Is America evil?

[Karl Renegade]

Isn't there a very close relationship between GLOBALIZATION, CAPITALISM, NEOLIBERALISM?

Isn't the United States the embodiment of all these?

If it is, to be an authentic leftist, shouldn't one be Anti-American?

[Brutus]

Anti-captalist, therefore anti American government, there is a difference and a distinction needs to be made.

[Luís Henrique]

Isn't there a very close relationship between GLOBALIZATION, CAPITALISM, NEOLIBERALISM?

Sure.


Isn't the United States the embodiment of all these?

No.


If it is, to be an authentic leftist, shouldn't one be Anti-American?

No.

Luís Henrique

[Aurorus Ruber]

I think most radicals would say that it is rather unscientific and sensationalist to describe an entire country in the abstract as evil. Certainly one can say that the US plays a particularly large and deleterious role in the global capitalist system. One can obviously point to numerous atrocities committed in countries like Iraq and Vietnam, exploitation and ecological harm by America-based corporations, and so forth. Simply labeling these as "evil", though, does not really tell us much about the mechanics of capitalism. It makes it sound like the problems of capitalism stem merely from moral corruption, as though businessmen consciously model their decisions on inflicting the most harm. Marxism provides an alternative to this moralistic approach by focusing on laws and tendencies within capitalism that drive exploitative and socially harmful behavior.

One must also ask what it means to say that America embodies capitalism and globalization. Capitalism has become a global system and almost every country, not just the US, has a thoroughly capitalist economy. And as Baader-Meinhof suggests, you must also distinguish between the American ruling class and the people living under it. Opposing capitalism does mean opposing the class which profits from it and orders atrocities all around the world to maintain it, not simply blaming Americans in the abstract.

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

Leftists see capitalism as a global system. While it takes different shapes in different countries it remains a world system. For this reason we can't choose one country and say it is the worst, because capitalism is based on exploitation in the US and in Europe and every other country.
At best, or worst, we can say that the US is the most successful capitalist country, but we must destroy capitalism as a whole, not just a part of it.

[TheRedAnarchist23]

Yes.

[Zealot]

The anti-Americanism of the left is different to that of the right-wing Islamists. Capitalism is a global system but the fall of the United States almost guarantees the destruction of capitalism as a whole since it plays the leading role in propping up modern-day capitalism.

[Decolonize The Left]

Isn't there a very close relationship between GLOBALIZATION, CAPITALISM, NEOLIBERALISM?

Yes, economically capitalism necessitates globalization and is sustained politically by neoliberalism.


Isn't the United States the embodiment of all these?

In some ways, yes. The US is a highly developed capitalist economy and politically maintains many neoliberalist policies.


If it is, to be an authentic leftist, shouldn't one be Anti-American?

No, because good leftists aren't overly simplistic. We realize that the issue is capitalism and how it manipulates and influences the superstructure (politics, etc...). If it wasn't America it would be Europe or China or whatever.

[Ocean Seal]

Yes and so is every other country. Some have more potential for evil than others.

[Mackenzie_Blanc]

As currently constituted, the U.S. is the embodiment of modern capitalism, so as a leftist, I would be "anti-american" in the sense of being against the policies of the United States. But the inevitable collapse of the U.S. would certainly improve the possibilities of a social revolution occurring worldwide, as no country is more embedded in capital structures globally like 'Merika.

[Hiero]

Can a thing be evil? A person can be evil, but I don't think a nation or nation-state can be evil.

[The Intransigent Faction]

Not evil, just misunderstood!

Seriously though, I understand and agree with the distinction between idealist moralizing and materialist analysis, but it's hard not to get pissed off about/think of as "evil" all the unnecessary suffering imposed on the world by the socioeconomic system which the United States has played a major role (though far from the only one) in perpetuating in its most direct, neoliberal form.

Perhaps here it's appropriate to recall


That Napoleon – this particular Corsican – should have been the military dictator made necessary by the exhausting wars of the French Republics that was a matter of chance. But that in default of a Napoleon, another would have filled his place, that is established by the fact that whenever a man was necessary he has always been found: Caesar, Augustus, Cromwell, etc.

This could easily be applied to say "in default of the United states, another would have filled his place".

This is just my personal beliefs, perhaps, but I see this as yet another example of a stuggle between reason and emotion which people aware of irrationalities must face in their response. Sorry for the rambling:

In short, it's understandable why you'd feel that way, but the best thing we can do is to keep in mind a materialist analysis. If all it took was outrage at its worst examples, capitalism should, I think, have been overthrown long ago.

[B5C]

No, because this world is too much grey to be good or evil.

[Skyhilist]

Depends on what you mean by "America". Am I America? I mean I live here. I at least would like to think that I am not an inherently evil person.

[MarxSchmarx]

Gramsci I believe once wrote something to the effect of "anti-Americanism isn't so much stupid as it is silly." There is some basis to the dislike of what seems to be a society in the throes of capitalism in its purest form, but I tend to concur with other posters that going after this or that capitalist country is a red herring.

[Lokomotive293]

Isn't there a very close relationship between GLOBALIZATION, CAPITALISM, NEOLIBERALISM?

Isn't the United States the embodiment of all these?

If it is, to be an authentic leftist, shouldn't one be Anti-American?

I know it's a completely different situation when you live in the US, but in Europe, the far-right standard is to say Capitalism = Judaism = the US. We should criticize capitalism from a materialist perspective, and we should also, as others said, always make a difference between the ruling class and working people. Calling a nation as a whole "evil", even if it is your own, is just another form of nationalism, and has exactly the same effects as nationalism does.

[Mass Grave Aesthetics]

any good leftist bases his/her politics on observing the world as it is, not based on sensationalism or moral prejudices. If you focus exclusively on one capitalist superpower as the embodiment of "evil" you are narrowing your vision and diminishing your ability for critical observation and analysis. also, there is nothing certain about US hegemony in global politics being here to stay for much longer. They might be replaced by China and/or Germany any year now as the dominant superpower and I don´t think either of those will be hell- bent on bringing cozy social- democracy to the world.
Besides, the world owes some of it´s greatest literature and heavy metal to the US.;)

[Pessimist]

The U.S. has established and props up most the institutions that we recognize as capitalism as we know it. But their absence wouldn't mean the absence of capitalism, it would just mean a different set of institutions, or at most - assuming a power vacuum - a more "national-looking" capitalism.

[1848]

America is not evil, per se, but it is its capitalistic form of government that is evil. Unions and labour parties still exist, such as CPUSA.