QUESTIONS FOR WESTERN LEFTISTS

If you’re reading this right now, there’s a good chance you’re a leftist. You stand for worker’s rights, women’s rights, LGBT rights, minority rights, and the environment. You’re aware of the rise of fascism in the west, and want to organize against it. You hear news of the US preparing for war with another country and object to it. You say: “No war but class war!” And “no more foreign wars!” You say this loudly in your marches and your protests, you exclaim it loudly to onlookers. You want change.

There’s some leftists who say these things but also say something else, just not as loudly: “I don’t support the US, but I also don’t support their government either”. Maybe they say it to their friends and family, maybe on social media, maybe at their local leftist group, but they don’t forget to say it. They have their reasons, of course. They say “I want LGBT rights here, so I want LGBT rights there. I want women’s rights here, so I want women’s rights there. I want worker’s rights here, so I want worker’s rights there.” But there’s another reason for them: distancing themselves from the western imperialism and these countries’ “authoritarianism” makes them look rational and unbiased.

At first glance, leftists that oppose both imperialist governments along with socialist and anti-imperialist governments would seem to embody leftist egalitarianism. What appears to be egalitarianism contains imperialism within. By failing to realize imperialism exists on a power differential between the oppressor and oppressed, these leftists trivialize the violence socialist and anti-imperialist countries face. They say “the government doesn’t reflect the interests of the people” because they think they know what these interests are as a westerner. They think opposing both the oppressor and the oppressed exonerates them from imperialism. Their failure to support the oppressed makes them complicit in imperialism. By not showing solidarity with actually existing socialist and anti-imperialist nations they show their desire to force these nations to conform to western ideals. They may be anarchists, communists, libertarians, or democratic socialists, but they’re still imperialists.

When a leftist calls someone who supports leaders in the global south a bootlicker I have to wonder, are they more concerned about subordination to hegemony, or more concerned about subordination to a foreigner? Why does every assertion of their leftist principles in the global south appear as an expression of the racist chauvinism they claim to loathe? Why do their “concerns” about in the global south always appear as indictments of the regimes rather than questions? Are they only interested in foreign democracy so they get their say in the regime? It seems they believe concern comes as assertion of one’s superiority – they don’t ask what could be done to help, they tell others what must be done. They create a false dichotomy between foreign governments and progressive values. Much like the west divided the world into “civilized” and “savage” to justify conquering Africa, Asia, and The Americas, these leftists divide the world into “free” and “”authoritarian”.

These attitudes are shaped by atrocity propaganda in the form of news stories. They might be about the “inhumanity” of the Chinese government towards Uyghurs, the “human rights violations” of the Iranian government, the “rigged elections” in Bolivia, the “prison camps” in North Korea. They exist to provoke the reader in saying “what’s going on there is wrong. I need to do something about it.” And by “I” it’s meant the west . They set an ideological imperative for the reader to prescribe on these nations. They set a western democratic standard against which all nations are judged. By demonizing foreign governments the west gets an excuse to impose their aims on them and exploit them. When you see these stories, ask yourself two things: “is this true?“ And “who benefits from this story?”

It’s because these leftists have only seen liberty enforced from the barrel of a gun. They’ve only seen people starving so others can feast. Since that’s how they see power here, that must be how power is everywhere! They’ve only seen nationalism in the west as a means of attacking other, so they can’t imagine it used by others to defend themselves. Western nationalism is inherently chauvinistic and reactionary; an expression of supremacy used to uphold capitalist hegemony. Every example of nationalism espoused by the west requires the persecution and dehumanization of other ethnic groups. It implicitly creates division within and without the west. Socialist nationalism comes from solidarity of the proletariat within the country, and solidarity with other socialist and anti-imperialist movements and nations. Socialist nationalism is essential for a state to preserve their autonomy.

These leftists are quick to criticize the “excesses” of socialist and anti-imperialist regimes and but not so quick to criticize the conditions which made the regimes necessary. They criticize North Korean militarism and “authoritarianism” but won’t criticize the slaughter of 20 percent of the North Korean population by the US to uphold capitalism. They criticize the Khomineist regime for it’s “theocracy” but fail to mention the US participating in multiple coups in Iran and installing the Khomeinist regime. It’s clear where their priorities lie. Their concern lies only with regimes that oppose their superficial understanding of socialism and not the mass violence imperialist powers inflict on the world.

Like it or not, regime change is presently more likely in the global south with invasions and imperial power-backed coups than in the imperial powers themselves. “I support regime change in those places” is exactly what the imperialists want leftists to say. Leftists say “what I want and what the imperialists want are opposites” but who will get the final say? It will be the imperial powers that topple these regimes and install their new leaders. Not them. It will be the imperial powers that exploit these nations for their resources while murdering their civilians to increase its hegemony. And what will these leftists say? “This is the US war machine exploiting people for profit and murdering civilians. It’s truly indefensible.” This condemnation comes as a statement of their leftist ethics but what’s missing is genuine concern for the people affected in these wars.

There’s no denying the need of workers’ revolutions in the global south to overthrow the autocracy but this is a struggle that must be led by their workers, not us. So what can we do? Firstly, we must recognize the achievements of actually existing socialist and anti-imperialist governments in providing for their people and defending against imperialist aggression and show solidarity with them. There is no solidarity without recognition of autonomy. Second, we need organized agitation for the cessation of imperialist violence in the global south. Finally, we need to overthrow the capitalist governments in the west. In the colonized countries such as Canada and the USA we must cede the territories to their rightful inhabitants. In the non-colonized countries we must seize the state and install a socialist government. I end this polemic with a quote from Dr. Michael Parenti: “The revolution that feeds the children gets my support.” The Iranians, the North Koreans, the Cubans, the Libyans, and the Chinese can say so of their country. Can we say the same of ours?