Villain's Virtues and Enough

One of the most brutal, sadistic rulers in the history of human life on this planet was Josef Stalin, who, after he had consolidated his power, ruled the Soviet Union from 1929 to his death in 1953. When discussing just the deaths that this one individual was responsible for, we’re talking about a scale in the millions of people. He instituted an oppressive police state and an enormous system of state prisons (the GULAG). And he collaborated with Hitler in 1939, helping to destroy Poland and bring on the cataclysm known as World War II. Stalin’s naiveté in dealing with Hitler directly lead to his own nation being invaded, with about 20 million Soviet citizens losing their lives as a result. So Stalin was an enormously villainous historical figure. But since he was such an important person in history, many have scrutinized his life in minute detail. And some discovered some interesting things about him.

Although Stalin insisted on being made into the object of a strong personality cult throughout his reign, in truth he believed little in it and was contemptuous of those who fawned over him. He had a tight circle of loyal associates with whom (and with their families) he had a close social life. Earlier in his political career, Stalin was a master at manipulating meetings with his political colleagues, not taking sides on an issue until he determined which side was prevailing in the argument, and then coming down at the end on the winning side. This served two purposes: first, it gave Stalin the reputation of being open-minded (which he wasn’t); second, he would consistently be on the winning side, increasing his stature that way as well. Unfortunately, his obsessive fear of being overthrown led him later to persecute his perceived political enemies with a progressively intense fervor that ended in many deaths, imprisonments, and a thoroughly closed and totalitarian society.

So you can see that I am thoroughly convinced of Josef Stalin’s evilness. But even with someone like this, I can filter out some virtue! And with Stalin, I see two things: one, he was, in spite of his paranoia, a terrific prankster with an enormous sense of humor; two, Stalin did not pursue (or even value) material wealth in his life. Those who visited him at his residence would come away amazed at the plain, stark conditions that he lived in. Of course, you could say (and be correct) that Stalin put all of his worldly aspirations into obtaining and maintaining absolute political power, and that anything else was (to him) secondary and even trivial. But it hit me anyway that, in our comparatively much more abundant society that is America today, how hooked people in general are on their material possessions and status. Yes, there are still the poor around us. Historically speaking, though, I don’t believe that at any time or place in the span of human history has there been such abundance available to the general population. But instead of recognizing this and letting our abundance of wealth serve us as we need it like the air we breathe, we instead hoard it up like a hibernating squirrel would hoard up acorns. Why can’t we recognize when enough is enough, and then go on to more worthwhile pursuits in this short period of time that we have been accorded to live? Of course, I don’t think that the rest of Josef Stalin’s life would be a suitable example to follow. Still, in at least the area of accumulating personal material wealth, he recognized when enough was enough.