Memes

Notice the weight-bearing words "at first" in your own cited research? Etymology is not a valid argument when the definition of a term drastically changes, in this case becoming much broader. My point is, most "kulaks" deported by Stalin from the Baltics were new landowners with not a lot of land and at most a few paid workers. At least in the case of Latvia, these workers were commonly seasonal labourers from Poland (that came here willingly).