I haven't written any political thoughts on this blog for a long while, and I don't actually intend to do so in future (much). Frankly it gets me down.
The above image is a communist party poster calling Denmarks youth to arms for the cause of a 'youth house'. The text reads, When Justice becomes injustice, resistance becomes duty. Youth House now.
In the light of the ongoing socialist youth movements running battle with the police and various authorities, and the fact that today is the anniversary of the death of the left wings number one poster child, I thought I might just post a couple of remarks made by the 'hero' they call Che.
"Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood. With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl!"
"To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary...These procedures are an archaic bourgeois detail. This is a revolution! And a revolutionary must become a cold killing machine motivated by pure hate. We must create the pedagogy of the The Wall!"
--Ernesto 'Che' Guevara
What I am wondering now is, who is the right wing equivalent of Che Guevara?
7 comments:
The closest I could think of is Conan the Barbarian:
"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women."
I thought Denmark is already as close to socialism as Western Europe could get?
...No wonder Castro sent Che off to Africa...
I think some one has been paraphrasing Ghengis Khan there.
"A man's greatest work is to break his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them all the things that have been theirs, to hear the weeping of those who cherished them, to take their horses between his knees and to press in his arms the most desirable of their women."
Not sure I'd go with Conan. I don't think I've ever seen any one wearing a conan T shirt, and he's not exactly a political icon.
In the states, I guess Jesus might be considered a right wing icon... but then I always thought the whole cult of Che thing was a means of imposing a socialist perspective on to a pre existing Christian icon.
But in Europe, its kind of hard to say. I can't think of any one who fits the bill at all. We don't actually get to see mass demonstrations by right wingers that often. I can't even recall a single time.
The neo nazi's get called right wing by the socialists but they're actually nationalists, which in my perception doesn't fit into a simple left/right spectrum at all.
Right wingers in Europe are conservatives and liberal conservatives. People like our current Prime Minster and his supporters. As far as I can make out, their ownly iconic focus appears to be money.
Our domestic (Danish/Euro) mass of extreme left wingers go to great lengths to establish a link between the right wing governments and the 'Nazi's' they always claim to be 'fighting', but as far as I can tell, this is just a simplistic means of establishing justification for the sort of violence embodied by Che Guevara. Ends justifying extremely undemocratic, unlawful means.
Thus we get a mass of rioting youths, 'fighting the nazi's' by attacking the police and trashing anything remotely American/capitalist and all in the great social cause of demanding a 'youth house'.
The irony is, there is no great right wing movement to fight against. We do have neo-nazi's And sometimes as many as 30 skin heads gather to wave the Danish flag and make nazi salutes.
This is the great 'threat' to democracy which several thousand left wing extremists gather to counter, waving banners of Che Guevara and attacking the police (whom they consider right wing storm troopers)
Regarding Denmark specifically. I'd say we're actually one of the most right wing nations in (western) Europe today. That is to say, by American standards we're all a bit pinko, but by EU standards, Denmarks been just right of centre since 2000.
We're due for another election in about a year or so and its going to be interesting to see how that unfolds, The current liberal/conservative government has cut back on a lot of social programmes and this is beginning to bite into the political centre ground of familes with children. Denmark is already a horrendously expensive country so having the government tell us we're richer now than ever before whilst cutting school meals and shutting down childrens play area's due to costs is not very popular.
We do have alot of socialists, but they are suffering from several problems. First of all, a lot of social democrat members have emigrated to the nationalists, the Radical's (just left of centre)have fractured into two parties and the Communists have found their members leaving in droves after they proposed a female Muslim extremist as a candidate for the next election.
One of the most telling aspects of the socialist dilemma is how many people left the social democrats to vote for the nationalists nt he last election. Its this sort of cross political connection that reveals the lie of "nationalists being right wingers". The line so often peddled by left wing extremists to paint their opponents in the worst possible light (all the while marching under the banner of Che Guevara).
Right now then, Denmark is at a cross roads. If we conform to tradition then we may soon see a shift of power back to the left, but the polls remain ambiguous on this account. If we see a conservative victor in the next election, I think a lot of the left wing parties (there are current 4 or 5 of them, depending on your definition of left wing) will find themselves in crisis.
The neo nazi's get called right wing by the socialists but they're actually nationalists, [snip]
Or do they seem nationalist in the face of "Muslim expansion"? In the U.S. nationalism is usually associated with conservatism.
