It would probably be more accurate to say the USSR saved your country from the Nazis.
The oligarchy has destroyed Russia, try sendibg tabks to ukraine lmfao
The three biggest countries in the world are all imperialist trash. Yet you stan for Russia so hard. None of these places care about people. China is doing the best at feigning it in this particular moment with the green energy push. US and Russia are just bumping their dicks on everything, blind af.
What do you think imperialism is? Is it a vibe, or is it something we can measure? Marxists have a coherent and measurable working theory of imperialism, but I want to know what you're claiming here.
Imperialism is the domination of other nations. Whether that be politically, economically, culturally, or by force. I am claiming all of the most powerful nations on Earth engage in this behavior and therefore cannot be said to truly care about human beings, just what they perceive as their human beings at most. Its a plea to stop idolizing nations over ideals.
So, in essense, it's a vibe in your views, right? Since all nations with sizable power use it to develop at minimum soft-power and in other cases hard-power, by nature a large country is definitionally imperialist? I can't say I agree with that.
For starters, it isn't something actionable to combat, unless you're in favor of balkanizing every major country, and this would work against the continuing process of globalization and decreasing friction in production and circulation. If anything, centralization is a natural force, and thus it makes most sense to take an internationalist, socialist stance.
Secondly, it isn't really measurable in your definition. It's a process defined by its lack of definition, just large countries having influence, and in turn erases whether this process be for good, like assistance with national liberation or multilateral development, or for bad, such as predatory systems of extraction.
The reason Marxists hold to our outline of imperialism is because we can measure it, track it, combat it, and move beyond it:
The presence of monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life.
The merging of bank capital with industrial capital into finance capital controlled by a financial oligarchy.
The export of capital as distinguished from the simple export of commodities.
The formation of international monopolist capitalist associations (cartels).
The territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers.
If we compare, say, the US with the PRC, then the nature of just how different these economies are with how they interact with the world is immediately apparent. The PRC absolutely does not fit this definition, while the US fits it to a T. This is helpful, because it explains why the global south is ditching the US and siding with China.
Further still, the implication that valuing "ideals" is what is counterposed to "idolizing nations" is a false dichotomy. What matters is materialist analysis. Why do systems exist? Where did they come from, where are they going? Morals are nice and all, but they don't explain the world, or help us change it.
Does that make sense?
It does make sense. I can't say I agree that my analysis is all vibes. I live in an imperialist nation and I see the far reaching effects of that daily. I am sure it would be worse if I lived in a country we were dominating. I thank you for the detailed reply but I fail to see how that exonerates any of our current leaders today. I do appreciate it though as you are always insightful, come to the discussion fully equipped, and stand the best chance at opening people's eyes to real leftist ideas.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
One thing I want to stress, is that this does not exonerate imperialism. It's easy to label a country imperialist if it has significant influence, but identifying if that influence is positive or negative is important, and doing so is best looked at from the underlying materialist perspective, ie analyzing the mode of production. That's why Marxists identify imperialism the way we do, and further, why Marxists can say we are definitively anti-imperialist. We have a strong understanding and clear identification of what we oppose, why, and how.
Returning to the PRC, they are focused on multilateralism. As a socialist country, they lack the dictatorial control of a financial oligarchy, and they focus on export of commodities. The more customers for their commodities, and the easier access to raw materials, the better. It's in their interest to not be predatory for the global south.
Returning to the Russian Federation, it's a capitalist country, absolutely, but unlike the US, it straight up doesn't have the financial capital to imperialize. They are too poor as a country, they mostly export oil. They have strong-ish industrial production, but are kept out of the circle of imperialists through western millitary lines. Russia has the materialist desire to imperialize, but lacks the ability to do so.
The US, on the other hand, has both the means to do so, and the financial interest in doing so. The US isn't very industrialized, it in fact relies on imperialism to keep its economy running. Whereas with the PRC they lacked the reasons to imperialize, and with Russia they lacked the means, the US is lacking in neither.
That's generally the Marxist understanding of imperialism. The RF isn't selfless, neither is the PRC, but because their underlying material basis is distinct and qualitatively different from that of the US (and other imperialist countries), they are more materially interested in engaging with the global economy in different means.
The three biggest countries in the world are all imperialist trash.
Pure vibes based politics.
None of these places care about people. China is doing the best at feigning it in this particular moment with the green energy push.
Erg, someone get the Parenti quote
Thank you for your contribution
Eat shit 👍
The only imperialist country here is the US empire, both China and Russia get tarnished and discredited whenever possible thanks to the empire's massive western propaganda reach.
Yeah if you live in America this is true. Propaganda is everywhere and each country can probably have a pretty graphic like this. I just gotta say you are lost in the sauce. No current government really hits all marks on caring for people. Most are absolutely abysmal and should go in the corner and suck their own toes. We should be doing better. All of us.
Propaganda is everywhere and each country can probably have a pretty graphic like this.
Good thing you're immune though
You've added nothing to the discussion with both of these replies.
Lol. As if you added anything yourself. Go have a cry about it
You must be fun at parties. Hope you don’t frequent ones I’ll go to
Fucking hell, chatbots have better zingers
Fuck, I chuckled at that one. Guess you might be acceptable at certain parties
What do you think of the policies held by the massive nations? Do you think they are imperialist too? Why or why not?
All of these were questions opened by my comment. Your's are all thought terminated clown shit.
Thank you for your contribution
You'd be better seeing fall of USSR as cautionary tale of letting senile morons run a country to the ground.
USSR imploded with little help from the West.
Brezhnev invaded Afghanistan; Solidarity trade union in Poland was homegrown; Chernobyl wasn't sabotaged; the old guard who went against Gorbachev hated the West more than anyone.
Solidarity trade union in Poland was homegrown;
No it wasn't, they even bragged of recieving help and money from USA and Vatican.
Brezhnev invaded Afghanistan
Come fucking on, Afghan govt called USSR for help after USA funded and armed the fundamentalist insurgents, again they even brag about it.
