It has happened again, I’m sitting here completely despairing and have retreated to playing a computer game that I had quit playing years ago as I recognised that I was hiding from the world. I quit the game because I understood that while I may be able to distract myself momentarily by creating an alternative computerised world rather than the nightmare we are living — in was an interesting exercise — but it was ultimately futile. Instead, I realised that what was needed was for me to participate in the world again rather than trying hide from it. I initially started playing Sid Meier’s Civilization after the Economics department I worked in was closed down by the University (long and complicated story which is irrelevant) and my mother died in a short space of time and I just needed to take a break from life in an to attempt to cope with the nightmare that the world had become.
The humanitarian nightmare in Afghanistan has sent me back to the game again. As such, between protests, meetings, and discussing how to fight against an attack on the majority of the population on so many fronts, I play a computer game recognising exactly what I am doing and knowing that it is pointless. I can pretend that there are easy solutions to the current nightmare, but there are none.
The Environmental Catastrophe
The problems that the world is facing are immense and the willingness of the ruling class and global political “leaders” to actually doing what is needed to even begin to address the situation seems pathetically lacking as an understatement. Addressing an existential climate crisis requires more than setting nonsense targets for a period in the near future that will not even begin to tackle the situation. Climate change has clearly manifested and advanced capitalist governments are still babbling about private markets solutions to a crisis that will undoubtedly lead to a catastrophe. The climate movement is seen as an annoyance and naïve and greenwashing is the answer. While the movement talks about just transitions in the economy, those that make decisions pretend that no one has raised this obvious point as certain sectors (like fossil fuels) need to be eliminated and replaced and sustainable fuel sources must be put in place. We are facing a crisis of incredible proportions and those in power making decisions refuse to move beyond the ideology of free markets which have caused the problem. It would be laughable if the situation was not so catastrophic.
As the COP26 in Glasgow looms on the horizon, what do you expect will be decided there? And if decided, how and when will it be implemented? Will it be enough to reverse the environmental catastrophe? Probably not … However, that does not mean that we abandon the struggle, we must continue fighting and we must be organising for the COP as the COP26 coalition is a broad group which is more ecosocialist than previous coalitions and where our voice can be heard. It is an interesting situation in which, for once, the ecosocialist left does not have to find space to speak but rather has to actually add to a discussion which so many are advocating.
The Pandemic and the Environmental Catastrophe
Witnessing attempts to deal with a global pandemic have also demonstrated an inability to actually address the reality that if the whole world is not vaccinated, the pandemic will continue as the virus mutates causing more variants and we sit there waiting for the future mutation that is completely impervious to the vaccines.
Rather than ensure that the vaccines which have been created (using funds supplied by many governments and not investment by Big Pharma) covers everyone, they have left production and profits in the hands of Big Pharma and have not ensured that the global south have access to these vaccines. Instead of eliminating the patents and providing the vaccines for free, they talk about leasing the tech and ensuring that production can take place in the global south.
While the US talks about booster shots, the majority of the global south hasn’t even had the first doses. When Donald Trump said “cover your own country’s population first, we will” that is exactly what happened. Meanwhile countries in the global south desperate for vaccines are watching American states (e.g., Alabama and Arkansas) and European countries throwing away unused and expired vaccines irrespective of the delta variant of the Covid19 virus is running rampant through the US. Even when countries in the Global South get the vaccines, some are having difficulties distributing them due to logistical issues. So, if you think that your booster shot is more important than everyone else getting vaccinated (and often not having the healthcare facilities to cope with the pandemic) then take a bow as you are demonstrating the sociopathic behaviour that comes with accepting that your people are more important than anyone else as you are “special” as you had the good fortune to be born in the US rather than a country in the global south.
The reality is that in societies which purport to democracy you cannot mandate that people get vaccines; they need to be convinced that the vaccine is safe, necessary and will save the lives (hopefully) of themselves and people they care about. With so much misinformation and disinformation surrounding the Covid19 pandemic, the distrust of government and of science itself, this task is not an easy one and will not be solved by forcing people to do something. Unfortunately, ignorance and fear is a common response as is denial. The patent stupidity of refusing to wear masks and to get vaccines in the face of a variant which can infect children seriously is shocking for me … and it is not only happening in the US. Yesterday I was near Downing Street for another protest about British government attacks on democratic rights and ran into people claiming that Covid19 was a hoax … having lost friends to the damn virus and the incompetence of various governments in addressing this nightmare, I wanted to slap them. Instead, I just walked away not wanting to waste my time on these people. I am depressed, disgusted and demoralised and feel defeated.
The Economic and Political Crisis caused by Neoliberalism
We have been living through the normalisation of the far right and fascism for a while and it has had a massive impact on not only the advanced capitalist world but throughout the world. While this ideology has existed since the 20th century and one had hoped that it would disappear with that century, instead far right nationalism, authoritarian political movements and governments are now seen as part of mainstream politics.
