this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2026
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Chapotraphouse
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Up there with his stance on tipping:
You have to imagine his fall from grace was as much about the other Bolsheviks thinking "Christ, I hate this fucking asshole" as much as his unrealistic policies.
I always think of this bit from 10 Days the Shook the World, where Trotsky didn't have his papers to enter Smolny and just kind of annoyed the guards until they let him in:
Tbh basically all the bigwig dudes in the politburo were assholes (lenin being a super aggro debatebro, stalin being a backroom schmoozer who refused to enforce lenins anti corruption orders, trotsky being a dramatic debatebro fixated on theory, every member being willing to ignore the soviets, unions and the CC if they disagrees with them)
That said there was definitely more than a bit of personality conflict involved in the infighting of the 10s, 20s and 30s (to the extent that some of the policy arguments were more about the personalities involved and internal power struggles than the actual policy or theory.)
it's okay to be a smug asshole if you're right. full support to comrade lenin, who could lift me over his head with his left pinky.
I think that it's maybe a little generous to call him fixated on theory.
No one said his idea of theory was even remotely correct or grounded in Marxist principles that weren't distorted to funhouse mirror levels
There are definitely theoretical points that he cared about (and indeed points he got right), but I guess my thing is that a lot of what he said seems downstream of his personal feud with Stalin and maybe thwarted personal ambitions, and for a professed Marxist speaking to fellow professed Marxists, theory is one of the most rhetorically expedient cudgels.
This take isn't controversial in Europe (being an asshole about it is though). The vast majority of Europeans both left and right wing completely agree with his take and will not tip for anything other than outstanding service above the basic level of doing the job.
It is not a part of European culture I would change either, the US can keep its tip culture.
Yes, but they should understand when they're visiting the US that they have to tip because otherwise the workers make almost nothing.