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This article struck me as a mix of meaningful criticisms and pure smear tactics. This paragraph in particular is telling: >Living in a special, completely parallel universe are leftists from the United States, who prefer to fight the evil empire directly from within. In their view, the war in the Donbass started at the instigation of the United States and, obviously, because of oil. After all, every global conflict is waged by the United States and always because of oil. And yes, the “Odessa carnage” was also planned by the United States, in case you had any doubts on that score. The United States and its leftists are not in a "parellel universe". What happens in Europe -- and the way Americans react to it -- is every bit a part of American political culture as it is in Europe. That is the nature of America as an imperial power, let alone one which inherited much of Europe's history. There is no reason to suggest, in my view, that American leftists who romanticize or downplay Russian abuses are any different from, say, French leftists who do the same. Moreover, there is no attempt to actually address the Odessa Fire, the article just writes off anyone who thought it was horrific as some kind of Stalinist puppet. The "left-right collaboration" rhetoric also doesn't strike me as very convincing. That can be said for just about every dissident cause, from opposing the Iraq invasion to condemning finance capitalism. Also wasn't a fan of this line: Leftists mistrust mainstream outlets because the latter, according to their worldview, are controlled by oligarchs or their puppets. Far-rightists do so because, in their version of reality, the media are controlled by Zionist, cultural-Marxist, and homosexual lobbies. This is a false dichotomy, especially due to the author's uncritical use of the term "Zionist". There are plenty of "leftists" who correctly condemn the extent to which Zionism control/influence media, there is no reason that that should be seen as dichotomous from believing that "oligarchs or their puppets" control the media. Writing off Zionist control of the media as a right-wing conspiracy theory on par with "the homosexual agenda" is subtle apologism for Zionism. Much of the article is simply beyond analysis because it is just unsubstantiated attack after the next. "Anarchists," "American leftists," "Maoists," xyz group of people one after the next are accused of some political crime or the other without any real attempt to cite instances, groups, etc. The article attempts to paint the left in the US or in Europe (ignoring the rest of the world) as though there is any sort of consistency among "leftists". Pretty sure there isn't any. - Amith On Sun, May 31, 2015 at 11:32 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > The annexation of Crimea, the “Novorossiya” project, and the fight against > the “Kyiv junta” are not supported in Russia alone. There are political > forces around the world, both marginal and relatively respectable, which > voice their support for the separatists in the Donbass. At times, > activists themselves travel to the war zone as volunteers, but they mostly > hold demonstrations in support of the separatist republics and pressure > their governments to renounce their support for Ukraine and “stop the > aggression against Russia.” > > These political forces may identify as left-wing, right-wing, or deny any > conventional political identity (although their “political neutrality” > usually conceals one ideology or another). Novorossiya’s foreign friends > who, in 99% of cases, are also friends of Russia and worshippers of Putin, > may explain their views from various, sometimes incompatible positions. > Novorossiya can be supported both by a white racist and a communist who > talks about the fight against “Ukrainian fascism” and “Western > imperialism.” But despite the apparent differences in their theoretical > ideological grounding, their political practice is remarkably similar. > Eventually, they arrive at the same conclusions and stand on the same side > of the barricade. > > Not that long ago, an “antifascist forum” took place in the Donbass, which > was attended by representatives of not major, but still quite notable > Stalinist organizations from Europe and the United States. Around the same > time, a forum of ultra-right, nationalist, and conservative activists took > place in the Donbass. The fact that these events coincided is more than > revealing. We will talk about both left-wing and right-wing supporters of > Novorossiya and attempt to find similarities in their modes of thinking. > The first text mostly focuses on leftists, but there are certain elements > which are also relevant to the right-wing camp. > > full: http://www.interpretermag.com/novorossiyas-leftist-friends/ > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
