Re: [Marxism] Humanitarian interventions??

[Kristian Lasslett <kristianlasslett@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Just a quick thought on this humanitarian intervention
debate:

Â

Firstly, I am reminded somewhat of the oft repeated, but in
my opinion very good advice forwarded by Marx on a number of occasions, 
ââas in
private life one differentiates between what a man thinks and says of himself
and what he really is and does, so in historical struggles one must still more
distinguish the language and imaginary aspirations of parties from their real 
organism
and their real interests, their conceptions of them themselves from their
realityâ (18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte). Â

Â

On this front, of course the ruling class may in certain
instances define their intervention as humanitarian, however, as Marxists we
need to replace these one-sided, narrow definitions of reality with more
complete and accurate ones which fully captures the character of these imperial
practices etc. 

Â

One other thing, imperial adventures into Afghanistan etc
may accidentally produce some positive effects (this is debatable), though it
would be rather odd to support Âthese geopolitical
strategies of the imperial powers for the conditions they unintentionally 
produce (not that I am suggesting anyone on the list has argued for this). It 
would be like
becoming a cheerleader for capitalism because the competitive accumulation of
capital creates the conditions in which a socialist revolution becomes
possible. 

Besides this practical point, on a more ethnical basis, what ever
progressive tendencies may arise out capitalism or imperialism, as a Marxist
surely it is important to remember that these advances for humanity in general,
come at the cost of the suffering of millions in particular â a suffering we
are all committed to getting rid of as fast as is possible under our current
historical conditions!

Perhaps the madness of crediting humanitarian outcomes to imperialist 
adventures is best captured by an Australian academic who attempted to convince 
me that Australia's support of the war on Bougainville in the nineties, which 
included the material backing of a blockade (no food/medicines) around the 
island that killed thousands,  must be acknowledged for its positive effects, 
"it helped the Bougainvilleans kick their terrible addiction to Western junk 
foods!", hmmm indeed!





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