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1) Yes some regimes just rule for power alone. Saddam was one of them. He started out as a Arab socialist nationalist but his regime deterioated into a government that was there just to serve him. Generally these regimes keep their people poor. Myanmar is another example. But the most brutal regimes are the ones that follow an ideology and therefor think the atrocities that they commit are for the common good. When you are doing something for the common good you can excuse almost anything. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot - all true believers. That is why they were so brutal and effective.
2) Stalin actually improved his country in many ways, and there was logic in most of the things he did. He definitely improved the standard of living of most Russians. He was a true believing communist and everything he did was in line with communist ideology. You have the dictatorship of the prolitariate that has to rearange the body politic until every thing is working correctly and then the state can wither away. But before the state withers away you need to suspend persoanl liberties and chop off some heads.
3) I can't think of any communist government that was popularly elected. In 1917 the Karensky government was elected in Russia. The Bolsheviks overthrew the government by force. They never held an election. Mao took over by force, Ho Chi Minh, Pol Pot, Castro, and Ortega. Poland, Hungary, Romania Czecholosavakia - all coups.
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