Unlike what we saw in the 20th century this rise of the far right and fascism is not due to the threat of the far left. Unlike back then, the far left is extremely weak and cannot mount a response significant enough to prevent rising racism, misogyny, disablism, homophobia and transphobia and rising authorianism and the normalisation of fascism. In some advanced capitalist countries we are seeing attacks on basic civil liberties (e.g., voting rights in the US, attacks on freedom of speech, the right of assembly and protest (e.g., US and Britain). Contradictions between individual right and the notion of social solidarity manifest and this is very evident when addressing the pandemic and climate change. These are both part of the political and economic crises we are living through.
Neoliberalism’s need for privatisation of the welfare net and the public sector, the full internationalisation of capital, the destruction of individual state regulations and control over capital and the squashing of wages and working conditions primed the pump for rising nationalism and the right wing. At the same time, neoliberalism laid bare the reality that capitalism’s need for constant growth and accumulation created inconsistencies in the social fabric that keeps capitalism in place. It is not as though the far right offers a different economic system, they are pro-capitalist and many are neoliberal (rather than the corporatism of fascism in the 20th century). Moreover, capitalism is not only about production, it is about selling the goods and services that are produced and the destruction of wages and working conditions also created issues of realisation of profits. So while they could decrease costs, there was no guarantee that goods and services can be sold. If unsold there is a breakdown in the circuit of capital and the rise of stagnation; their own needs to cut costs and the decision to shift production out of the advanced capitalist world and the destruction of social subsistence levels of wages have led to this crisis. Global capitalism was moving towards stagnation before the pandemic; the destruction of capital due to the pandemic and economic crisis may help temporarily unless neoliberalism is abandoned and even then, there are no guarantees that the system can restablise. So while the doyens of the capitalist system made this mess (full employment and provision of social welfare services are expensive and lower the possibility of profits) and they need additional markets, lower costs and freedom of capital mobility), they are not paying the price for it and even worse, financialisation and neoliberalism increase the probability of economic crises and greater instability which impacts the majority far more strongly. Certainly many advanced capitalist governments are utilising some Keynesian policies, but we need to see if this is a short term response to an economic crisis or actually a long-term shift in the regime of accumulation away from neoliberalism.
Crisis of US imperialism
The dominant imperialist world power, the US, is a declining economic power and it cannot stop the rise of China and we have an inter-imperialist rivalry that is occurring. Every time I hear politicians describing China as socialist or communist, laughter is provoked. This is an inter-imperialist struggle between a declining and rising capitalist countries and expecting the US to go into that good night without a struggle is absurd and delusional.
While this is a failure for US imperialism (both economic and military) and it has been weakened, how the US government will respond is unknown. So far, Biden has not deviated from Trump’s international policies. The tariffs on China remain in place, NATO (the military arm of US imperialism) has little or no clear way forward in terms of its purpose, the sanctions remain on Iran and nothing has been done about further nuclear weaponry), the US embassy remains in Jerusalem, the US (and the advanced capitalist world) remains dependent on fossil fuels, the US refuses to abandon Cold War Rhetoric in a situation where capitalism is not under threat from outside (while Biden had clear positions during the Cold War, he has no idea whatsoever to do in its absence).
Simply bellowing “We’re Back” without realising the changes in the international order and the increasing weakness of the US internationally (at least economically and politically) demonstrates a level of delusion that is frightening. Does he think that after Trump, US allies will be as willing to submit or to trust the US? US imperialism is in crisis and the so-called leader of the “free world” has a domestic political crisis as he did not defeat Trumpism and saying that you are the best democracy ever while other politicians are reinstituting Jim Crow is ridiculous. You cannot even ensure basic democratic freedoms in your own country, forget doing them elsewhere.
While he has rejoined the Kyoto accord and will participate in the COP what will Biden and his team contribute to the meetings? Empty words and promises rather than action against the climate emergency are meaningless and the rest of the advanced capitalist world thinks that they cannot depend on the US.The abandonment of the Kurds by Trump into Turkey Recep Erdoğan’s genocidal hands and now the abandonment of Afghanis who worked with the US and NATO forces has created and is creating a humanitarian crisis along with a refugee crisis. This may have an impact on whether or not the US will actually have future allies on the ground on countries that they invade and occupy unless it is a matter of life and death (like how Daesh was to the Kurds). The fact that all Biden speaks about is getting Americans out of Afghanistan has literally made me scream in anger and frustration; really are common Americans so deeply unable to empathise with the Afghanis desperate to flee the Taliban? This is further evidence that the US government is disconnected from reality and it has demonstrated to our allies that dependence on the US both militarily, economically and politically may be useful — but far less necessary than Biden and his government think it is. The fact that Biden actually thinks that US allies have been waiting with baited breath for the US to resume its leadership role is interesting. It speaks to a level of arrogance and a disjuncture with reality that is disconcerting to say the least.
