On a scale of Bill O'Reilly to Aldous Huxley (1-5), you are a solid 3½. I would say I'm a 4½. You are more than understandable. I switched to Russian since what I was trying to say would probably be a 4.
"So you're saying that people, like Stalin, cannot be regarded as a demon. Instead, they must be considered as a consequence of inescapable events of history."
For example, Fujimori of Peru did human rights violations and was corrupt, but it was his leadership that saved Peru from collapsing and possibly falling into the hands of the fanatical "Shining Path" or "Communist Party of Peru". You cannot forget the bad things, but you must appreciate the good things too.