An article examining the current protests in the US, applying the anti-imperialist perspective of the Grayzone, MintPress News and many others.
The ongoing protest movement in the US, which has been going on for several months now, has attracted widespread support. But is there another side to the question? By looking closer and applying the immortal science of Marxism-Leninism, this supposed protest movement can be shown to be yet another CIA-backed “colour revolution”, aiming at the overthrow of the American people’s democratically elected government.
Neoliberal, CIA-linked opposition
While the “Black Lives Matter” protests or “George Floyd uprising” may claim on the surface to be independent and politically unaffiliated, there is substantial evidence connecting the movement to the main US opposition party, the Democrats. All of the main Democrat leaders have spoken out in support of the movement, and even the most wild and lawless elements of the protests, such as Seattle’s CHAZ/CHOP, have been endorsed by Democrat politicians. The Democrats are a right-wing, neoliberal party, and have substantial links with the CIA and other elements of the state services. Following solid principles of anti-imperialist logic, we know that a US politician endorsing a movement tells us everything about that movement, and so, since the neoliberal, CIA-linked Democrats have spoken out in favour of the protests, we can safely conclude that everything about them is compatible with the Democrats’ agenda. As Sara Flounders put it, “The increasingly violent demonstrations... are completely embraced and enthusiastically supported in the U.S. corporate media and all the imperialist political parties in the U.S. and Britain. This should be a danger sign to everyone fighting for change and for social progress.”
CIA training and tactics
One of the most important lessons of contemporary anti-imperialist thought is that any kind of sophisticated or militant tactics used by protesters is proof of CIA training. This vital lesson has been repeated over and over again, by Mark Ames, by Benjamin Norton, by Max Blumenthal, and by many others. And who could deny that the militancy and sophistication of the tactics used by protesters/rioters in the US over the last few months match those seen in Hong Kong, Belarus and elsewhere? Obviously, it would be a glaring double standard if anyone was to claim that protesters in the US are capable of successfully storming police stations, driving police off the street, and keeping nightly protests going for months at a time in the face of fierce repression without outside training, but that people in other countries are not capable of doing the same things without CIA help. The only possible conclusion is that the so-called “protesters” in the US have been trained in unconventional warfare by the CIA.
Far-right reactionaries
Another important anti-imperialist principle is that the presence of reactionaries or reactionary symbols - or even symbols that are used by reactionaries in one context that might have a totally different meaning in a different cultural context - can then be taken as a reliable indicator of what the movement as a whole is about. It’s how we know that everyone in Syria who opposes Assad is an Islamist, it’s how we know that anti-government protesters in Eastern Europe are all far-right nationalists (except for separatists in the Donbass, who are all pure and virtuous anti-fascists), protesters in Hong Kong are all Trump supporters, and so on. Applying this logic, we can safely say that the presence of the far-right “Boogaloo boys” is yet more proof that the so-called uprising in the US is actually another imperialist regime change plot, following the same script as everywhere else.
Perhaps there may be some legitimate criticisms to be made of President Trump, but he is the democratically elected leader of the American people, and their sovereignty must be respected. All true anti-imperialists must stand with the brave police fighting off this neoliberal imperialist regime change plot, just as they stand with state forces in Hong Kong, Iran, Lebanon, Belarus and elsewhere.
With thanks to Max Blumenthal, Ben Norton, Mark Ames, Qiao, Historic.ly, Vanessa Beeley, the WWP and PSL, and many others for their inspiration.
Comments
Who exactly is the intended
Who exactly is the intended object of this satire? The right-wing media and their conspiracy theories about opposition to the Trump administration, or sectarian left groups, or both? Certainly both groups can easily be ridiculed, but I can't see how it makes any sense to frame a lampoon of the right-wing as a mythical critique of radical protest by a sectarian Left group defending the Republican president. Groups like the Workers World Party and the PSL may be ridiculous for many reasons, but defending Trump isn't one of them.
A much better object for satire would be Bob Avakian's recent endorsement of Joe Biden.
A much better object for
A much better object for satire would be the Revolutionary Communist Party's recent endorsement of Joe Biden. Yes, it's true - just look at their website.
What about Bob Avakian's
What about Bob Avakian's endorsement of Joe Biden?
If they ever make a "Tankie
If they ever make a "Tankie Spinal Tap" you could write it. This is great!
the text forgot to denounce
the text forgot to denounce the evil conspiracy against a popular religious moderate leader
This satire appears to have
This satire appears to have hit Tom Bombadil hard.
unconditional (military, not
unconditional (military, not political) support for WWP-PSL in their war against the RCP!
Tom Bombadil wrote: Who
Tom Bombadil
At the risk of killing the joke by explaining it, the object of the satire is the methods that used to try and discredit movements in non-US-aligned countries like Hong Kong, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Belarus and so on, to show how ridiculous "tankie logic" is by applying it consistently.
This is great, and I think
This is great, and I think you can tell when criticism strikes a nerve on libcom when it provokes a same day registration just to complain.
Not only is this a fine piece
Not only is this a fine piece of satire, but it has also made me aware that libcom actually has a Satire section! Somehow I missed it. This has cheered me up.
R Totale wrote: At the risk
R Totale
Thanks for helping me understand! I didn't get it, satire, heh? Now I just need to translate 'tankie logic'
Congratulations to Grayzone
Congratulations to Grayzone contributor Aaron Mate for managing to completely ruin my "haha, what if Grayzone types sided with the state and private property against social movements in the US, wouldn't that be ridiculous?" joke by sincerely, unironically coming out in defence of small businesses against looters.
I just call them the
I just call them the "Leftists for Putin and Assad (and Ortega, and Maduro, and Xi, Duterte (sort-of), and now, Lukashenko)". They kind of like Trump too. He's an "anti-imperialist", you know....
We can be at least thankful that many of them are getting old - one of the more famous and notorious ones, Kevin Zeese, died last week.
It is not complicated. Just
It is not complicated. Just see if a movement is directly against wage slavery and hierarchical form of social organization. If it is, it is truly a liberation movement, if it is not, it is rivalry among masters.
Leaders and People of the
Leaders and People of the peace-loving world condem vicious germ warfare against popular leadership of the USA