@@davidtaylor142 “How can you call yourself a leftist and be in favor Saddam, or Gaddafi, or Assad, or the Palestinians that throw 🌈 off the rooftops…” I wouldn’t live in Russia personally, but I can recognize that the Russian-Chinese-Iranian endeavor to create a multipolar world is preferable to an American unipolar world.
@aesop1451 supporting other forms of imperialism does not make you an anti imperialist. Also I've never met an actual leftist that liked Saddam or Gaddafi. At that point you don't actually have leftist values, you're just being a contrarian
@@davidtaylor142 If you’re an American dissident, then you should be concerned about what the American government does in other countries. Occupy Wall Street happened around the same time as NATO b0mbed Libya and many leftists were against it. Also many leftists were against the War on Terr0r compared to the conservatives that supported it. Use your common sense: The aim of the American government is to become stronger. The stronger it is, the more it will be able to oppress people at home and abroad. Countries like India, Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Angola, and Egypt were able to maintain their independence vis a vis the West because of the existence of the USSR. Modern Russia has inherited many of its good relationships with the Global South from the Cold War. Just because Putin isn’t flying the 🌈 flag doesn’t mean Russia is automatically the bad guy.
If you don't support western imperialism, it doesn't mean that you must support russian imperialism. For Ukrainian people it is the war for independence against russian empire, that opressed Ukrainian people for centuries. Many people in Ukraine hate our government and criticize it on every point they can. And often their criticism is valid and justified. Yet we still oppose enemy occupation. To us it is the war for the people as much as for the country. And yes, i am Ukrainian, and one of russian origin at that. I live in Ukraine. My city is near the border with Russia. So i know what i talk about.
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cope and seethe nazi
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lmao they are deleting comments that dont blindly defend nazis in Ukraine
@@McHallel When your neighbor is as bad as Russia, you gotta rely on foreign aid. If Russian stopped rigging elections (Georgia), stopped trying to poison political opponents, stopped passing laws that allowed Putin to reign indefinitely, stopped invading sovereign groups of people (Ukraine, Chechnya, etc.), than Ukraine wouldn’t be pressured into the position they’re in.
@@ДмитрийЧехов-с8е fighting from one occupation to join another. Russians are the same blood but you choose a super power 10k kilometers away who controls you like a puppet. This war could have been over in a week if boris Johnson under Americas orders didn’t ruin the peace talks in Turkey. It is very sad that Ukraine has become a pawn in a game of chess between Russia and America
and also, its important to support the lesser evil whenever possible. the strongest leftist movements are those that take the current situation and makes the best of it even tho it wont create the ideal desired outcome!
@@BlankieUK What does this even mean? Knowing US involvment, and a cursory look at a world map (with a sprinkle of history knowledge), and anyone should instantly understand who is doing the most imperialism here.
@@chimpskij Not doing "the most" imperialism doesn't mean that you don't do imperialism. Ukraine is being used as a proxy by the Occidental imperial core, which is in turn being used as a means to defend against the Russian empire by Ukraine. And no, it doesn't mean Ukraine isn't a country that isn't plagued by capitalism like any other, or that they're perfect, but autonomy and self-determination starts by not being invaded.
@@phillipanselmo8540 At some point that doesn't matter though. A pistol is less deadly as a shotgun, unless your assailant is at point-blank range aiming at your head. If you're dead either way, then we don't *need* to compare what means were hypothetically more destructive.
I am pretty left leaning. I know lots of leftists. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t support Ukraine. I know of many right wingers who seem to support Russia.
Oh, wow, i know many left wingers who dont support Ukraine. They dont like Russia but in effect they support a russian win. As do Europe and USA btw. Its quite disturbing. They show solidarity in speech but dont send troops, so Ukraine can win. Cause No one wants to die for Ukraine, it seems. Maybe, its time to be honest
we don’t support russia…. we support not spending our tax money on country that has literally NOTHING to do with US…. we couldn’t care less about either country…. if you democrats want to keep supporting those wars, then lets secede from federal gov. and you can keep wasting your own money on it…. good luck
Well, i know many ultra right nazis from Eastern Europe and Latin America support Ukraine, especially the ones from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine itself
There tend to be certain people on the left who oppose the US so much that they will blindly support any country opposed to the US. Even if said country is perpetrating indefensible acts such as Russia or the Assad regime for instance. It's a pity but they are a minority on the left unlike the right who ideologically back totalitarians.
Imagine being against imperialism and support the most overt and obvious imperialist operation possible, pretending you can't see what is completely out in the open.
Imagine being against imperialism and being gullible enough to swallow Russian propaganda designed to deflect attention from their 19th-century style colonialist war and think you "know what's really going on".
I love the profoundness of the statement about inventing stories to cover up "horrible things". That one statement perfectly encapsulates the entire history of politics.
What i like most about that is that actually, yes, most people in the left believe that bullshit about "different stories" we need to listen to to understand each other. Zizek really pulled the blanket over it away. No. It is horrible things, that get niced up by stories.
Maybe the entire history of politicians. It's hard to figure out what "horrible things" MLK Jr. was telling stories to cover up. Some stories really are told just to mitigate or end "horrible things", although not very many of stories are like that. Still, it's possible. In any case being nonpolitical is a luxury for people who aren't on the menu (currently), so for most people engaging with the world of the political in one way or another is unavoidable or at least unwise not to do. It's a very good thing then that not every story is just a coverup, because if it were, it would mean there would be no exit and no such thing as good or evil, only endless and meaningless animal conflict dressed up and glossed over with speech and human dress. Phenomena like MLK Jr.'s movement suggest that isn't the case for humans, and that we are right to think that a society that values all human beings is possible to fight for in this world, even though a perfect "kingdom of god" type ideal degree of that sort of society is not possible in this world.
I don't know a single leftist who supports Ukraine. Imagine if the USSR hadn't allied with the British and Americans (both of whom are - and always were - far worse than Russia today) against the Nazis because they didn't support British/American imperialism. If you don't support Russia it means you support the US empire and its global reign of terror. It's that simple. All leftists worldwide must critically support Russia. And Iran. And Assad. And Palestine. And everyone else that doesn't measure up to your ridiculous ultraleftist purity test.
There's a more general point to be made here about not forming allegiances based solely on who you oppose. I see a frightening amount of people supporting authoritarianism and religious extremism seemingly just because the regimes in question are enemies of West. Not only that, but I hear some actively wishing for political turmoil in the West so that citizens can "see what it's like". For some I question whether they are truly even leftists, or simply using leftist rhetoric as post-hoc justification for their revenge fantasies. Of course, the West has plenty to answer for, particularly in the Middle East, but what exactly does replacing one abuser of human rights with another accomplish other than revenge? As the saying goes, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
@@cherenkov_blue I've seen people jump the gun on accusing others (me and others) of supporting one side because, in that moment, a person is criticizing their opposition. The scope and scale of the damage caused by a much larger faction cannot be dismissed just because both sides are committing war crimes. People commonly make very strange alignments with/against unfamiliar factions which could simply be solved by not taking sides based on hearsay. Polarizing dialogue fans the flames of violence.
@@ludviglidstrom6924I can acknowledge that many liberals who really just want to preserve the status quo pretend to be more leftist than they are. For sure. There are also a lot of bloodthirsty tankies pretending to be leftists. I'm tired of their nonsense justifications online.
I completely agree with Zizek. Ukraine is fighting for the right to be a homeland of Ukrainian people, history, language, culture, sovereignty, territory unmolested by Russian interests .... Ukrainian people are not "little Russians"...
@@TheHandleOnTH-cam Since the alternative is being a russian province or puppet-state, then obviously even the worst nato-related scenario is preferable.
There is also the small factor that both Russia and the United States agreed to guarantee Ukraine's independence in the 90s as part of a series a nuclear disarmament treaties. Russia got the nukes and all the military equipment and Ukraine got independence while Russia, the U.S., and the U.K. all agreed to insure Ukraine independence by force if necessary.
And part of that agreement was Ukraine not joining a hostile military alliance and threatening Russian security. Which is exactly what they have done since 2014.
@ludviglidstrom6924 They looked into NATO membership after being invaded by Russia so it does not work for a reason. Unless you think the Crimean invasion does not count as an invasion or violation of the agreement.
@thewhite8uard Independence was recognized in '91 in Budapest by Russia, UK, and the US in an agreement that promised the nukes and heavy armaments to Russia in exchange for assurances that Russia would respect Ukraine's territorial sovereignty. Before this Ukraine was part of the USSR (CCCP). The agreement was ratified by other nations and went into full effect in '94. It is the exact same agreement that transfers military assets and guarantees Ukraine's independence. This is also the very agreement that was cited during the last Russian invasion of Ukraine. This narrative of being threatened by the west and needing these territories to defend themselves from invasion and using the "West" as a bogeyman to excuse ignoring the agreement is absurd. No one in the west wants part of Russia aside from a few European nations that was to buy natural gas at a non weaponized stable price.
@@KelsaRavenlock Independence of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus were recognized in Viskuli, Białowieża Forest, where the Belavezha Accords were signed, which declared the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The treaty about nukes was signed in 1997.
The Russian government is concerned about NATO expansion and the killings of ethnic Russians in Donbass. The Ukrainian government has suspended civil rights, demonized ethnic Russians and is drafting people to fight on the front lines. I don't support either side and want a compromise but it's reductive to say that the only people who don't support Ukraine are heartless.
I don't think it's that simple. But your first point is valid. You don't need to be left/right to take sides in an armed conflict. This applies to other conflicts as well.
@@debrutomeyer9117 why would you assume they are american? there is absolutely nothing to base that assumption on. im just going to assume that youre guatemalan, okay?
Ukraine is a US vassal state the US couped in 2014. Victoria nuland picked zelenakys cabinet. It was crimea and Eastern Ukraine that seceded even though Ukraine started burning Russian speakers at the stake.
@@aesop1451 you copy-pasted this into many threads, but I'll answer just once: Russia started a war of aggression. They want territory that belongs to Ukraine, and they're using violence to get it. Ukraine has the right to fight against this, and we, non-Ukrainians, support their fight. Stop with your Russian propaganda. Russia has no right to do what they're doing. It's not about the US. This is about Russian violence against innocence people to fulfil their own imperialist goals.
