And that’s why I describe myself as anti-authoritatian leftist instead. Calling myself an anarchist or a communist (especially here in Ukraine) is definitely going to get misinterpreted as this kind of bullshit even though it’s nothing but a false label.
being in community with people from post soviet states has drastically changed how i talk about my liberation politics. i used to call myself anarchocommunist and now i say anarchist. i’ve been a little stunned of late by some of dbzer0’s mods’ stance on analysis of leftist movements in eastern europe. i’ve known a lot of leftists in and from Ukraine, russia, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia. none of them, and i mean none of them, speak well of the soviet era
Unlike the privileged Westerners glorifying the idea of something they’ve never known, chances are the people from Eastern Europe have heard stories from their grandparents about the horrors of the Soviet atrocities, or have seen the names of their great-grandparents on the plaques listing the victims of the regime.
it seems like there’s a certain kind of person who’s been so brainwashed by the systems of imperialism that they think oppression is a necessary function of human society. from this position, they decide that an imperial-capitalist regime that adopts the aesthetics of liberation must be better than overt fascism or neoliberal fascism because at least aesthetic communism as practiced by the soviet union or people’s republic of china implements a few more pieces of progressive reform than overt fascism or neoliberal fascism.
from that position they presume leftists who criticize aesthetic communism (which i consider to be one of the fascisms) must be anticommunist even if what we are is anti-authoritarian communists ((anti-authoritarian) (communist)). they will not listen to advice that soviet symbols turn off a lot of leftists across the world who see that symbol as the symbol of the soviet capital class. they’ll call us typical liberals if we do this even if our core beliefs are to work toward a hierarchiless, moneyless, stateless society
As rockerface mentioned, if you call yourself a communist in Ukraine, people will think you support russians.
Even the term leftist is largely discredited in Ukraine, even though most Ukrainians are generally supportive of leftists policies (albeit often in a non-political, somewhat vague manner).
And that’s why I describe myself as anti-authoritatian leftist instead. Calling myself an anarchist or a communist (especially here in Ukraine) is definitely going to get misinterpreted as this kind of bullshit even though it’s nothing but a false label.
being in community with people from post soviet states has drastically changed how i talk about my liberation politics. i used to call myself anarchocommunist and now i say anarchist. i’ve been a little stunned of late by some of dbzer0’s mods’ stance on analysis of leftist movements in eastern europe. i’ve known a lot of leftists in and from Ukraine, russia, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia. none of them, and i mean none of them, speak well of the soviet era
Unlike the privileged Westerners glorifying the idea of something they’ve never known, chances are the people from Eastern Europe have heard stories from their grandparents about the horrors of the Soviet atrocities, or have seen the names of their great-grandparents on the plaques listing the victims of the regime.
it seems like there’s a certain kind of person who’s been so brainwashed by the systems of imperialism that they think oppression is a necessary function of human society. from this position, they decide that an imperial-capitalist regime that adopts the aesthetics of liberation must be better than overt fascism or neoliberal fascism because at least aesthetic communism as practiced by the soviet union or people’s republic of china implements a few more pieces of progressive reform than overt fascism or neoliberal fascism.
from that position they presume leftists who criticize aesthetic communism (which i consider to be one of the fascisms) must be anticommunist even if what we are is anti-authoritarian communists ((anti-authoritarian) (communist)). they will not listen to advice that soviet symbols turn off a lot of leftists across the world who see that symbol as the symbol of the soviet capital class. they’ll call us typical liberals if we do this even if our core beliefs are to work toward a hierarchiless, moneyless, stateless society
As rockerface mentioned, if you call yourself a communist in Ukraine, people will think you support russians.
Even the term leftist is largely discredited in Ukraine, even though most Ukrainians are generally supportive of leftists policies (albeit often in a non-political, somewhat vague manner).