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In terms of Islamophobia and anti-LGBT repression, Russia makes the
United States look like Paradise. Male life expectancy in Russia is six
years less than in Brazil and a decade less than in Mexico; its spending
on education as a share of GDP is 80 percent that of Mexico and less
than three quarters that of Brazil.11 In terms of the size of the public
sector, Russian government spending as a percent of GDP is smaller than
that of Japan, Greece, the UK, and Spain (and its military spending is a
far greater share of its overall government spending than any of these
countries).12 Neither in practice nor in inspiration nor even in
rhetoric does current-day Russia reflect left values.
So why then the left enthusiasm for Russia?
For some, no doubt, it’s simply nostalgia. The U.S. Peace Council, a
slavish Moscow tool during the Cold War, fondly recalls the Soviet
alliance with the Baathist regime in Syria under Hafez al-Assad, and so
perhaps it’s a simple move to glorify Russian support today for the
successor to the Assad dynasty. (And thus the Peace Council’s awful
propaganda trip to Damascus and subsequent participation in
Syrian-government sponsored propaganda events.13)
But wistful longing for the glory days of the Soviet Union doesn’t
explain most left attachment to Russia. Instead it’s the pernicious
doctrine of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” that unfortunately has
permeated large sectors of the left.
full: http://newpol.org/content/russia-and-left
--
Support Louis Proyect biography project
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/publish-the-biography-of-socialist-louis-proyect#/
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