“THERE were two “Reigns of Terror,” if we would but remember it and consider it; the one wrought murder in hot passion, the other in heartless cold blood; the one lasted mere months, the other had lasted a thousand years; the one inflicted death upon ten thousand persons, the other upon a hundred millions; but our shudders are all for the “horrors” of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak; whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe, compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty, and heart-break? What is swift death by lightning compared with death by slow fire at the stake? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror—that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror which none of us has been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves.”
― Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
I mean I’d prefer to avoid both sort of terrors
Actually we just won an election
Ok that’s just an outright fucking lie.
The Bolsheviks didn’t start “winning” elections until they’d already forced everyone into supporting them, the 1917 election featured the Bolsheviks being blown out of the goddamned water by the SRs, and getting tailed pretty hard by the Ukrainian Regional Socialist Party
All this comic does is bend history into absolute knots to try and sell an image of what a democratic revolution would look like, but the tone and telling it represents is blatantly revisionist to a fucking maddening degree.
What are you talking about?
This strip is not even about the actual Bolsheviks.
Everything the “Bolsheviks” say is boilerplate stuff a modern democrat (or any reasonable person for that matter) would want.The whole joke is that the republicans frame super normal stuff as communism.
Did you really not get that?
“All this comic does is bend history into absolute knots to try and sell an image of what a democratic revolution would look like, but the tone and telling it represents is blatantly revisionist to a fucking maddening degree.”
I’d say that’s what they’re talking about.
And I agree with them, imo this comic is absolutely not working for getting the intended message across.
Edit for clarification: i realized during first reading that the devil’s advocate in the comic was meant to represent USA republicans, but I still think that the comic doesn’t work.
deleted by creator
Getting the joke doesn’t make it funny or any less irresponsible a way to invoke a historical period for sending a message.
This strip is not even about the actual Bolsheviks.
Have you skipped over the first panel?
That’s clearly where you stopped reading.
The first panel ruined it for me as well, though. It’s meant to be political allegory, sure, but the first panel just makes it bad history instead.
It’s too absurd to be taken seriously. Like how in the second panel the guy with the evil goatee says “Now we get to do all of our evil communist stuff!”. Another factor is that even if you were to take this seriously, it would portray the the bolsheviks as ineffective liberals. A Lenin/Stalin apologist would not portray them that way. And most people don’t get their history lessons from 9-panel comic strips.
not about the 1917 revolution. kinda like how MASH wasn’t about the korean war.
MASH was invoking historical parallels.
This is just inventing them out of thin air in an era that is already overflowing with rampant politically motivated disinformation.
Look at Mr. No Media Literacy here.
found tsar nicholas’s lemmy account lol
democratic revolution
haha what do words even mean!? I’m not even touching the Ukranian ‘regional’ socialist comment, fascist pig
i agree the comic is a very confused mess
This thread has been a lesson in how many ways people can find to miss the joke. The cartoon isn’t that subtle, surely?
I really thought the joke was obvious. Apparently not.
Maybe if you aren’t familiar with US politics? Even then, the last panel should clue you in.
It’s not hard to interpret it as “russia in 1917 was awesome, actually”. The message wouldve come across far better just using an alt history US election or something imo. Like, it’s extremely clear the comic is satirizing americans calling everything communist and saying communism is inherently evil, but doing that by applying these talking points to 1917 russia isn’t helping in making it not seem like it comes from a tankie, on a platform that has a ton of those. Especially when you don’t recognize everything as a democratic talking point because why the fuck would you when you’re not american.
Okay, I’m genuinely trying to understand “the joke.” Is it supposed to be “modern democrats do not resemble the bolshevic revolution?” Because it really doesn’t read that way.
It is: Republicans keep calling Kamala Harris and the Democrats communists, or saying that what they propose is literally the definition of communism. And they say that communism is the most evil thing. Yet if we imagine a world where communism were just what the Democrats propose to do, the history of communist revolutions and the capitalist fear of communism would look absurd. Here is a humorous re-enactment of an imaginary Russian revolution where instead of Bolsheviks we had modern Democrats. From it we see how ridiculous the Republican fear-mongering around Democratic “communists” is, because the changes they propose are very trivial, and the panic of the capitalists is clearly over the top compared to the danger.
Ok. Then it’s just poorly framed. The first frame should have been “America, 2025: a second communist revolution”. As written, it reads like boilerplate “not real communism, and it wasn’t that bad” revisionist history.
That would spoil the joke by spelling it out. Part of the humor is in discovering that what you’re looking at isn’t quite what you expected.
