As is well known, there is a certain news outlet which is considered to be supremely ‘’Right Wing’’. No one has ever accused them of being ‘’Leftist’’, of being sympathetic towards socialism. They are one of the most outspoken defenders of capitalism, and appear to be quite proud of that fact.
Yet it is also a fact that they tend to give a very accurate description of that which is taking place. They even dare to report on events, which the other main stream news outlets tend to ignore.
One example of such an event, which the other news outlets ignored, was the recent appearance of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, in New York City. It is very likely that the other news outlets did not cover the event, for fear of offending certain members of the capitalist class.
There followed an exchange, between Nancy Pelosi, and various members of the audience, which I consider to be of the utmost importance. It reveals the level of passion of the working class, which is an indication of the strength of the Revolutionary motion.
Also of importance, is the reporting and analysis of the journalists. The reporting is excellent, the analysis is faulty.
For that reason, I have attempted to repeat it, as accurately as possible.
Journalist: ‘’Every once in a while, there is a moment in history when both sides of the political aisle wake up. We have reached a turning point.’’
The journalists are right when they say that ‘’we have reached a turning point’’. That ‘’turning point’’ is the Revolution! The common people, the working class, the proletariat, is ‘’waking up’’! That is indeed ‘’one side of the political aisle’’, commonly referred to as the ‘’Left’’!
This is not to say that we have reached a ‘’moment in history’’ when ‘’both sides of the political aisle wake up’’! The ‘’other side of the political aisle’’, the monopoly capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie, the ‘’Right’’, are by no means ‘’waking up’’! On the contrary, they remain as reactionary as ever!
The journalists went on to give the example of Trump, who once referred to the Iraq war as a ‘’mistake’’. Their conclusion?
Journalist: ‘’That was a moment the levee broke, when the liberals and conservatives realized there is no Right and Left! It is more establishment and everyone else. The power players in the White House did not change. Nancy Pelosi is still Nancy Pelosi. The Left is not having it now.’’
On the contrary, at the ‘’moment the levee broke’’, the difference between the Right and the Left, the proletariat and the bourgeois, became quite sharp and clear!
The ‘’establishment’’, as the journalists refer to the ‘’power players in the White House’’, also include the politicians in Washington, and not just the White House! Indeed, they ‘’did not change’’! They have merely ‘’revealed their true colours’’! They stand more exposed! They are, most emphatically, the Right! The differences now are sharp and clear! The Right represents the capitalists, the billionaires, the bourgeoisie!
Those whom the journalists refer to as ‘’everyone else’’, are the common people, the members of the public, the working people, the ‘’liberals and conservatives’’, as well as the middle class, the petty bourgeois, the Left!
To deny the existence of the ‘’Right’’ and the ‘’Left’’, is to deny the existence of classes!
Remarkably enough, the same journalists who are such staunch supporters of capitalism, have just now classified themselves as members of the Left! As yet, they are not aware of this.
They further went on to report that at the meeting, the spectators ‘’heckled’’ Nancy Pelosi mercilessly. They called her a ‘’War Criminal’’! She was accused of ‘’trying to start a war with China’’, by ‘’going to Taiwan’’! She was told that ‘’she belongs in the depths of hell’’! She was also accused of ‘’getting us into a war with Iraq and Afghanistan’’. She was called ‘’War Hungry Nancy’’! Other accusations were also made, but were supremely vulgar, and do not bear to be repeated. Last but not least, she was accused of supporting the war in Ukraine!
Such accusations, in a public setting, are nothing short of shocking! It is doubtful that Nancy Pelosi has ever been treated before, in such a manner! As the Speaker of the House, second in line to the presidency, she is accustomed to being treated with a great deal of respect! Yet the audience voiced their complete contempt for her!
Such a public outburst can take place only as a result of the Revolutionary Movement!
Strangely enough, the journalists have even gone so far as to lump two members of ‘’The Squad’’, AOC and Hakim Jeffries, with Nancy Pelosi, as ‘’War Mongers’’, as they ‘’support the war in Ukraine’’.
In all fairness to these particular journalists, I can only stress, that they accurately report the facts. From these facts, they then attempt to draw certain conclusions. At that point, they become completely confused.
