nostr:npub10ewtfjvcvnq6v2lz3nl6cfxflfmhd5v3rn6s6s4fpfhsu4nfse6qs8uw7p nostr:npub1vcy8zvrhj3xhwydfjempzl6s4sv77ypyy8zqtzsgexfk3nrsr9jquzgzn8 when thinking about the exercise of dictatorial violence I think we need to remember that it's actually hard to do, because it needs mass consent. Stalin wasn't a lone wizard wielding the power of terror. In many ways the purges were an expression of younger communist careerists eager to get rid of Trotskyist, Zinovite and Bukharinist veterans so that they could rise in the ranks, and also show loyalty. The so-called terror from below. Putin has no below under him.