@@aesop145198% of non-russian school age kids are forced to learn in russian, and are only allowed 2h of their native language/week, even if they are 99% of all students, there goes your diversity, russia was and is colonial empire
@@aesop1451 'Serious countries like China and Iran support Russia’s attempt to create a multipolar world.' - they are not 'serious countries', they are medieval dictatorships.. People living in England in the 17th century had more civil rights than any of those nations offer in the 21st century. If you don't have a free press then ultimately you have nothing. The 'pole' that the world should aspire to is having free human beings living their lives as they see fit, in the most basic of ways. Non-democratic states are inherently evil, and the less democratic, the more evil. It's not complicated. The No.1 truth of political science is that democracies don't declare war on each other. It's happened just 3 times in all of history. If every nation was a democracy there would be no wars.
I’m a leftist and I support Ukraine. A nation has every right to protect its people and defend its sovereignty from tyrannical dictators and I’m happy to put my tax dollars towards that.
@@andredeketeleastutecomplex no true scotsman? Also, what has been the effect of Nato imperialism in Ukraine? What land has Nato taken from Ukraine? You are just brainwashed Russian lol
@@VintageLJthe confusion you have here is between the interests of the Ukrainian polity versus the interests of the ruling class in Ukraine for the ruling class in Ukraine it has been great, they get access to american/western capital and so on. A corrupt hegemon within in Ukraine essentially gets a seat at the biggest table. We see that internal American politicians selected to support Zelensky, various ngo involvement in politics and business so on and such forth. Nato is just a military arm of western imperialism what's insidious is the parasitic financial capitalism that follows it, marginalising to the greatest extent the benefits ukrainians might see from any investiture. Say you accept this outcome as natural or inevitable. what are the other problems. It's possible. Ukraine has been set up only to lose this war as political support dwindles for it. As stated by American politicians this has been a great deal in regards to wearing down the Russian military, weakening a challenger to western hegemony. The cost for Ukraine, cataclysmic demographic and infrastructural damage not to mention the broad psychological damage suffered by its polity. All over the concession of two rural Russian leaning regions in the east(which already seperate themselves and crimea(which has been Russian for a while now.) From the perspective of a kyvian or someone who lives in western Ukraine generally this makes little sense and is purely an ideological war to supplicate western interests against Russia.
@@VintageLJ nato doesn’t seal landmass they occupy territory and force the government there not to defend itself. Nato is why Ukraine got rid of their nukes and other deterrence for Russia. Nato troops along the whole western Russian border prompted Russias reaction
It's not it's just because russia doesn't have natural defensive barriers and the land their favour's the attacker so .oacow does not want hostil countries in-between it and the nearest defensive geographical formation which is the carnation mountains in northern romania
@paulelledge8977 Russia doesn't want Ukraine it just doesn't want a Ukraine that's part of a hostile alliance. Because it means in the event of a conflict, an enemy is close to it across a teraine without defensive barriers. But it no if Ukraine is not hostile it means russia would be able to place troops in the capathian mountains which would favor's the defender. So basically, Ukraine being part of nato would force russia to spend more on its military in case something happens. Instead of being able to spend that money on infrastructure, healthcare, and investing in education. Washington already knows that the situation forces russia to do this as it is already, and this weakens russia as a potential rival power. Because that money can't be spent growing the economy with things like R&D and better education and infrastructure. So, nato expansion is imperialist aggression.
@toddcolclough3177 That's not what Putin says. He says that Ukraine isn't real and it's a part of Russia. Also, even if what you say is true, which it isn't, that's not an acceptable reason to invade and conquer an independent and free nation. For example, Germany can't just say it would be easier to defend against Russia if they had huge chunks of Poland. That's not how the modern world works. Unfortunately a lot of Russian and Ukrainian people have to die for Putin's greed and imperial ambitions.
It seems simple to me. We aspire to a political order that is rooted in human rights and the rule of law. One nation simply does not have the right to invade another. And that's what happened in Ukraine in 2014 when Russia used people in its army who were of Ukrainian origin to engage in a proxy invasion, eventually followed by the explicit one in 2022. If there is no law there can be no way to protect the rights of individuals. Russia, or more specifically, Putin has broken the law. He must be prosecuted and reparations must be made to the victims, including those Russian families who lost loved ones in the invasion they were forced to engage in.
_When Russia does it_ , then it's unacceptable. Because Russia just one day decided to invade out of the blue, with no decades of previous instigation. they're just mean like that.
If you are a fellow American, I hope you will consider doing me a favor. Write to President-Elect Trump and tell him exactly what you wrote here. I wrote to him a few times during his first term. The messages get through. I got a reply to one of my letters.
I think it's important to understand why Putin did it, from their perspective. Putin is a practical, rational political actor. You don't last 20+ years in Russian politics if you're not. Ukraine has been a corrupt state since the fall of the USSR, and Western politicians have clearly taken advantage of that to enrich themselves. And they provoked Russia over and over and over, either out of sheer incompetence or stupidity - it doesn't really matter. Sadly, the people who suffered are Russian and Ukrainian men. And the people who benefited are American and Russian bureaucrats. It's gross but it's clearly a bit more complicated than "Putin is a fascist," which is an idiotic take.
@@Grandmagray-i3j right wing is wrong. Capitalism is ending us all and you need to be against it to enable a sustainable life. Left wing is correct. Read a bit
@@ludviglidstrom6924 Ukraine really is the true imperialist power here, trying to not be invaded. All these anti-putin "Leftists" who think his invasion is also imperialism clearly don't understand only the US can do imperialism in the modern day. The support of the Ukrainian people's freedom is a right-wing grift. or maybe all of that is wrong and you're stupid, one or the other.
@@ludviglidstrom6924how dose wanting to stop Putis imperialism make someone "imperialist"? How dose opposing putins oligarchy make someone "not left wing?"
Elementary common sense is far enough, though, to break through the root hypocrisy and bad faith of Ukraine, the US, and the EU in all the events that have led to the present bloody dead end for the last three decades.
I was listening to Gorbachev I think on about Putin. He said he is afraid of his own people. I think he pretty much nailed it. If it was otherwise they would not be throwing people in jail for criticizing the war.
@dentalmedica8594 also the people sitting closest to him generally go home to take a shower first, as opposed to maybe, say, going out to dinner right away after his speech
Hey it doesn't seem to be flowing right out of his nose this time at least. First time I saw this fellow (first 20 times) I thought he was a major coke head.
Mr. Zizek is Slovenian and was born in 1949. I'm willing to bet that one of the reasons (if not the reason) why he supports NATO is that he knows what Russian imperialism is like and doesn't want anything to do with it.
From Sweden, its very easy to see that this is PRIMARILY a honest defense for freedom, and a brave and worhy one at that. Just the kind that we have been dreading to have against just that big bully neighbor, who by necessity keeps us so great at inventing good weaponry. :p Much of which is now put to good use in Ukraine. When Ukraine said "we will NEVER give up!" we recognized it - we actually have it in our constitution too that we will never quit fighting. Just convert to insurgence if need be. But all messages of capitulation are false, we know that. Thank you for your service of teaching yhe bully a lesson, Ukraine. Certainly you should have lots of volunteers from lets see... hungary, czeck republic and slovakia, cetchnya, georgia. All places that russian tanks have paid loving visits to in the past. :p ... Not the finns, they managed to bite back already in the winter war.
Nice to hear this voice again. It sounds like a famous polish literary critic in germany who died years ago. I had always fun and interest listen to him.....
it is always encouraging to see critical, independent thought coming from those immured in the ‘left/right’ false dichotomy. neither in their contemporary forms bear any resemblance to the classic forms. and for all their polarization on topical issues, in practice, in office, there is no discernible difference in their performance in re how it effects the masses; who are egregiously ill served.
@@sdivine13 no, they agreed "no further east" while talking about Germany. This statement can be interpreted as meaning not in east Germany or no where more east than west Germany. Only the later interpretation would include eastern Europe, but that's why a shaky verbal agreement can't really be used to make your case here
“Russian policy is unchangeable. Only Russian methods, tactics, and maneuvers can change, but the pole star of Russian policy remains the conquest of the world... The Russian bear will be capable of anything as long as he knows that other animals will not resist. There is only one way to behave towards a power like Russia: not to show fear. If Europe retreats, it will not only mean defeat, but permanent subjugation.” Karel Marx: 1856, New York Tribune (newspaper)
@@sadettinarslan5324 If you don't like the oppressors then you probably must dislike Ukrainians because they were greatly favored in USSR in all organs related to security, from KGB to prison system. Every general secretary since Khrushchev had a western Slavic (i.e. peasant) accent. But you don't know that because that's a little bit too outside of the simple canons of American propaganda, when did an American really took interest in slavs and their inner goings? You only care about countries your government invests in with revolutions and propaganda based on a current political environment, which is designed for child level consumption, by the way. Ukrainians are Russians are one people and their common language is Russian. They didn't need this war and were dragged into it, and not by Putin alone. Anyone who supports "Ukraine" supports the war period, it didn't start in 2022 as you know, and Moscow supported Ukraine plenty since the 90s. It's time to grow up.
There isnt even western imperialism in Ukraine. If there was, aid to levels youve never seen before would be pouring in. Instead you have a Ukraine constantly begging to be part of the western bloc while the West remains divided if they should ve allowed in.
This man speaks common sense. Sadly some people from the far left and from the far right support Russian imperialism because they cannot understand that condemning Russian imperialism does not mean that you support western imperialism Also condemning Russian imperialism does not mean hate against the Russian people. The Russians are a victime themselves of Russian imperialism
It is not "russian imperialism", russia proposed peace negotiations several times, its demands were totally reasonable. Everybody knows this this is a us-led war using the ukraine with a nazi puppet government. So russia just had to allow itself be surrounded by us missiles? The us would nevera have allowed that in its borders either. This is not about russian imperialism. This is the same guy Who said common syrian peoples should fight against cia forces called isis!
An indigenous person from Russia and a leftist here🤚 me and my friends also support Ukrainians. No, we don't think that attacking the East of Ukraine was justified and excusable. But attacking Kyiv in reply isn't going to help or bring back those who died in these 8 years. Also we are aware of the fact that Donbass region simply has a lot of natural resources. No one has cared about the people, dont be delusional. Yes, we do know about the issue with alt right and neo-nazism in Ukraine, it's deeply painful to see how they are trying to forget their own people who fought against nazism in ww2 just because they were from the red army. But russian government is nothing better. The ideological leaders and a lot of soldiers on the russian side are alt right themselves. Ukrainian government and state can be as effed up as it can and that's why I hate these ideas of moral superiority, but this doesn't give Russia any right to attack Ukraine.
