We are going through the birth pangs of a new post-imperialist world, (and what the Western governments and lefties aren't and won't tell you)
By Sukant Chandan
Sons of Malcolm
While many contradictions and opposing trends are present, in general what the trauma, conflicts and crises that we are witnessing in the world are instances of an imperialism struggling and resisting the end of its global rule.
A few examples -
1. Mass migration into the 'West' / the political economy of the changing population in the West.
2. Changing political economy of the imperialist countries, being taken over by the global south.
To expand:
1. Mass migration into the 'West' / the political economy of the changing population in the West.
Migration has been a constant of the human story. Quoting a Qu'ranic verse: "O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you." ie., we are here / have been put here to interact and to know one another, to mingle and unite, and that God/Allah only discriminates according to those who are righteous or not. The lands of what today is the West has always seen change, this island on which I am currently inhabiting is famously known as a 'mongrel people', and that's a good thing, the 'whites' on this island have been established by different peoples of the surrounding regions. People outside of these regions have also played a central part of this island for thousands of years, and in recent centuries due to the global reach of colonialism and imperialism further populations have been brought here and have and continue to change the nature of this island. This has, in general, a positive impact from the point of view of the world's masses and the masses of this island. Indeed, the very concept of the West and 'Europe' is a concept which has seen its definition along with the genesis of modern colonialism and imperialism, basically defined against the radicalised other of the Asian and African, both of whom were Muslim/Islamic, and then defined against more Africans and people of the so-called 'New World' and also then Asians.
USA, and less so Canada and Australia and New Zealand are examples of the european colonial settler societies (also an integral art of the 'west') conquered by western european peoples, especially english, and then in the late 19century going into the 20th century being european peoples joined this genocidal colonial entity known as the USA. The USA is a colonial genocidal state accomplished through european (settler colonial genocide) immigration. In contrast since the Second World War european governments invited Asian and African people to service their economies while at the same time attempting to keep the new more radical Black and Asian populations from 'getting to know each other' and uniting against the ruling classes. Black and Asian communities 'here' simply followed the source from where the looting and genocides were organised from: europe and the west. Unity has not really happened, as the state sponsored racism has been internalised mostly by white people and also in lesser part but significantly also by non-white Black and Brown people.
Today this process continues. More African and Asian people are coming here because their Homelands are destroyed and they follow the criminal imperialist enterprise to its source. Of course there are lots of problems in all of this, one can point to all kinds of problematics, but the aforementioned remains in general the way things are. That's not to excuse the problems that arise, but at the same time its important not to fall into the imperialism and racist / far-right theoretic and narrative that African and Asian people here 'bring problems', in general they don't, its the propaganda and the manner in which the ruling classes handle it and the way in which white workers and increasingly Black and Asian people who have been here for years internalise this hostility towards those who have no created any of the actual problems of unemployment, job losses, lack of resources for the peoples, ie., the ruling classes are to blame, not the masses of victims, victimised BY the imperialist ruling classes.
Black and Asian people in europe radicalised the working class and anti-capitalist movements. And on a cultural level of tastes, flavours, sounds, dresses and ways of thinking and moving and being, transformed europe. Indeed, the europeans have seen their own traditions and cultures ripped from them in a violent manner by capitalist-colonial industrialisation and the destruction of the peasantries. Most of them hardly know this and are not concerned by it so thorough has this class and cultural genocide been against them. The western people have no connection apart from residues from who they were for generations and centuries before the rise of colonial/imperialist capitalism. Instead they have adopted a new culture wholly based in nearly every way on colonial exploitation and genocide. Gardening, cooking, festivals, music of the peoples of the West is recycled from colonial exploitation and mass murder across the world.