Afghanistan
The final straw that sent me back to Sid Meier’s Civilization was the humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan. I never supported the Afghanistan intervention all those years ago; it was and remains collective punishment against a population that had nothing to do with the September 11th attacks on the US. It was a brutal occupation and the attempted establishment of a government clearly fell to pieces in the space of a short period spectacularly demonstrated the failure of US policy. The actions of the US and NATO allies further empowered the Taliban. All the claims and justifications for the attempt of regime change including “liberating the women of Afghanistan” (note how that has been discarded by NATO members and liberal politicians, the silence is deafening) was simply whitewashing a brutal occupation of the country. The fact that the Taliban were able to achieve this so quickly is not the fault of the Afghani army (even though all MSM political commentators are saying it), it is a failure of the policy of regime change and nation building. The Taliban is back in power, no coalition government exists and still sabre rattling is being repeated by US allies as though they have any influence on the Taliban and the direction in which they take the country.
As Chris Stafford says:
“Unlike Iraq the war in Afghanistan was sold as the good war where not only were Western forces rooting out terrorists but also were there to liberate the people from the Taliban, particularly women. The war was also a knee jerk reaction that spiralled further and further into a full blown occupation following 9/11. Whilst nobody will shed tears for Osama bin Laden and his followers the war, which like the other forever war, the war on drugs, has no end game. For the military industrial complex, the intelligence services and the police the good times arrived. The war was to never end and with it the state of exception that swept across the West has endured into a state of normality. Writing in 2005 Giorgio Agamben wrote that the war on terror will “produce a situation in which the emergency becomes the rule, and the very distinction between peace and war (and between foreign and civil war) becomes impossible.” Sixteen years later we have to unfortunately say that has come to pass. “
Anyone with a basic knowledge of history knows that regime change and nation building doesn’t work especially in a country which is the Graveyard of Empires (a cursory glance at the British empire’s failure and the Soviet invasion should be warning enough); this was obvious in Iraq. But the US government has always believed in its propaganda about being the “good guys” bringing “democracy” and it special status as the world representative of modern democracy. As a result Afghanistan after almost 20 years will once again be under the control of the Taliban. It is not as if Biden has no idea of the history of Afghanistan, that is knowledge available to all. But to deny that regime change (against international law) and nation building were the defining aim of the US and NATO’s invention in Afghanistan is ridiculous. It is as though once again we have to pretend that we have no memory of that period and the almost 20 years of US presence there.
As Gilbert Achcar points out what we are seeing is the same failure that happened in Iraq and that is a failure of US imperialism:
“In reality, the Afghan government’s fate is but the most recent in a long list of cases of puppet entities created by a foreign occupation that collapse when that occupation ends. Ashraf Ghani was preceded on this same path by Mohammad Najibullah, who had been appointed as president of Afghanistan by the USSR’s rulers in replacement of Babrak Karmal whom they had installed in power when their troops invaded the country, in the same way as Ghani was appointed by Washington in replacement of Hamid Karzai, whom U.S. forces installed in power when they invaded the country. This refers us to the obvious fact that the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks was not a “liberation” of that country, no more than the American occupation of Iraq was less than two years later. It was a seizure of the country for reasons pertaining to U.S. imperial strategy in Central Asia and toward Russia and China, coated in the pretext of liberating the Afghans, the women in particular, from the Taliban’s obscurantist yoke, that same yoke that Washington and its regional allies had played a key role in helping to get hold of the country.”
The humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan could have been mitigated, but wasn’t. Listening to Joe Biden babble about getting all Americans out of the country while it is the Afghani population that are facing a disaster of incredible proportions has infuriated me. I know I am not a military strategist, but if you really want to help those that risked their lives working for you, then you remove them before you withdraw your troops. Even as the Taliban advanced, they pulled out troops rather than holding Kabul temporarily to enable Afghanis who are fleeing to have a place to escape to was not done. Watching human beings desperately fleeing the failure of US imperialism and the impact of the Taliban being in power is horrifying. Moreover, all the nonsense that the Taliban are changed and concerned about world approval would be humorous if not for the catastrophe that will befall the Afghani people, especially women.
(Translation: The first spark of standing against the Taliban was again made by the brave Afghan woman)
Revolutionary Organisation of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is the oldest women’s organisation in Afghanistan and was founded in 1977 in the wake of the invasion by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. They have opposed both the Soviet and US (and NATO) interventions arguing that the only way that peace can be obtained is for both Islamic fundamentalists and foreign invaders to leave Afghanistan and let Afghani women to fight for themselves and certainly to not let foreign invaders use their oppression to justify their actions.
