******************** 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. *****************************************************************
I call the fans of Putin, Vladmirers. As for the "liberation" of Aleppo, I am reminded of Tacitus' 'ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant'. comradely Gary On Tue, Jan 10, 2017 at 11:09 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. > ***************************************************************** > > In terms of Islamophobia and anti-LGBT repression, Russia makes the United > States look like Paradise. Male life expectancy in Russia is six years less > than in Brazil and a decade less than in Mexico; its spending on education > as a share of GDP is 80 percent that of Mexico and less than three quarters > that of Brazil.11 In terms of the size of the public sector, Russian > government spending as a percent of GDP is smaller than that of Japan, > Greece, the UK, and Spain (and its military spending is a far greater share > of its overall government spending than any of these countries).12 Neither > in practice nor in inspiration nor even in rhetoric does current-day Russia > reflect left values. > > So why then the left enthusiasm for Russia? > > For some, no doubt, it’s simply nostalgia. The U.S. Peace Council, a > slavish Moscow tool during the Cold War, fondly recalls the Soviet alliance > with the Baathist regime in Syria under Hafez al-Assad, and so perhaps it’s > a simple move to glorify Russian support today for the successor to the > Assad dynasty. (And thus the Peace Council’s awful propaganda trip to > Damascus and subsequent participation in Syrian-government sponsored > propaganda events.13) > > But wistful longing for the glory days of the Soviet Union doesn’t explain > most left attachment to Russia. Instead it’s the pernicious doctrine of > “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” that unfortunately has permeated large > sectors of the left. > > full: http://newpol.org/content/russia-and-left > > -- > Support Louis Proyect biography project > https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/publish-the-biography-of- > socialist-louis-proyect#/ > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/opt > ions/marxism/gary.maclennan1%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
