Remember when you had the 2nd International, huge marxist parties like the SPD in Germany, all saying they would never support an imperialist war and were true marxists, and then when WW1 began they all sold out and supported the war? Good times. Very few, like Vladimir Lenin, Rosa Luxembourg and Eugene Debs, remained true to marxism and opposed the war. Well i think a similar situation is happening now with the SMO in Ukraine.
From “democratic socialists” to MLs to maoists to anarchists, they all said they would never support US imperialism, they would never support a new Iraq WMD lie. And yet, when the SMO began and the west started demonizing Russia and beating the drums of war, most of these ostensibly “leftist” figures, especially western figures, sold out and supported the antirussian histeria. From BreadTube to YoungTurks to maoists like Marxist Paul to anarchists, they all sold out. Even some principled MLs like Second Thought and Hakim have shied away from condemning this war histeria and supporting Russia. I think this will be the collapse of the 2nd International of our era, the new divide between true antiimperialists and sellouts.
What are your thoughts?
It is very much a similar situation. A war is an extrem Situation it is impossible to believe anyone or know anything for sure. The propaganda machines of both sides get turned up to max. Furthermore there is of course understandable fear that people in the west now feel, they feel under thread personally which manifests in blind support for the Ukraine and NATO and cripples the ability of an objective analyses of the situation. In the first world war the patriotism and felling threatened by the other European countries let to a war euphoria. But also think about what happened than. In the end most people were disillusioned with the war and the propaganda. It produced the most revolutionary sentiment ever to exist in europe. Of course no one in the west is engaged in active combat and the economy going to shit won’t cut it. But still the propaganda gets just too ridiculous over time that a lot of people will at least become more and more disillusioned with western media which is something.