The European "left" and the American "left" have their differences, and the war in Ukraine has revealed one of those fissures

 

There is this myth perpetrated by the far-right in this country that the “left” is “radical,” when in fact it only seems so in relation the radicalization of the right that began in the 1950s and has reached a crescendo with the emergence of Trumpism. In order to attract "independents" and "moderates," today's left (save for a progressive "fringe"), the Democratic Party has been obliged to steer a "center-left" philosophy. 

People think Social Security, Medicare, the ACA, and infrastructure spending is radical socialism? How about universal health coverage, guaranteed labor rights laws—including living wages and mandated maximum work hours and four weeks paid vacation? Is that “radical left” too? Why don’t you ask Europeans—even those who identify themselves as being in the “conservative” parties—if that is “radical left.”

When I was serving in the military I didn’t have to worry a lot about where my next meal was coming from, health care or a roof over my head. Stationed in Germany, at least back then, I was amazed how it seemed like the citizenry had the same expectations for themselves. Life, it seemed, was structured in a way that they imagined it should be. Of course it didn't work out that way for everyone, and certainly not today with homelessness (especially among immigrants) a growing problem in Germany, although cities and municipalities are required by law to provide temporary housing for anyone who needs it.

One thing I found occasionally annoying was that outside of bars, everything seemed to be closed by 6 PM, which meant there was no local store to shop at when my work day was over.  Most city streets were literally “dead” after that time.  If I wanted to go shopping at a German store, it had to be on Saturday, and even those had only limited store hours, so that employees could have their weekends too. Things may have changed since then, but I was always surprised about how in Germany “regular” hours were strictly enforced and people were allowed to have a “normal” existence.

That is the benefit of a "left" version of the world. All this is explained by the experiences of World War II and the destruction caused by it. People didn’t “ask” for this then…

 

 …or this today...

 

But some lead-headed person on Quora is asking “Why don’t these people show some self-reliance instead of calling themselves 'victims' and asking the government to do everything for them?” a comment that can only be from an American who has never experienced or can imagine such hardship; but then again, when there are natural disasters in this country, then yes the “government” is expected to call people who are affected “victims” and must do everything it can for them. 

During WWII, 30 percent of the people living in 61 German cities bombed by the allies were left homeless. After the war, the allied occupation authorities encouraged the establishment of government social services in Germany to facilitate the acceptance of a new way of being, such as a government based on democratic principles and people just feeling “better” about living under that system than they did under the previous regime. 

This eventually included not just “universal” healthcare, but retirement pensions for anyone who worked full-time in the country for five years. People now expect that these programs are guaranteed to them, having paid the taxes to fund these programs. Even political “conservatives” realize that their own constituencies would refuse to accept any repeal of social programs, and you never hear about them attacking them, only to debate on how to “reform” or fund them.  

Of course things are different in this in this country, where corporate money has influenced laws that have systematically stripped away the rights of workers and oppose any kind of public healthcare mandate. The social programs that Europeans take for granted to alleviate poverty in anathema to right, who choose to believe that such conditions are purely the fault of the those in those conditions, ignoring the fact that the “state”—especially the Republican ones—sanctions these conditions by their minimum wage, tax policies and the attitude that it is always the “underserving others” who benefit.

But there seems to be other, perhaps more significant differences between the “left” in this country and that in Europe, especially on what exactly being “radical” means. Those calling themselves "progressive" here merely want a social welfare system based on the Western European model, but those like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is considered “radical” mostly for supporting green energy initiatives. Why is that considered “radical”? Because the fossil fuel industry pays people to say it is? In Europe, “green energy” is considered vital to the long-term survival of society.

So what is considered a little too “radical left” in Europe? Today that might be how some view the war in Ukraine, such as an EU Member of Parliament from Ireland named Clare Daly, who for years has been, according to Clár Ní Chonghaile in The New European, an embarrassment for Ireland for making “friends” in “all the wrong places." Her opposition to EU and NATO support for Ukraine has made her “friends” with Kremlin propagandists, who frequently broadcast her pronouncements.