Get a grip, it was justifiable. The East of Ukraine was stirred up by STRELOK and his mafia gangsters. If a government cannot pacify a region overrun by gangsters of a neighbor enemy country, then you in effect want no government at all, which amounts to no one managing Millions of people, which is absurd. I congratulate you for having enough brains to support Ukraine against your own fascist - not alt right, but fascist! - state, but please cut the bull about the ukrainian government being as bad as the russian one, or the "Nazis" in Ukraine being a problem compared to the Nazis in Russia, which are obviously a real problem for all Europe right now! Yes, Ukraine is morally superior to Russia. Yes. This is the fucking truth.
Not meaning to bash you for your opinion, but here's a thought that might help you understand why Ukraine's operation in the East was totally fine and justifiable. Ukraine is a sovereign country, and in 2014 it was having _internal_ issues that were abused and actively heated up by the Russian government. I know you guys love to say "it's not so simple", but there are documents and recordings to support this version, unlike proofs of the "stupid Ukrainians bombing themselves for 8 years" nonsense. What Ukraine does with its _internal_ issues should be nobody's business, but Ukraine's. The same goes with Georgia, Chechnya, Afghanistan and all other countries that have been on the receiving end of unsolicited Russian "help" at a certain point of their history. By the way, I'm not saying the US invading Iraq or the UK drawing an arbitrary line between India and Pakistan is fine either (shocking, I know). The point is, Russia had absolutely no business in Ukraine and it should've stayed out of Ukraine, Georgia, Chechnya, Afghanistan and all other countries it's been "helping" throughout the years and maybe instead focussed on its own _internal_ issues like poverty that forces its own people from heavily undeveloped regions like Buryatia to think that taking part in an aggressive war is a sound strategy for increasing one's financial well-being. TL;DR: Remember those aircraft passenger safety trainings about the oxygen mask? "Put your own oxygen mask first before helping others"
@ih8people everything you say is simultaneously absolutely true and doesn't refute my words. Russia indeed has no business there, I've been trying to convince people in that since 2022 (not since 2014 because I was effing 14 back then, what did I understand in foreign politics?). What I'm trying to say is that people often pose Ukraine as a epitome of morality, humanity and democracy, which simply eventually ends up in hypocrisy, because currently there is no state of that kind. In other simple words - Ukraine as a state had a weak spot and a problem in the policies according the East. If they didn't eff up there and acted wiser, maybe everything would've been different. At least Russia wouldn't have a weak spot on the sight, and, how they say here, "piece that lies badly", unkempt and easy to grab.
@@ih8people Yeah but that is not something the ruling class of Russians wants. They do not want to better the lives of their own people, resolve internal issues. That is now how that elite class is built, that is not how this nation, that is called russian, is built. This russian nation is built like a Mongol Horde, where outreach expansion is solving these internal issues, by reducing the number of poor people, because they are killed on the battlefield. I know that sounds insane. But that is it, the russian Nation is an insane Nation. It lives by suppression, it blooms by expansion. Only that we do not have the 17th century anymore, and in the modern world, it just does not work anymore. That is the problem of Russia. They want to solve problems by the means of 17th century Europe. That is madness. And therefore, we must call the Russians insane. As a nation, as a political enterprise, as a ideology of living and existing, they are insane. Mad. Verrückt. Ga-ga. Loco. And if you look at Putin, he is gone. I mean, he is not there anymore. He is not functioning anymore at a high capacity. The russians, a people gone insane, are led by a drooling madman.
Fortunately we have YOU, a genius in intellect, who shows us the light of the truth. I cannot tell you how happy i am, that you, at least, are here, and are sprinkling us with words of wisdom!
"They bombed themselves" "Drop your government, soldiers, we will work something out" "Band of nazis" "They forbid rissian language" "NATO biolaboratories with geneticly modified mosquito's" "NATO expansion" "These are just protesters, anyone can get a tank in a military shop" "They shot the plane to set us up" "Bodies were brought there beforehand by foreign special agents" And a thousand more ways to "not paint Ukraine in a bad way, just cover up what rissians did"
He was always on side of western imperialism and pro-NATO interventionist. When interventionism comes from the other side - only then he is oposing it. He is a cultural leftist but a political neoliberal.
You are trying to imply hipocracy? But NATO interventions haven't tryed to outright conqure any previously peaceful democracys then deluberatly explode/flood civilians for opposing a dicrators take over. Opposing something outright evil just make sense whatever ones stance on a totaly different action by a different party.
Whatever his stance on other issues his stance that: genocidal attempted conquest of a democracy = bad whethery your left or righ seems pritty unasailable to me.
@@sinoviistine-sonsofthetruth yes i do agree with you on certain point regarding the Russian Ukraine war! Like Nato involvement in the whole conflict but still it could've been solved with dialogues.
@MarcoBonechi it is. But it is also clear that me, as a country, I do not send weapons in support of ALL the countries that have been invaded (long list so far...Palestine and Lebanon included...or to support democracy in Egypt, for example...), for example. And this is strange...And it is also clear that there have been reasons to violate the Minsk 1 and 2. If you are telling me that Putin is a bad guy who invaded Ukraine, I totally agree with you. If you want to convince me that the storytelling is as simple as you and many others are trying to sell, dude we are old for this movie. Reality is about twelve orders of magnitude more complex. And most of us know it.
@@eduardorossi7310 Oh sure. But we are here now, and have to figure if allowing Putin free reign in Ukraine (and Moldavia, and ... Poland) is in the West's interests. And I very much believe it is NOT in our interests to give in.
@@eduardorossi7310 Minsk I was violated because it gives the Russians and separatist opportunity to regroup and launch an offensive into Donetsk airport (2nd battle of Donetsk). Following the Russian victory at Donetsk International Airport in defiance of the Protocol, DPR spokesman Eduard Basurin said that "the Minsk Memorandum will not be considered in the form it was adopted". Later in the day, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said that the DPR "will not make any attempts at ceasefire talks any more", and that his forces were going to "attack right up to the borders of Donetsk region''.
It has taken me years and years and even now I can not understand how and why is Zizek popular. It is like bear caught in a trap because he had no idea it was there, while Zizek is a "hegelian marxist" who had no clue that cocaine and speed will take a turn on his speech, but moreover, his views and ideas.
Dumb take, Ukraine is just a meat shield. Western countries don't care about the lives there. Is not about right or wrong, is about what position you should have to preserve lives.
@@leventgucer2988 nice ad-hominem there pal. Don’t know why you’re typing as though you’re on 4chan but you seem like a generally confused individual, so that may just be the reason.
Exactly, but i see anyone who supports Ukraine but not a Palestine as a huge hypocrite. I actually came up to realise that many people support Ukraine and not Palestine just because of the colour of the skin and the religio.
Both are totally different situations and very few people should be supporting anyone. There are no “goodies and baddies” in the real world, these are the results of decades and centuries of crimes sins and evil committed by many people on both sides.
@whygodisscience do they both involve killing tens of thousands of innocent people? Then I put it to you that they are wrong and undesirable. There may be complexities and considerations beyond these that won't neatly reduce into this proposition, but those would be secondary; anyway, how could we listen to a voice that extolled a complex ethical position, who can not first acknowledge this most fundamental and simple one?
@@hrothgarvonmt er? lol sorry I have no idea what you mean. At least it’s not at all relevant to what I said. The OP was saying people who support Ukraine but not Palestine are hypocrites. My point is they’re not “these are totally different situations”, and the vast majority of people shouldn’t be supporting anyone. Most people have no idea of the facts or history and there is no entirely right or entirely wrong side in either case.
Lenin wrote the following in ”The Right of Nations to Self-Determination”: ”The bourgeoisie is most of all interested in the “feasibility” of a given demand-hence the invariable policy of coming to terms with the bourgeoisie of other nations, to the detriment of the proletariat. For the proletariat, however, the important thing is to strengthen its class against the bourgeoisie and to educate the masses in the spirit of consistent democracy and socialism. This may not be “practical” as far as the opportunists are concerned, but it is the only real guarantee, the guarantee of the greater national equality and peace, despite the feudal landlords and the _nationalist_ bourgeoisie. The whole task of the proletarians in the national question is “unpractical” from the standpoint of the _nationalist_ bourgeoisie of every nation, because the proletarians, opposed as they are to nationalism of every kind, demand “abstract” equality; they demand, as a matter of principle, that there should be no privileges, however slight. Failing to grasp this, Rosa Luxemburg, by her misguided eulogy of practicality, has opened the door wide for the opportunists, and especially for opportunist concessions to Great-Russian nationalism. Why Great-Russian? Because the Great Russians in Russia are an oppressor nation, and opportunism in the national question will of course find expression among oppressed nations otherwise than among oppressor nations.” Who oppresses Ukraine? Who invades it an massacres its population? Who is the principal enemy of the Ukrainian people? Let’s answer that with some other questions. Who was the principal enemy of the Chinese people 1937-1945? Was it the Yankees and their Guomindang lackeys? Or was it Japan? You must have knowledge about what is the principal contradiction when assessing any situation. The principal contradiction in Ukraine is not Yankee imperialism vs. the Ukrainian people. Neither is it Yankee imperialism vs. Russian imperialism or Democracy vs. Hitler-fascism. It is Russian imperialism vs. the Ukrainian people. It can be said that Zelenskyy works against the Ukrainian people. He is somewhat of a traitor. He and Poroshenko have worked to split the Ukrainian nation and have subordinated it to Yankee imperialism’s genocidal world war plans. But if you are a Ukrainian and you’re aiming your gun against Zelenskyy or his men rather than the invading Russian army, whose side are you really on? Whose side would Mao be on if he aimed his gun toward Chiang Kai-Shek when the Japanese army invaded? Would he not be the highest traitor? Would he not have worked for the subjugation and enslavement of his country? But he didn’t!
And then he completely ignored that…using the military to crush multiple nationalist groups seeking to self determine their groups, and encouraged a reign of terror that ultimately laid the groundwork for future state repressions .