One of their more ridiculous conclusions is that the ‘’progressives are now pro war’’, no longer part of the ‘’anti war movement’’.
They have come to this conclusion, as a result of the ‘’progressives’’ calling for support for the Ukrainian people, in their fight against the Russian invasion.
This shows that these journalists, all of whom are petty bourgeois, cannot think in class terms! For that reason, they have managed to work themselves into a ‘’muddle’’, to use the expression of Lenin. They think that all of those on the Left are ‘’anti war’’. Such is hardly the case!
True, the ‘’progressives’’, by whom they mean those on the ‘’Left’’, were opposed to the American wars of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is not to say that those on the Left are pacifists! It just means that the Left is opposed to wars of aggression, because they are ‘’unjust wars’’.
The war in Ukraine is also an ‘’unjust war’’, in the sense that Russia is trying to conquer the country. The Left is also opposed to this war of aggression, this unjust war. For that reason, it is correct to support the people of Ukraine, in their defence of their country.
Yet the journalists think that because the Left opposed the American wars of aggression, we are ‘’anti war’’. They cannot understand the reason we are calling on all people to support the Ukrainians, in their war to defend their country, against the Russian aggression.
The reason is that the Russians had no right to invade Ukraine. It is a war of conquest. This makes it an unjust war, on the part of the Russians. The Ukrainians have every right to defend their country.
Perhaps they are confused by the fact that the Right is also supporting the people of Ukraine, in their attempt to defend their country. In fact, the American government is sending vast amounts of weapons and ammunition, to the country of Ukraine! For their own reasons, mind you!
Perhaps a comparison to a similar situation, may prove to be helpful.
The current situation is similar to that of Russia, in early 1917, a time of Revolution. Also a time of mass confusion!
As is well known, at that time, the ‘’great slaughter’’ of working people was taking place. It has gone down in history as the First World War. The monopoly capitalists, the imperialists, of the most highly developed countries of the world, the so called ‘’Great Powers’’, were fighting among themselves, in an effort to redivide the world.
One completely unexpected result of this, which is referred to as ‘’collateral damage’’, was the collapse of the Romanov dynasty! Those whom had ruled the huge Russian empire, for three centuries, were deposed, within the space of a mere eight days! Incredible!
This requires a little explanation.
As Lenin stated, in the first of his ‘’Letters From Afar’’, in reference to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty, that ’’every abrupt turn in history, and this applies to every Revolution, presents such a wealth of content, unfolds such unexpected and specific combinations of forms of struggle and alignment of forces of the contestants, that to the lay mind there is much that must appear miraculous.’’
He went on to explain that there were a ‘’number of factors of world historic importance’’ which led to the ‘’collapse of the tsarist monarchy, in a few days’’.
Among other things, this required a ‘’great, mighty and all powerful ‘stage manager’, capable, on the one hand, of vastly accelerating the course of world history, and on the other, of engendering world wide crises of unparalleled intensity – economic, political, national and international…This all powerful ‘stage manager’, this mighty accelerator, was the imperialist world war’’.
May I suggest that the modern day equivalent of the ‘’imperialist world war’’, the ‘’all powerful stage manager’’, the ‘’mighty accelerator’’, that which is ‘’capable of vastly accelerating the course of world history’’, is a combination of the Covid Virus, and the financial crisis, which is currently sweeping the world.
As well, a great many people have taken part in the Occupy Movement of recent memory. They are now seasoned veterans! They have no illusions! They know what to expect! We may think of them as the equivalent of the veterans of the Russian Revolution of 1905. Those veterans were another factor in the rapid overthrow of the Romanovs!
On that subject, in early 1917 Russia, there was, as Lenin stated, ‘’a profound proletarian and mass popular movement of a Revolutionary character …for bread, for peace, for real freedom’’. (italics by Lenin) For that reason, the common people, the workers and peasants, wanted Tsar Nicholas gone!
At the same time, the Russian capitalists also wanted Tsar Nicholas gone, but for completely different reasons! The capitalists wanted war!
