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Ziggy's avatar

The narischkeit on the "left" is not even anti-colonialism. Russian colonialism--as overt in Ukraine as anything in the 19th century--gets a pass, or at best perfunctory condemnation. The Chinese attempts at mimicking US-style neocolonialism also get a pass. I'd rather call it Oppositional Defiant Disorder with acne. If the White Man is for it, the ODD/pimple brigade is against it, whatever "it" may be.

This leaves limited room for argument: who is the White Man? It isn't a question of melanin, since Russians look just like Ukrainians, and Israelis look just like Palestinians, once you swap the kippahs for kheffiyahs. It isn't a question of power: Ukraine is weaker than Russia, Venezuelans are weaker than the Maduro regime, and almost everybody is weaker than China. (Almost!) However, the answer is simple for foreign affairs: the White Man is American foreign policy, and its foes are virtuous by definition. Domestically, things are more complex, and we get occasional episodes of the Oppression Olympics on campus.

Since our press likes to cover this collegiate crap, we get an overdose of it. Worse yet, these idiots tend to become the "voice" of more serious movements, such as the opposition to a disastrous US Palestine policy. And this makes life very difficult for responsible left politicians like Bernie or AOC. Oy.

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geraldmcgrew's avatar

As you say, this is an old story in leftist agitation

https://www.amazon.com/Socialism-Fools-Anti-Semitism-Left/dp/0935933050

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