Great Article: The Left and the
http://hammerandbroom.blogspot.com/2006/11/false-front-left-and-anti-imperialist.htmlTo sum it up this article talks about a growing problem in some quarters on the progressive, liberal left. The long article discusses the rise of fascist "anti-imperialism", and the way that the so-called Left has often mistakenly given it credibility. In the rush to condemn the wars started by Bush and the Republican Party, we end up ignoring and unintentionally supporting many right-wing causes. We need to realize that the enemy of our enemy isn't necessarily our friend.
Right-wing forces around the world are gearing up to fight against capitalism’s new world order. Every day on the streets of Baghdad, of Mosul, of Tikrit, of Fallujah, of Samarra, of Basra, there is living, dying proof that rightists are in the vanguard of the fight against the Anglo-American occupation of Iraq. It is the same in Afghanistan. Indeed, as Western capital struggles to penetrate and control the so-called Islamic world, clerical fascist and other hard-core reactionary trends have spearheaded opposition in country after country. This right wing “anti-imperialism” isn’t confined to the Moslem-inhabited countries, either. Militant rebellious political movements on the Right are gathering strength everywhere, including North America. Often these trends are more radical, better rooted in popular culture and better armed than the current Left.
One would think that the Left would be galvanized by this phenomenon of right-wing “anti-imperialism”; would be bending every effort to understand it and combat its poisonous influence. In fact, the Left, with few exceptions, is doing its best to ignore it.
It’s not like we haven’t been warned. The catastrophe in Iraq is hardly the first time that the Left has witnessed powerful right-wing influence over anti-imperialist movements.
We need to combat all reactionary-ism and fight against intolerance and hatred. The message is clear:
Read the whole thing at: http://hammerandbroom.blogspot.com/2006/11/false-front-left-and-anti-imperialist.html
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Scuba
(53,475 posts)...discretionary tax dollars (22% overall) to advance imperialism for every corporation from big oil to bananas.
TigerToMany
(124 posts)However, they're talking about the right-wing movements in some countries that are against imperialism.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)TigerToMany
(124 posts)Unfortunately, the Left doesn't always see the right-wingers in other countries as being right-wingers. This isn't necessarily a bad thing on the part of the left, but unfortunately it's not a viable situation for the long run. We should be supporting leftists around the world no matter what, and we need to be against right-wingers around the world no matter what. The intention isn't here to smear the left in any country, but say that we need more solidarity with other leftists and progressives around the world.
While it is right and proper to oppose the wars started by the Republican Party, we also need to recognize that some of the people in other countries who are against wars "includes millions of right-wing political Islamists, Baath Party torturers, reactionary Japanese nationalists, dozens of right-wing dictators, the Pope, capitalists in every country, conservative Republicans, antisemitic Russian nationalists, Pat Buchanan, the hard right British National Party, generals and admirals, David Duke, and most neo-nazi organizations worldwide" as the article says.
The right's anti-imperialism is not consistent. We need to realize this and realize that they are NOT our allies. Whenever the "right" claims to be anti-imperialist it is because they have legitimately lost power and now want to reclaim it. They use "imperialists" as a scapegoat, but they do not have the intention of fighting imperialism. In essence they are lying to get the working class on their side and just as soon as they're in power, make deals with the very imperialists they want to fight. The "anti-imperalist right" are therefore nothing but petty bourgeoisie reactionaries who advance their sick ideas at the expense of everything else.
For example take Iran. They are reactionary in the patriarchal, tribalist, fundamentalist, and quasi-feudalist capitalist sense. They do not advocate progressive ideals and only want to keep "imperalists" out because they see the imperialists as being part of the progressive "change" that they so despise. The Left and the progressive wing of humanity are the absolute vanguard of the proletariat (including the unemployed) has a consistent interest in defeating imperialism, and in that process therefore must also defeat the reactionary nationalist forces.
We need to oppose right-wingers no matter what. It's not enough to just be against war, we need to also be against reactionary right-wing bigots who are using the platform of anti-imperialism to advance reactionary ideals into the mainstream.
eridani
(51,907 posts)That is going to leave a vacuum, as people don't suddenly grow to like been fucked over by outsiders, and will typically go along with the right wing religious whackjobs who are the only oppositional forces left. This is NOT the fault of the anti-imperial left in the US, and being bombed, stripped of their resources and killed does not make people in the places we fuck over either secular or liberal.
Israel deliberately funded Hamas to destroy secular Palestinian nationalism, and they succeeded. And now they are shocked, SHOCKED!! that the relgious fundie whackjobs filling the ensuing vacuum hate them even worse.
The US and Britain refused to accept secular Iranian democracy in 1953, with the same result. They even funded and encouraged religious whackjobs to help overthrow that government, and now imperial apologists say that we must overthrow the religious whackjobs to supposedly save the secular people.
How about we just quit fucking with people in the first place? It sure doesn't benefit the 99% here or in the attacked countries.
