Listening to the local community radio station in town, which plays a lot of Pacifica Radio programming, one gets the feeling that there’s a direct correlation between disdain towards the US and Israel, and far left/progressive beliefs. The editorial slant of most Pacifica shows is that everything that’s wrong with the world today can be blamed solely as the direct or indirect result of some action taken by the United States, and there’s absolutely no love for Israel.
The title is the question, basically: are there any prominent far left-leaning activists (e.g. left of mainstream and progressive Democrats) who don’t believe the US is the source of all that’s wrong with the world, and that it’s basically a force for positive change in the world, even with its flaws? Any that are pro-Israel, support the existence of Israel, or at least just don’t think it should be nuked into glass?
Every prominent far left-leaning activist that comes to my mind doesn’t believe any of this. This sounds like the far-right caricature of “lefties”- which has little or no basis in fact.
I’m politically liberal, FWIW. Like I said, the local community radio station plays a lot of Pacifica programming, and it’s generally extremely critical of US foreign and domestic policy, culture, and so on. Whatever side the US takes in a conflict, it’s always the wrong side. It’s not so much that there’s criticism, but rather, there’s nothing but criticism. And, like I said, Israel is seen as teh evil.
I grew up in Berkeley, and I understand what the OP is talking about. Ask the stereotypical Berkeleyan about US foreign policy, and you’ll get a laundry list of complaints about dictatorships and killing poor people and corporations starting wars and so on. Even good things that the US has done – devoting billions to fight AIDS in Africa, for example, get spun to be bad things: it’s a giveaway to Big Pharma, it isn’t enough money, blah blah blah. Same thing on domestic policy: tons of grievances, non-existent list of good things.
Do I think everyone who lives in Berkeley, or has similar views, actually hates the US? “Hate” isn’t the word I would use. The tendency to be anti-establishment means those on the far left are far more inclined to think that any group larger than what’s needed to run a community garden is a cabal that exercises too much power. That’s very different than those on the far right, which are more likely to love the military (unless they get into whacko libertarian territory, in which case they are as anti-establishment as the far left.)
I never listen to the show, but someone should let me know of “Democracy Now!” programs that do features on great things the US government has done.
I don’t know a whole lot about Pacifica, but I get the impression that they’re not particularly representative of contemporary liberalism.
I’m probably not particularly representative of contemporary liberalism either, but IMHO, U.S. foreign policy has on the whole been pretty good since the mid-1980s, with the exception of the 8 years that it was under the control of the Bush Bunglers. Note that this stretch of time includes Reagan’s second term, as well as Bush the Elder.
There’s a difference between being anti-American and being against whatever current administration is in power. There are plenty of people who feel criticism of a President they voted for is a treasonous attack on America. But when they criticize a President they voted against they’re patriotically defending America.
I can’t speak for the OP but Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn come to mind. I think being anti-establishment and internationalist is generically a left wing attitude (the way being pro establishment and nationalistic is a right wing attitude. Generically).
I don’t understand the Israel/Palestine thing though and why the center left is generally more pro-palestinian while the center right is pro-Israel.
You have a point, but let’s also take into account the left’s distrust of the authoritarian mindset that is absolutely essential to any national defense effort bigger than a ragtag volunteer militia.
I don’t know of anyone on the left who supports a “ragtag volunteer militia.” In general, we don’t believe that it makes sense to kill hundreds of thousands of people to avenge the deaths of 4,000. Many of us do believe in being a country that is well-prepared to defend – not so much to take a “preventative first strike.”
Personally, I’m tired of the attitude that additional defense spending is more important than having a country worth defending – one with justice for all.
Stalin might disagree with the claim that the far Left is anti-authoritarian. Right/left and anti-authoritarian/authoritarian are two separate things.
The center left tends to be pro-underdog (often to the point of not caring if the underdog in question deserves sympathy or not). The Right is strongly influenced by the common Christian attitude that Muslims are the enemy, and by the beliefs of some Christians that the Jews have to be in charge of Israel in order to be slaughtered according the Christian prophecy as part of the End Times.
In the days of the Soviet Union, were there far right activists who were vocally pro-Soviet?
It’s the same kind of question, really.
The USA is the Right Pole in international politics. To be Far Left usually means being opposed to the USA’s foreign policy. This is not a perfect rule, and not every US policy earns that criticism, but it’s a normal default.
Keep in mind at one time the US and Iran were friends it was after the revolution that Iran become anti- US.
The thing is Iran today hates Israel and wants Israel of the map and hates any country that supports Israel and feels US is too pro Israel . The Israel and Palestine is other war that is war over land and the reason Iran supports Palestine is not that it likes Palestine is it using it has proxy.
Most of the middle east is at war over it self today :(the US and Israel in middle east other way the middle east that wants them out ASAP. The middle east wants Israel burned do to they feel that land is holy to them. The US that is pro Israel does NOT help. If it was not for Egypt there would be ww3 in middle east today.
You cannot turn on the news today hear so much civil war and fighting in the middle east . And if they cannot get along with their own kind how would they get along with US or Israel .
Most Americans are getting tired of wars that cost billions of dollars that don’t go any where.Look at Iraq war before the war you hand a atheist dictator and now after war religious fractions fighting.
The same thing with Iran the democratic party and republican party want go to war with Iran they can go to war and destroy most of every thing and Iran will just rebuild and be even more anti- US and the US be other war in 10 years or so.
The best is economic sanctions and if Israel wants fight that them fight alone.
Most American leftists are pro-U.S. The changes they want to see are things they think would make the country better – even the Marxists are (typically, let’s say) of the opinion that Marxism would make things better, which is why they are Marxists.
Pacifica is way out there. A lot of it is broadcast from college student stations (including one in my town). I would no more take it as being representative of the left than I would take Benny Hinn as being representative of the religious, or of the Storm Front as being representative of the right.