Addicted to imperialist delusions

benfell

Sorry this issue is so slow coming out. As faithful readers know, I no longer have an Internet connection at home and while I’ve continued to be able to access the Internet with devices that have access to Verizon’s cellular network, my notebook is not one of those devices, which would mean I would have to use one of those devices as a hotspot—my available hotspot bandwidth is strictly limited, so I’m reluctant to do that.

To substitute, I now rely on public WiFi, but this is more than a little fickle. Some such fickleness struck. Hence the delay.

Imperialism

Russia


Fig. 1. Historic Russian empire, from the New York Times, possibly March 6, 2014, fair use.[1]

Remember, according to tankies, it’s the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that are the evil empire.[2] Articles like the one in Politico, casting the conflict between Russia and the west as being to carve up Europe,[3] really don’t help as they diminish the very real difference that one seeks expansion through diplomatic agreement, albeit in fear of the other, who seeks it through force. Even as Vladimir Putin’s mask, which had already slipped,[4] slips yet again, further exposing Putin’s imperial ambitions.[5]

The fear is real enough. I wouldn’t want to live under Putin either.[6] But that fear should be accompanied by dissonance: Putin is now so desperate for ammunition, he turns to North Korea, which, having built up its stockpiles for a reason, probably doesn’t think it can spare much. He’s not even winning in Ukraine and it’s hard to imagine the implausible level of delusion that would be required for him to think he can.

On the other hand, his ‘history’ includes a lot of flat out fantasy.[7] And that admission of far vaster ambition[8] comes as Ukraine continues to make gains,[9] less rapidly than a lot of people expected,[10] but nonetheless.

The one thing we know is that a lot of people are dying for absolutely fucking nothing.

Jason Lemon, “Russian General Admits Ukraine Just a ‘Stepping Stone’ to Invade Europe,” Newsweek, September 9, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/russian-general-admits-ukraine-just-stepping-stone-invade-europe-1825776

Ukraine


Fig. 2. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[11] fair use.

Jason Lemon, “Russian General Admits Ukraine Just a ‘Stepping Stone’ to Invade Europe,” Newsweek, September 9, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/russian-general-admits-ukraine-just-stepping-stone-invade-europe-1825776

Guardian, “Ukraine regains control of strategic Black Sea oil rigs, intelligence service says,” September 11, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/ukraine-regains-control-of-strategic-black-sea-oil-rigs-intelligence-service-says

Adam Taylor, “Kim Jong Un’s visit to Russia hints at grim battlefield math for Putin,” Washington Post, September 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/14/putin-kim-artillery-north-korea-ukraine/

John F. Kennedy

James Robenalt, “A New JFK Assassination Revelation Could Upend the Long-Held “Lone Gunman” Theory,” Vanity Fair, September 9, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/09/new-jfk-assassination-revelation-upend-lone-gunman

Neoliberalism

Work


Fig. 3. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Kate Aronoff, “Electric Vehicles Have Become a Weapon in the War on Autoworkers,” New Republic, September 13, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/175507/uaw-electric-vehicles-strike-workers

Democratic (neoliberal) Party

Joe Biden
Hunter Biden

Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Hunter Biden indicted on false statement, gun charges in Delaware,” Washington Post, September 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/09/14/hunter-biden-indictment-gun-charges/

Electric vehicles


Fig. 4. “A Toyota bZ4X electric sport utility vehicle: EVs currently on the market are fitted with batteries that use liquid lithium-ion electrolytes.” Photograph by Kiyoshi Ota, n.d., via Financial Times, fair use.

Kate Aronoff, “Electric Vehicles Have Become a Weapon in the War on Autoworkers,” New Republic, September 13, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/175507/uaw-electric-vehicles-strike-workers

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump
Coup attempt


Fig. 5. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,[12] public domain.

There is what should happen and then there is what would be the most effective in the short to medium term. Lots of folks, myself included, would love to see Donald Trump tried, convicted,[13] sent to be raped in prison. We wish upon him the greatest humiliation possible; leading the Republican Party to a major defeat in 2024, as I still think will happen, would pale next to such a humiliation.

A few folks would prefer to see that defeat, believing that white Christian nationalists will suddenly start respecting ‘democracy.’[14] I’m not sure that works.

First, the defeat might not be that large. I think it will be, but I have underestimated Trump before. Second, I don’t think white Christian nationalists are concerned with a legitimate victory. The competitive authoritarian regime project has been all about limiting the franchise to supportive voters

Amy Gardner, Patrick Marley, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, “GOP lawyer with ties to three Trump rivals enters 14th Amendment fray,” Washington Post, September 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/12/trump-gop-lawyer-14th-amendment/

Pennsylvania


Fig. 6. When you get outside urban centers, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.

Ryan Deto, “Penn State study says spotted lanternflies don’t damage trees, forests,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 14, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/regional/penn-state-study-says-spotted-lanternflies-dont-damage-trees-forests/

Pittsburgh

Racism, bigotry, and white supremacy


Fig. 7. Briann Moye participates in a march for affordable housing in Pittsburgh. Photograph by Jessie Wardarski, July 2018, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, fair use.

