> …
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> The tell in West’s remarks was calling the U.S. an empire but referring to Russia by its de jure name, implicitly erasing its imperial, colonial character. It’s a common tendency among the segment of the left to which West belongs, one that Kazakhstan-born Pitzer College sociology professor Azamat Junisbai attributes to ignorance and a myopic, know-nothing focus on American imperialism to the exclusion of imperialism by other nations.
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> “They’re kind of imperial about their anti-imperialism,” Junisbai said. “There’s something very provincial and strange about it where you literally do not know anything about what’s happening beyond this one issue you care about.”
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> …
Noam Chomsky in shambles. Guy built his whole life on “America/NATO always bad” and then this comes at age 871 or whatever he is now
The “Western anti-imperialist Left” don’t really care as long as something they support is anti west and culturally self destructive.
>[…] West called Russia’s invasion “criminal” but insisted it was “provoked by the expansion of NATO” and is a “proxy war between the American Empire and the Russian Federation,” […]
That is disappointing.West may always have been on the eccentric side but was usually an insightful commenter, particularly on social questions.
I guess he lived long enough to finally go off the deep end.
This is the funniest thing ever heard. Same is in my country where Leftists parties do the same what is funny becouse they forgot that Russia is seni-feudal state
Someone post this on r/labour
You can really feel this in leftist online spaces. It was always irksome to have these dogmatic anti west people in there, but they went totally mask off once the war started. The rest of us just sort of turned our back on them.
Yeah, that’s the difference between Europe’s “anti-imperialist Left” and its far-Right : The Left is neutral/pro-Russia because they genuinely believe NATO is the source of all evil, the far-Right is pro-Russia because their pockets are full of Russian money.
I *guess* I can have slightly more respect for true believers… 🙄
This is an well written and documented articel. I find myself within of an intellectual bubble(?) where a lot of friends had the same problems recognizing russia as it what it is. It took a lot of talks and now nearly two years to make them rethink. Not that it means they aren’t still anti-west. Or at least anti US.
But it’s also a problem that we in the west don’t really teach anything about russia before 1721. Suddenly there is the russian empire and it is like it was always there.
Sorry for bad grammar. Reading and listening is always easier than talking and typing. Greetings from Berlin
It should certainly teach people a lesson to not blindly apply “X bad, therefore Y good” onto every topic like this
I mean they’ve been taking them for a ride since 1945. Even before that.
I honestly don’t understand what they see in Russia, it’s not the USSR anymore, there is no more ideological connection left. I get why right wingers like Russia, but the leftists..?
11 comments
> …
>
> The tell in West’s remarks was calling the U.S. an empire but referring to Russia by its de jure name, implicitly erasing its imperial, colonial character. It’s a common tendency among the segment of the left to which West belongs, one that Kazakhstan-born Pitzer College sociology professor Azamat Junisbai attributes to ignorance and a myopic, know-nothing focus on American imperialism to the exclusion of imperialism by other nations.
>
> “They’re kind of imperial about their anti-imperialism,” Junisbai said. “There’s something very provincial and strange about it where you literally do not know anything about what’s happening beyond this one issue you care about.”
>
> …
Noam Chomsky in shambles. Guy built his whole life on “America/NATO always bad” and then this comes at age 871 or whatever he is now
The “Western anti-imperialist Left” don’t really care as long as something they support is anti west and culturally self destructive.
>[…] West called Russia’s invasion “criminal” but insisted it was “provoked by the expansion of NATO” and is a “proxy war between the American Empire and the Russian Federation,” […]
That is disappointing.West may always have been on the eccentric side but was usually an insightful commenter, particularly on social questions.
I guess he lived long enough to finally go off the deep end.
This is the funniest thing ever heard. Same is in my country where Leftists parties do the same what is funny becouse they forgot that Russia is seni-feudal state
Someone post this on r/labour
You can really feel this in leftist online spaces. It was always irksome to have these dogmatic anti west people in there, but they went totally mask off once the war started. The rest of us just sort of turned our back on them.
Yeah, that’s the difference between Europe’s “anti-imperialist Left” and its far-Right : The Left is neutral/pro-Russia because they genuinely believe NATO is the source of all evil, the far-Right is pro-Russia because their pockets are full of Russian money.
I *guess* I can have slightly more respect for true believers… 🙄
This is an well written and documented articel. I find myself within of an intellectual bubble(?) where a lot of friends had the same problems recognizing russia as it what it is. It took a lot of talks and now nearly two years to make them rethink. Not that it means they aren’t still anti-west. Or at least anti US.
But it’s also a problem that we in the west don’t really teach anything about russia before 1721. Suddenly there is the russian empire and it is like it was always there.
Sorry for bad grammar. Reading and listening is always easier than talking and typing. Greetings from Berlin
It should certainly teach people a lesson to not blindly apply “X bad, therefore Y good” onto every topic like this
I mean they’ve been taking them for a ride since 1945. Even before that.
I honestly don’t understand what they see in Russia, it’s not the USSR anymore, there is no more ideological connection left. I get why right wingers like Russia, but the leftists..?