what stalin did that was pretty cool:
- he built and continued socialist development in the USSR
- he democratized the USSR after war communism's effects
- he was the first to develop (an obviously flawed) means of proletarianizing the peasantry
- he was a great leader of the ICM

- he synthesized Marxism-Leninism, influenced a lot of communist movements around the world with his great leadership
- he helped include & respect the minorities within the USSR, by building respective structures.
- he literally destroyed fascists

- he helped in developing a proper established base for combatting fascism.

Some obvious faults & criticism:
- he failed at understanding the internal contradictions of intensified class struggle within socialist state/proletarian dictatorship
- he built structures that helped aid revisionists in taking power

- his failure to properly develop into socialism/lower stage of communism as a result of his misunderstanding of class struggle
- his flawed understanding of the peasant landlords of the USSR
- building dependency with new socialist states, like DDR, DPRK, eastern bloc in general

Misconceptions about Stalin:
- Stalin wasnt reactionary, he never made the decision to ban homosexuality, abortion, and other things people criticize. It was never his sole decision, as:
1. the people who did decide was the party, and the party consisted of the masses

2. Stalin's democratization basically consisted of him *removing* power from himself and back to the party.

We dont have a consistent view on Stalin's position of abortion or homosexuality. We can rightly say, though, that the masses carried reactionsry tendencies

- Stalin didnt support Israel. Revisionists who carried power in the foreign ministry made the decision to establish Israel.
Stalin principally opposed Zionism.

- Stalin wasnt ruthless, with an iron fist. Stalin didnt have that much power, even with his influential great leadership. He has a lot of personal reports of him being a very kind, emotional man.
He had cried when he heard about the Doctor's Plot, and the mistreatment of...

...Jewish men behind his back, for many years.

- Stalin didnt powergrab and wasnt mistrusted by Lenin.
Lenin actually loved Stalin. Saw him as an important leader. Who Lenin wanted for the next leader is very unclear, as:
1. Lenin criticized & hated Trotsky.
2. Lenin's testament was "written" by him after his stroke

3. Lenin's testament is also debatably not written by him.
Stalin was a popular figure, and Trotsky regularly was criticized and disliked by different members of the party.
Stalin didn't "organize" against people who opposed him, as Party Secretary.

Overall, just like most leaders, Stalin had his faults. He had his failures. But dismissing his importance and his great leadership just because of an understanding through a bourgeois historical perspective fails at interpreting the USSR and its development seriously

Its not a "hot take" or anything original to say Stalin is le bad.
Trots, liberals, anarchists, leftcoms, fascists, and reactionaries of all kind have been repeating this and been given platforms in bourgeois society to repeat lies & misinterpretations