Devin's Reviews > Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism

Absolutely ome of the greatest books written on the disastrous consequences of the resurgence of monopoly capitalism in the post-fall of the USSR. Michael Parenti once again [it seems effortless though we know it isn't] lays out a vast, meticulous history of market reforms that dragged eastern Europe down following 1991, all the way up to 1997, and connects this with the rise of fascism in the early to mid 20th century.

Parenti also dedicates a large section of this book to criticizing and dismissing "left" anti-communists; reactionary anarchists like Noam Chomsky, and leftist intellectuals. How many of their "theories" and analyses are really just anti-Marxist, anti-class jargon dressed up as intellectualism [see: post-modernism, post-Marxism], and that their dedication to ahistorical representation of Marxist leaders [Gramsci, for example], allows for the ruling class to continue downplaying the role of the ruling class in oppressing the working class while acting as if

A. There is no ruling class and
B. That the working class is individually responsible for their oppression.

The anti-communist left contributes to the continuous capitalism-imperialism around the globe when they write off socialist nations in the global south as "authoritarian" or as a "dictatorship". Anarchists, democratic socialists [an oxymoron], dismissing these nations based on their stubborn refusal to detach from western propaganda, ultimately perpetuates the continued attacks and plundering of these nations.

I feel like Parenti never dips more than a toe into any sort of discourse on Stalin, but here he surprisingly dedicates an entire section to Stalin and the myths of the USSR under Stalin. It was pleasant, though I still feel that Parenti is more lukewarm on Stalin than supportive.

Ultimately this is a phenomenonal book and I'd say a must-read on life in eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia after the fall of the Soviet Union.