Reading Blackshirts & Reds and am at about 40% through the book. The amount of critique he is giving to how poorly the economic situation in the USSR was, how Stalin’s way of running things and how people were negligible about their jobs because there was no reason to be competitive or to do a good job is honestly a bit stark. Is this anti-communism or is this just good faith criticism?
Given who Parenti was, I’d assume at least some of it is fair. There’s a difference between a lib regurgitating common right-wing talking points and slander against AES vs a Communist who acknowledges that nothing that exists is untainted by reality but nonetheless still understands that scientific socialism remains correct.