This was originally posted in r/TankieTheDeprogram by firefighter 430 (not the same image though). On reddit the ACP (American Communist Party) is infiltrating subreddits, and tried to infiltrate the tankie one too. Be aware that the ACP is not marxist nor are they communist. Pls stay safe everyone on lemmygrad.
If only it was that simple. A lot of socialist and communist parties in the global south consider themselves patriotic and hold some degree of socially conservative positions.
By your simplistic formula every ruling communist party today with the exception of Cuba (and even they are patriotic, just not conservative anymore) would be fascist. The CPC would be fascist. The WPK would be fascist. The CPSU would have been fascist.
The distinction that needs to be made here is what that patriotism is directed at. In the imperial core patriotism is most likely reactionary, especially so in settler colonies like the US, because it protects a reactionary state formation.
On the other hand, in countries which are victims of neo-colonial exploitation and imperialist subjugation and/or aggression, patriotism can be revolutionary and progressive insofar as it serves the cause of liberation.
Social conservatism also needs to be seen relative to the position of the masses in a country. A communist party that tails the masses on social and cultural issues is indeed reactionary.
In the imperial core the prevailing opinion on social issues has advanced further than in most global south countries. Therefore it is not excusable for communists in the imperial core to lag behind even most liberal parties on these issues.
Well said! I find that one of the few universal principles of scientific socialism is that things are rarely an easily applied universal principle. Which is a somewhat cheeky way of saying, there’s no “cheat code” for working out what’s going on in the world. Properly applied dialectical and historical materialism might at times feel like a cheat code in contrast to the wishy washy nature of metaphysics and idealism, but it’s still just contrast. There is no getting past the need to investigate conditions and context. Doesn’t mean we all have to each investigate the same stuff, but somebody’s gotta do the investigating. It is rare that a situation is so simplistic that it can be understood only by applying principles, without digging into the detail of it.
I think this is generally understood what OP is talking about, America is not a real country/nation but rather a capitalist behemoth. The difference is between proletarian and reactionary nationalism.