
Lenin's Body Improves with Age - lermontov
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lenin-s-body-improves-with-age1/
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smitherfield
I'm still amazed that this incredibly ghoulish display survived the fall of
Communism all the way to this day.

~~~
breakyerself
Lenin was genuine. He did things out of perceived neccesity that many are
critical of in hindsight, but few historians would argue Lenin wasn't actively
trying to improve the lives of men. Many around the world have much respect
for the man. This is a way that people honor him. The only reason to seriously
object would be if it somehow went against his wishes.

~~~
smitherfield
In 1921, Lenin had his soldiers steal nearly all the grain produced on peasant
farms, then distributed it amongst his soldiers and cronies while five million
people died of starvation:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=soviet+famine+of+1921&source...](https://www.google.com/search?q=soviet+famine+of+1921&source=lnms&tbm=isch)

When America donated enough grain to relieve the famine, Lenin deliberately
prevented it from reaching the starving rural peasants.

Lenin, by the way, purchased no fewer than nine Rolls-Royce cars during his
brief reign.

I'll give you that he was genuine. So was Hitler.

~~~
ommunist
So was Sir Winston Churchill, by whose policy 10 mln Bengali people died from
starvation. I see no difference between one greedy self-important politician
and another. Its a pity we are defenseless in front of them.

~~~
mr_luc
It seems as though this was a murky situation that administrators/provincial
governments did not understand was happening at the time (much less a central
government back in London!)

Which would make it very different from the other famines being mentioned
here.

(Also, according to Wikipedia the figures you cite seem to be a multiple of
current estimates).

~~~
anigbrowl
It's not like the British Empire didn't have any experience of dealing with
famine in the colonies, though. In the previous century a quarter of the Irish
population died in a famine and another quarter or so fled to the US.

It's not that I have anything against Churchill, but it's easy to come up with
excuses for politicians or historical figures one would like to support while
assuming both omniscience and ill-will of the others.

~~~
SixSigma
And 25m Indians in the late 19th C. The British had turned most Indian arable
land over to cotton. The British food producing arable land had been turned
over to wool. The market for Indian cotton collapsed when the superior
American production recovered from the Civil War. The El Nino drought wiped
out the remaining food production and what grain was produced was being
exported back to the UK. They guarded from starving Indians with soldiers.

The same weather system flooded China, flood defenses had been neglected while
the Chinese were fighting off European colonists. Another 25m starved.

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mojoe
In case you were as curious as I was to see a picture of Lenin's body:
[http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01809/Vlad_18094...](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01809/Vlad_1809464c.jpg)

~~~
anigbrowl
I've seen it in person. Rather than being ghoulish, it's thought-provoking -
it's odd to see an actual historical figure in the flesh, if not the spirit.

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Jolijn
It seems like a bit of a Ship of Theseus. Even at this point I wonder how much
of what you see of his face can be said to be 'original'. But still people
visit, as if Lenin is still there.

~~~
ArekDymalski
I wouldn't be surprised if nothing you can see on the exhibit is "original".
First, they clearly admit in the article that they focus "on preserving the
body's physical form—its look, shape, weight, color, limb flexibility and
suppleness—but not necessarily its original biological matter. After 145
years, it's quite possible that everything was substituted. Second, Russia has
a long tradition of creating a PR-pumped image of healthy, almost immortal
leaders. That could be a natural part of such cult practices.

~~~
tonymon
>Second, Russia has a long tradition of creating a PR-pumped image of healthy,
almost immortal leaders.

Well, North Korea probably yes. But I haven't noticed such tradition in
Russia.

~~~
ArekDymalski
Perhaps the immortality part was an exaggeration, but I was thinking about the
way the Kremlin avoids admitting any health problems of the leaders. That
happened in case of Yeltsin and allegedly in case of Putin's absence in March
this year. Recently there was an interesting article about this "health PR"
dating the tradition back to the USSR era, but I can't find it right now.

~~~
atroyn
This is hardly unique to Russia - after all, FDR avoided being photographed
from the waist down and wore special braces when standing and Kennedy had many
secret health problems. I think this is more a fact of projecting an image of
power in any society.

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danans
If they could get him just fit enough to ride a horse shirtless, he could run
against Putin ;)

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lotsofmangos
He reportedly wanted a private funeral and to be buried next to his mother.

I do wonder how they keep him from spinning.

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upstandingdude
Wow theres a german article on a swiss site called "20 minutes" that is a
complete rip of this article, it came out yesterday and is even titled the
same. Unbelievably bold plagiarism.

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classicsnoot
complete non sequitur but in the same vein (boosh) if you are into weird body
stuff check out this guy:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hunter_%28surgeon%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hunter_%28surgeon%29)

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AndrewKemendo
I wonder what their endgame is here. Seems like Sisyphus has met his match.

~~~
rurounijones
> I wonder what their endgame is here

MechaLenin.

Hey, it worked for Nixon and they only had his head in a jar, not the whole
body.

~~~
lotsofmangos
No need to worry, if that happens we will just reactivate Jeremy Bentham.

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Eye_of_Mordor
Lenin is basically a love doll.

"Now, I am become love doll, the destroyer of men's opression" \- Vladimir
Lenin, 2015

