- 21 Jul 2020 18:12
#15108987
I agree with what you've said, mostly.
Yes and no. As always, it's a little more complex.
Yes, in that the US is an imperialistic power, and should be stopped from trying to call the shots on what happens around the world. No question there. We need global cooperation, and global backing of freedom, rights, and wellbeing, etc. etc.
No in that if you only fixate on America as the only evil in this world, you are going to make decisions that are very naive and short sighted. You will end up helping to simply replace the American bully with another bully. I think this is very evident when you look at skinster's posting. Quite literally, she's defending a nation that has completely eroded the freedoms of Hong Kong, sterilizes minorities, and censors like crazy. Even if you want to dismiss all that as lies, they have very clearly and openly communicated imperialistic desires that cannot be denied. How exactly does that help eliminate empires? In reality, you have to both simultaneously dismantle the American imperialistic tenancies, but also fight others from trying to raise up with similar tendencies. Otherwise it's just a game of imperial wack-a-mole. Once you prop up and support Chinese imperialism to defeat American imperialism. Now you have the Chinese empire to deal with. What next? Support Russian imperialism (make no mistake, China and Russia are not friends, alliances are temporary)? It's a cycle that will never end. It's a fundamentally flawed strategy. To base an ideology around it, is simply bonkers.
Total side point here:
It's a bit of a myth the US is some sort of unilateral decision making entity though. The US really cannot go it alone on anything despite what many claim. The US usually needs buy-in at least from NATO countries when it comes to taking various actions. For example, the US did not go into Syria because Germany pushed back hard and would not offer support to the US. So yes, the US is a bully, but they can be pushed back on successfully and without supporting terrorism or regimes that in many ways, are arguably worse than the US.
Atlantis wrote:Therefore, the anti-imperial struggle will always first of all have to target the US.
Yes and no. As always, it's a little more complex.
Yes, in that the US is an imperialistic power, and should be stopped from trying to call the shots on what happens around the world. No question there. We need global cooperation, and global backing of freedom, rights, and wellbeing, etc. etc.
No in that if you only fixate on America as the only evil in this world, you are going to make decisions that are very naive and short sighted. You will end up helping to simply replace the American bully with another bully. I think this is very evident when you look at skinster's posting. Quite literally, she's defending a nation that has completely eroded the freedoms of Hong Kong, sterilizes minorities, and censors like crazy. Even if you want to dismiss all that as lies, they have very clearly and openly communicated imperialistic desires that cannot be denied. How exactly does that help eliminate empires? In reality, you have to both simultaneously dismantle the American imperialistic tenancies, but also fight others from trying to raise up with similar tendencies. Otherwise it's just a game of imperial wack-a-mole. Once you prop up and support Chinese imperialism to defeat American imperialism. Now you have the Chinese empire to deal with. What next? Support Russian imperialism (make no mistake, China and Russia are not friends, alliances are temporary)? It's a cycle that will never end. It's a fundamentally flawed strategy. To base an ideology around it, is simply bonkers.
Total side point here:
It's a bit of a myth the US is some sort of unilateral decision making entity though. The US really cannot go it alone on anything despite what many claim. The US usually needs buy-in at least from NATO countries when it comes to taking various actions. For example, the US did not go into Syria because Germany pushed back hard and would not offer support to the US. So yes, the US is a bully, but they can be pushed back on successfully and without supporting terrorism or regimes that in many ways, are arguably worse than the US.
I can think of 11780 reasons Trump shouldn't be president ever again.