London is being transformed into a city of the peoples of the global south. While imperialism is having some successes in corrupting these peoples like they have done most of the whites into supporting imperialism against the global south liberation struggle. Prominent examples of this corruption and co-option are figures such as Obama, Bobby Jindal, Sadiq Khan, Warsi, Preeti Patel, Umuna, Lammy and many others. As the global south develops its capacity its likely although not a foregone conclusion that the Black and Asian people will increasingly be more loyal to their Homeland countries than the countries they inhabit today.
2. Changing political economy of the imperialist countries, being taken over by the global south.
Despite the rise of the BRICS, despite the victories of the global south for centuries and especially since 1917 (Russia/USSR and rising anti-colonial struggles, especially in China and India), 1945/1947/1949 (victory over fascist-imperialism independence of India and China), 1975 (Vietnam, Mozambique), 2000 (rise of Chavez, Intifada, victory in Lebanon), 2006 (victory in Lebanon) and other moments of world shaking victories of the global south, the world is still dominated by imperialism and imperialist economy. This is changing, fundamentally. As imperialism goes deeper into crises, it loses opportunities to make the 'maximum profit', so it develops its parasitism and barbarity through parasitic economic methods (bubble economies, casino economy, financial speculation, lending money on a massive scale that doesn't exist etc) and through war and depravity and attempts at war and depravity: actual examples: Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq etc, attempted examples: Zimbabwe, Socialist Korea, Cuba, Algeria, China, Russia and others.
As imperialist capitalism runs out of maximum-protifable avenues, at the same time the global south rises based on the counter opposite political economy of defending the independence of peoples and governments, supporting the upliftment of its people especially in the case of China (which is about to eradicate poverty totally in the coming few decades!) but many others as well.
The imperialist ruling classes are merciless in pursuit of ever growing wealth. At the same time as doing all manner of historic and global crimes they also want to stay rich and in control, so they are literally rolling out the red carpet for those that have the money to invest in their economies. This is the reason why the UK is so close to the generally pro-imperialist Gulf Monarchies, which it created in the first place. However, this is also the reason why the UK is forced by conditions to invite the leadership of India and China to make strategic investments in the 'commanding heights' of this economy such as heavy industries and nuclear power plants.
Ideally, imperialism would like and has worked and continues working hard to contain and destroy India, China and others, but India and China are not push-overs and have thus far managed to defend themselves, hence imperialism is forced to accept them in the short and perhaps mid term and engage constructively while also developing their imperialist war and ruin machinations at the same time.
We are a while away from total victory, but it is on its way. Will imperialism destroy the whole world and itself because its no longer in control, or will it adjust kicking and screaming and try to maintain some position of its wealthy lifestyle in this transition period we are in? It seems its the latter.
Basically no western lefty is advocating strategically what is actually taking place: that this western capitalist system which is also at the same time a colonial and imperialist one is on its way out; that the victims of its crimes coming to the west is a just thing that should be supported; that the entire west is based on an imperialist economy that MUST and IS being whittled away; that western people must make their economies based on their own efforts and fair & mutually beneficial trade on equal terms with the non-western world; that somewhere like the UK needs to reorganise its economy, ACCEPT that for the sake of the planet and its peoples, especially global south peoples, CANNOT allow its elites AND masses to keep living like giant parasites on the rest of us and that we need to develop a socialist and self-sufficient economy based on our own labour and land and equal trade with others which means a totally changed economic system to anti-imperialist socialism. NO ONE is advocating this apart from a tiny tiny number of global south loyalists in the west.
The Arab Sting, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 'pivot to Asia' anti-Asian anti-Chinese openly avowed military strategy of the USA, the growing fascism and mass racism in the west and much more aside are merely the historical incidences of the birth pangs of a new post/counter/anti-imperialist world order.
We are not quite there yet, but many victories of our peoples in Syria, in the Iraqi Resistance post 2003, in the world shaking achievements in China, in the changes taking place in 'latin' America and the shift away from imperialism to China and others in Africa: these are all signs that although we have some way to go yet, we are quite a way down the shining path of total victory over imperialism, and total liberation of our peoples.
