Joseph Stalin Insecure

Stalin had a sense of being powerless due to his father, which later led him to seek power and control over others, while maintaining his father’s philosophy that the only person who means anything is you. Stalin’s father was an alcoholic who often beat Stalin in an extremely cruel and harsh manner. Shame inflicted on Stalin from his father led to him projecting this shame on others later in life. Learning force from an early age set him for a life of violence and force to achieve what he desired. Stalin is quoted saying, “Death solves all problems – no man, no problem” and “One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.” Such cruel things could only be said with a complete disrespect for life, branching from previous violence and harshness. Stalin had a self-image of superiority, no one’s life mattered other than his own; he had the final decision on life or death for anyone. Stalin’s complete disrespect for life can only be linked to his need for power resulting from fear of being powerless.

Stalin changed who he was various times in his life and always signified it by changing his name. When Stalin was having trouble with authority early in his life, he took the nickname Koba after the famous Georgian outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Stalin’s craving for righteousness in his childhood led him to adopt this name of someone who would have helped his poor family and his life to have been better. He changed who he was, shunning his past and looking toward a future where he would have the power to help himself, like the outlaw was able to do for poor families. Stalin’s original name was Dzhugashvili, he changed it then to Stalin, which means “man of steel.” Insecure about how others viewed him; he changed his name so that others would see him as powerful and strong. Stalin felt just the opposite, he felt powerless and weak, but he could not let this be exposed and felt he had to change who he was, which is why he changed his name to something that signifies power and strength. Stalin created a new identity for himself, a stronger, more capable self who could overcome all; he had to develop this self after all of the insecurities that he experienced.

Stalin was an extremely cruel individual with a complete disrespect for human life, which stemmed from the abuse he suffered as a child from the hand of his father. He had various insecurities in the way of his appearance, intellect, and his poetic ability. His insecurities propelled his life to overcompensation and to project these insecurities he had onto the people of his country. Stalin needed to be the reason for all that was good and the destroyer of all that he viewed as bad, he needed to be a superior being, a god-like figure, and he needed to have power, even though he had many insecurities and saw himself as weak.