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On 2014-03-10, at 11:31 AM, Louis Proyect wrote: > On 3/10/14 10:34 AM, Jim Farmelant wrote: >> Under such circumstances, having far right extremists, like Svoboda within >> the new government might prove useful when push comes to shove. > > That might be true but it has nothing to do with what Leupp wrote. In fact I > don't think there's much analysis in all of these Ukraine going fascist > articles except the customary references to Svoboda's emblem resembling a > swastika, anti-Semitic statements from rightist politicians, etc. AFAIK, no one chiming in on the Ukraine discussion on this list has suggested Ukraine is going fascist. As Jim points out, what's at issue is the new right-wing nationalist government which is preparing to impose austerity in exchange for loans from the US, EU, and IMF. There's little to distinguish it, except its ethnic base of support, from the Yanukovych government which preceded it and from the Putin regime in Russia. I'm not as confident as Jim that austerity will provoke mass protests; if anything, the Maidan movement, which relegated the tiny Ukrainian left to the margins and propelled the new government to power, will more likely strengthen the state's ability to impose its program. Yet the clear impression conveyed by Clay, Andy, yourself and a few others is that this government is somehow worth defending against the greater evil represented by Putin and the Russians. So far as I'm concerned, we don't have a dog in this inter-imperialist fight and before I jump on the Maidan bandwagon, I'd need to see evidence of a break with the new government and its policies. That can't be taken for granted; to date, in the absence of left-wing organizations of any significance, the spontaneous mass occupation of city squares outside of Greece have seen the replacement of one set of kleptocrats with another. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu Set your options at: http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
