Inspired by this post: https://hexbear.net/comment/3552493
Some of us were interested in getting our positions organized in a similar manner. Maybe we can produce some similar slide of our own with enough discussion. I know the original intent of this comm was meant to be sort of a meme repository, but I figure a more serious discussion is within the spirit of the place.
It’s a good opportunity to learn from each other as well.
I think my idea is that we can have some discussions and do a little bit of “debate club” here in this post. If we get on the same page, we can create some graphics or other resources to simplify the arguments and find our way to the “knife edge” of the discussion, cutting through the crap more easily.
Topic: Russia-Ukraine Conflict
This one might be pretty lively even among ourselves.
I think that even if you want to take an “anti-imperialist” line, it weakens your stance to do so in these discussions, as correct as you may or may not be, that’s for a discussion among comrades. It’s better to remain neutral to negative on Russia, or even slightly negative, rather than neutral to positive. Liberals don’t have a good conception of imperialism in the first place, so being anti-imperialist is not going to cover any ground.
It is, of course, important to make sure that NATO is held adequately held to account for their role in creating the circumstances of the conflict. The military strategic importance of Ukraine to Russia in general, you have the coup in 2014 (backed by the US), the refusal to allow Russia to join NATO, and the maintenance of the alliance as an anti-Russia alliance.
Most importantly, you can anchor the conflict as another tragic consequence of the dissolution of the USSR, once again US-backed. Under the USSR, these places aren’t even tow separate countries in the first place. We know from the data that the quality of life as fallen significantly as a result as well (sources?).
My other anchor is that “this conflict is truly tragic for the people of Ukraine who are sacrificing their lives and livelihoods due to circumstances far outside of their control. They were failed by their leadership who failed to recognize their precarious situation and trusted the US/EU who have proven to be unreliable. The only justice is a swift end to the violence, under any circumstance.” Liberals still will not like this, since they think that if Ukrainians want to be EU-aligned, they should have it, whereas they don’t have any more right to be in the EU than any other country. It’s not really something defined by what you want, and the only way we are going to guarantee the standard of living that Ukrainians and so many other people desire, is under a global socialist movement that guarantees these things.
Critiques, sources, and counter-debate points welcome.