yeah, I've often critiqued Lenin's vanguardism for leading to tribalism, purity spirals, and horseshoes back to reactionary sentiments. it's necessary, but needs regulated somehow. believe it or not, these guys aren't demigods and are capable of missing here and there. further developing their already great ideas is objectively a good thing, orthodoxy purity is useless and counter productive. also, by "removing people" I mean executing or imprisoning. I'm a fan of reeducation camps or exile, personally.

None of this relates to your premise that purging people in positions of power is somehow wrong and means "you've already lost" to put it your words. Re-education is not purging, it is a rehabilitative measure, which would definitely have not worked in the historical conditions of the early to mid-20th century USSR. They were literally fighting an existential war against Nazis and Tsarists ffs. You can't "re-educate" someone who is actively trying to kill you. There are certainly criticisms to be made in the excesses of Stalin's purges, but to completely ignore these historical conditions that necessitated the purges is pure idealism on your part.

I personally think many American government officials and all billionaires are also incapable of being re-educated because they have proven time and time again that they will stop at nothing to protect their class interests and countries like China and Vietnam punish billionaires the proper way, but you do you.

wow it's almost like nothing is black and white and there's nuance in everything, even when it's inconvenient! people are not predestined at birth but they also are not given infinite options with the foresight to choose wisely. think a little, I'm begging you.

Again, this has nothing to do with defending the military apparatus of the imperialist state that is the USA, which you are doing by (falsely) claiming the stormtroopers are poor, oppressed workers who are just trying to get a decent income and education. I'm just curious if you would make the same argument for the IDF or the Wehrmacht which had many working-class individuals in it thinking they were doing no wrong.

I wouldn't consider your average soldier to be a war criminal but whatever guy,

If the average US soldier is actively involved in the current Iran War or any previous war/ invasion the US has engaged in, yes, they are war criminals.

You're never gonna convince me that the people who killed hundreds of Iranian schoolchildren on the first day of the war are somehow innocent victims of the system. Please get some perspective.

although it doesn't invalidate my points that systemic roots need to be addressed before any real change can be seen.

That only became your point after your previous arguments were shown to have no bearing on reality, and it's also a point no one here would argue with. We all agree that systemic roots need to be addressed. We don't all agree that troops should be given a free pass for being child murderers just because they selfishly saw a way to get free college out of it. We don't all agree that troops deserve more empathy than their victims. We don't all agree that class traitors and counterrevolutionary wreckers should be coddled instead of purged. You can't make all these absurd, reactionary statements and then just say your only points are "that systemic roots need to be addressed." Wildly disingenuous.