Stalin was filling prisons with political opponents... We're filling ours with low life criminals. That's a BIG difference. Crime goes DOWN when criminals are off the streets. If Stalin had let his political prisoners out it wouldn't have affected crime.
It's creepy to pretend these two circumstances are similar.
50 years, a low productive person could still make his way in the US, even if he was just a janitor or manual laborer. Today, the same low productive person is locked out of many jobs, because the requirements for that job are higher, though the actual prerequisite skills are still pretty low.
Not excusing the criminal set, but many low skilled people are locked out of being able to improve their situation.
This article is written by a socialist and is filled with such historical revisions as to make Alinsky proud. The only ray of truth is the admission that it was progressives who created the nightmare.