…left has a Soviet flag, the center guy has a Russian flag, the guy on the right has a tsarist Russian flag. Just felt interesting somehow
…left has a Soviet flag, the center guy has a Russian flag, the guy on the right has a tsarist Russian flag. Just felt interesting somehow
this isnt all that interesting its just Russian nationalism coping with the fact that Russia was at its greatest when it was part of the USSR. they cant deny their history as socialist because that would leave them with nothing to be proud of but they cant embrace it because it is antithetical to their ideology so you gets this shit
Unfortunately, this sort of stuff was starting to come to the fore, within the communist party, during the 1980s. While the Gorbachev wing of the CPSU was deviating from Marxism in the direction of liberalism, the so-called “hardliners” were beginning to deviate from Marxism in the direction of reactionary nationalism. As Xi has said, the Soviet Union ultimately collapsed because ideological degeneration at every level made the party effectively unable to function.
It is true that the Krusuchevite “reforms” had set in motion a series of events which were turning the USSR from a workers’ state into a kind of social democracy with an out-of-touch elite. A reconnection with the masses was desperately needed. To that end, the continuity of Russian civilization (and of the various other civilizations within the USSR) needed to be emphasized, and some sort of rapprochment between Marxism and the various religions within the bloc needed to be made; one could say that the USSR needed to learn from the experience of Baathism. But nobody, anywhere, had any idea how to do this; boilerplate nationalism was not the answer, and the collapse simply brought out and enhanced this kind of nationalism’s negative characteristics. Had Putin and his gang not beaten the post-1991 economy into some sort of shape, Russian nationalism might even have slid into something like what are seeing in Ukraine. The sort of faux religiosity, historical illiteracy, and vaguely chauvinistic nationalism you see in pictures like the one above is troubling and offensive, but remember: it could have been a lot worse.
bingo
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It’s chauvinism, not working class pride and hope for a better society
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You’re right to point that out. I didn’t mean that Russian nationalism was vile as Imperial core nationalism. However the current Russian state is still serving the national bourgeoisie and therefore I don’t think we should call it class struggle. Capitalist nations can and will pick the side that fit their interests. Putin and the Russian capitalist class wanted to be part of NATO until they understood that NATO will remain committed to considering Russia an enemy. They have to pick the side of the third world, so I suspect they could try to cannibilize the periphery when the opportunity comes. Solidarity between nations is what socialism is about not capitalism
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No worries comrade, your points are valid and I never thought you were trolling!
I think it is true that the contemporary class structure of imperialism puts the Russian people in a position of being the oppressed class. However we must keep in mind that class isn’t a reason to be uncritical to a number of positions, because reaction exists in the oppressed class too. Looking at the original post, I see reactionary elements that must be criticized because the Russian Empire and the Orthodox Church are not elements that enable national liberation. National liberation, which is the left wing nationalism we are looking for, is rooted in the ambition to restart the socialist project in the whole the former Soviet Union, not in a melting pot of everything that made Russia “great” by any standard!
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Comrade, don’t accuse me of not supporting the protection of the Donbas people by the Russian Federation! On the contrary, as is often mentioned: a socialist Russia wouldn’t have waited 8 years because solidarity would have been its priority. Putin has waited until the last moment trying not to upset the West because as a representative of the capitalist class he had no reason to help those people against fascism before he realised that the situation truly threatened the safety of the country.
I don’t think it is about good and bad Russians obviously, reactionary elements in the international working class and periphery are still inside the periphery but that’s no reason to let ideological elements pollute Marxism. You’re right to point that when an imperialist war is being waged, the contradictions inside the country become secondary. However I want to stress that secondary doesn’t make them irrelevant or worse, resolved.
In the end, I want to say that our effort in propaganda shall not be concentrated against the Russian nationalism. However, the way we criticize the original post, between Marxists in a revolutionary space, is a necessary part of keeping reactionary deviations outside of it.
(Idk whos downvoting, you should know I am not downvoting your replies because I hold them in great respect)
As every bourgeoise nationalism it’s promoting class solidarity, not class struggle - even if in current conditions it’s objectively antiimperialist.
in this context I meant right wing nationalism, which… I hope I don’t have to explain why its bad.
I actually don’t think there is anything wrong with the concept of left nationalism or people taking pride in the fact that they are a people, which is presumably what you were thinking about.