Beware stalinists….

[ste finch]

Honestly, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I saw this from the ‘comrades’ at CPB (M-L) as the hook into an editorial dated 7 Jan

“US military action against Venezuela should be universally condemned as a violation of sovereignty. This highlights once again the role of Britain in NATO, and the presence of US bases here. They pose a threat to our sovereignty.”

Yes you read it right – ‘our sovereignty” FFS!

[Roberto]

Honestly, the real problem here isn’t just the confusion — it’s the politics behind it.
Talking about “our sovereignty” is precisely the trap socialists are supposed to expose, not fall into.
From a socialist perspective, there is no such thing as working-class sovereignty under capitalism. Britain’s “sovereignty” does not belong to workers; it belongs to the British capitalist state and the class interests it serves. The same is true of the United States, Venezuela, Russia, or any other nation-state. To defend national sovereignty is simply to line up behind one’s own ruling class in the global competition between capitalist powers.
Yes, US military intervention against Venezuela should be opposed — not because it violates “our sovereignty,” but because it represents imperialist conflict between capitalist states in which workers on all sides are used as pawns. Substituting class analysis for nationalist rhetoric is not a minor detail; it is the difference between socialism and left-wing patriotism.
The task of socialists is not to defend Britain against the US, nor Venezuela against the US, nor any state against another.
It is to make clear that the working class has no country, and that the real enemy is the capitalist system itself — everywhere.

[robbo203]

It’s not just amongst Stalinists that the mental affliction called nationalism has made itself felt on the Left.

I came across this comment today from an active Leftist on one of the FB groups I belong to:

“The greatest political move would be for the left to reclaim the American flag. They should make it their entire personality. I’d love to see modern conservatives’ reactions to thousands of lesbians protesting with hundreds of American flags waving while they have signs and chants for traditional American values like due process, limited executive powers, freedom of the press, and liberty and justice for all.”

It makes one despair reading stuff like this.

[Author]

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