The level of ignorant nonsense coming from people who like to quote Lenin in order to bash communists who support Russia is pretty staggering. There was no NATO back then, the imperialist powers were not unified into one single block like they are now. Everything is different.
I dont get why he started that lastline with "you do something horrible", how about "you do amazing things for people and then society and humanity benefits"
Most leftists i know support Ukraine The only exception might just be that the communist party in my country is more neutral/"pro peace"/pro russia than the rest, so maybe those. But even that way, most communist i know don't actively support russia, they just condemn the genocide in Donbass or the ethnic cleansing in Donbass or things alike(many don't use such strong words) made by Ukraine beforehand
@@zecaaabrao3634 But why would you support Ukraine if you acknowledge that they were committing ethnic cleansing in the Donbass, as you put it? Shouldn't we support the Ukrainian separatists in the Donbass and Crimea, who want to break away from Ukraine?
@@rmurphy911 Let's make it fair. Start supporting the independence for Tibet, Kurdistan and all the russian ethnically cleansed states like Chechnya, Karelia, Tuva, Baskhkortostan etc. Besides, there have only been one reliable poll on said ukrainian provinces about who they want to be a part of - in 1991 after USSR collapsed. All those areas wanted to remain parts of Ukraine. They were more russia-leaning for sure, but all the "separatists" are just russian paramilitary. Just see the similarities in Georgia and Moldova. That is what Russia does - they use russian-speaking people as a pawn for their imperialist desires, and then some useful idiots fall into that.
@rmurphy911 yeah, many if the communist party support, or aren't against Donbass separation But the escalation of the war was so big that most people condemn the invasion
@rmurphy911 i support Ukrainian sovereignty over the Russian invaded territories outside of teh Donbass and I don't have enough information to make an informed decision about the Donbass and Crimea
What genocide? What ethnic cleansing? WTF are you talking about? Ukraine tried to police the revolt in Donbas which was orchestrated by Russia. Revolt that was conducted by people like Pushilin - a Ponzi-scheme fraudster, Gubarev - literal neo-nazi or Girkin - FSB operative. The 'genocide of Russians in Donbas' is as true excuse as 'genocide of Germans in Poland' in 1939…
This all feels very straightforward. Ukraine was like “i’d like your help in case Russia invades”. And if you’re wondering why they would say that, look no further than the fact that russia invaded
You DO "enact a story in politics", Slavoj. Just take, for instance, the invasion of Iraq. The "weapons of mass destruction" story came first. Polítical action is quite often one big enacting of (fictional) stories to cover up the horrors out there. We just recently had one right here in Brazil with Jair Bolsonaro. He sistematically tried to make up a "communist threat" in order to justify not only a coup, but also a civil war, that lunatic.
@@IvoMaropo which coup? was too busy worrying about the artificially (through censorship and fake polling, at least) elected Lula government and how we would become poorer by then to worry about Western values such as "liberal democracy" and its "normality" with regards to the potential actions of a justly frustrated, enormously popular Jair Bolsonaro. The incapacity of seeing through the eyes of the everyday citizen and his dislike of poverty and lying stablishment politicians and Justice bureaucrats will be the ruin of the Left (it already is).
Sadly there are some on the left who think Russia as it is now is the successor of Soviet communism and that Ukraine is fully in the wrong. It’s quite sad they’ve genuinely fallen for Russian state propaganda
@@nancyfroio a few lefties, (called “tankies”) are so anti-western they assume all causes supported by west are by default evil. In this case, because the US supports Ukraine, they assume Russia must be in the right. This is of course silly considering all they are doing in this case is supporting an even worse empire.
Because we've learnt this lesson already in 1939 when Mr. Chamberlain visited Hitler and concluded that the latter is a fine lad that will certainly not invade any other areas aside from Sudetenland. I sincerely hope you also understand that China is observing this war with not a huge bucket of popcorn, but a notebook full of little scribblings on how to approach "the Taiwan problem". As well as every other authoritarian leader in the world. TL;DR: You fight the bully together not because it's morally right to do so, but because by not doing that you're creating even more bullies
@ih8people the never ending ways in which Americans justify the exportation of perpetually war. Support for Ukraine is totally a force fed idea of the western War machine. Everything, these days, is compared to nazism. How about knowing some Russian and Ukrainian history which would be much more relevant, since those are the countries involved. Always wanting to kill, dominate, conquer....
Ukraine propaganda is much more toxic racist an uneducated than Russian propaganda, which is the same. American propaganda is different. But Ukrainian is at a whole nother level. It's pure nationalism.
Watch the full talk at iai.tv/video/the-life-and-philosophy-of-slavoj-zizek?TH-cam&
Real question is "how can you call yourself a leftist and be in favor of Putin's imperialism?"
You can call yourself sane, and maybe be a leftist, Idc.
@luigimrlgaming9484 you can't meaningfully be a leftist and support Russia's kleptocratic hypercapitalism. By definition.
@@davidtaylor142 “How can you call yourself a leftist and be in favor Saddam, or Gaddafi, or Assad, or the Palestinians that throw 🌈 off the rooftops…”
I wouldn’t live in Russia personally, but I can recognize that the Russian-Chinese-Iranian endeavor to create a multipolar world is preferable to an American unipolar world.
@aesop1451 supporting other forms of imperialism does not make you an anti imperialist. Also I've never met an actual leftist that liked Saddam or Gaddafi. At that point you don't actually have leftist values, you're just being a contrarian
@@davidtaylor142 If you’re an American dissident, then you should be concerned about what the American government does in other countries. Occupy Wall Street happened around the same time as NATO b0mbed Libya and many leftists were against it. Also many leftists were against the War on Terr0r compared to the conservatives that supported it. Use your common sense: The aim of the American government is to become stronger. The stronger it is, the more it will be able to oppress people at home and abroad. Countries like India, Cuba, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Angola, and Egypt were able to maintain their independence vis a vis the West because of the existence of the USSR. Modern Russia has inherited many of its good relationships with the Global South from the Cold War. Just because Putin isn’t flying the 🌈 flag doesn’t mean Russia is automatically the bad guy.
If you don't support western imperialism, it doesn't mean that you must support russian imperialism. For Ukrainian people it is the war for independence against russian empire, that opressed Ukrainian people for centuries. Many people in Ukraine hate our government and criticize it on every point they can. And often their criticism is valid and justified. Yet we still oppose enemy occupation. To us it is the war for the people as much as for the country. And yes, i am Ukrainian, and one of russian origin at that. I live in Ukraine. My city is near the border with Russia. So i know what i talk about.
cope and seethe nazi
lmao they are deleting comments that dont blindly defend nazis in Ukraine
@@McHallel When your neighbor is as bad as Russia, you gotta rely on foreign aid. If Russian stopped rigging elections (Georgia), stopped trying to poison political opponents, stopped passing laws that allowed Putin to reign indefinitely, stopped invading sovereign groups of people (Ukraine, Chechnya, etc.), than Ukraine wouldn’t be pressured into the position they’re in.
And you make perfect sense.
@@ДмитрийЧехов-с8е fighting from one occupation to join another. Russians are the same blood but you choose a super power 10k kilometers away who controls you like a puppet. This war could have been over in a week if boris Johnson under Americas orders didn’t ruin the peace talks in Turkey. It is very sad that Ukraine has become a pawn in a game of chess between Russia and America
Opposing Russian imperialism DOES NOT EQUAL supporting western imperialism!
A lot of so-called “leftists” fail to grasp this basic concept.
@@elietheprof5678 in general? No. In this specific case? You have to be blind and deaf not to grasp that us imperialism is precisely what you support.
and also, its important to support the lesser evil whenever possible. the strongest leftist movements are those that take the current situation and makes the best of it even tho it wont create the ideal desired outcome!
@elietheprof5678 understanding Russian imperialism is the first point. I think we all know what the USA and it's vassals want...
@@BlankieUK What does this even mean?
Knowing US involvment, and a cursory look at a world map (with a sprinkle of history knowledge), and anyone should instantly understand who is doing the most imperialism here.
@@chimpskij Not doing "the most" imperialism doesn't mean that you don't do imperialism. Ukraine is being used as a proxy by the Occidental imperial core, which is in turn being used as a means to defend against the Russian empire by Ukraine. And no, it doesn't mean Ukraine isn't a country that isn't plagued by capitalism like any other, or that they're perfect, but autonomy and self-determination starts by not being invaded.
No you can't box Zizek into a reel! 😅
😂 A Zizek video without him touching his face is making me very uncomfortable...
Right ? Tells you a lot about reels. Any important points are absolutely impossible to pack in this format.
people always like "NAH DUDE IS A LEGEND 🤓" and it's just an old white dude lmao
@@larjasoul What are you on about
I like him, but he's dead wrong.
Endorsing Russian imperialism because you dislike “western imperialism” is like letting a bear onto your campsite because you dislike coyotes
Western imperialism exists.
@@bloocheese2902, does the West's support of Ukraine constitute imperialism?
this is a astute analogy because bears are indeed less dangerous than coyotes
@@phillipanselmo8540 At some point that doesn't matter though. A pistol is less deadly as a shotgun, unless your assailant is at point-blank range aiming at your head. If you're dead either way, then we don't *need* to compare what means were hypothetically more destructive.
@@phillipanselmo8540
“...bears are less dangerous than coyotes”. 😂. That’s absurd.
I am pretty left leaning. I know lots of leftists. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t support Ukraine. I know of many right wingers who seem to support Russia.
Oh, wow, i know many left wingers who dont support Ukraine. They dont like Russia but in effect they support a russian win.
As do Europe and USA btw. Its quite disturbing. They show solidarity in speech but dont send troops, so Ukraine can win. Cause No one wants to die for Ukraine, it seems.
Maybe, its time to be honest
we don’t support russia…. we support not spending our tax money on country that has literally NOTHING to do with US…. we couldn’t care less about either country…. if you democrats want to keep supporting those wars, then lets secede from federal gov. and you can keep wasting your own money on it…. good luck
Well, i know many ultra right nazis from Eastern Europe and Latin America support Ukraine, especially the ones from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine itself
Exactly.
There tend to be certain people on the left who oppose the US so much that they will blindly support any country opposed to the US. Even if said country is perpetrating indefensible acts such as Russia or the Assad regime for instance. It's a pity but they are a minority on the left unlike the right who ideologically back totalitarians.