“For Afghan women peace can only be achieved by justice and justice can only be attained by freeing Afghanistan of foreign occupation and Islamic fundamentalism. The removal of these traitors and murderers from power, and their persecution and punishment is the justice women are seeking for peace, prosperity and real democracy. And this is on attainable by an organized struggle of conscious women.”
In an interview, Sonali Kolhatkar from RAWA who have opposed the occupation (and the Soviet one before this) says:
“The main reason we were against this occupation was their backing of terrorism under the nice banner of “war on terror”. From the very first days when the Northern Alliance looters and killers were installed back into power in 2002 to the last so-called peace talks, deals and agreements in Doha and release of 5000 terrorists from prisons in 2020/21, it was very obvious that even the withdrawal won’t have a good end.
The Pentagon proves that none of the theory invasion or meddling ended up in safe condition. All imperialist powers invade countries for their own strategic, political and financial interests but through lies and the powerful corporate media try to hide their real motive and agenda.
It is a joke to say values like “women’s rights”, “democracy”, “nation-building” etc. were part of the US/NATO aims in Afghanistan! US was in Afghanistan to turn region into instability and terrorism to encircling the rival powers especially China and Russia and undermining their economies via regional wars. But of course the US government did not want such a disastrous, disgraceful and embarrassing exit that left behind such a commotion that they were forced to send troops again in 48 hours to control the airport and safely evacuate its diplomats and staff.
We believe the US left Afghanistan out of its own weaknesses not defeated by its creatures (Taliban).“
This is a crisis of US imperialism and a serious failure of the policies of regime change and nation building which Biden pretends weren’t the underlying reasons for the invasion and occupation. This crisis in imperialism doesn’t have a happy ending with the success of the Taliban. We can ask whether this is the beginning of the end of US military world domination or just another mass grave of US foreign policy; certainly the US has its eyes elsewhere (e.g., China and Iran). But really what is very clear about the US and NATO occupation is that all the lies of bringing democracy to justify the invasion and occupation have evaporated and once again it is the people of the countries invaded and occupied by the US and its allies have to pay the price. Do you think that the US government gives a damn about them? There is no indication of this, if that is actually the case. We are witnessing the desperation of other human beings and their fear of what the Taliban controlling their country and their lives actually means … and it is horrible to watch.
How will US imperialism and its allies reconstruct themselves, if they are? Or are we going to be treated to just another continuation of what has been happening during my whole life? Neil Faulkner has argued that nothing of any substance has been changed by the fall of Kabul; the control of Afghanistan by a group of Islamic fascists has little impact on the system as a whole. Rather the potential of further Islamic fascist movements will be good for business in the future … in other words business as usual.
“And the Taliban victory, especially if it encourages other Islamist movements, will be good for business. Good for the slick Washington security wonks. Good for the Israeli surveillance geeks. Good for a slew of giant corporates – Big Arms, Big Oil, Big Tech. Good for the contractors who build fences and compounds and concrete blocks. Good for all the little sub-contractors underneath.
The fall of Kabul has changed nothing of substance. The terminal crisis of the world capitalist system continues – a compound of climate catastrophe, global pandemic, social collapse, and permanent war. A crisis whose victims are either befuddled by one variant or another of creeping fascism, or who, organising to fight back for a rational world, are met by the rubber bullets and armoured cars of the global police state.”
The US’s NATO allies and partners in imperialism hopefully recognise that the US doesn’t give a damn about their troops and the people that they worked with — these countries can only evacuate a small portion of refugees due to a “lack of local allies where they can be put temporarily” (I really found this odd, Britain for example, has a very good relationship with Pakistan historically). Perhaps, it is insufficient logistics as they didn’t expect the Taliban to take control over the country so quickly (one wonders about their intelligence advisors ...). The right of the Tory Party and its Atlanticist supporters have also possibly began to understand what it means to be an ally of the US and hopefully (although they will deny it) what that so-called sovereignty and the “special relationship” that they have with the American government actually means.
To say the obvious, at the very least, ensuring the safety and resettlement of Afghani refugees is paramount. Given the anti-refugee and migrant sentiment that dominates discussion and policy in many advanced capitalist countries, the willingness to do so is probably not strong. Preventing solidarity with other human beings is part of divide and rule ideology that has been so prevalent recently. We need to stand in solidarity with Afghani refugees and force our collective governments to resettle them. It is the least that should be done and that is under our government’s control. Yesterday, the Greek government extended the wall on the Turkish border as they do not want another wave of refugees …
So while I am depressed, disgusted, demoralised and distressed, I have not given up the fight … there is just too much to do and we need more people to continue the fight … not less …
alas, I am also not surprised and I am hoping that no one else is … but rarely has the expression “socialism or barbarianism” made as much sense to me as it does now
