Summing up Stalinism

From an article in The Independent:

"Legend has it that the institute, which opened in 1927, was born of a secret Soviet plan to create a man-ape hybrid that would become a Soviet superman and propel the Soviet Union ahead of the West. The Soviet elite, goes the apocryphal tale that has appeared widely in Russian media, wanted to create a prototype worker that would be inhumanly strong and mentally dulled, to carry out the gruelling work of industrialising the vast expanses of newly Sovietised territory."

Legend or not, it neatly sets out the Stalinist mindset. If I was feeling unkind, I'd say the the creation of a dull but strong worker is pretty much the mindset of any socialist.