They were afraid that Tsar Nicholas would sign a ‘’separate’’ peace treaty with Germany! So the Russian capitalists, working with the British and French capitalists, through their embassies in the capitol of Saint Petersburg, organized a plot to depose Tsar Nicholas.
Lenin referred to this in the following terms: ‘’as a result of an extremely unique historical situation, absolutely dissimilar currents, absolutely heterogeneous class interests, absolutely contrary political and social strivings have merged’’. (italics by Lenin)
The lesson here, is that there are times when the goals of the Left ‘’merge’’ with the goals of the Right. This is not to say that we are allies. We are not. We are bitter enemies. It is to say that our goals have ‘’merged’’.
This brings us to our current situation, which involves the war in Ukraine.
Those of us who are on the Left, consider this to be an ‘’unjust war’’, as Russia has invaded the country, in an attempt to conquer it. For that reason, those who are on the Left are calling for all people to support the people of Ukraine, in their war of defence, against the Russian invaders. That is a fact.
It is also a fact that those who are on the Right, by whom I mean the American government, are also supporting the Ukrainian people, in their war against the Russian invaders! They are shipping vast quantities of military hardware to Ukraine! For their own reasons! The American imperialists do not want the Russian imperialists to seize control of Ukraine! They want to have Ukraine join NATO, so that they can instead control Ukraine!
This is another example of ‘’absolutely contrary political strivings’’ merging! The Left wants to assist Ukraine in their struggle against Russian invaders, so that they can remain independent, while the Right wants to assist Ukraine, so that they can subdue the country!
Without doubt, there are also a great many Leftist people, in Russia, who are also against the war in Ukraine. In this way, they too are supporting the people of Ukraine.
This brings us to the subject of war. In particular, not all wars are the same. Wars of conquest are considered to be ‘’unjust wars’’, and it is correct for people on the Left to oppose those wars.
Just as the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an example of an unjust war, so too the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were examples of unjust wars. The opposition, by the Left, was correct, in those cases.
Such wars of conquest, ‘’unjust wars’’, stand in sharp contrast to wars which are ‘’just’’. These wars include that of national liberation, as well Revolutionary Wars!
We must stress that a true socialist, a Marxist, a Communist, is not a pacifist, an opponent of all war. Each war must be assessed, based on the facts, on the class character of that war. In each case, we must consider the events which led up to that particular war, the classes that are waging the war, and to what purpose.
In the case of the current war, which is raging in Ukraine, it is clear that the Russian imperialists, led by Putin, invaded the country of Ukraine, for the purpose of conquering the country. For that reason, we refer to this as an ‘’unjust war’’, on the part of Russia.
The citizens of Ukraine are fighting this unjust war, as they do not want to be conquered. They have no choice in the matter. They are not about to bow down to the Russian invaders!
Now the American Left is supporting the Ukrainian people, in their defensive war, against the Russian imperialists. This too is correct.
No doubt, at the same time, within Russia, there is a strong anti war movement, against the Russian war of aggression. This is similar to the American anti war movement, during the time of the wars with Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now if only the petty bourgeois journalists could understand that!
This confusion, among the journalists, is not at all surprising, but it is unfortunate.
I say not surprising, because they are middle class, petty bourgeois, and the members of that class frequently get confused. Yet it is unfortunate, as they tend to spread their confusion.
To this day, a great many common people still support Trump. This particular news outlet is a strong supporter of Trump. For that reason, a great many working people watch this news outlet, and are bound to become confused by that which the journalists state. After all, it makes no sense.
In conclusion, we can only stress the fact that classes exist. The working class, the proletariat, family farmers, and at least the lower strata of the middle class, the petty bourgeois – although ever more middle class people are moving to the Left! – are people whom I refer to as ‘’common people’’, the members of the ‘’Left’’.
By contrast, the billionaires, the monopoly capitalists, the bourgeoisie, also known as imperialists, along with their supporters, are members of the ‘’Right’’.
As well, there are different types of war. Wars of aggression are ‘’unjust wars’’, and must be opposed. By contrast, there are ‘’just wars’’. These include wars of national liberation, and definitely Revolutionary Wars.
These Revolutionary Wars we must embrace.
Especially as we are currently on the brink of a World Revolutionary Socialist War,
Gerald McIsaac Science Project 