The western values Ukraine is defending are becoming more apparent by the day.
Didn’t Ukraine also ban the opposition party, jail opposition politicians and cancel elections?
yup
What do you mean by “western values Ukraine is defending”? This change doesnt really have anything to do with values, they’re running out of resources. And if you think Russia gives the tiniest shit about human and property rights… lol
Oh this must be that whataboutism we keep hearing about. Meanwhile, I love how running out of resources means it’s ok to abandon all your values in the minds of liberals. Mask sure falls off pretty fast.
So explain, then, what point you’re making and what your alternative is? Your initial statement is intentionally vague and seems to have a very direct agenda to make Ukraine look bad by posting this article. And I didn’t claim Ukraine expanding its martial law powers was “right”, because its not, but it is at least understandable considering how their entire country is teetering on the edge of complete civil collapse (and such restrictions are with precedent, most nations do during wars and even America did restrict a lot of liberties during WWII/vietnam/etc). Sticking to your morals is valiant but pointless if it means you get overrun by those without morals.
But your vague statement seem to think this change makes them worse than Russia.The point I’m making is very simple and should be obvious. When the regime has to grab people off the street and force them to fight, then it has no legitimacy. This isn’t a case of people willingly defending their country, it’s fascist regime backed by the west that’s forcing people to die in a senseless war. If you can’t understand such basic things then what else is there to say to you.
Alright, let’s roll with that logic: A sovereign government that violates the sovereignty of it’s citizens is illegitimate. Since Ukraine is now violating the sovereignty of it’s citizens for wartime mobilization, it is an illegitimate government. That’s a sound premise, actually. In a vacuum this would be true.
However, that completely loses the nuance that Ukraine is not the aggressor in this “senseless war”. Ukraine did not violate it’s citizen’s sovereignty, RUSSIA DID by initiating the war of annexation against the sovereign government of Ukraine. By violating the sovereignty of the government, Russia thus violated the sovereignty of every citizen under that government. None of this would have been necessary had the initial aggression not been committed.
So, now extend your argument: Let’s go ahead and accuse Ukraine of violating human rights with this expansion of power. You must also do so for Russia, who backed Ukraine into this corner in the first place, and who is also committing infinitely worse violations against the civilian territory they have thus far annexed. Are you willing to do that? Because so far, you haven’t.You seem to be echoing a large number of Russian propaganda points trying to paint Ukraine as some fascist shithole, and not the independent nation being overrun by a expansionist dictatorship that it is. This argument is not in good faith.
You seem to be echoing a large number of Russian propaganda points trying to paint Ukraine as some fascist shithole
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part I: The Origins of the OUN 1917-1941
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part II: The OUN during World War 2, 1941-1945
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part III: 1944-1963 UPA War, Ratlines, and the Assassination of Stepan Bandera
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part IV: The Global OUN Network in Exile, 1962-1992
- The U.S. Did Not Defeat Fascism in WWII, It Discretely Internationalized It
- BBC, 2014: Ukraine underplays role of far right in conflict
- Human Rights Watch, 2014: Ukraine: Unguided Rockets Killing Civilians
- Reuters, 2014: Leaked audio reveals embarrassing U.S. exchange on Ukraine, EU
- Truthout, 2015: The Ukraine Mess That Nuland Made
- The Hill, 2017: The reality of neo-Nazis in Ukraine is far from Kremlin propaganda
- The Guardian, 2017: ‘I want to bring up a warrior’: Ukraine’s far-right children’s camp – video
- WaPo, 2018: The war in Ukraine is more devastating than you know
- Reuters, 2018: Ukraine’s neo-Nazi problem
- The Nation, 2019: Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine
- Jacobin, 2022: A US-Backed, Far Right–Led Revolution in Ukraine Helped Bring Us to the Brink of War
- Consortium News, 2022: Evidence of US-Backed Coup in Kiev
Edit to add: Usually someone responds with, yeah well Russia has fascists, too, to which I usually respond:
There are Russian fascists. Take Navalny, for example, who the US tried to use in its regime change efforts so that it could resume its neoliberal shock therapy plundering that started under Yeltsin and ended under Putin.
Quoting Internationalist 360° as a reliable source isn’t going to win anyone over. And the ‘The Hill’ article you listed concludes something that is the opposite of what you are claiming:
The odious Russian media tried to paint Ukraine as a land of Nazis, though that is patently wrong. Ukraine has a thriving Jewish community, and its far-right is still on the fringe.
