Bearded communists tend to be 'better' than non bearded communists

Pivet everyone and welcome to this exciting debate in which PRO will attempt to prove that the ratio favouring "Good" communists over "Bad" communists is greater among our bearded comrades than it is among our non-bearded comrades. It's a shame for me that this list is only allowed to include people in a leadership role, but I shall attempt this anyway. Before I start, I'd like to declare my personal feelings on the subject of beards specifically and facial hair in general, lest I offend some of my more hirsuit judges. Like the majority of the world's population, I LOVE beards. Although I'm no Karl Marx, I sport a little foliage myself and with the exception of scaring a few babies, I've had no adverse affects from this. I certainly don't find myself drawn to execute the masses in firing squads because of it. It's therefore my conclusion that while growing hair out of your face does make women love you and men want to be you, it certainly is not enough alone to cause you be a good or bad person. You should probably blame your skinny-as chicken legs for that. Those things will MESS YOU UP. PRO has opened his round with a predictable trio of dastardly communist leaders, all of which are without beard growth. I'll make quick comment on each of these, although as you'll see, I'm prepared to admit that these all fall into the less than desirable category. POL POT: Honestly this guy is undefendable. His one redeeming feature is that he successfully fought the French, but really, beating the French in battle? No offense to my Froggy cousins, but it's not exactly hard is it? Get their morning croissants a little damp and they're already halfway to Paris. I have no intention to defending this guy, rather, I'm happy to have him take up the first of my Bad Baldies. Nice one PRO. MAO: This guy I'm classing as a "Man for the times". Estimates of around 70 million lives is what it cost China to throw off the Japanese and attain solid independance with a strong economic and technological future. This is a high price to pay and nobody is disputing this. That being said, with over 1.3 billion people today[1], it can hardly be said that they couldn't afford it. The cold hard truth is that for a country of peasants to have acheived what they did - it was ALWAYS going to cost them human lives; and to stay the course they were on was going to cost them human lives as well - almost certainly more than 70 million. Today, Mao is still perceived as a hero [2] who had the courage to do what needed to be done FOR the greater good of the people. This is a principle entirely in keeping with communist ideals, so while he may be perceived as having been more "bad" by non-communists, the case is not so for HIS people - which is what this debate is defined as. He's one of our Clean Champions. STALIN: Ahh Stalin. Look, on the positive side, he can be seen in a similar light to Mao, as a "Man for the times". It is undisputed that in his time Russia needed a firm guiding hand. He wrestled control of that country and did what needed to be done. As a result, Russia survived the War and within 10 years was completely transformed technologically. Within a short space of time they would dominate the space race and become one of the first global Superpowers of the modern age. On the negative side, the way that he acheived this leap forward was, to put it delicately, by being a bit of a douche. When evaluating whether Stalin makes it into the evil baddies camp or the misguided goodies camp, it might serve us to acknowledge the opinion of one of PRO's bastions of Communist righteousness, Signor Castro who in an interview said, "I believe Stalin made big mistakes but also showed great wisdom. In my opinion, blaming Stalin for everything that occurred in the Soviet Union would be historical simplism" He then goes on to say, "He established unity in the Soviet Union. He consolidated what Lenin had begun: party unity. He gave the international revolutionary movement a new impetus. The USSR's industrialization was one of Stalin's wisest actions, and I believe it was a determining factor in the USSR's capacity to resist." [3] I'd like to remind you that PRO's own bearded champion said this. Plus Stalin had the undisputed title of best mustache until Thomas Magnum came along. The Slug has to count for something. I do not concede that Stalin deserves to be placed in the "Bad" category. I'll now submit for your review a bevy of Smoothies - all of which have contributed mightily to cause of Communism, despite being hampered by having no muzzle-lashings. EMMA GOLDMAN: "Emma Goldman was undoubtedly one of the most notable and influential women in modern American history, consistently promoted a wide range of controversial movements and principles including (in addition to those listed above) freedom of thought and expression, radical education, sexual freedom and birth control, and the eight-hour day." [4] Emma Goldman was a leader in the Anarch-Communist movement. Her anarchist view of communism favoured the government being completely dissolved, thus handing complete power to the people. It was in that sense even closer to true socialist ideals than Marxism.[5] ELAMKULAM MANAKKAL SANKARAN NAMBOODIRIPAD (try and say THAT quickly six times!)EMSN was an Indian Politician and founder of the Communist Party of India, (CPM). During the China-India war of 1962, he was outspoken in his view that peace should be acheived through talks. "Namboodiripad was elected chief minister of Kerala in 1957. During his tenure he oversaw land reforms, increased salaries for civil servants, and helped attract new private industrial investment to the state. " [6] CLARA ZETKIN: "When the men are silent, it is our duty to raise our voices in behalf of our ideals" - Clara ZetkinClara Zetkin was an outspoken advocate for Women's rights. She created the first International Women's Day in 1911 - a fact which she is still celebrated for today. Despite being born and raised in Germany, she staunchly opposed both World Wars. A fact which got her exiled by Hitler during the Second World War. She was the instigator of the "United Front"policy which was adopted by the worldwide communist movement in 1921. This policy called for ALL parties to band together and demand better rights for the working class. [7] Among her accolades are the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Banner. Her mug was also placed onto the German 10 mark note and 20 mark coin. And that wasn't because she was hot. Because she wasn't. [1] http://worldpopulationreview.com... [2] https://www.marxists.org... [3] http://www.marxists.org... [4] http://egfs.org... [5] http://libcom.org... [6] http://www.britannica.com... [7] http://links.org.au...