The subheading says “Among the largest metro areas, St. Louis, Portland and Pittsburgh have the highest homicide rates for Black residents; Boston, New York and San Diego have the lowest.” But the chart in the article puts Pittsburgh somewhere below the median,[15] still entirely unacceptable, but not quite living up to the hype.

Justin Fox, “Where It’s Most Dangerous to Be Black in America,” Bloomberg, September 14, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-09-14/where-it-s-most-dangerous-to-be-black-in-america

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 8. “Ed Gainey poses with CeaseFirePA during the 2020 Women’s March in Downtown Pittsburgh.” Photograph by Megan Gloeckler, undated, via Pittsburgh City Paper,[16] fair use.

Justin Fox, “Where It’s Most Dangerous to Be Black in America,” Bloomberg, September 14, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-09-14/where-it-s-most-dangerous-to-be-black-in-america

  1. [1]New York Times, “Ukraine Crisis in Maps,” n.d., http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/27/world/europe/ukraine-divisions-crimea.html↩
  2. [2]Roane Carey, “Don’t Be a Tankie: How the Left Should Respond to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” Intercept, March 1, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/03/01/ukraine-russia-leftists-tankie/↩
  3. [3]Suzanne Lynch and Nicholas Vinocur, “Putin wants more land. The EU is racing to get there first,” Politico, September 11, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-vladimir-putin-more-land-eu-enlargement-growth/↩
  4. [4]Julia Ioffe, “The Case Against Appeasement,” Puck, June 7, 2022, https://puck.news/the-case-against-appeasement/; Julian O’Shaughnessy, “I’m reconquering just like Peter the Great, insists Vladimir Putin,” Times, June 10, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/president-putin-creates-police-department-to-impose-martial-law-xqhlt79fn; Reuters, “Hailing Peter the Great, Putin draws parallel with mission to ‘return’ Russian lands,” June 9, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hailing-peter-great-putin-draws-parallel-with-mission-return-russian-lands-2022-06-09/↩
  5. [5]Jason Lemon, “Russian General Admits Ukraine Just a ‘Stepping Stone’ to Invade Europe,” Newsweek, September 9, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/russian-general-admits-ukraine-just-stepping-stone-invade-europe-1825776↩
  6. [6]Adam Gabbatt, “Tucker Carlson leads rightwing charge to blame everyone but Putin,” Guardian, February 26, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-russia-putin; Melani McAlister, “War in Ukraine is testing some American evangelicals’ support for Putin as a leader of conservative values,” Conversation, April 6, 2022, https://theconversation.com/war-in-ukraine-is-testing-some-american-evangelicals-support-for-putin-as-a-leader-of-conservative-values-180638↩
  7. [7]Tony Barber, “The delusions that put Putin on the path to war,” Financial Times, August 23, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/f1afda2d-d942-432b-9ff2-08740e514d9b↩
  8. [8]Jason Lemon, “Russian General Admits Ukraine Just a ‘Stepping Stone’ to Invade Europe,” Newsweek, September 9, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/russian-general-admits-ukraine-just-stepping-stone-invade-europe-1825776↩
  9. [9]Guardian, “Ukraine regains control of strategic Black Sea oil rigs, intelligence service says,” September 11, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/12/ukraine-regains-control-of-strategic-black-sea-oil-rigs-intelligence-service-says↩
  10. [10]Jason Lemon, “Russian General Admits Ukraine Just a ‘Stepping Stone’ to Invade Europe,” Newsweek, September 9, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/russian-general-admits-ukraine-just-stepping-stone-invade-europe-1825776↩
  11. [11]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
  12. [12]Margaret Hartmann and Nia Prater, “All the Mug Shots of Donald Trump and His Alleged Co-Conspirators,” New York, August 25, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-mug-shot-gallery.html↩
  13. [13]Amy Gardner, Patrick Marley, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, “GOP lawyer with ties to three Trump rivals enters 14th Amendment fray,” Washington Post, September 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/12/trump-gop-lawyer-14th-amendment/↩
  14. [14]Amy Gardner, Patrick Marley, and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, “GOP lawyer with ties to three Trump rivals enters 14th Amendment fray,” Washington Post, September 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/12/trump-gop-lawyer-14th-amendment/↩
  15. [15]Justin Fox, “Where It’s Most Dangerous to Be Black in America,” Bloomberg, September 14, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-09-14/where-it-s-most-dangerous-to-be-black-in-america↩
  16. [16]Charlie Wolfson, “Neighborhood groups try to curb shootings as Pittsburgh’s mayoral campaign puts political focus on gun violence,” Pittsburgh City Paper, October 20, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/neighborhood-groups-try-to-curb-shootings-as-pittsburghs-mayoral-campaign-puts-political-focus-on-gun-violence/Content?oid=20401296↩

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