We all understand your point of view, everyone’s a Nazi if they are against Russian/Chinese imperialism.
We all understand your point of view, everyone’s a Nazi if they are against Russian/Chinese imperialism.
I don’t think that at all. Being “against” Russia or China doesn’t per-se make someone a fascist. I’m not confused about what fascism is, and I don’t use it as a floating signifier for stuff I don’t like.
But neither Russia nor China is imperialist. The imperial core is imperialist, otherwise known as the Global North.
.
Over 20 years go Russia—at the time lead by Putin—wanted to join the imperialism club, but the US rejected them: Ex-Nato head says Putin wanted to join alliance early on in his rule. Now Russia, rejected by the Global North, has no choice but to join with the Global South as allies instead. This shift in allegiances has been massively accelerated by the sanctions of this war.Ukraine has a thriving Jewish community
So fascism means hating Jews? What about the fascists genociding Palestinians in Israel as we speak?
However, that completely loses the nuance that Ukraine is not the aggressor in this “senseless war”.
Weird, last I checked Ukraine was involved in a war against Donbas since 2014 as even western media reported at the time.
Ukraine did not violate it’s citizen’s sovereignty, RUSSIA DID by initiating the war of annexation against the sovereign government of Ukraine.
And if people of Ukraine wanted to defend the state then they would be voluntarily fighting to do so.
By violating the sovereignty of the government, Russia thus violated the sovereignty of every citizen under that government. None of this would have been necessary had the initial aggression not been committed.
None of that has anything to do with the western sponsored regime in Ukraine forcing people to fight Russia for western interests.
So, now extend your argument: Let’s go ahead and accuse Ukraine of violating human rights with this expansion of power. You must also do so for Russia, who backed Ukraine into this corner in the first place, and who is also committing infinitely worse violations against the civilian territory they have thus far annexed. Are you willing to do that? Because so far, you haven’t.
The premise the west peddles is that Ukraine is defending western values against Russia which is already presumed to be bad. However, if it turns out that Ukraine is doing the same things you claim are bad when Russia is doing, then what values is Ukraine defending exactly?
Turns out this conflict isn’t about values it all, it’s about whose sphere of influence Ukraine is going to be under.
You seem to be echoing a large number of Russian propaganda points trying to paint Ukraine as some fascist shithole, and not the independent nation being overrun by a expansionist dictatorship that it is. This argument is not in good faith.
Meanwhile, you’re making an incoherent argument that doesn’t make a lick of sense trying to defend literal fascism in Ukraine.
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I love how you just straw man when being called out on your bullshit and then try to take the high ground. A real class act.
Weird, last I checked Ukraine was involved in a war against Donbas since 2014 as even western media reported at the time.
It’s almost like Russia has expressed its desire to annex Ukraine for over a decade now and has been sending disguised military units to create a “resistance” to fabricate a justification for “liberating” parts of Ukraine into Russian territory. Weird… It’s not like they explicitly gave that as one of the 20 conflicting reasons for this invasion or anything
a lot of things are weird when you just make them up
So basically, a country that is invaded has the option to either roll over and be destroyed or fight back and become “illegitimate” and should be destroyed anyway? Basically an invader has free rein to do destroy any country they feel like? That’s some nice victim blaming there. Incredibly abusive thinking.
So if enough people won’t fight the government should shut down and let the invaders take over? Is that your alternative? Civilisations sometimes need to force people to work for a common good. See also vaccines.
The “common good” in bourgeois democracies is the good of the capitalist class at the expense of the working class.
Wikipedia: Bourgeois revolution
Bourgeois revolution is a term used in Marxist theory to refer to a social revolution that aims to destroy a feudal system or its vestiges, establish the rule of the bourgeoisie, and create a bourgeois (capitalist) state. In colonised or subjugated countries, bourgeois revolutions often take the form of a war of national independence. The Dutch, English, American, and French revolutions are considered the archetypal bourgeois revolutions, in that they attempted to clear away the remnants of the medieval feudal system, so as to pave the way for the rise of capitalism. The term is usually used in contrast to “proletarian revolution”, and is also sometimes called a “bourgeois-democratic revolution”
BBC: [Princeton] Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy
I don’t mean to imply that Russia isn’t a bourgeoise democracy—it is as well, but at least it’s not under the boot of the imperial core like Ukraine is. Russia emancipated itself from the US neocolonial shock therapy plundering that began with Yeltsin and ended with Putin.
