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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 1, 2023

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Opposition to intervention in European affairs in the 1930s and then to entry into WWII was distinctly conservative.

Depends on when you look. During the 1930s there was a growing pro-war anti-fascist movement among left-leaning Americans. There was even a brigade in the Spanish Civil War for anti-Franco foreigners. Not coincidentally, many American pro-war/ant-fascist leftists immediately became anti-war upon the signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, and then became pro-war again when that pact was broken. Some might suspect that their attitude toward war was dependent on its utility to the Communist Party. The Left likes wars in which the Left are the "good guys" and hates wars in which the Left are the bad guys. Go figure.

My far-right friends see the Ukraine war as the Globohomo Lefitst Elite spitting in the eye of a Trad Warrior State.

The growing anti-war sentiment in the US is, I think, directly related the right-coded nature of the military. The Right feels like the military are their people, and that their people are being sent out to risk their lives to line the pockets of effete sexually deviant billionaires who are the lizardy powers behind Globohomo. In the past the right was gung-ho for fighting Communism, but the Communists secretly won and are now pulling the strings.

In the past the right was gung-ho for fighting Communism, but the Communists secretly won and are now pulling the strings.

To be clear, are you saying this is how the right sees it, or are you actually asserting this? Because if you are saying the latter, I'll ask you to substantiate this argument.

They absolutely are, and a substantial amount of treasure is too. There have been American soldiers/mercenaries/people from Langley who died over there since the conflict began. The media isn't allowed to talk about them, but we aren't the media so we don't have to pretend that the US isn't involved or contributing.

My far-right friends see the Ukraine war as the Globohomo Lefitst Elite spitting in the eye of a Trad Warrior State.

FWIW, and I do realize in the US they are basically a rounding error compared to the progressive left, most of the far-left capital-C communists I've seen regard the Ukraine War as two capitalist imperialist powers duking it out.

FWIW, and I do realize in the US they are basically a rounding error compared to the progressive left, most of the far-left capital-C communists I've seen regard the Ukraine War as two capitalist imperialist powers duking it out.

Not true, at least in Twitter world, world more real than reality.

Most self proclaimed communists with hammer and sickle (and trans flag) in their handles are as gung ho anti Ukraine and pro Z as any red, white and blue Russian patriot.

Some because of sentimental feeling for country that builds statues of Lenin and against country that demolishes them, most because they see US-NATO as the major imperialist force in the world that must be opposed by any means necessary.

Dogmatic Leninist position (no to inter-imperialist war, no war but class war) exists, but is small and derided minority.

See this tweet and the angry replies by both NAFO and hammer and sickle crews.

edit: links

I've seen most of them go a step further and "critically support" Russia against Ukraine, citing Putin's denazification justification and the existence of the Azov Battalion. As best I can tell it's motivated largely out of a worldview that sees the US as the arch-imperialist power in the world today, and that anything that weakens its influence is a good thing, regardless if they believe Russia's motivations are pure or not.

Also @Eetan, absolutely fair, I had originally put "regard the Ukraine War as, at best,..." but waffled on it. Absolutely also pro-Russia sentiment there (I think due to both aesthetic preferences for Russia for obvious reasons and equating anti-US with anti-imperialist). Main point is that I think OP was right when he categorized American support for Ukraine as "left-Democratic" coded rather than just "left-wing" coded- the left-left tends to be somewhere between neutral and pro-Russia, it's the center-left and progressive left supporting Ukraine (along with a variety of different groups on the US right, though I won't try to suss out how much of that is pro-Ukraine vs anti-Russia).

Not coincidentally, many American pro-war/ant-fascist leftists immediately became anti-war upon the signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, and then became pro-war again when that pact was broken.

In fairness, this phenomenon was mostly limited to actual card-carrying capital-C Communists.

Molotov-Ribbentrop nuked the Popular Front. The CPUSA had done a pretty good job burnishing its credentials with left-liberal Americans of more moderate bent through the 30s through its tactical support of the New Deal and anti-fascist activism, especially lobbying on behalf of the Spanish Republic during the civil war. The CPUSA had become 'respectable' by the end of the 30s. But after M-R most of the unaffiliated liberals and leftists that had been part of the Popular Front kept on being pro-Roosevelt, pro-Allies, and anti-fascist while the CPUSA spent an awkward two years denouncing the war and the Allies which quickly burned most of the goodwill it had accumulated over the past decade. In Maurice Isserman's Which Side Were You On he talks about how a lot of communists were actually perversely relieved when Hitler attacked Soviet Russia because it meant Moscow was going to let them be anti-fascist again.

The growing anti-war sentiment in the US is, I think, directly related the right-coded nature of the military. The Right feels like the military are their people, and that their people are being sent out to risk their lives to line the pockets of effete sexually deviant billionaires who are the lizardy powers behind Globohomo.

But their people aren't being sent out to risk their lives! There's a tiny number of American military advisers and the like, mostly working well behind the front lines. American aid to Ukraine is mostly in the form of funding and equipment, much of it outdated and due to be scrapped soon anyway.

And how exactly does the war "line the pockets of effete sexually deviant billionaires"?