Some Interesting Things I Read Today (16 April)

Personally, I don't see a need for the term “campists” when the two camps are effectively the same thing. “Tankies” doesn't allow them to escape the historical complicity that they continue supporting, particularly since these people are continuations of the same political project that would've supported the Soviets sending tanks into Hungary in 1956.

Otherwise, I like this incredibly concise piece because it highlights a continuing issue of Western leftists supporting other authoritarian and imperial regimes in favour of what is largely anti-US politics (because even when they are anti-Israel, that opposition still sits largely with their opposition to the United States and the connection of Israel to the US rather than actually critiquing the problems of Zionism and the inherent colonialism of Israel). I also think that a tankie's opposition to Europe is a mixed bag and highly dependent upon the situation being discussed, whether that nation shares an affinity for similar authoritarian regimes (e.g., Russia), and often seek to obfuscate the imperialism or colonialism of the nation they choose to tentatively support.

I'm not a fan of the framing of this article, but it highlights a lot of red flags that people will gladly overlook in their supposed anti-colonial or anti-imperial politics, including domestic abuse (a constant thing that is neglected by many people). Probably one of the most honest parts of the article is this:

Chambers’ outsize wealth ensures his outsize opinions have outsize influence. He consistently shrugs off the notion that he’s the leader of any movement, but as Kamau Franklin, who runs Community Movement Builders, a Black-led nonprofit that works on issues of police violence and sustainability and to which Chambers has given multiple grants, puts it, “Because of the resources he has, whether people like it or not — whether I like it or not — he’s deferred to by certain people who are looking to bring him in closer in order to get those resources.”

And also this:

Pushak, one of a few veterans of the Madison compound who moved to Alford, eventually fell out with Chambers. He looks back fondly on their friendship, but says Chambers just didn’t like being challenged. “People are somewhat disposable to him,” he says. “He can buy new friends. I feel like an asshole saying it, but it didn’t feel that way until I was treated that way.”

Devon writes about how the bigotries that trans men face are more often not as a result of being men but because other people do not see them as men. I like this piece for how it highlights where the bigotries are coming from, making it clear that they are part of battles that people are fighting in other arenas.