lol. the spanish civil war example is counter-factual to non-interventionist thinking.
like Ukraine, it was quasi "fascists" on the right, and a dysfunctional alliance of liberals and leftists in opposition to the fascists.
the liberal-left alliance was in power, and was overthrown by the "right", which was the pattern for something like 200 years.
the spanish "fascists" (actually ultra conservatives pretending sometimes to be "fascist") were supported by Hitler and actual fascists from Italy. Formally, the "liberal" UK and USA didn't intervene to help the liberal-left alliance, presumably because isolationism was dominant in the USA, and the USA had carried out an international war against Spain in 1899, and won. So, not amigos.
In any case, the intervention by the Nazis helped the "right" (Franco) to win. at a minimum, Nazi support it did not hurt the Spanish right.
the spanish left was fragmented and one specific hard line communist faction got Soviet support (from Stalin?)
the result of that was that, as Orwell observed (as a war participant), sometimes other communists and anarchists were more worried about getting killed because by the pro-Stalin communists in vicious leftist infighting than when fighting Franco's right wing forces.
in any case, the dysfunction and infighting on the left was a major reason that the left lost the war, even with Soviet support.
Orwell or some other historian I read made the case that the Soviets didn't actually want a successful leftist state in Western Europe because it would have created competition internationally with the USSR's dominant position as a communist state. In that analysis it was to the USSR's benefit to keep western europeans fighting among themselves in any way possible.
I'm so glad you wrote this response so I didn't have to. This is prbly the most disappointing interview I've heard from Aaron. Usually I can count on him giving some real strong push back to ridiculous comments like Putins state of mind. And the only "Pro Putin Argument". They talk as if they know the outcome. This conflict might hurt the EU & USD far more than the Chinese, EAU, Russian polarity
I tend to be pretty anarchist and in favor of non-involvement in foreign policy, but Ukraine is one of those horrible cases of being on the fault line of the "clash of civilizations", so there isn't much choice, western "classic liberals" have to get off the fence and pick a side, otherwise they have no moral credibility.
Aaron makes a good historical case for why the USA was corrupt in obstructing a negotiated settlement, but we are past that.
My preference would be that both "sides" evolve beyond the old paradigm and come to a mutually agreed upon solution that respects the stage of development of all parties, and respects the limits of what is possible so that mutual trust might be possible in the future.
This is one of the biggest problems with the "left" in the west, failed self-realization:
lol. the spanish civil war example is counter-factual to non-interventionist thinking.
like Ukraine, it was quasi "fascists" on the right, and a dysfunctional alliance of liberals and leftists in opposition to the fascists.
the liberal-left alliance was in power, and was overthrown by the "right", which was the pattern for something like 200 years.
the spanish "fascists" (actually ultra conservatives pretending sometimes to be "fascist") were supported by Hitler and actual fascists from Italy. Formally, the "liberal" UK and USA didn't intervene to help the liberal-left alliance, presumably because isolationism was dominant in the USA, and the USA had carried out an international war against Spain in 1899, and won. So, not amigos.
In any case, the intervention by the Nazis helped the "right" (Franco) to win. at a minimum, Nazi support it did not hurt the Spanish right.
the spanish left was fragmented and one specific hard line communist faction got Soviet support (from Stalin?)
the result of that was that, as Orwell observed (as a war participant), sometimes other communists and anarchists were more worried about getting killed because by the pro-Stalin communists in vicious leftist infighting than when fighting Franco's right wing forces.
in any case, the dysfunction and infighting on the left was a major reason that the left lost the war, even with Soviet support.
Orwell or some other historian I read made the case that the Soviets didn't actually want a successful leftist state in Western Europe because it would have created competition internationally with the USSR's dominant position as a communist state. In that analysis it was to the USSR's benefit to keep western europeans fighting among themselves in any way possible.
I'm so glad you wrote this response so I didn't have to. This is prbly the most disappointing interview I've heard from Aaron. Usually I can count on him giving some real strong push back to ridiculous comments like Putins state of mind. And the only "Pro Putin Argument". They talk as if they know the outcome. This conflict might hurt the EU & USD far more than the Chinese, EAU, Russian polarity
I tend to be pretty anarchist and in favor of non-involvement in foreign policy, but Ukraine is one of those horrible cases of being on the fault line of the "clash of civilizations", so there isn't much choice, western "classic liberals" have to get off the fence and pick a side, otherwise they have no moral credibility.
Aaron makes a good historical case for why the USA was corrupt in obstructing a negotiated settlement, but we are past that.
My preference would be that both "sides" evolve beyond the old paradigm and come to a mutually agreed upon solution that respects the stage of development of all parties, and respects the limits of what is possible so that mutual trust might be possible in the future.
This is one of the biggest problems with the "left" in the west, failed self-realization:
https://quillette.com/2019/10/07/oikophobia-our-western-self-hatred/
Making things worse is part of the plan. It's important to come to terms with that.
Making things worse is part of the plan. It's important to come to terms with that.
Making things worse is part of the plan. It's important to come to terms with that.