/libertarian socialist. I do not defend famines caused by capitalism.

        • LemmyExpert
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          4 months ago

          I’m a confused American (didn’t really see the spoon part very well), I Googled, I saw this same meme being discussed on r*ddit. Ripped the comment explaining minus a video link.

          Not my words, I didn’t even read it all tbh, just thought this guy seems to know what he’s talking about. ¯\(°_o)/¯