The totalitarian instincts of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) are now finding their way into the academia of the Golden State.
Dr. Asatar Bair is a professor of economics and statistics at Riverside City College. He is also an avowed communist, which is ironic for someone giving lectures about monetary policy. Over the weekend, Bair raised eyebrows by sending a series of tweets praising Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as a champion of working citizens.
Though Stalin was originally an ally of Vladimir Lenin’s communist revolution, historians have widely criticized him for perverting Marxist-Leninist theory into one-party totalitarian rule and massive human rights violations.
In his tweets, Bair cited the improved life expectancy, literacy rates, and increased public health investments in the Soviet Union under Stalin’s rule. He even called Stalin “one of the greatest leaders” of the 20th century, and claimed he holds a “fair and balanced view” of the dictator.
My new friends, I defend Stalin because of the results achieved by Soviet socialism for the masses of ordinary working people, including a massive increase in life expectancy (one of history's most rapid in fact), dramatic decreases in infant mortality, and improved health
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) June 28, 2021
outcomes across the board, due to massive investments in public health at all levels. Soviet socialism brought universal literacy to a county in which only a small fraction had been literate, and invested huge sums in colleges and universities in which students were paid to study
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) June 28, 2021
I would certainly conclude that he is one of the great leaders of the 20th c though
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) June 27, 2021
Of Stalin’s leadership during World War II, Bair praised his “foresight to fear a belligerent German fascism,” though Adolf Hitler also had the foresight to fear a belligerent Russian communism. Bair also commended Stalin’s “tactical ability” in defeating the German forces, though Stalin’s tactical genius simply consisted of throwing more than 20 million men at the Nazis to be killed — including his own son.
and then there are his successes as a leader. First, the foresight to fear a belligerent German fascism, then the tactical ability to successfully defeat the world's greatest invading army, combined with the strength to make tough decisions that have no easy answers
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) June 27, 2021
Bair’s statements trended on Twitter on Monday morning, and various users across the political spectrum were quick to condemn them. From the left, French actor and activist Sebastian Roché called out Bair’s “asinine" take and told him to “sit down.”
What an asinine statement, praising one of the most vicious murderers and terrorists of the 20th century. Sit down Asatar.
— Sebastian Roché (@sebroche) June 27, 2021
Bair had previously come under fire in March when he implied that, because China’s population of Uyghur Muslims population is increasing, the severity of persecution faced by the Uyghurs is exaggerated.
There are six basic problems with the ‘Uyghur genocide’ narrative. A thread 1/x
— Dr. Asatar Bair (@asatarbair) March 5, 2021
1. The logic problem: no genocide in history has ever occurred amidst rising population, life expectancy, and income of those supposedly victimized,
Unfortunately, Bair is not the first person in California education to offer a laughable left-wing take. Last December, activists in San Francisco called upon the city to rename Abraham Lincoln High School. The reason given by first grade teacher Jeremiah Jeffries: Lincoln, the man who issued the Emancipation Proclamation, “did not show through policy or rhetoric that Black lives ever mattered” to him.
The San Francisco Board of Education voted to keep the name in April.