I mean I get it, but it still feels very disrespectful towards all the eastern europeans killed by bolshevism
In my opinion that is the second layer to this comic. Bolsheviks were pretty autocratic and tyrannical, so comparing their deeds towards left leaning politics today is disrespectful to the real victims.
yeah, I know, I get it. Consciously, I absolutely get it. But subconsciously…
It still somehow strikes the wrong tone in my opinion. I don’t know how one could do it better, I just know that it irks me the wrong way.
You’re not saving anyone, and victims of bolshevism are not victims of this comic. Please stop making problems up.
look, I read the Economist every time I’m at my dentist’s office, so I’m obviously a little bit ahead of the curve in terms of political literacy, but I’m not sure I understand what this comic is trying to say, given that the events it depicts did not literally happen. could someone explain what this comic means? it would be a great help.
unrelatedly, but just as urgently, is there anyone who is an expert in going to the bathroom? I got to the part where my pants are fully pulled down around my ankles, but I’m not sure how to sit if I have to make both doodie and weewee. I’m guessing I face the tank? thanks in advance.
Dang, I had a whole response ready to go but then I read that last part more closely (but then again I don’t think I’m the only one in this comment section with that problem). Best of luck with your toilet troubles.
My take for the comic is that voting for those “communists” will not change anything, and capitalism will still eat us alive.
There has to be some option that is not Bolshevik dictatorship or capitalism with some virtue signaling dressing.
There has to be some option that is not Bolshevik dictatorship or capitalism with some virtue signaling dressing.
Knocks on your front door Hello, do you have a few minutes to talk about Anarcho-Communism?
The metaphor is a bit weird. It’s almost as if they’re dogwhistling about the horrors of the actual Russian revolution and system.
But I guess what they’re actually trying to say is that calling democrats communists is just stupid and wrong. Which yeah, it totally is.
THE VERY DEFINITION OF COMMUNISM
I’m having nightmares every day about the poor billionaires having to pay something slightly more close to their fair share in taxes! When will this horror end?
Yeah, the bolsheviks would just have shot them. The whole family. Yes, kids too. Probably they would have raped them before and/or after. Then set the house on fire.
Trump is handsome?
Presumably the joke is that the propaganda was written by the billionaires to make you scared enough to vote for them. But since they were writing propaganda anyway, might as well try to convince everyone they are handsome at the same time!
Damn, this post is like a zoo for people not understanding irony and sarcasm
The number of people trying to explain that the Bolsheviks weren’t actually like that depress me. Why are they in a political memes community if they don’t know that Trump and Musk are accusing Democrats of being communists based on their pretty milquetoast policies?
The number of people trying to explain that the Bolsheviks weren’t actually like that depress me.
I suspect that most Americans don’t really know who the Bolsheviks were, and only have some vague idea of what Communism is. Even on Lemmy.
And that USSR never got to Communism, it was a socialist state with plan economy, that promised people that “one day we’ll be able to move away from this imperfect system to some real cool utopian stuff, we just have to work hard for 20 more years”. And it was 20 more years each year until USSR fell apart. So, nobody ever lived in a true communist state.
I think if it had been placed in America it would have been better received. People don’t expect to have a serious conversation about critical reading skills in a meme community. They’re used to one liners and moving on.
But placing it in America ruins the joke. The whole point is that it was absolutely nothing like that.
Well there needs to be a better way to communicate the message then because it got lost in the noise.
Maybe. I just plan to be over here in the corner weeping at the death of satire.
Lmao, if A Modest Proposal was published today we would all be breathlessly talking about those Republican cannibals.
You won’t be able to save people who are unable to draw parallels between a hypothetical and a real situation, even when they are given a dozen hints.
Eh. Normally I would agree with you but these hints require a lot of known context.
Nah, I got it. I just wanted to double dip with the “Trump ugly” jokes.
Musk is handsome?
He was a 6 or 7 in 2010. Now he’s like a 4 or 5.
Dude…I mean, I can only get so erect.
I don’t think that’s how it went
That’s the joke.
That’s a pretty big reach for most people though. To realize that the depiction is of what Trump says is communism and not actually Russian communism. Most people are going to regard this as communist propaganda attempting to cover for Stalin. (They won’t even know Lenin was in charge in 1917) And they will disregard it completely.
They explain the joke in the last panel.
oh. then I don’t get it
It’s a meme aimed to ridicule the rhetoric of the U.S. Republican party aimed at portraying Democrats as communists, which is still a swear word in America.