Too many people run their whole lives on "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"
That mindset should really extend to, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so long as it's convenient".
At last, someone who appreciates that "anti-Western" imperialism and anti-"Western imperialism" are not the same thing!
@@Capt.DanInJapan love that comment
But also "anti-western imperialism" and "western imperialism" are the same.
Imagine being against imperialism and not support the country that defends itself against an imperialistic power.
@@oLii96x Russia is an imperialistic state itself.
Imagine being against imperialism and support the most overt and obvious imperialist operation possible, pretending you can't see what is completely out in the open.
Imagine being against imperialism and being gullible enough to swallow Russian propaganda designed to deflect attention from their 19th-century style colonialist war and think you "know what's really going on".
@@chimpskij You’re referring to russia invading Ukraine and annexing territory, right?
Russia? Russia is defending itself against an imperialist power.
I love the profoundness of the statement about inventing stories to cover up "horrible things". That one statement perfectly encapsulates the entire history of politics.
What i like most about that is that actually, yes, most people in the left believe that bullshit about "different stories" we need to listen to to understand each other. Zizek really pulled the blanket over it away. No. It is horrible things, that get niced up by stories.
Maybe the entire history of politicians. It's hard to figure out what "horrible things" MLK Jr. was telling stories to cover up. Some stories really are told just to mitigate or end "horrible things", although not very many of stories are like that. Still, it's possible. In any case being nonpolitical is a luxury for people who aren't on the menu (currently), so for most people engaging with the world of the political in one way or another is unavoidable or at least unwise not to do. It's a very good thing then that not every story is just a coverup, because if it were, it would mean there would be no exit and no such thing as good or evil, only endless and meaningless animal conflict dressed up and glossed over with speech and human dress. Phenomena like MLK Jr.'s movement suggest that isn't the case for humans, and that we are right to think that a society that values all human beings is possible to fight for in this world, even though a perfect "kingdom of god" type ideal degree of that sort of society is not possible in this world.
I don't know a single leftist who supports Ukraine. Imagine if the USSR hadn't allied with the British and Americans (both of whom are - and always were - far worse than Russia today) against the Nazis because they didn't support British/American imperialism.
If you don't support Russia it means you support the US empire and its global reign of terror. It's that simple. All leftists worldwide must critically support Russia. And Iran. And Assad. And Palestine. And everyone else that doesn't measure up to your ridiculous ultraleftist purity test.
What profoundness? This is practically commonplace.
There's a more general point to be made here about not forming allegiances based solely on who you oppose.
I see a frightening amount of people supporting authoritarianism and religious extremism seemingly just because the regimes in question are enemies of West. Not only that, but I hear some actively wishing for political turmoil in the West so that citizens can "see what it's like". For some I question whether they are truly even leftists, or simply using leftist rhetoric as post-hoc justification for their revenge fantasies.
Of course, the West has plenty to answer for, particularly in the Middle East, but what exactly does replacing one abuser of human rights with another accomplish other than revenge? As the saying goes, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
@@cherenkov_blue I've seen people jump the gun on accusing others (me and others) of supporting one side because, in that moment, a person is criticizing their opposition. The scope and scale of the damage caused by a much larger faction cannot be dismissed just because both sides are committing war crimes. People commonly make very strange alignments with/against unfamiliar factions which could simply be solved by not taking sides based on hearsay. Polarizing dialogue fans the flames of violence.
A part of Marxist ideology is violent revolution so it will make sense for marxists to support turmoil in their own countries
Precisely! That’s exactly the kind of mentality ted kaczynski criticized-hating the strong and rooting for the underdog at all costs.
And I am really tired of Western liberals like you pretending to be leftists.
@@ludviglidstrom6924I can acknowledge that many liberals who really just want to preserve the status quo pretend to be more leftist than they are. For sure.
There are also a lot of bloodthirsty tankies pretending to be leftists. I'm tired of their nonsense justifications online.
I completely agree with Zizek. Ukraine is fighting for the right to be a homeland of Ukrainian people, history, language, culture, sovereignty, territory unmolested by Russian interests .... Ukrainian people are not "little Russians"...
They are😂😂😂 ukrainians only exists because russians lived there
and for forceful ukrainisation russian style of non Ukrainians living there for generations...
very just and moral.
Sure, but will Ukraine be left unadulterated after they join NATO?
@@TheHandleOnTH-cam Since the alternative is being a russian province or puppet-state, then obviously even the worst nato-related scenario is preferable.
@@TheHandleOnTH-camthat’s a decission for the Ukranians to make
There is also the small factor that both Russia and the United States agreed to guarantee Ukraine's independence in the 90s as part of a series a nuclear disarmament treaties.
Russia got the nukes and all the military equipment and Ukraine got independence while Russia, the U.S., and the U.K. all agreed to insure Ukraine independence by force if necessary.
And part of that agreement was Ukraine not joining a hostile military alliance and threatening Russian security. Which is exactly what they have done since 2014.
@ludviglidstrom6924 They looked into NATO membership after being invaded by Russia so it does not work for a reason.
Unless you think the Crimean invasion does not count as an invasion or violation of the agreement.
Ukraine got independence long before the treaty about nukes.
@thewhite8uard Independence was recognized in '91 in Budapest by Russia, UK, and the US in an agreement that promised the nukes and heavy armaments to Russia in exchange for assurances that Russia would respect Ukraine's territorial sovereignty.
Before this Ukraine was part of the USSR (CCCP).
The agreement was ratified by other nations and went into full effect in '94.
It is the exact same agreement that transfers military assets and guarantees Ukraine's independence.
This is also the very agreement that was cited during the last Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This narrative of being threatened by the west and needing these territories to defend themselves from invasion and using the "West" as a bogeyman to excuse ignoring the agreement is absurd.
No one in the west wants part of Russia aside from a few European nations that was to buy natural gas at a non weaponized stable price.
@@KelsaRavenlock Independence of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus were recognized in Viskuli, Białowieża Forest, where the Belavezha Accords were signed, which declared the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The treaty about nukes was signed in 1997.
This is fantastic. I don’t think one has to be left or right or capitalist or socialist….all you need is a heart and care about freedom
The Russian government is concerned about NATO expansion and the killings of ethnic Russians in Donbass.
The Ukrainian government has suspended civil rights, demonized ethnic Russians and is drafting people to fight on the front lines.
I don't support either side and want a compromise but it's reductive to say that the only people who don't support Ukraine are heartless.
What freedom?
@ Assuming that you are an American; what not?
I don't think it's that simple. But your first point is valid. You don't need to be left/right to take sides in an armed conflict. This applies to other conflicts as well.
@@debrutomeyer9117 why would you assume they are american? there is absolutely nothing to base that assumption on. im just going to assume that youre guatemalan, okay?
USA’s imperialism does not justify another country doing it.
Ukraine is a US vassal state the US couped in 2014. Victoria nuland picked zelenakys cabinet.
It was crimea and Eastern Ukraine that seceded even though Ukraine started burning Russian speakers at the stake.
@@aesop1451 you copy-pasted this into many threads, but I'll answer just once: Russia started a war of aggression. They want territory that belongs to Ukraine, and they're using violence to get it. Ukraine has the right to fight against this, and we, non-Ukrainians, support their fight. Stop with your Russian propaganda. Russia has no right to do what they're doing. It's not about the US. This is about Russian violence against innocence people to fulfil their own imperialist goals.
@@aesop145198% of non-russian school age kids are forced to learn in russian, and are only allowed 2h of their native language/week, even if they are 99% of all students, there goes your diversity, russia was and is colonial empire
@aesop1451 troll bot doing troll things. Aren't you tired of trolling?
I hope that you're at least getting paid for it...
@@aesop1451 'Serious countries like China and Iran support Russia’s attempt to create a multipolar world.' - they are not 'serious countries', they are medieval dictatorships.. People living in England in the 17th century had more civil rights than any of those nations offer in the 21st century. If you don't have a free press then ultimately you have nothing. The 'pole' that the world should aspire to is having free human beings living their lives as they see fit, in the most basic of ways. Non-democratic states are inherently evil, and the less democratic, the more evil. It's not complicated. The No.1 truth of political science is that democracies don't declare war on each other. It's happened just 3 times in all of history. If every nation was a democracy there would be no wars.
I’m a leftist and I support Ukraine. A nation has every right to protect its people and defend its sovereignty from tyrannical dictators and I’m happy to put my tax dollars towards that.
The ukrainian people have the right to rise up against xenophobe ukrainian government and NATO imperialism.
Also, you are not a leftist.
@@andredeketeleastutecomplex no true scotsman?
Also, what has been the effect of Nato imperialism in Ukraine? What land has Nato taken from Ukraine?
You are just brainwashed Russian lol
@@VintageLJthe confusion you have here is between the interests of the Ukrainian polity versus the interests of the ruling class in Ukraine for the ruling class in Ukraine it has been great, they get access to american/western capital and so on. A corrupt hegemon within in Ukraine essentially gets a seat at the biggest table. We see that internal American politicians selected to support Zelensky, various ngo involvement in politics and business so on and such forth.
Nato is just a military arm of western imperialism what's insidious is the parasitic financial capitalism that follows it, marginalising to the greatest extent the benefits ukrainians might see from any investiture.
Say you accept this outcome as natural or inevitable. what are the other problems. It's possible. Ukraine has been set up only to lose this war as political support dwindles for it. As stated by American politicians this has been a great deal in regards to wearing down the Russian military, weakening a challenger to western hegemony. The cost for Ukraine, cataclysmic demographic and infrastructural damage not to mention the broad psychological damage suffered by its polity. All over the concession of two rural Russian leaning regions in the east(which already seperate themselves and crimea(which has been Russian for a while now.)
From the perspective of a kyvian or someone who lives in western Ukraine generally this makes little sense and is purely an ideological war to supplicate western interests against Russia.
@@VintageLJ nato doesn’t seal landmass they occupy territory and force the government there not to defend itself. Nato is why Ukraine got rid of their nukes and other deterrence for Russia. Nato troops along the whole western Russian border prompted Russias reaction
@@andredeketeleastutecomplex wow none of the things you said are true
It's wild people utter the phrase "western imperialism" while talking about Russia, the only country to wage a war of empire this century.
