this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
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Hey, genuine question here. Why include Russia in this? They are, to my understanding, a capitalist oligarch hellscape. Where queer folk are criminalized and hunted from public life. A different imperial power currently engaged in killing folk. Why is Russia doing good a good thing at all? Just in the fact its showing a country can exist outside the NATO sphere at all? Is it in any way support of Russian policies?
Once again, none of the above is intended to be read as aggressive or trick questions. They are just what's on my mind.
A lot of us have extremely extremely critical support for Russia for exactly one reason - Russia weakens US hegemony, and weakening US hegemony creates more spaces where revolutionary politics can be nurtured and grown. It's not support for Russia, it's support for the role Russia plays in breaking the US's death grip on the world. I don't think there's anyone here who wouldn't cheer if Putin "fell off a balcony" tomorrow. Russia is, as you said, a ruthlessly capitalist country just like America is, but America is too foolish and brutal to have accepted Russia in to the fold back in the 2000s, so now the war between the two nations is serving to bleed capitalism at a time when it is very vulnerable.
What we're hoping for is a Multi-polar world; A world where US hegemony is broken and countries can realistically align themselves against US interests without being utterly destroyed. That wouldn't be any kind of guarantee that Socialism could flourish and begin a new period of revolutions, but it gives us much better odds than a world where the US can reach almost anywhere to crush communist and anarchist movements that begin to gain power.
Right now, the primary actors pushing circumstances towards multi-polarity are Russia, China, Iran, India, Brazil, and a few others. Russia is a capitalist state, and our enemy. China is weird and complicated and sometimes does good things, sometimes does bad things, often does nothing at times when something really needs to be done and they're the only ones who can. Iran, obviously, is no friend to communists despite being an occasional ally due to shared interests, as in the Levant. India is totally fucked, with Hindutva fascists in control and things getting worse, but they're still part of the equation. And Brazil is doing it's thing with Lula and Bolsonaro, and it seems like everything is up in the air, there. But they've got the economic juice to be very important.
This is hard-core, cold-blooded realpolitik that is entirely about goals instead of ideals. It's doing what we can with the situation that exists, acknowledging that this is very much not what we want. And, of course, everyone here is mostly an observer to the horror, doing what we can at the local level where we can actually operate while we wait to see what happens with the struggle between the great powers.
If you'd like to know more you can go ask in the News Mega. The folks who hang out there are terminally online politics junkies and can explain better than I can. Just make it very clear that you're asking in good faith and will seriously engage with the answers you're given, whether you agree with them or not. We get a ton of bad-faith trolling, so people can be touchy about it.
That was an incredibly thought out and eye opening viewpoint. Compared to what I'm used to on Reddit anyways. Thank you.
The main point is that it's an example of the US and international capital losing power. Russia's ruling class wanted to be part of the international capitalist ruling class but were excluded, with that exclusion turned up to 11 after the invasion of Ukraine.
Almost by accident, Russia is now forced to adapt through domestic industry and alternative trading partnerships (and skirt sanctions because Europe isn't really going without their fossil fuels). And it's working. This demonstrates the extent to which multipolarity is emerging and viable, though it is still the early stages.
Re: Russia being capitalist and reactionary: of course that is the reality. What do you then do with that information? It describes nearly every country in different forms and degrees. The downfall of empire will happen through capitalist states and states in a transition that still, of course, have significant problems. If it weren't for Russian influence in the ME it would be 100% Saudi Arabias by now, for example, and Palestinians would only be a diaspora. Oppressed peoples do not have the luxury of perfect allies or even "good" allies, they will take whatever they can get and the more they can get the better.
Thank you for the thought out reply. Very good at explaining the point. Especially compared to reddit. I'm new and still sussing out the culture here. I was worried i could possibly catch a ban for asking as well lol.
Of course! Always happy to have a chat, ask and answer questions, agree and disagree, and so on. Please feel free to share any thoughts you have even if they're critical.
You won't have to worry about bans so long as you're here in good faith and don't make the space itself unsafe with things like racism or homophobia or transphobia. The main site has a rule thing somewhere and each comm has some rules posted if you want to feel extra confident.