Does the Left deny or acknowledge communist atrocities ?

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Whereas both Left and Right acknowledge and teach everything about the Nazis, I seem to think there is ignorance and less acknowledgement on terrible things that happened under Communism. I think one country in particular which has acknowledged and come to terms with its terrible past is Cambodia which saw over 3 years of Pol Pot in power.

Do you identify "The Left" with Communism?

If so, you are sadly mistaken.

Communism is a quasi-religious system in which the Party and the State are held up as the pinnacle of society and culture; it is a form of Nationalism that denies basic human rights and exploits human labor -- including Atheists, Feminists, Foreigners, Liberals, Minorities, Queerfolk, and Women -- for the enrichment of the Party elite (usually already-wealthy men).

The Left is more concerned with the rights and enrichment of individuals, including Atheists, Feminists, Foreigners, Liberals, Minorities, Queerfolk, and Women.

See the difference?

More false equivalency. I am certainly on the "left," but I have never supported communist totalitarian governments. And I am very aware of the regimes under Stalin and Mao.

Before trying to paint your opponent with stereotypical right-wing propaganda, why don't you actually do some research. Being on the left does not imply support of communism. That is just an old tired refrain from the right. That is just McCarthyism. You need to grow a little and do some research.

As far as the right teaching "everything" about the NAZIs, you will find Holocaust denial a right-wing conspiracy theory. Those that stormed the Capital in the insurrection were wearing neo-NAZI symbols. So much for teaching.

In the west, so-called "tankies" (supporters of authoritarian communism) are a small and hated minority even among socialists. But mainstream conservatives constantly distort the historical record to make the Nazis look closer to their political opponents, such as claiming that the Nazis were secular socialists, which is the opposite of "acknowledging and teaching everything". The average republican thinks the Nazis were the same as modern Democrats except for wanting to kill Jews, when in reality they were closer to modern Republicans on everything except economic stimulus.

No of course I don't identify everyone on the Left as being communist I'm just refering to those few people. I'm not a brainwashed right-wing propagandist. Sorry I do apologise for the confusion the question may have led and didn't intend it to be.

Let me take your question on face value, yes, I do know the history of communism.

How old are you?

I was a kid in the 80s in Britain and communism was the bad guy in all the movies.

I remember a school book, the readers programme type book, that had a story in it about a family who had been split up by the Berlin wall and they had to sneak over at night without getting shot.

I had stories told to me about people being shipped off to the Gulags.

Who do you want to be taught about this? Us Gen X/ older Millenial lot know about it.

Just because one is a "liberal" doesn't make one a "communist."

The definition of the "Left" has undergone a considerable broadening----owing to the phenomenon of Trump. Before this present generation, a "regular liberal" in the US; in the UK, a Labourite; or in other European nations, a Social Democrat, would never have been called a "leftist." A "leftist" was an abject Socialist/Communist.

I will never in a million years consider myself "of the Left"----because I am anti-Communist/Marxist. I am akin to be a European Social Democrat---who might be slightly "left of center," but certainly not "leftist."

It's plainly obvious (except to the really ignorant) that Communist governments have committed atrocities galore, sometimes rising to the level of, or going beyond, Nazi atrocities.

Last edited by kraftiekortie on 08 Jan 2021, 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

As others have said, tankies- those why deny or minimise the genocides and oppression of the extreme left - are a hated minority even among modern communists.

The vast majority of people who are left of centre in the West are not even communists, so do not identify with Stalin and Mao at all.

Trying to divide people into a binary “left” or “right” is doomed to failure. In ideology, there are not only two teams to choose from.

As do I, from its origins in Hegelianism in the 1840s through all the failures up to the present day.