Like, “imagine if actual communists (represented by Bolsheviks in the meme) were that mild”.
ah. ty
Imagine having to redefine yourselves as socialism in a comic to avoid facing the facts about its communism. Surprising that this isn’t lemmy.ml
deleted by creator
Yep. That’s the point of the comic. They could have signposted it better or just set it in America. Trump and company want everyone to believe the Democrats are stalinists. So the comic puts Democrats into 1917 Russia to highlight the differences.
Bruh… What… It was a blood bath followed by the worst recession and one of the worst starvation in History of Russia (1921-1922).
It went from a wealthy powerfull country to the freedom deprived shit hole we know today… It all began in 1917
I think you may have missed the premise: right-wing mouthpieces, at the behest of right-wing billionaires, describing the Democrats’ modest reforms as “literal communism” is farcical to the point of parody.
Edit: punctuation
Lol, i do get it, but you need to be american to find this farcical…
Anybody else know this is really beyond stupidity to chose Russia History as a satirical base…
You’re missing the point of the cartoon. It’s making fun of the Republicans’ claims that Democrats are literal communists. The joke is in the obviously huge difference between the relatively feeble capitalist tweaks Democrats are proposing and an actual communist revolution.
It’s a very clumsy premise. The first panel should at least be “USA, 2025” instead of “Russia, 1917”.
Then its really badly done… But i guess that it is enough for the average ignorant american who wear t-shirt with Guevara head on it… Lol, pathetic xD
Bro over here dodging the sarcasm like Neo dodging bullets. Like… bro. Bro.
Lol i get the sarcasm, but if the average ignorant american do find this clever, the premise is in reality beyond stupidity for every people with above average IQ and minimal knowledge on Russia History… Pathetic…
The entire point of the comic aside. Russia was way behind the times even for 1917. They still had serfdom and feudal structures. When they went to war for world war 1 they had to have the Lords gather their men-at-arms and there was constant bickering over orders. Supplies were largely done by the lords as well or foraged. There was no central system for manpower or logistics. The Tsar was screwed by his ancestors holding onto a system hundreds of years out of date.
Bruh… Stap… Get your fact straight, even a quick wiki prove you wrong:
Despite all this Russian Empire from the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II, it began to change dramatically in economic terms. It was the fastest growing economy in the world,[3] the average GDP growth was higher than the Western European one, and the volume of production per capita was equal to it.[4] The standard of living also grew high.[5] If the February revolution had not occurred, and subsequently the October revolution, then the pace of economic growth in Russia would only have increased
This is why you don’t go to Wikipedia folks. It’s true they were increasing output. But standards of living were not rising for the common worker and there’s a lot of room to improve GDP when you start from a backwards position. We’ve seen the same thing in post colonial economies after world war 2. A 4% growth of 10 is not better than a 2% growth of 1,000.
And the Army was wildly dysfunctional. They didn’t have enough weapons, ammunition, or food. And it was a major part of why the revolution happened. On the last day the Tsar ordered the army to fire on the crowds, and instead they refused and joined the crowds. Largely due to their treatment.
Bruh… The wiki page is sourced, and the army being old and dysfunctionnal was not specific to Russia only, France had an army in a shitty shape at the beginning of the War too…
The fact that Russia was improving in all aspect before the 1917 revolution and went downhill from here, is undeniable…
Wiki pages being sourced isn’t the saving grace it was supposed to be. The standard is literally a web page other than Wikipedia. This has been abused both ways many times.
And if Russia was so great, why were the people charging into gunfire to change it?
The cartoon isn’t about Russia.
The cartoon joke is based on a false depiction of 1917 Russia revolution. It just prove once again how ignorant american are about World History… Pathetic, lol
You’re missing the point. The point is exactly that the Russian revolution was nothing like this. That’s why it’s funny, because it’s portraying an imaginary, absurd version of the Russian revolution to show the ridiculousness of the Republican claim that Kamala Harris is a communist.
In the US, republicans, and billionaires, often call the democratic party communists. This is putting the current democratic party’s basic platform in the mouth of a depiction of the bolsheviks, right after the revolution, to prove how ridiculous the claim is. It is very ham-fisted, and the last panel basically beats you with the blunt instrument that is this joke. The fact that you didn’t get it makes you more akin to what your comments further down say, than anything else.
Lol except the premise doesnt work at all, for ignorant american maybe, but for every body else, this is just stupid…
Its like trying to do a joke on how ridiculous it is to say republican are nazi by making a good portrait of nazi regime…
They need a communist revolution