It's not it's just because russia doesn't have natural defensive barriers and the land their favour's the attacker so .oacow does not want hostil countries in-between it and the nearest defensive geographical formation which is the carnation mountains in northern romania
@toddcolclough3177 So imperialism. Got it.
@paulelledge8977 Russia doesn't want Ukraine it just doesn't want a Ukraine that's part of a hostile alliance. Because it means in the event of a conflict, an enemy is close to it across a teraine without defensive barriers. But it no if Ukraine is not hostile it means russia would be able to place troops in the capathian mountains which would favor's the defender. So basically, Ukraine being part of nato would force russia to spend more on its military in case something happens. Instead of being able to spend that money on infrastructure, healthcare, and investing in education. Washington already knows that the situation forces russia to do this as it is already, and this weakens russia as a potential rival power. Because that money can't be spent growing the economy with things like R&D and better education and infrastructure. So, nato expansion is imperialist aggression.
@toddcolclough3177 That's not what Putin says. He says that Ukraine isn't real and it's a part of Russia.
Also, even if what you say is true, which it isn't, that's not an acceptable reason to invade and conquer an independent and free nation. For example, Germany can't just say it would be easier to defend against Russia if they had huge chunks of Poland. That's not how the modern world works. Unfortunately a lot of Russian and Ukrainian people have to die for Putin's greed and imperial ambitions.
It seems simple to me. We aspire to a political order that is rooted in human rights and the rule of law. One nation simply does not have the right to invade another. And that's what happened in Ukraine in 2014 when Russia used people in its army who were of Ukrainian origin to engage in a proxy invasion, eventually followed by the explicit one in 2022.
If there is no law there can be no way to protect the rights of individuals. Russia, or more specifically, Putin has broken the law. He must be prosecuted and reparations must be made to the victims, including those Russian families who lost loved ones in the invasion they were forced to engage in.
So we're liberals
_When Russia does it_ , then it's unacceptable.
Because Russia just one day decided to invade out of the blue, with no decades of previous instigation. they're just mean like that.
@@cienfu_egos It's unacceptable no matter who does it.
And no vague "instigations" can justify it.
Even if there is western aggression, that will never justify undermining the will of the people of a sovereign nation.
@@cienfu_egos I can't tell if you're trying to be sarcastic or not, but that's 100% the case.
Russia invaded Ukraine! It's not about politics. Left wing, right wing makes no difference. What Russia did was unacceptable. I'm right wing .
If you are a fellow American, I hope you will consider doing me a favor. Write to President-Elect Trump and tell him exactly what you wrote here. I wrote to him a few times during his first term. The messages get through. I got a reply to one of my letters.
I think it's important to understand why Putin did it, from their perspective. Putin is a practical, rational political actor. You don't last 20+ years in Russian politics if you're not. Ukraine has been a corrupt state since the fall of the USSR, and Western politicians have clearly taken advantage of that to enrich themselves. And they provoked Russia over and over and over, either out of sheer incompetence or stupidity - it doesn't really matter.
Sadly, the people who suffered are Russian and Ukrainian men. And the people who benefited are American and Russian bureaucrats. It's gross but it's clearly a bit more complicated than "Putin is a fascist," which is an idiotic take.
Nothing wrong with that!
@@fepeerreview3150 what was in the reply?
@@Grandmagray-i3j right wing is wrong. Capitalism is ending us all and you need to be against it to enable a sustainable life. Left wing is correct. Read a bit
I really want to hear him say "actually"
Zizek is the sole reason they made TH-cam shorts longer
I am often critical of Zizek but he is spot on here. Western leftist/woke multiculturalism is more often than not lack of basic knowledge.
Most of the woke western leftists are in favor of Ukraine. Most non westerners leftists do not support Ukraine
As a Russian, I support him 100 percent. Our propaganda is absolutely horrible.
I'm a lefty and I support Ukraine. Putin must be stopped.
No, you’re not left-wing. You’re just an imperialist.
@ludviglidstrom6924 Putin is the imperialist. He invaded a sovereign nation.
@@ludviglidstrom6924 Ukraine really is the true imperialist power here, trying to not be invaded.
All these anti-putin "Leftists" who think his invasion is also imperialism clearly don't understand only the US can do imperialism in the modern day.
The support of the Ukrainian people's freedom is a right-wing grift.
or maybe all of that is wrong and you're stupid, one or the other.
@@ludviglidstrom6924how dose wanting to stop Putis imperialism make someone "imperialist"? How dose opposing putins oligarchy make someone "not left wing?"
I am a right winger who supports Ukraine
Most of your side prefers Putin
@@MarcoBonechi no
Please talk to your people because they are buying into Putins propaganda and Trump is compromised
How lonely you must be
It's good that you do. It just seems strange to me that a sizeable amount of people on the right support Russia.
Minecraft spiders be like
Jesus christ 😂😂😂
💀💀💀💀💀💀
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I think most people, leftist or not, support Ukraine, right? I mean, outside of Russia or nostalgique ex soviet countries. I dont get his point :(
Nope, i know both "stories" and I support Russian wholeheartedly.
No.
Elementary common sense is far enough, though, to break through the root hypocrisy and bad faith of Ukraine, the US, and the EU in all the events that have led to the present bloody dead end for the last three decades.
@@sinoviistine-sonsofthetruthcause theft and stealing land is normal to you
@@revdckmz I think you're trapped in a bubble
I am a leftist who supports Ukraine.
@@burgercide leftist, or liberal?
I am a Human and i support Palestinians and Ukrainians
I am a democratic socialist that supports people rather than Governments
@@burgercide leftist, or liberal?
I am leftist and I am pro peace. Both wars could have been avoided if we would have had diplomats doing their job....
I have never heard this man say a coherent thing, and this short video was no exception.
Good point Sir...we have missed your internet Prescence...welcome back.
I was listening to Gorbachev I think on about Putin. He said he is afraid of his own people. I think he pretty much nailed it. If it was otherwise they would not be throwing people in jail for criticizing the war.
I am not convinced that having an opinion on the internet is the same as supporting something
100% agree, support can only be expressed through action.
If you haven’t seen it, watch perverts guide to ideology. This guy is brilliant and that movie is phenomenal.
Excellent point!
What is he talking about? Did the editor cut the wrong part of the video?
He is all about unjustifiable gibberish ,espeacially on that issue.
Žižek is dehydrated after each interview
@dentalmedica8594 also the people sitting closest to him generally go home to take a shower first, as opposed to maybe, say, going out to dinner right away after his speech
@@dentalmedica8594 and the cameraman is drowned
Hey it doesn't seem to be flowing right out of his nose this time at least. First time I saw this fellow (first 20 times) I thought he was a major coke head.
Slava Ukraine! Love and respect to Ukrainian brothers and sisters from your eastern leftist cousin ❤
Mr. Zizek is Slovenian and was born in 1949. I'm willing to bet that one of the reasons (if not the reason) why he supports NATO is that he knows what Russian imperialism is like and doesn't want anything to do with it.
I’m a human being who has political ideals and supports certain efforts
@@owenswabi woah buddy that's pretty controversial
Did he do voiceover for Sylvester the cat?
I was hoping he’d say “suffering succotash” 😅
@@jameslasso1690 Didn’t think about that. Spot on! 🤣🤣🤣
From Sweden, its very easy to see that this is PRIMARILY a honest defense for freedom, and a brave and worhy one at that. Just the kind that we have been dreading to have against just that big bully neighbor, who by necessity keeps us so great at inventing good weaponry. :p Much of which is now put to good use in Ukraine.
When Ukraine said "we will NEVER give up!" we recognized it - we actually have it in our constitution too that we will never quit fighting. Just convert to insurgence if need be. But all messages of capitulation are false, we know that.
Thank you for your service of teaching yhe bully a lesson, Ukraine. Certainly you should have lots of volunteers from lets see... hungary, czeck republic and slovakia, cetchnya, georgia. All places that russian tanks have paid loving visits to in the past. :p ... Not the finns, they managed to bite back already in the winter war.
Svenskar är tamejfan det mest hjärntvättade folket på jordens yta. Alla våra medier nuförtiden är 100 procent NATO- och CIA-propaganda.
Nice to hear this voice again. It sounds like a famous polish literary critic in germany who died years ago. I had always fun and interest listen to him.....
it is always encouraging to see critical, independent thought coming from those immured in the ‘left/right’ false dichotomy. neither in their contemporary forms bear any resemblance to the classic forms. and for all their polarization on topical issues, in practice, in office, there is no discernible difference in their performance in re how it effects the masses; who are egregiously ill served.
We all forgetting we promised russia we wouldnt move nato past east germany?
@@sdivine13 a verbal agreement to not move nato arms into east Germany. That's it. And there still are no American soldiers stationed in east Germany.
@jussehwagner3166 past east germany, pray tell which direction is ukraine from berlin?
@@sdivine13 no, they agreed "no further east" while talking about Germany. This statement can be interpreted as meaning not in east Germany or no where more east than west Germany.
Only the later interpretation would include eastern Europe, but that's why a shaky verbal agreement can't really be used to make your case here
Stupidest comment section ever. US overthrew Ukraine govt in 2014, Maidan. That is imperialism.
LOL! That was civil revolt against russian interference. Nice try!
“Russian policy is unchangeable. Only Russian methods, tactics, and maneuvers can change, but the pole star of Russian policy remains the conquest of the world... The Russian bear will be capable of anything as long as he knows that other animals will not resist. There is only one way to behave towards a power like Russia: not to show fear. If Europe retreats, it will not only mean defeat, but permanent subjugation.”
Karel Marx: 1856, New York Tribune (newspaper)
we miss the union
Today’s Russia is very different from the old Tsarist Russia that Marx hated.
Now I can't keep my tongue in my mouth while talking to myself. I live alone. 🤔
Thank you, cousin!
I support ukraine, i support palestine, i support rohingyan people, i support uighur and tibetan people. İ support the oppressed. İ am a human.
You need to learn some basic geopolitics to understand what’s going on in the world.
@@ludviglidstrom6924 i doesnt take somebody to learn geopolitics to oppose genocide anywhere in the world.
@@sadettinarslan5324 If you don't like the oppressors then you probably must dislike Ukrainians because they were greatly favored in USSR in all organs related to security, from KGB to prison system. Every general secretary since Khrushchev had a western Slavic (i.e. peasant) accent.