How to say you don’t understand the concept of democracy.
Lmao. They’ve got an army from another country tearing through their land. I reckon they’ve got larger problems than “this isn’t the best form of democracy in the world”. Again, no solution from you apart from lying on their backs.
If people wanted to defend their land they would do it voluntarily. Evidently this is a hard concept for liberals to wrap their heads around.
Hey man, there’s no point arguing with this guy, he’s a Russian shill.
He’s all over lemmy spreading this shit all the time
Fascist government does more fascist shit. More at 11
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I saw a person lower in the thread talking about Stalin’s USSR being a democracy, while another said that Russia and China can’t be imperialist. Doesn’t seem like a case of overuse to me.
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“Everyone is getting called a Nazi these days, the word has lost all meaning”.
Sure…
the enlightened centrist has logged on
Tankies don’t exist, don’t you know? There’s no second half between which an enlightened centrist can position themselves. I am the furthest left there is, and you are a liberal.
The only thing that exists is children running around calling people tankies when they’re unable to engage in actual discussion. The fact that you call me a liberal highlights just how utterly lost you are. Define what you think a liberal is child.
Do you think the representational democracy throughout the west is real democracy or just a case of “vote for us every 4 years you pleb then STFU while we collect this lovely lobbyist money, filling our pockets and fail to deliver any campaign promises we ran on”
And you think tankies are fucking idiots?!
Was USSR a democracy under Stalin? Are Russia and China imperialist?
Always has been
Worse, it’s sometimes tankies, which means ditching it outright doesn’t feel justified enough
whatever you say dronie
jokes on you I’m into that 😜
yeah we know you’re a fascist
we
You’re alone in the room calling people NPCs online. Get a life you silly lib.
pretty sure lots of people downvted you in this thread loser, also learn what liberalism is so you don’t make a clown of yourself in the future
No pwease don’t caww me wibewal!!! You don’t know what it meanf!!! Get a downdoot you meanie!!!
Please explain me how you’re not a lib, you will get even more upvotes for this for sure.
What is this liberal handwringing? The justness of of fighting off an imperialist invasion doesn’t come from adhering to some vague notions of “western values”, but from not wanting to be subjected to that violence.
If you truly believe what you insinuate, your support for Palestine is conditional at best, irrational or deceitful at worst. If you don’t believe that - then stop being an agitator.
Defending yourself against an aggressor should only ever be focussed against the agressor, not against civillians not taking part in the war and no person ever should be forced to fight in any war.
I agree. Ukraine shouldn’t do this.
The OP’s insinuation, however was not :
Ukraine is doing bad, it should do good
But:
Ukraine is doing bad, it doesn’t deserve support
When you go this route, you side with the oppressor.
Equating the people of Ukraine with the western backed regime is the height of idiocy.
I am far from equating. Liberation of Ukrainian people must culminate in the destruction of the Ukrainian state, be it western- or Russian-backed, as is the case for all other peoples and states.
On the other hand, destruction of only Ukraine serves only their imperialist oppressor - Russia.
It’s so funny when a liberal crying about “western values” is lecturing me on what constitutes idiocy.
It’s so funny when a liberal crying about “western values” is lecturing me on what constitutes idiocy.
Yogthos is not defending Western/liberal values, he is pointing out the hypocrisy of liberalism.
Liberation of Ukrainian people must culminate in the destruction of the Ukrainian state, be it western- or Russian-backed, as is the case for all other peoples and states.
Yes.
On the other hand, destruction of only Ukraine serves only their imperialist oppressor - Russia.
Russia is not predominantly an imperialist state at the moment, though it is a capitalist state which should ultimately be destroyed. And being a capitalist state, in time it may well develop into a full-throated imperialist state. To elaborate I’ll copypasta myself:
Honest question from a non-communist, based on your reply here. Does one need to support Putin to be a Marxist?
In a word, no. In a few more words, support for Russia (not Putin, as historical materialists don’t subscribe to great man theory) is only a partial, temporary, tactical one, in the context of imperialist liberation. Russia is still a capitalist state, though, so it’s a two stage strategy: first liberate colonized bourgeois states from colonizer states, and second revolution within those liberated bourgeois states.
