On this May I will celebrate everything that is decent, righteous, democratic, and egalitarian in our society. It is no secret that it is these features of our country, won at great sacrifice and not all at once, that are in the crosshairs of a brand of plutocratic authoritarianism that is unapologetically racist, misogynist, homophobic and transphobic, anti-democratic, and anti-working class. It is, as we’ve seen, prone to violence and fascist like.
I also pledge on this May Day to be an engaged volunteer in the coming battle at the ballot box this fall to defeat this retrograde, malevolent movement. Is there anything more consequential to the future of our country than the outcome of the elections this fall and then two years later?
Finally, on this day, I express my solidarity to the workers and people of Ukraine who are bravely fighting for their homeland against Putin’s invading army. His ordering of an invasion was nothing but reckless and without justification. It deserves the unequivocal condemnation of people and governments worldwide.
Is it so axiomatic, as some suggest, that the Biden admininistration would like the war between Ukraine and Russia to drag on endlessly? The argument is that such a war would weaken Russia, one of its main geo-political rivals at home and globally, while at the same time strengthening the hand of the Biden administration and U.S. imperialism.
But what this line of reasoning ignores is that it could just as easily weaken the Biden administration and its political capacity to pursue its domestic agenda – not least Biden’s reelection – and its international agenda – the good as well as the bad.
And, especially, if the current war morphs into a wider war with all the unintended consequences connected to that turn of events.
Whataboutism reveals the duplicity and racialized nature of imperialism in the past and present which is more than ok. It’s necessary. But here’s the problem – when it’s done in a way that devalues the just anti-imperialist struggle of the Ukrainian people or the imperative of global solidarity expressed by millions of people worldwide for the people of Ukraine, it serves no good purpose.
In his appearence before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Secretary of State Blinken said that the United States will support Ukraine’s possible decision not to join NATO and maintain its neutrality. This represents not only a welcome de-escalation of war rhetoric from the Biden admininistration, but also aligns with the position of Ukraine’s President Zelensky.
What Zelensky isn’t ready to do is to accede to any demands of Putin that violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Makes sense.
By the way, truth be told, there was never a roadmap to Ukraine’s membership in NATO, in large measure because of the hesitation of some of its current members. In their calculus, bringing Ukraine into NATO, could easily become more trouble than it’s worth.
According to many communist parties (including the cpusa), the eurocommunist movement in the 1970s was nothing but rot and opportunism. But we were wrong as we were about many things.
Admittedly, Eurocommunism didn’t get everything right, but it was more right than the larger movement of which it was a dissenting part. I agree with the writer that its legacy retains positive relevance to the left in the contemporary world, a world besigned by cascading, entwined, and existential moral, social and political crises.