But you don't know that because that's a little bit too outside of the simple canons of American propaganda, when did an American really took interest in slavs and their inner goings? You only care about countries your government invests in with revolutions and propaganda based on a current political environment, which is designed for child level consumption, by the way.
Ukrainians are Russians are one people and their common language is Russian. They didn't need this war and were dragged into it, and not by Putin alone. Anyone who supports "Ukraine" supports the war period, it didn't start in 2022 as you know, and Moscow supported Ukraine plenty since the 90s. It's time to grow up.
@@sadettinarslan5324what genocide?
Can anyone explain what is going on with his speech? I’m genuinely curious what causes this?
Wodka.
According to a quick Google search he apparently suffers from something called "slushy lisp" and some form of nervous tic/tics.
@ Thank you. I’ve heard other people speak like this, but I’ve never known what it is.
There isnt even western imperialism in Ukraine. If there was, aid to levels youve never seen before would be pouring in. Instead you have a Ukraine constantly begging to be part of the western bloc while the West remains divided if they should ve allowed in.
Yup, exactly. But the friends and fans of "NATO EXPANSION" do not want to hear that. It is anathema to their worldview of the evil west.
n y t i m e s "T h e S p y W a r : H o w t h e C .I. A. S e c r e t l y H e l p s U kr a i n e F i g h t P u t i n"
So that’s “imperialism” now? Foreign aid?
@lordedmundblackadder9321 imperialism is converting the people of Ukraine into an anti-russian catholic nazi hybrid.
Please add up all the billions of money handed out to Kiev since 2014 and verify if there is no strong support.
This is the kind of guy who ends up dying alone and only remembered by the crazy things he said.
This man speaks common sense. Sadly some people from the far left and from the far right support Russian imperialism because they cannot understand that condemning Russian imperialism does not mean that you support western imperialism
Also condemning Russian imperialism does not mean hate against the Russian people. The Russians are a victime themselves of Russian imperialism
It is not "russian imperialism", russia proposed peace negotiations several times, its demands were totally reasonable. Everybody knows this this is a us-led war using the ukraine with a nazi puppet government. So russia just had to allow itself be surrounded by us missiles? The us would nevera have allowed that in its borders either. This is not about russian imperialism. This is the same guy Who said common syrian peoples should fight against cia forces called isis!
An indigenous person from Russia and a leftist here🤚 me and my friends also support Ukrainians. No, we don't think that attacking the East of Ukraine was justified and excusable. But attacking Kyiv in reply isn't going to help or bring back those who died in these 8 years. Also we are aware of the fact that Donbass region simply has a lot of natural resources. No one has cared about the people, dont be delusional. Yes, we do know about the issue with alt right and neo-nazism in Ukraine, it's deeply painful to see how they are trying to forget their own people who fought against nazism in ww2 just because they were from the red army. But russian government is nothing better. The ideological leaders and a lot of soldiers on the russian side are alt right themselves. Ukrainian government and state can be as effed up as it can and that's why I hate these ideas of moral superiority, but this doesn't give Russia any right to attack Ukraine.
Get a grip, it was justifiable. The East of Ukraine was stirred up by STRELOK and his mafia gangsters. If a government cannot pacify a region overrun by gangsters of a neighbor enemy country, then you in effect want no government at all, which amounts to no one managing Millions of people, which is absurd. I congratulate you for having enough brains to support Ukraine against your own fascist - not alt right, but fascist! - state, but please cut the bull about the ukrainian government being as bad as the russian one, or the "Nazis" in Ukraine being a problem compared to the Nazis in Russia, which are obviously a real problem for all Europe right now!
Yes, Ukraine is morally superior to Russia. Yes. This is the fucking truth.
Not meaning to bash you for your opinion, but here's a thought that might help you understand why Ukraine's operation in the East was totally fine and justifiable. Ukraine is a sovereign country, and in 2014 it was having _internal_ issues that were abused and actively heated up by the Russian government. I know you guys love to say "it's not so simple", but there are documents and recordings to support this version, unlike proofs of the "stupid Ukrainians bombing themselves for 8 years" nonsense. What Ukraine does with its _internal_ issues should be nobody's business, but Ukraine's. The same goes with Georgia, Chechnya, Afghanistan and all other countries that have been on the receiving end of unsolicited Russian "help" at a certain point of their history. By the way, I'm not saying the US invading Iraq or the UK drawing an arbitrary line between India and Pakistan is fine either (shocking, I know).
The point is, Russia had absolutely no business in Ukraine and it should've stayed out of Ukraine, Georgia, Chechnya, Afghanistan and all other countries it's been "helping" throughout the years and maybe instead focussed on its own _internal_ issues like poverty that forces its own people from heavily undeveloped regions like Buryatia to think that taking part in an aggressive war is a sound strategy for increasing one's financial well-being.
TL;DR: Remember those aircraft passenger safety trainings about the oxygen mask? "Put your own oxygen mask first before helping others"
@ih8people everything you say is simultaneously absolutely true and doesn't refute my words.
Russia indeed has no business there, I've been trying to convince people in that since 2022 (not since 2014 because I was effing 14 back then, what did I understand in foreign politics?). What I'm trying to say is that people often pose Ukraine as a epitome of morality, humanity and democracy, which simply eventually ends up in hypocrisy, because currently there is no state of that kind. In other simple words - Ukraine as a state had a weak spot and a problem in the policies according the East. If they didn't eff up there and acted wiser, maybe everything would've been different. At least Russia wouldn't have a weak spot on the sight, and, how they say here, "piece that lies badly", unkempt and easy to grab.
@@ih8people Yeah but that is not something the ruling class of Russians wants. They do not want to better the lives of their own people, resolve internal issues. That is now how that elite class is built, that is not how this nation, that is called russian, is built. This russian nation is built like a Mongol Horde, where outreach expansion is solving these internal issues, by reducing the number of poor people, because they are killed on the battlefield. I know that sounds insane. But that is it, the russian Nation is an insane Nation. It lives by suppression, it blooms by expansion. Only that we do not have the 17th century anymore, and in the modern world, it just does not work anymore. That is the problem of Russia. They want to solve problems by the means of 17th century Europe. That is madness. And therefore, we must call the Russians insane. As a nation, as a political enterprise, as a ideology of living and existing, they are insane. Mad. Verrückt. Ga-ga. Loco. And if you look at Putin, he is gone. I mean, he is not there anymore. He is not functioning anymore at a high capacity. The russians, a people gone insane, are led by a drooling madman.
@ih8people and by the way, it doesn't mean that Ukraine is the guilty one in this war. Russia must carry all the responsibility regardless.
It's not just leftists that don't get this. Just as many right leaning people supporting the aggressor in this situation. Very odd to me.
zizek is the daffy duck of social science
He said a lot, and said nothing at the same time!
I want to listen to this guy so bad... But in the back of my mind I'm like "where is your spit bucket??"
I'm sorry!
What an utter joke Zizek has turned into - the complete idiot's idea of what an intellectual sounds like
Fortunately we have YOU, a genius in intellect, who shows us the light of the truth. I cannot tell you how happy i am, that you, at least, are here, and are sprinkling us with words of wisdom!
"history is written by the victors" doesn't mean you make the people you beat look worse, it just means you cover up what you did.
"They bombed themselves"
"Drop your government, soldiers, we will work something out"
"Band of nazis"
"They forbid rissian language"
"NATO biolaboratories with geneticly modified mosquito's"
"NATO expansion"
"These are just protesters, anyone can get a tank in a military shop"
"They shot the plane to set us up"
"Bodies were brought there beforehand by foreign special agents"
And a thousand more ways to "not paint Ukraine in a bad way, just cover up what rissians did"
But those who lose don't make history, so...
He was always on side of western imperialism and pro-NATO interventionist. When interventionism comes from the other side - only then he is oposing it. He is a cultural leftist but a political neoliberal.
You are trying to imply hipocracy? But NATO interventions haven't tryed to outright conqure any previously peaceful democracys then deluberatly explode/flood civilians for opposing a dicrators take over.
Opposing something outright evil just make sense whatever ones stance on a totaly different action by a different party.
Whatever his stance on other issues his stance that: genocidal attempted conquest of a democracy = bad whethery your left or righ seems pritty unasailable to me.
Well spoken!
Thank God there's subtitles
I'm sure he's fascinating but this short was fuckin exhausting. I'm out.
I am a human and i support Palestinians and Ukrainians
Only half human apparently
If you know the whole story you would support Russia and Palestine
@@sinoviistine-sonsofthetruth what story? Get out of their sovereign country and the war will stop.
@sinoviistine😂😂😂 OK dude -sonsofthetruth
@@sinoviistine-sonsofthetruth yes i do agree with you on certain point regarding the Russian Ukraine war! Like Nato involvement in the whole conflict but still it could've been solved with dialogues.
Slava Nezalejnoi Ukrayine 🇺🇦 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
I haven't seen my boy Sylvestocrates in a while. 🗣☔️
He gets it right in the first 5 seconds. The rest is bs.
Thanks, Mr Zizek / Sweden
I really do not like oversimplifications, on both sides. And there are tons of it in this story.
@@eduardorossi7310you could try watching more than just a 1 minute short if you want more detail
One country invaded the other. And keeps bombing civilians. If this is not clear I don't know what is
@MarcoBonechi it is. But it is also clear that me, as a country, I do not send weapons in support of ALL the countries that have been invaded (long list so far...Palestine and Lebanon included...or to support democracy in Egypt, for example...), for example. And this is strange...And it is also clear that there have been reasons to violate the Minsk 1 and 2. If you are telling me that Putin is a bad guy who invaded Ukraine, I totally agree with you. If you want to convince me that the storytelling is as simple as you and many others are trying to sell, dude we are old for this movie. Reality is about twelve orders of magnitude more complex. And most of us know it.
@@eduardorossi7310 Oh sure. But we are here now, and have to figure if allowing Putin free reign in Ukraine (and Moldavia, and ... Poland) is in the West's interests. And I very much believe it is NOT in our interests to give in.
@@eduardorossi7310 Minsk I was violated because it gives the Russians and separatist opportunity to regroup and launch an offensive into Donetsk airport (2nd battle of Donetsk). Following the Russian victory at Donetsk International Airport in defiance of the Protocol, DPR spokesman Eduard Basurin said that "the Minsk Memorandum will not be considered in the form it was adopted". Later in the day, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said that the DPR "will not make any attempts at ceasefire talks any more", and that his forces were going to "attack right up to the borders of Donetsk region''.
