To be a leftist is to oppose imperialism—all imperialism!

By Steve Otto

The one problem I have with most "Western Style Marxist" or Western leftist is that they buckle under quick to US imperialism when they feel there is a different foreign power doing bad things.

I saw this during the crisis in Syria , when a bourgeois rebellion sprang up against the Syrian leader President Bashar al- Assad.[1] They want to support the US effort against that country. I have seen leftists muse that we should support US imperialism because North Korea's[2] Kim Jong Un[3] is such a bad leader we should let US fighters bring him down. From Open Democracy:

"A letter to the Western Left from Kyiv

The 'anti-imperialism of idiots' meant people turned a blind eye to Russia 's actions.

British-Syrian author and activist Leila Al-Shami gave it a stronger name: the  “anti-imperialism of idiots” . Read her wonderful 2018 essay if you haven't done so yet. I will repeat only the main thesis here: the activity of a large part of the Western 'anti-war' Left over the war in Syria had nothing to do with stopping the war. It only opposed Western interference, while ignoring, or even supporting, the engagement of Russia and Iran , to say nothing of their attitude to the 'legitimately elected' Assad regime in Syria ."

 I don't know how many times I've heard leftists say: "The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend." While there may be truth to that, I would ad that we as members of the left oppose US imperialism. For us they are the main enemy. We can oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine  , but not to go so far as to endorse NATO.[4]

From my point of view, NATO[5]is not necessary. It is more about controlling allies and servant states of the US,  in that part of the world. Many of those post East European countries have adopted near fascist governments. I don't see why people like me should have to support Nazis simply because they fear Russia or the Soviet Union.  Let them form their own alliance. I don't like Russia,  but I don't like those crappy little Eastern countries either. They should fight their own wars.

People like me take a lot of crap from leftists who hate not only Putin, but Kim in Korea and Assad of Syria. But I will not support the proxies of the US and Europe in their fight against him. Those proxies are not revolutionary at all. And while I'm not a big fan of Kim, I can admire his government's rejection of military threats and sanctions from the US and its allies trying to take him over and smear him in a propaganda campaign. That is a campaign I oppose.

Another example of such leftist can be found at Quorum :

'Is Noam Chomsky's comment that "NATO should not have moved an inch east of Germany" ignoring the desires of the eastern European states?'

From my point of view, Chomsky does not go far enough. NATO is a sham and should be dismantled. Then from Tadeusz M.:

"I must admit that being both left-leaning and from Poland is a surreal experience right now. 

There is a quote by George Orwell that comes to my mind: “First of all, a message to English left-wing journalists and intellectuals generally : 'Do remember that dishonesty and cowardice always have to be paid for. Don't imagine that for years on end you can make yourself the boot-licking propagandist of the Soviet régime, or any other régime, and then suddenly return to mental decency. Once a whore, always a whore.'” Funnily enough, it was written in the context of  Poland. When Poles were fighting Nazis during the Warsaw Uprising, Soviets disallowed allied plans to use their airports to bring supplies to Polish freedom fighters. They also chose to watch Poles die, despite having forces literally on the other bank of the river. The Western left tried to defend this position. 200,000 thousand people died.

How many will die in Ukraine ?

This guy claims to be left. But what does he mean. He is not an anti-imperialist. He seems to put Russia on par with Nazis. My guess is that he probably does the same thing with the Soviet Union . He goes on to say:

Balance of power. An idea you learn as a freshman while studying international relations. Or as a full-grown adult after Russia invades Ukraine .

There are literally dozens of pages of essays (or answers on Quora) full of cherry-picking facts showing that those people never really followed the politics of our region - they just bought into the recent narrative.

There is not the tiniest sense of modesty or decency in people who are giving themselves the right to explain to the world and us the politics of our region despite becoming interested in it two weeks ago.

Honestly, I think I know now how Africans feel when some random Western intellectuals speak about conflicts in their countries they know nothing about. And I can't even imagine how Ukrainian people must feel.

Basically, people by whose intellectual circles I felt inspired many times in the past are now defending the idea that my fellow countrymen should never have had anything to say about the fate of our countries. Because “ Russia feels threatened”.

He may know more about Ukraine and its problems than I do, but to expect the rest of the word to take up arms in his defense is a request that we have a right to ignore. I will not support NATO , US or its allies of imperialism, even though he said I don't understand his country's conflict. We are not Ukrainians and we have no obligation to go there and fight on his behalf.

Then there are the usual comments such as:

 

Robert Maxwell

 

 March  10

These past two weeks have been a time of savage culling in my follows and in who I pay attention to, and for the very reasons you bring up. Too often, the “Western leftist" really just turned out to have meant “I have a hobby horse of about three different causes, mostly centering around being a contrarian anti-American.”

And as a Westerner that sees themselves as leftist, there's nothing wrong with opposing American foreign policy! But apparently some people made it so foundational to their calculus that the only way they can square that circle is by either engaging in weak distraction or just outright simping for autocracy.

We expect harsh arguments from the right-wingers. But to often these so called leftists take up the same path and end up on the same side as the right.

I continue to take a hard stance on NATO. It needs to go and for all times, not just when it seems convenient.

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[1] See In defense of “Tankies”- Part 1 , Otto's War Room.

[2] Democratic People's Republic of Korea .

[3]See In defense of “Tankies”- Part 2 , Otto's War Room.

[4]See On the Dangerous, Reckless and Unconscionable Drumbeat for a “No-Fly Zone” in Ukraine , Revcom.us.

[5] North Atlantic Treaty Organization.