Russia is an interesting case: it has already liberated itself from the post-Soviet “shock therapy” neocolonizers. This occurred during Putin’s administration, which is why he is especially hated by the US. So now the support for Russia is in the context of keeping the colonizers from recolonizing it, and supporting Russia to the extent that it helps other states liberate themselves. But Russia isn’t trying to “liberate” Ukraine, at least not all of Ukraine. It’s trying to resolve the genocidal attacks on the people of the Donbas, and it’s trying to resolve the imperialist military expansion at its border.
Yogthos is not defending Western/liberal values, he is pointing out the hypocrisy.
Appeal to hypocrisy is one of the lowest, filthiest of arguments, used by trolls, propagandists and hacks of all allegiances. You didn’t make him look much better.
Russia is not predominantly an imperialist state
Russian war against Ukraine is a textbook example of an imperialist war - a plunderous attempt to cut up and consume, annex a smaller neighbor in order to expand the sphere of influence of Russian capital, to turn back the losses of the 2010s, when Ukraine escaped, though not unscathed, the clutches of the Russian bourgeoisie in favor of apparently more appealing clutches of the US and EU capital.
Russia is also a colonial power, which you seem to disregard in favor of the following:
Russia is an interesting case: it has already liberated itself from the post-Soviet “shock therapy” neocolonizers.
Positioning the victory of Russian owning class in the act of class warfare which was the shock therapy, calling it and the following consolidation of power by the national bourgeoisie a “liberation” is just disgusting. It was class war, first and foremost. It could give birth to a neocolonial relationship, if it “succeeded” - but it did not. It was a boost for the capital class, which then metastasized into the current liberal turned fascist regime.
It’s also funny to me how you completely disregard oppressor part, which is as important as the imperialist part.
In a word, no. In a few more words, support for Russia is only a partial, temporary, tactical one
So, lesser evilism? Russia is definitely a smaller evil, but I’m not sure how it’s a lesser one. I might be biased though, given Russia’s desire to eradicate me.
It’s trying to resolve the genocidal attacks on the people of the Donbas
There were 25 civilian deaths on both sides during the whole of 2021; large portion of them due to mines and other wartime remains. The claims of genocide in Donbas are some of the most blatant lies there, and you should be ashamed of yourself for ever uttering them.
By ignoring the imperialist nature of the invasion, by repeating the position of Russian capital - “the genocide, the aggression, the protection of the motherland against foreign interests” - you inadvertently serve as their lackey.
Oh I see, this conversation would just be a repeat of eight months ago, where no successful communist states have ever existed, the USSR was an ethnic cleanser, and Russia today is a fascist state. You also seemed to downplay Ukraine’s Nazi problem.
You were right on at least one account, though: Haz, Maupin, and Hinkle are patsocs and/or nazbol pieces of shit. But I don’t know why you thought anyone on Lemmy/Lemmygrad/Hexbear would give them the time of day. Where did you get that idea?
As for Ukraine’s Nazi problem:
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part I: The Origins of the OUN 1917-1941
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part II: The OUN during World War 2, 1941-1945
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part III: 1944-1963 UPA War, Ratlines, and the Assassination of Stepan Bandera
- History of Fascism in Ukraine Part IV: The Global OUN Network in Exile, 1962-1992
- The U.S. Did Not Defeat Fascism in WWII, It Discretely Internationalized It
- BBC, 2014: Ukraine underplays role of far right in conflict
- Human Rights Watch, 2014: Ukraine: Unguided Rockets Killing Civilians
- Reuters, 2014: Leaked audio reveals embarrassing U.S. exchange on Ukraine, EU
- Truthout, 2015: The Ukraine Mess That Nuland Made
- The Hill, 2017: The reality of neo-Nazis in Ukraine is far from Kremlin propaganda
- The Guardian, 2017: ‘I want to bring up a warrior’: Ukraine’s far-right children’s camp – video
- WaPo, 2018: The war in Ukraine is more devastating than you know
- Reuters, 2018: Ukraine’s neo-Nazi problem
- The Nation, 2019: Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine
- Jacobin, 2022: A US-Backed, Far Right–Led Revolution in Ukraine Helped Bring Us to the Brink of War
- Consortium News, 2022: Evidence of US-Backed Coup in Kiev
Thanks for plainly admitting that what you actually care about is preserving western hegemony.
They think western hegemony will fall anytime now if only Russia can “win” the war. Also, they think somehow a multi polar world order with Russia on the stage is going to be a step towards freeing the people of the earth.
Western hegemony is already falling as can clearly seen with western imperialist pigs being shoved out of Africa. Anybody who thinks that western repression is preferable to a multipolar world can get fucked.