Yesterday  this YouTube interview of Daly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eV6N8j0G-c  appeared, in which she reiterates statements she made recently in response to queries from TNE:

It is not the case that they will hurt the Russian oligarchs, who I am sure can do without a yacht or two, but they will inflict hardship on the people of Russia, including those opposed to the war, but increasing also the citizens of Europe, where the drive to outlaw the purchase of Russian gas and oil could see millions of jobs lost in Europe without having any impact on ending the war or assisting anybody in Ukraine. Quite frankly, I think that is lunacy.

The principle accusation in the video (as by the host) is the war that Russia started is actually a “proxy” war induced by the United States, and the EU is allowing itself to be led by the nose to follow suit. The U.S. is also being accused of “profiting” from the war, without offering explanation. The host, Danny Haiphong, lost all credibility with me when he opined that he had the “privilege” of visiting Pakistan, whose safehousing  Taliban jihadists has not only come back to haunt it for security reasons, but has given Pakistan’s own religious fanatics the idea that it can overthrow the current government structure and impose Sharia law; of course we know how “liberal” the ideas of such are, don’t we?

In a country that has been ruled by the “left” for almost a century, Sweden, “radical” leftists have of course found a home for the their pacifist beliefs, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that—wouldn’t we like that kind of belief system in Russia, or the U.S. for that matter? But their support for Russia and its alleged "peaceful" foreign policy aims has unfortunately taken a beating of late, and as with those on the "progressive" left in Europe like Daly and Haiphong, there has been a "struggle" on how to formulate a response to Russian aggression that European nations are not prepared for and rely on the U.S. military presence; according, to International Viewpoint,

In addition to the perceived antifascist angle, another factor fostering Swedish leftist complacency toward the dynamics in Russia has been the age-old domestic debate over NATO. Defending Sweden’s formal military non-alignment had been central to left identity for decades, while NATO accession, though until recently largely unpopular, had been a key demand of the right. As a result, leftists would habitually dismiss warnings about hostile Russian intentions (be it toward Sweden or Ukraine) as yet another scare tactic to push a skeptical population toward Swedish NATO membership.

Consequently, the full-scale attack launched by Russia on February 24 shocked and disoriented much of the Swedish left. As the historical significance of the invasion sank in and public opinion consolidated the overwhelming sympathy for Ukraine with concern over Swedish security, many, especially on the radical left, found themselves faced with a reality which their ideological lethargy of the past decade had ill-prepared them for. Though no relevant leftist force explicitly condoned the invasion (and even the Communist Party condemned it, despite its traditionally apologetic stance on any authoritarian regime deemed “anti-imperialist”), many on the left struggled to formulate a clear position in response.   

Is the Ukraine war with its sanctions and curtailing of energy from Russia hurting the average citizen in the EU and the UK? Yes, but the fact the Vladimir is insane enough to damage his own country in order to “win”—or in having started the war at all not realizing his miscalculation—doesn’t speak well for him either. But it is the Ukrainians who have suffered more than anyone else, and yet they have shown more “fight” to preserve their right to exist than a “leftist” like Daly are willing to grant; in fact she doesn’t speak to this at all. I felt compelled to comment

This is the kind of person who would have advised not fighting the Nazis during WWII. No moral sense here at all. Daly is obviously a fascist, not a leftist (I hope). Is anyone familiar with the intelligence report that Putin hoped to win the war in 10 days, murder Zelensky and other Ukrainian leaders, as well as doing "ethnic cleansing"? This piece is an absolute moral horror show that the "left" should not be embracing.

This is another difference between the “left” in the U.S. and the “left” in Europe—or at least the extreme parts of the European left. This is about having “empathy” for the plight for people who are suffering even more than you are. I mean, in this country we would more likely equate the lack of such with the political right. Even with high gas prices and inflation, no one is suffering as much as the Ukrainians, yet they have shown that in order to survive as a nation they are willing to show the Russians—with the help of Western arms—that it is going to take a lot more to defeat their spirit. 

It remains to be seen how much willpower Ukrainians have to survive the winter, but we should at least give them more credit that what people like Daly are willing to give them.The moral equation dictates that we support them over the immoral behavior of Putin and Russia.