Unreliability, Spinelessness of the Western “Left”

Written on October 3rd, 2016 in politics Comments Off

Published on Dissident Voice, by André Vltchek, Sept 30, 2016.

… For years and decades, the so-called ‘left’ in the West has been moderately critical of North American (and sometimes even of European) imperialism and neo-colonialism. But whenever some individual or country rose up and began openly challenging the Empire, most of the Western left-wing intellectuals simply closed their eyes, and refused to offer their full, unconditional support to those who were putting their lives (and often even the existence of their countries) on the line.  

I will never forget all those derogatory punches directed at Hugo Chavez, punches coming from members of the ‘anti-Communist left’, after he dared to insult George W. Bush at the United Nations in 2006, calling him a “devil” and choking, theatrically, from the sulfur that was still ‘hanging in the air’ after the US President’s appearance at the General Assembly … //

… Cuba received even less support than Venezuela. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, no attempt was actually made by Western leftists to bail the heroic nation out. It was China, in the end, which ran to its rescue and saved Cuban socialism. (When I wrote about it, I got hundreds of Western leftists at my throat, and in the end it took Fidel to confirm, in his ‘Reflections’, what I was saying, to get them off my back). Then, when the Obama administration began making dangerous advances on Havana, almost everyone in the West began screwing those cynical grimaces: ‘you see; now everything will collapse! They will buy Cuba!’ They didn’t. I travelled to the beloved green island, and it was so clear from the first moment there, that the ‘revolution is not for sale’. But you will not read it often in the Western ‘progressive’ media … //

… Some say that the Western ‘left’ doesn’t want to take power anymore. It lost all of its important battles. It became toothless, impotent, and angry about the world and itself.

When in January 2016 I spoke at the Italian Parliament (ending up insulting the West for its global plunder, hypocrisy), I mingled a lot with the 5 Star Movement, which had actually invited me to Rome. I spent time with its radical left wing. There are some great people there, but overall, it soon became clear that this potentially the biggest political movement in the country is actually horrified of coming to power! It does not really want to govern.

But then, why call those weak bizarre selfish Western entities – the ‘left wing’? Why confuse terms, and by that, why discredit those true revolutionaries, those true fighters, who are risking, sacrificing their lives, right now, all over the world? … //

… If one decides to fight, then there has to be discipline and single-mindedness; total determination. Or the battle is lost from the very beginning!

When the freedom and survival of one’s motherland is at stake, things get very serious, ‘dead-serious’. Battle is not a discussion club. It is not some chat.

If we, as ‘leftists’, have already once decided that imperialism and colonialism (or ‘neo-colonialism’) are the greatest evils destroying our humanity, then we have to show discipline and join ranks, and support those who are at the frontline.

Otherwise we will become an irrelevant laughingstock, and history will and should judge us harshly!

(full text).

(André Vltchek is a novelist, filmmaker, and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. His latest book is Exposing Lies of the Empire. He also wrote, with Noam Chomsky, On Western Terrorism: From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare. Andre is making films for teleSUR and Press TV. After living for many years in Latin America and Oceania, Vltchek presently resides and works in East Asia and the Middle East. He can be reached through his website or his Twitter. Read other articles by Andre).

Links:

Deutsche Bank and the global financial crisis, on WSWS, by Nick Beams, Oct 1, 2016;

NGOs: Grassroots Empowerment or Tool of Information Warfare? on Global Research.ca, by Daniel Deiss, J. Hawk, and Edwin Watson, October 01, 2016;

Thinking Dangerously in the Age of Normalized Ignorance, on Counterpunch.org, by HENRY GIROUX, Sept 30, 2016;

Real-World Economics Review, issue no 75, Sept 30, 2016 – edited by the World Economics Association WEA.org; download the whole issue;
example: Can a country really go broke?Deconstructing Saudi Arabia’s macroeconomic crisis, on issue no 76/pages 76 to 94, by Sashi Sivramkrishna, Sept 30, 2016;
Blogs: WEA Pedagogy Blog; and Real-World Economics Review Blog RWER;

Michael Krons mit Leon de Winter im Dialog, 30.02 min, von phoenix am 30. Sept 2016;

Thailand: ThaiPublica challenges the army to test the right to know law, on Southeast Asian Press Alliance SEAPA.org, Sept 29, 2016: an independent online media organization is suing the army for details on a controversial project to test access to information laws in Thailand;

International Right to Know Day Impact Stories, on National Security Archive NSA, by Laura Harper, Tom Blanton and Rinat Bikineyev, Sept 28, 2016:
- 14th Annual Celebration Highlights Access Laws Across the Globe;
- FreedomInfo.org Posts Collection of Year’s Biggest Success Stories;

Andreas Beutel (heilige Geometrie/holy geometry):

Neoliberalism & Black Politics, on The Black Scholar, Aug 8, 2016: A TBS Conversation With Adolph Reed, Part 1. By Jonathan Fenderson, TBS Associate Editor;

Das Geldsystem – Prof. Dr. Franz Hörmann, 55.55 min, von Dawa Ulm am 30. April 2016 – Buch: Der Währungscountdown, das verfehlte Geldsystem, Ursachen und Lösungen, von Andreas Popp, auf amazon.de;

See again two evergreens:

… and this:

Comments are closed.