He always knew where his bread was buttered...
mediocre
I'm surprised to hear that Daffy Duck supports Ukraine
This dude would make a great cartoon villain. His voice that is.
Do you want Western Imperialism or Russian Imperialism?
It has taken me years and years and even now I can not understand how and why is Zizek popular. It is like bear caught in a trap because he had no idea it was there, while Zizek is a "hegelian marxist" who had no clue that cocaine and speed will take a turn on his speech, but moreover, his views and ideas.
😂😂😂
Never seen anyone use so many words to say so little.
Dumb take, Ukraine is just a meat shield. Western countries don't care about the lives there. Is not about right or wrong, is about what position you should have to preserve lives.
I wiped my face after watching this video
Why? 😅
Oligarchs of the world (almost) united..
lots of words to basically say "publishing in RT has become too toxic for my brand and i would like to write for The Guardian again, please"
Cope
@nikoniortnike
>216 video playlist solely about Star Wars prequels
grow up.
@@leventgucer2988 nice ad-hominem there pal.
Don’t know why you’re typing as though you’re on 4chan but you seem like a generally confused individual, so that may just be the reason.
@@leventgucer2988😂
Exactly, but i see anyone who supports Ukraine but not a Palestine as a huge hypocrite. I actually came up to realise that many people support Ukraine and not Palestine just because of the colour of the skin and the religio.
Both are totally different situations and very few people should be supporting anyone. There are no “goodies and baddies” in the real world, these are the results of decades and centuries of crimes sins and evil committed by many people on both sides.
Fair
Just
@whygodisscience do they both involve killing tens of thousands of innocent people?
Then I put it to you that they are wrong and undesirable.
There may be complexities and considerations beyond these that won't neatly reduce into this proposition, but those would be secondary; anyway, how could we listen to a voice that extolled a complex ethical position, who can not first acknowledge this most fundamental and simple one?
@@hrothgarvonmt er? lol sorry I have no idea what you mean. At least it’s not at all relevant to what I said. The OP was saying people who support Ukraine but not Palestine are hypocrites. My point is they’re not “these are totally different situations”, and the vast majority of people shouldn’t be supporting anyone. Most people have no idea of the facts or history and there is no entirely right or entirely wrong side in either case.
Lenin wrote the following in ”The Right of Nations to Self-Determination”:
”The bourgeoisie is most of all interested in the “feasibility” of a given demand-hence the invariable policy of coming to terms with the bourgeoisie of other nations, to the detriment of the proletariat. For the proletariat, however, the important thing is to strengthen its class against the bourgeoisie and to educate the masses in the spirit of consistent democracy and socialism.
This may not be “practical” as far as the opportunists are concerned, but it is the only real guarantee, the guarantee of the greater national equality and peace, despite the feudal landlords and the _nationalist_ bourgeoisie.
The whole task of the proletarians in the national question is “unpractical” from the standpoint of the _nationalist_ bourgeoisie of every nation, because the proletarians, opposed as they are to nationalism of every kind, demand “abstract” equality; they demand, as a matter of principle, that there should be no privileges, however slight. Failing to grasp this, Rosa Luxemburg, by her misguided eulogy of practicality, has opened the door wide for the opportunists, and especially for opportunist concessions to Great-Russian nationalism.
Why Great-Russian? Because the Great Russians in Russia are an oppressor nation, and opportunism in the national question will of course find expression among oppressed nations otherwise than among oppressor nations.”
Who oppresses Ukraine? Who invades it an massacres its population? Who is the principal enemy of the Ukrainian people?
Let’s answer that with some other questions. Who was the principal enemy of the Chinese people 1937-1945? Was it the Yankees and their Guomindang lackeys? Or was it Japan?
You must have knowledge about what is the principal contradiction when assessing any situation. The principal contradiction in Ukraine is not Yankee imperialism vs. the Ukrainian people. Neither is it Yankee imperialism vs. Russian imperialism or Democracy vs. Hitler-fascism. It is Russian imperialism vs. the Ukrainian people.
It can be said that Zelenskyy works against the Ukrainian people. He is somewhat of a traitor. He and Poroshenko have worked to split the Ukrainian nation and have subordinated it to Yankee imperialism’s genocidal world war plans. But if you are a Ukrainian and you’re aiming your gun against Zelenskyy or his men rather than the invading Russian army, whose side are you really on? Whose side would Mao be on if he aimed his gun toward Chiang Kai-Shek when the Japanese army invaded? Would he not be the highest traitor? Would he not have worked for the subjugation and enslavement of his country? But he didn’t!
And then he completely ignored that…using the military to crush multiple nationalist groups seeking to self determine their groups, and encouraged a reign of terror that ultimately laid the groundwork for future state repressions .
@@bradhorowitz2765 stupid anti-communist propaganda
The level of ignorant nonsense coming from people who like to quote Lenin in order to bash communists who support Russia is pretty staggering. There was no NATO back then, the imperialist powers were not unified into one single block like they are now. Everything is different.
How could i predict there wouldnt be an answer in here?
I dont get why he started that lastline with "you do something horrible", how about "you do amazing things for people and then society and humanity benefits"
His tongue kept trying to escape his mouth.
Most leftists i know support Ukraine
The only exception might just be that the communist party in my country is more neutral/"pro peace"/pro russia than the rest, so maybe those. But even that way, most communist i know don't actively support russia, they just condemn the genocide in Donbass or the ethnic cleansing in Donbass or things alike(many don't use such strong words) made by Ukraine beforehand
@@zecaaabrao3634 But why would you support Ukraine if you acknowledge that they were committing ethnic cleansing in the Donbass, as you put it? Shouldn't we support the Ukrainian separatists in the Donbass and Crimea, who want to break away from Ukraine?
@@rmurphy911 Let's make it fair. Start supporting the independence for Tibet, Kurdistan and all the russian ethnically cleansed states like Chechnya, Karelia, Tuva, Baskhkortostan etc.
Besides, there have only been one reliable poll on said ukrainian provinces about who they want to be a part of - in 1991 after USSR collapsed. All those areas wanted to remain parts of Ukraine. They were more russia-leaning for sure, but all the "separatists" are just russian paramilitary. Just see the similarities in Georgia and Moldova. That is what Russia does - they use russian-speaking people as a pawn for their imperialist desires, and then some useful idiots fall into that.
@rmurphy911 yeah, many if the communist party support, or aren't against Donbass separation
But the escalation of the war was so big that most people condemn the invasion
@rmurphy911 i support Ukrainian sovereignty over the Russian invaded territories outside of teh Donbass and I don't have enough information to make an informed decision about the Donbass and Crimea
What genocide? What ethnic cleansing? WTF are you talking about?
Ukraine tried to police the revolt in Donbas which was orchestrated by Russia. Revolt that was conducted by people like Pushilin - a Ponzi-scheme fraudster, Gubarev - literal neo-nazi or Girkin - FSB operative.
The 'genocide of Russians in Donbas' is as true excuse as 'genocide of Germans in Poland' in 1939…
Who's "big problems" are we talking about again?
This all feels very straightforward. Ukraine was like “i’d like your help in case Russia invades”. And if you’re wondering why they would say that, look no further than the fact that russia invaded
So the question is who is the first aggressor trying to cover things up
You DO "enact a story in politics", Slavoj. Just take, for instance, the invasion of Iraq. The "weapons of mass destruction" story came first. Polítical action is quite often one big enacting of (fictional) stories to cover up the horrors out there. We just recently had one right here in Brazil with Jair Bolsonaro. He sistematically tried to make up a "communist threat" in order to justify not only a coup, but also a civil war, that lunatic.
@@IvoMaropo which coup? was too busy worrying about the artificially (through censorship and fake polling, at least) elected Lula government and how we would become poorer by then to worry about Western values such as "liberal democracy" and its "normality" with regards to the potential actions of a justly frustrated, enormously popular Jair Bolsonaro.
The incapacity of seeing through the eyes of the everyday citizen and his dislike of poverty and lying stablishment politicians and Justice bureaucrats will be the ruin of the Left (it already is).
I do not get his point, his position. Who does not support Ukraine fighting to keep their country intact? Besides Putin.
Sadly there are some on the left who think Russia as it is now is the successor of Soviet communism and that Ukraine is fully in the wrong. It’s quite sad they’ve genuinely fallen for Russian state propaganda
@@nancyfroio a few lefties, (called “tankies”) are so anti-western they assume all causes supported by west are by default evil. In this case, because the US supports Ukraine, they assume Russia must be in the right.
This is of course silly considering all they are doing in this case is supporting an even worse empire.
@@nancyfroio Are you living in a glass?
@@trerio6815 in a glass?
@trerio6815 then look through it like Lewis Carroll has told us
This guy speaks FACTS!!
He is "spitting facts" to be precise.
Imagine accusing Russia of imperialism while supporting the west. That has to be the epiphany of hypocrisy 😅
The same happens to me. But the other side round.
Pseudo-deep is a great way to describe Zizek's entire body of work... what a poor excuse for a philosopher.
Can someone list one real reason to help Ukraine?
Because America promised to?
Because we've learnt this lesson already in 1939 when Mr. Chamberlain visited Hitler and concluded that the latter is a fine lad that will certainly not invade any other areas aside from Sudetenland. I sincerely hope you also understand that China is observing this war with not a huge bucket of popcorn, but a notebook full of little scribblings on how to approach "the Taiwan problem". As well as every other authoritarian leader in the world.
TL;DR: You fight the bully together not because it's morally right to do so, but because by not doing that you're creating even more bullies
@ih8people the never ending ways in which Americans justify the exportation of perpetually war. Support for Ukraine is totally a force fed idea of the western War machine. Everything, these days, is compared to nazism. How about knowing some Russian and Ukrainian history which would be much more relevant, since those are the countries involved. Always wanting to kill, dominate, conquer....
If you need an explanation, you are not understanding.
@jasperchance3382 on other words you have no coherent explanation and cannot name a valid reason?
Ukraine propaganda is much more toxic racist an uneducated than Russian propaganda, which is the same. American propaganda is different. But Ukrainian is at a whole nother level. It's pure nationalism.
I can't help but notice that he didn't answer the question.
He never explained why he was for Ukraine.
Note: I am pro-Ukraine.