Stalin plucked a live chicken to make a metaphor for ruling over dumb people. It was a classic Soviet era mindset that dignified the state and put down the ignorant masses. Oh so the story goes.
Rod Dreher writes about the stories of Soviet-era communism oppression and the future of “soft totalitarianism” in Live Not By Lies. View the book on Amazon here.
This story may be a Russian tale that was spread throughout the Soviet Union and later to the rest of the world once it fell. However there is evidence this could at least be true by some accounts.
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Ravi Zacharias in his book, Can Man Live Without God, attributes the story to Soviet and Kyrgyz novelist Chingiz Aitmatov.
During those final days of the collapsing Marxist experiment in the Soviet Union, Soviet novelist Chingiz Aitmatov retold the following story, which has been paraphrased here.
Aitmatov’s work was based in folklore. His stories focused on Kyrgyzstan’s transformation to a republic of the USSR through the retelling of myths and legends through contemporary examples. These drew connections between the USSR government and the Kyrgyz people.
Stalin Plucked A Chicken
The story goes that Stalin demanded his command to appear together for a demonstration. This meeting would take a hideous turn one filled with blood feathers and a newly educated set of Soviet commanders on the nature of ruling the masses.
Stalin began to pluck a chicken while it was alive and in great agony, its feathers were removed one by one. The floor became filled with blood and feathers in a puddled mass with the frenzied shrieks of the chicken filling the room in a fevered pitch.
When the heinous act was done the chicken cowered in fear and in pain it fell back to what it does best, being a chicken. Stalin’s next act of the demonstration was to feed the distraught bird.
Stalin after plucking the chicken of its feathers began to feed it, dropping bits of wheat after his footsteps as he walked around the room.
The bird started following, gobbling up the bits of food. “See!”, Stalin remarked, “Even though I have done the most terrible acts on this creature it still follows me if it is given a small meaningless treat every now and then. This is how to govern stupid people.”
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