I hear and I've heard you write about how extreme left wingers in Europe are going to side with Islamofascism, but the thing about any extremist movement is you never know. If left-wingers are as comfortable with violent acts as you portray them to be, they could wind up playing the role of the Nazis they think they're fighting against.
Well thats my point Lesly. They already are.
The autonome are the modern day brown shirts. They use violence as a political tool.
The thing is, they always have done and Che Guevara is the perfect example of that. The man was a self confessed murderer who believed killing people without trial was justified by 'the revolution'.
Danish neo Nazi's are scum. There is no doubt about that in my mind. 99.99% of the Danish population rightly regard them as morons.
But to go from that to claim thay are a threat, or that they represent the right wing is simply a lie.
Thats what the autonome do. They lie about the threat of neo nazism in order to justify their own extreme excesses. They portray the right wing conservatives as racists because in doing so they create a reason in their own minds that allows them to riot in the street, throw fire bombs at the police and generally act according to the same morality that Che Guevara described.
It amazes me that any one in this day and age can still believe that violence is a justifiable political tool in a western democracy, but its there for all to see, an over as insignificant a reason as a 'youth house'.
As for the Muslim extremists, as we can see from the three ongoing terrorist cases in Denmark, they seem to have the same fucked up reasoning since they appear all to willing to use violence against innocent civilians, including other Muslms to further their political agenda against the Danish state and its citizenry.
Now, having said all that, can you think of a right wing equivalent to Che Guevara?
The "autonome" is a European commie? Yo no hablo francés!
But to go from that to claim thay are a threat, or that they represent the right wing is simply a lie.
If they lack the numbers or influence to be a real threat, then neo Nazis are just a demon strawmen the left must continually exorcise to gain/keep power. I don't think it's so much about getting away with rioting, but I could be wrong.
They portray the right wing conservatives as racists because in doing so they create a reason in their own minds that allows them to riot in the street, throw fire bombs at the police and generally act according to the same morality that Che Guevara described.
Aren't they more like anarchists? Even Che checked his excesses when Fidel wanted him to.
What I meant by "they could wind up playing the role of the Nazis they think they're fighting against" is that by endorsing violent means to get your way, you may very well end up being the oppressor you allegedly hate.
As for a right-wing equivalent, we're living in curious times. I just finished a post about internet right-wing nuts. No one on the right, no matter how vile I find them to be, has so far excused murder. Though the hypocrisy over Iraqis suffering reeks. Maybe I can give you a solid nomination in a few years. I no longer look at accusations of treason the same.
Heh, as secular as I am I take exception to nominating Jesus as the right-wing's equivalent of Che.
P.S. Even though Che was a murderer, he was right. There's no such thing as justice in revolution, no matter who initiates it and why. Some just bother with a kangaroo court.
The "autonome" is a European commie? Yo no hablo francés!
I believe you have them in States under the name 'the black bloc'.
Aren't they more like anarchists? Even Che checked his excesses when Fidel wanted him to.
Very much like anarchists. It hard to tell with these people where the socialism stops and the anarchism starts.
What I meant by "they could wind up playing the role of the Nazis they think they're fighting against" is that by endorsing violent means to get your way, you may very well end up being the oppressor you allegedly hate.
I agree. See for example the Soviet Union.
As for a right-wing equivalent, we're living in curious times. I just finished a post about internet right-wing nuts. No one on the right, no matter how vile I find them to be, has so far excused murder. Though the hypocrisy over Iraqis suffering reeks. Maybe I can give you a solid nomination in a few years. I no longer look at accusations of treason the same.
Heh, as secular as I am I take exception to nominating Jesus as the right-wing's equivalent of Che.
I think Che has taken the place of Jesus for a certain type of Socialist, but likewise I am hesitant to regard Jesus in the same way that Che Guevara is being regarded.
Quite apart from anything else, few conservatives (in Europe) express much of a religious sentiment at all.
P.S. Even though Che was a murderer, he was right. There's no such thing as justice in revolution, no matter who initiates it and why. Some just bother with a kangaroo court.
I can agree with that, though it serves to strengthen my distrust of any one who argues for revolution. I don't understand how any one in the post Soviet age can still believe revolution leads any where but to misery.
Post a Comment