After the tears for Charlie Hebdo and the laughs at Fox News, a serious observation. Why was radical Islam not a force until relatively recently, more specifically until after 1989? Because the poor, the oppressed, the exploited of the world had an alternative - the countries of actually existing socialism which not only showed an alternative path but provided training and support for global secular radical movements. Whatever you think of their internal politics, externally the Soviet Union and its allies were seen as a beacon of hope by billions. During my four tours of the GDR I met countless activists from impoverished and exploited communities all over the world who had gone there for training and education (agricultural and industrial as well as political and intellectual) to help build their societies and fight imperialist oppression - including many secular progressives from Muslim countries. When the entire system collapsed those same poor and oppressed anti-imperialist activists were told The West has won! Capitalism and greed for evermore! Know your place, be our servants, you have no alternative now.. Small wonder that they turned to any radical sounding (but mostly utterly reactionary) alternatives available. Such a tragedy that Gorbachev, instead of delivering the promised openness and reconstruction (glasnost and perestroika) which were so desperately needed all over the Eastern bloc, simply handed the wealth and achievements of the Soviet people, and the hopes of millions throughout the world, to a bunch of crooks. Now Russians have all the corruption and bureaucracy of the old SU with none of the economic security - which is why millions crave its return - and the poor and oppressed have the likes of lslamic State to claim the banner of anti-imperialism - when in reality such organisations are the most brutal and imperialist of all, as the brave fighters in places like Kobane will tell you.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 10:44:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015